Tag: entrepreneurs
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Energy Efficient, Low CO2, Lower Cost Cement Developed
Engineers at Drexel University in Philadelphia have developed a new cement that reduces energy use and carbon dioxide output by 97 percent compared to standard Portland cement. The research behind the new cement is described in the March 2012 issue of the journal Cement and Concrete Composites (paid subscription required). The new type of cement…
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University Spinoff Designs Virtual Reality for Architects
A start-up company begun in 2010 by students at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany is developing virtual reality systems to enable visualizing proposed designs for building spaces before construction. The company, inreal Technologies GmbH, also in Karlsruhe, will demonstrate its system at the CeBIT technology show on 10 March in Hannover, Germany. The…
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Devices, Industrial Biotech Lead 2012 Life Science Funding
Funding for privately-held life sciences companies worldwide in the first six weeks of 2012 shows medical device developers and industrial biotechnology companies attracting the most equity capital, but drug developers engaging in the largest number of financing deals. The report by life sciences venture capital firm Burrill and Company was released on Friday. Burrill reports…
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Venture Investment for European Companies Drops in 2011
Venture capital declined 14 percent and number of deals dropped 19 percent for European companies in 2011 compared to 2010, with €4.4 billion ($US 5.8 billion) going into 1,012 deals. Industries based on scientific discoveries were among those suffering double-digit percentage declines from the previous year. Dow Jones VentureSource that compiled the data says it…
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Knee Replacement Maker Lands $89M Series E Financing
ConforMIS Inc. in Burlington, Massachusetts, a developer of customized knee-replacement implant technology, has raised $89 million in a series E round of funding, the fifth investment cycle after start up. The privately held company says the investments were made by private equity funds, led by AGC Equity Partners and Axel Johnson Inc., along with government…
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VC Company, Harvard Start Seed-Stage Fund
The Experiment Fund, a joint venture of Harvard University’s engineering school and venture capital company New Enterprise Associates (NEA), opened today in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The fund plans to support technology-based student start-ups in Cambridge and companies begun elsewhere by former students. The venture expects to support companies working in information technologies, health care, and energy.…
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$250K Challenge Seeks Post-Hospital Care Ideas
Janssen Healthcare Innovation, a unit of pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson in San Diego, is offering a challenge with a total of $250,000 in awards for technology solutions to improve the care for patients discharged from the hospital. The Janssen Connected Care Challenge was announced today by Kimberly Park, a Janssen Healthcare Innovation partner, at the…
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Dutch Biotech Raises $30M for Rare Disease Therapies
Prosensa, a biopharmaceutical company in Leiden, the Netherlands, says it has raised €23 million ($30 million) in new equity financing. The company develops therapeutics using ribonucleic acid (RNA) modulation to address rare diseases, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy, and Huntington’s disease. The funding round is led by New Enterprise Associates in Menlo Park, California,…
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U.S. VC Investments Up for 2011, Flat for Science Companies
Venture capital (VC) investors in the U.S. increased in 2011 compared to 2010, both in terms of numbers of deals and amount of money invested. However, the fourth quarter of the year was an unusually slow period, according to Dow Jones VentureSource that compiled the data, and consumer Web companies appeared to benefit from the…
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Faster, Cheaper Thermoelectric Materials Process Developed
Engineers and materials scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York have discovered new methods to create nanomaterials for more efficient refrigerators and cooling systems with no refrigerants or moving parts. The research is described in a paper published online in the journal Nature Materials (paid subscription required), and the authors have started commercializing…