TripAdvisor becomes a public company: What it means for Mass. Expedia is spinning off TripAdvisor as an independent public company.
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. TripAdvisor will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol TRIPV and is expected to join the S&P 500 Index on Tuesday. A few thoughts on why this matters for Massachusetts (I’m no expert, so there are probably ones I’m missing): • More independence can be a good thing. . • Speaking of jobs — TripAdvisor had 660 of them in the U.S. as of the middle of the year, according to the Expedia filing with the SEC. . • The move could raise the profile of the Bay State’s expertise in travel tech. Vistaprint to acquire Webs.com for $118 million. Rodney H.
Robots on the march. W.
Marc Bernsau Bench test technician Ferry Lamarre prepares a unit at Kiva Systems in North Reading. Don Seiffert, Special to the Journal. Big IPO week could include Woburn's FusionStorm Global. It could be one of the busiest IPO weeks in years, and the Massachusetts technology community shouldn’t be left out, according to IPO tracker Renaissance Capital.
FusionStorm Global, a Woburn-based IT services firm, is expected to price its shares this week as one of a dozen companies slated to go public. Others include social games developer Zynga (which has a Cambridge office) and business software firm Jive Software. FusionStorm Global expects 13.4 million shares to price in the range of $12 to $14 a share, which could raise $188.4 million if the offering prices at the high end of the range.
Actifio moves out of startup phase with $33M VC round. Waltham’s Actifio, provider of a business data backup service that aims to be simpler than current methods, has added Andreessen Horowitz to its list of prominent venture capital firm backers, with the firm leading Actifio’s $33 million Series C round.
Actifio joins Facebook, Zynga and Twitter in the portfolio of the Menlo Park, Calif. -based VC firm, headed by Marc Andreessen (Netscape co-founder) and Ben Horowitz (co-founder of Opsware). In a statement, Andreessen Horowitz general partner Peter Levine said he’s watched Actifio grow rapidly since its founding in 2009 by CEO Ash Ashutosh. Levine said the company has transformed itself from an innovative startup to a “well-established market leader” in the area of turning data management into a virtualized service.
The new funding round also included Actifio’s three big-name previous investors — North Bridge Venture Partners, Greylock Partners and Advanced Technology Ventures. UTest taps backers for $17M Series D round. Southborough software testing company uTest Inc. has raised $17 million in a Series D round of funding led by QuestMark Partners of Baltimore.
In a release put out by uTest, the company noted that previous backers Scale Venture Partners, Longworth Venture Partners, Egan-Managed Capital and Mesco Ltd. participated in the new funding round, which brings the crowdsourced testing company’s total equity funding to $37 million since it was founded in 2007. Among the recent accomplishments the company touted in its release is a doubling of employee count since 2008, along with an increase in revenue of 250 percent since that year. The new funds from the Series D round will be used to open new offices in areas that uTest has identified as being “app creation hotspots” like Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago, the release stated.
Slide show: Which Boston companies are seeking IPOs? Exa Corp. image.
Waiting for the IPO window: A dozen companies remain in registration, hoping to avoid a withdrawal. Stuart Garfield Pete Manca and his company, Egenera Inc., are waiting for the right time to go public.
The volatile market for initial public stock offerings is causing many industry watchers to wonder: Will the companies in registration ever go public? But for some companies that may now be realizing the time isn’t right, the question is likely shifting: If not now, then when? If we withdraw, will we ever make it back? It all depends, of course. As of earlier this week, 12 Massachusetts-based companies were in registration with the U.S. Atlas Venture lures ed startup FlashNotes to Cambridge. Drawn by Cambridge's Atlas Venture and the concentration of universities, education startup FlashNotes is re-locating to Cambridge from Cleveland.
IPO or IBM? Boston tech firms weigh 2 top exit options. Waltham's Q1 Labs was all set to file for an initial public stock offering as soon as next April.
But as volatility shook the stock markets, IBM showed up with an offer-you-can't-refuse type of offer: We'll make you the centerpiece of an entire division. Q1, which in October was acquired by IBM, was almost certainly not the first Boston area tech firm to find itself choosing between acquisition by Big Blue or pursuing an IPO. Armonk, N.Y. Verastem, with IPO planned, raises $20M in funding. Roughly a week after announcing its plans for an initial public offering, Verastem Inc. has raised $20 million through a Series C equity placement, according to a federal document. A filing with the U.S. Boston Medical doc tackles mobile app problems with startup. Courtesy | AppGuppy Dr. Ash Nadkarni says she thought up the idea for her mobile startup, Appguppy, after finding the app creation process a hassle.
