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Boston Business Journal
Ailing mobile phone giant Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is banking on location-based mobile applications developed in Boston to restore its relevance in the smart phone market. Nokia is putting to use the Navteq geolocation technology it bought for $8.1 billion in 2007 – and developing apps to run not only on its own phones...
Preston Austin, co-founder of online music sales startup Murfie, said he was initially unsure about whether to apply to the TechStars Boston accelerator program — and not just because it would mean being away from his home base of Madison, Wisc. As a startup that was already generating revenue — and already...
At first blush, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick might not come across as a model for executives. But many managers watch Coach Hoodie closely. During an era that has produced unprecedented roster turnover because of the salary cap and free agency, Belichick has led New England to its fifth Super...
At an event Wednesday night, Endeca Technologies founder and CEO Steve Papa offered insights about why his company opted to sell itself to Oracle despite a prior plan to go public. The move was all about the volatility of the economy, Papa said. "I did not want to go through another" economic...
He co-founded a fast-growing marketing software firm, Cambridge-based HubSpot, and serves as its CTO. But many in the Boston startup community may know Dharmesh Shah even better in his capacity as a prolific angel investor. Shah has an invested in more than 30 startups — including local ones like...
The Boston-based company that operates private sale site Rue La La has undertaken major layoffs, the company confirmed today. The Boston Business Journal broke the story this afternoon, based on accounts of current and former employees. Rue La La operator Kynetic laid off 11 percent of its 550...
The team at Cambridge's Atlas Venture has noticed something about its seed investments from its seventh venture capital fund: The inexpensive deals have produced some of the most promising companies in the firm's portfolio. Among them is Cambridge's Zafgen, an obesity treatment developer...
Ryan Moore could've landed at a big-name Silicon Valley venture capital firm, if that's what he was after. But what the 38-year-old VC wanted more was to be part of a firm with momentum where he'd have a major role — leading to his move to Cambridge’s Atlas Venture in November.
Jason Jacobs isn't predicting that his mobile health data tracking system, RunKeeper, is destined to become a hugely valuable company. But someone in the space is — and he believes his Boston startup has the biggest head start. "Whoever does what we're trying to do, I think a billion (dollar value) is small," Jacobs...
Google, Oracle and HP — those were just a few of the tech giants that swallowed up venture-backed Massachusetts companies in 2011.
In all, 56 VC-backed companies based in the Bay State were acquired in 2011, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. I've picked 10 of them to highlight here; most of these had Boston area VCs as backers.
News to me: Two more venture capital firms have re-located to Boston/Cambridge from elsewhere in the region. Charles River Ventures has moved its East Coast office to Cambridge from Winter Street in Waltham. The new office is located in the same building as the Cambridge Innovation Center...
Boston venture capital firms saw handsome returns from some of the largest U.S. IPOs of 2011, including LinkedIn, Groupon and Zynga. But as for the biggest IPOs of Massachusetts-based companies — Zipcar and Carbonite — Boston VC firms weren't among the beneficiaries (West Coast firms...
Businesspeople are fond of telling me they don't have a crystal ball. Well guess what, I got one for Christmas! And here's what it's told me about Wayfair, Nanigans and some other Boston area companies in 2012. Wayfair will become profitable (and maybe take steps toward an IPO)...
After seven years of quietly developing tech startups in the marketing space, Cambridge's Adverplex has re-named itself Cogo Labs and is looking to tout its achievements for the first time. The Kendall Square incubator's main accomplishments: Incubating CourseAdvisor (which sold to the Washington Post...
Perhaps a more unique post would be: "12 Boston startups not looking for money in 2012." Nonetheless, here are a dozen which've told me they're on the hunt for angel and/or venture funding — and which are probably interesting enough to get it. Click on the photo on right to open...
Cambridge’s Fairhaven Capital has promoted principal Rudina Seseri to partner at the firm, she confirmed Thursday. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, and Seseri will be one of the few women to have reached a senior investment position at a Boston venture capital firm...
OpenView Venture Partners has raised $99 million toward its third venture capital fund, the firm reported Thursday, and managing director Scott Maxwell said the firm plans to raise additional funding for it. Boston-based OpenView focuses on backing revenue-producing tech firms that need money for...
Newton startup Attivio is the last major independent player standing in its hot market for serving business intelligence needs. And the company plans to keep it that way. "We are not for sale," said Ali Riaz, CEO at Attivio, who co-founded the company in 2007. Reasons why Attivio might consider being...
From where I sit, the biggest question in Nuance’s acquisition of Vlingo isn’t why — it’s, why now? And I’m thinking the answer to both questions is the same, and her name is Siri. Last month I attended a panel at the MIT VC Conference where Vlingo co-founder John Nguyen sat beside Nuance VP Helgi Bloom...
Despite having its headquarters in London and being backed by a British venture capital firm, social media services startup uberVU opted to move its HQ to Massachusetts last month, said CEO Mark Pascarella. The profitable startup now plans to grow to a 20-person office at the Cambridge Innovation...
It may look like a normal desktop environment. But if you’re using software from one of two Massachusetts companies — Desktone or Virtual Computer — that desktop you’re looking at is actually hosted in the cloud. Both companies were founded in 2007 and are venture-backed (with Cambridge’s Highland Capital...
The plan: Use the backs of plastic Charlie Cards to promote local businesses. The goal: Help to plug the financial gap that could disrupt public transit in Boston (or at least make it pricier). Those are the hints that Trans Metro Media, a two-person startup in Boston, offered me about what it’s working on with the...
After seven years in the hands of others, Newton-based travel site TripAdvisor goes independent this week. Bellevue, Wash.-based Expedia is spinning the company off as a public company, in a move that aims to give each business a single focus and boost value for shareholders...
Andres Rodriguez wanted to pick the brain of a local venture capitalist — but not to find out how to raise some VC. He already knew how to do that. Instead, Rodriguez wanted to know about StorageNetworks, the Waltham company whose rapid rise to an $8 billion market value was nearly as stunning...
Second of two posts. (Part 1 is here.) “We’re trying to build a multi-billion-dollar beast here in Boston. I don’t know if we’ll pull it off. We’re trying to.” That’s Brian Halligan, CEO of marketing software firm HubSpot, on what he and his team of 300 want to see happen to their company...
HubSpot may be all about marketing, but the company’s newest software offering has yet to get a snappy name. No matter; company execs believes the technology — which enables a personalized experience for website visitors, a la Amazon — is the next huge wave in marketing...
The life of an entrepreneur is rarely easy, but it might’ve come more naturally for Nicole Stata to start another company than to found a tech seed investing firm on her own. Yet Stata says a passion for helping other startups, and a desire for getting a wider technology worldview, led her to start...
Teachers may be the users of classroom products in K-12 schools in the U.S., but others in the schools actually choose which products to buy, such as textbooks and technology. It’s a dysfunctional market, according to ClassroomWindow — a brand-new web startup in Needham that wants...
Sam Sisakhti started UsTrendy to let designers sell their unique fashions online and bypass the industry. And it's starting to work. Sisakhti, the startup's CEO, said several of its designers have recently cut ties with the establishment thanks to their UsTrendy sales — which in some cases are earning them $100,000...
Cambridge’s GaggleAMP, whose tool lets users centrally distribute social media posts across their networks, says an audience of 12.5 million has received messages through its service since the tool came out of beta on Oct. 11. Worth noting: The 300-people-a-minute figure came from my arithmetic, not from GaggleAMP...