Tag: investment
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Fund to Back Independent, Early Stage Science Companies
Entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel has started Breakout Labs, a funding source to help independent scientists and early-stage companies develop their most radical ideas. Thiel announced Breakout Labs last night at a meeting of Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students in California. Thiel aims to provide financing for visionaries whose ideas are too ahead of…
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U.S. Venture Investments Up in Q3, Science Companies Mixed
Dow Jones VentureSource reports that venture capital (VC) investment in the U.S. rose in the third quarter of 2011 compared to 2010, including the number and size of deals and investment volume. Among science-based companies, medical device and energy companies gained in investment deals and volume. Among biotech and pharmaceutical companies, the number of deals…
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Investment Fund to Back Health Cost-Cutting Technologies
The West Health Investment Fund, an angel capital enterprise in San Diego, unveiled its first set of investments and plans to support other entrepreneurs developing health care technologies and services designed to lower the cost of health care. Gary and Mary West, who established the fund, expect to invest $100 million in early-stage companies. The…
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Diagnostics Start-Up Closes $33.5M Early-Stage Financing
Foundation Medicine Inc., a developer of cancer genome diagnostics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has expanded its early stage financing to $33.5 million, adding new venture investors. The additional financing is expected to help the company continue its research work on cancer diagnostic tests. The new funding from Google Ventures and venture capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield…
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Pharma, Technology Lead Worldwide Corporate R&D Rebound
Research and development spending by the largest 1,400 corporate R&D spenders worldwide increased by more than 4 percent to €465 billion ($US 630 billion) in 2010, reversing a nearly 2 percent decline in 2009. The data are compiled in the European Commission’s EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, released today. Pharmaceuticals/biotechnology, technology hardware, and automotive companies…
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Venture Firm Raises $440 Million for Life Sciences
Sofinnova Ventures, a venture capital (VC) company in Menlo Park, California says it has completed raising funds for its next round of investments in life sciences companies. The fund, Sofinnova Venture Partners VIII, has collected or has commitments totaling $440 million. Sofinnova says it plans to invest the funds primarily in later stage health care…
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Google to Partner with, Finance DNA Sequencing Data Company
DNAnexus Inc., a DNA data management and analysis company in Mountain View, California, says it will collaborate with Google Inc. to provide access to its archive of publicly available DNA data. Also today, DNAnexus announced it has secured $15 million in second-round equity funding from a syndicate led by Google Ventures and life sciences venture…
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Angel Early Stage Investments Gain in First Half of 2011
Angel investments in very early stage U.S. entrepreneurial companies rose in the first half of 2011 according to a new report from the Center for Venture Research (CVR) at University of New Hampshire. Science-based enterprises, says CVR, accounted for over half of the total dollars invested by angels in that period. Angel investors are individuals…
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Survey: VCs Pulling Back from Biopharma, Devices Companies
A survey of venture capital (VC) companies investing in health care enterprises says they have shifted funding away from businesses that develop drugs and medical devices toward less regulated services and information technology firms. The survey, conducted by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) from July to September 2011, covers 156 of its members with…
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University of Michigan to Invest in Campus Start-Ups
University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman said Wednesday that the university would begin investing directly in new businesses created from research conducted on its campus. The program, called Michigan Investment in New Technology Startups (MINTS), would provide up to $25 million in early-stage capital over the next 10 years. The university says eligible start-ups…