As a Boston Medical Center physician in her last year of residency, Ash Nadkarni isn’t the most likely candidate for founding a mobile startup. But she had a good reason to start the venture, Appguppy — she wanted to create an app for herself that could help her connect with her patients. Ex-Netezza CEO Jim Baum lands at robotics startup. Jim Baum has taken the CEO's job at robotics startup CasePick Systems after leaving the chief executive job at Netezza. IPO-bound Rapid7 raises $50M round. Rapid7, which makes IT security software, has taken in $50 million of venture funding as it progresses toward an expected filing for an initial public offering of stock. The funding for the Boston-based company dwarfed its two prior rounds, of $7 million and $2 million. Rapid7 said the Series C funding was led by Palo Alto, Calif. -based Technology Crossover Ventures, which joins existing backer Bain Capital Ventures of Boston on the round. Harvard Innovation Lab opens to foster entrepreneurs.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for today marks the official opening of the new Harvard Innovation Lab, which is expected to serve as a focal point for entrepreneurial activity in the Boston area. The i-lab, as it’s been referred to, will play host today to the likes of Boston Mayor Tom Menino, Harvard University President Drew Faust and Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria.
The Allston center, located on Western Ave. in the former WGBH-TV headquarters, includes classrooms, conference rooms, offices and 5,000 square feet of open space that will support not only informal meetings but community events. Betaspring startups offered $50K for 1-year Providence stay. Rhode Island’s got city life, great universities and beautiful beaches. IPO-bound Rapid7 raises $50M round. 10 stealthy Boston startups I'm watching. Biff Labs Biff Labs came to my attention via a funding press release from Polaris Venture Partners this summer (an SEC filing shows the company has raised $1.5M). MedVentive makes $12.9M in a pair of fundraises. Waltham health-care management software firm MedVentive Inc. has brought in $12.9 million in two separate financings, according to documents filed with the SEC. In the first filing with the U.S. 17 live up to MassChallenge. Visible Measures boosts Series D round to $13M. SCVNGR expands LevelUp service, aiming at Groupon in NYC, San Francisco.
Business Journal file photo SCVNGR founder and CEO Seth Priebatsch. The company is expanding its LevelUp service to two new cities, aiming at taking business from Groupon in New York and San Francisco. SCVNGR Inc. said Wednesday it has expanded a retooled version of LevelUp, its service the pair deals at local businesses with a new mobile payment system, into New York City and San Francisco.
Software firm Aternity targets Global 1000 with $13M funding round. Enterprise IT management firm Aternity Inc. said Tuesday it has raised $13 million in a Series D financing round, which the company said would boost its sales and marketing efforts with Global 1000 companies. Putney leashes a $21M funding for generic pet medicine. Jean Hoffman, founder and CEO, Putney Putney Inc., a Maine company developing generic prescription medicine for pets, has rounded up $21 million in a Series C financing led by both Safeguard Scientifics Inc. and NewSpring Capital.
The Portland company said in a news release today that it plans to apply the $21 million to develop products, apply to sales and marketing efforts and use for general operations. The close of the funding round brings on board Bruce Downey, partner of NewSpring Health Capital II, and James Datin, executive vice president and managing director of the Safeguard life sciences group. Putney is led by founder and CEO Jean Hoffman, a Mass High Tech Woman to Watch in 2011. Stealthy startup Plexxi raises $20M from Calif., Mass. VCs. Plexxi Inc., a stealthy networking technology startup, said in blog post Thursday that it has raised $20 million from investors that include Matrix Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners. Plexxi, based in Nashua, N.H., said the round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners of California with participation from Matrix and North Bridge, both of Waltham, Mass.
The round brings the company’s total funding to $28.3 million, Plexxi said in the blog, noting that its $8.3 million Series A had included Matrix and North Bridge. Pandora to get a challenge from Clear Channel, powered by Somerville’s Echo Nest. Photo courtesy of Echo Nest. Clear Channel is preparing a "big answer to Pandora," said Echo Nest CEO Jim Lucchese. His company's music search and recommendation engine is to be used in Clear Channel's Internet radio offering. Mass High Tech names 15 All-Stars for 2011. 13 Massachusetts companies included on the Inc 500 List - Read Scott's E-Mail. From Estonia to Boston: GrabCAD Looks to Play Big Role in New England’s Tech Future. Contact Us. BuyWithMe Hires Ex-Googler to Help Company Grow, Retain Top Talent. E Ink moving to Billerica. MassChallenge: 1st class of startups has raised $90M. IPO-bound BackOffice gets new CEO.
Robot uprising: 60 Mass. companies building 'bots. Brainshark: The Tablet (and Hiring) Push is On – Announces Partnership with Blackboard. Chargify gets Cuban money while Grasshopper jumps out of spinout biz. Second round for eegoes ekes out $1M. Citrix doubles investment on IPO-bound GlassHouse. XOS Technologies takes in almost $4M in new funding. VoltUp launches PowerMax to max Android battery.