Posts Tagged ‘Baltimore’
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
 BALTIMORE & SAN DIEGO – JMI Equity, a growth equity firm that invests in leading software, internet, business services and healthcare IT companies, has closed the JMI Equity Fund VII, L.P. (JMI VII), an $875 million fund. With the closing of JMI VII, JMI Equity has successfully raised over $2.1 billion of committed capital since its founding in 1992.
“We are pleased to announce the closing of JMI VII,” said Harry Gruner, JMI Equity managing general partner and co-founder. “In this very challenging fundraising environment, we are grateful for the continued support of our longstanding investors, as well as the substantial interest from new investors.”
Since 1992, JMI Equity has invested in more than 100 businesses in its target markets. Through JMI VII, JMI Equity will continue its longstanding investment strategy of providing capital to fund growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and buyouts. The new fund will invest primarily in North American companies, targeting equity investments of $10 million to $100 million each.
Tags: Baltimore, JMI Equity closes Fund VII at $875M, San Diego
Posted in Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD – Arcion Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company developing therapies to treat pain, has raised $400,000 of a targeted $2 million mixed-securities offering, according to a regulatory filing.
Arcion raised $14.2 million in debt in February this year, according to a regulatory filing.
The company raised an $8.8 million Series A round led by CMEA Ventures and InterWest Partners in 2007.
Arcion’s CEO, Dr. James Campbell, is also professor of Neurosurgery and Director of the Blaustein Pain Treatment Center at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The company’s lead product is ARC-4558 (topical clonidine gel), a treatment for alleviating moderate and severe pain associated with diabetic neuropathy. It is an alternative to current systemic treatments for neuropathic pain, which often cause serious side effects.
It is evaluating other topical treatments for chronic neuropathic pain. The company’s products are based on research showing that the signal that triggers pain actually arises at the level of the skin, suggesting that topical treatments may be particularly effective.
Arcion disclosed the latest raise in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tags: Arcion Therapeutics, Baltimore, Dr. James Campbell, financing, John Hopkings, MD, pain therapies
Posted in Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Friday, October 8th, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD – The National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF) will host its 17th Annual Conference, “Funding Innovation: Accelerating the New Economy,” October 13-15, 2010 at the Marriott Baltimore Inner Harbor at Camden Yards.
Speakers include Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Sean Green, associate administrator for Investment and Special Advisor for Innovation at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Steven D. Welch, co-founder of Dreamlt Ventures and author of “We are all Born Entrepreneurs.”
The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) is a host and major sponsor of this year’s conference.
Tags: Adam Chopra, Baltimore, Events, MD, NASVF conference, Steven WElch
Posted in Events, Maryland, Potomac | Comments Off
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
 BALTIMORE – Profectus BioSciences Inc., a company developing vaccines to treat and prevent chronic viral diseases such as AIDS, has won $3.1 million in National Institute of Health grants. The company also received NIH collaborative grants to Dr. Robert Gallo, director of the Institute of Human Virology of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
The grants support the development of the company’s Transition State Vaccine (TSV) technology for a prophylactic HIV Vaccine.
The company harnesses the human immune system to treat and prevent viral diseases and cancers via its proprietary vaccines.
Originally developed at the IHV, the TSV strategy targets the adaptive immune response to the most protected portions of HIV envelope spikes that are considered the “Achilles heel” of all HIV isolates.
The TSV is being developed as a subunit protein and also for delivery utilizing the Company’s plasmid DNA and recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus vaccine vectors. Thus far, the TSV approach has generated significant protective responses in several non-human primate models for HIV.
Its unfortunate that many attempts to develop an effective HIV vaccine have so far had poor results in human trials. New approaches–such as that of Profectus, may eventually have better results.
Numerous Southeast companies are working on ways to fire up the human immune system to battle cancers. While results have been promising for some, the slow movement through the pre-clinical and clinical trial process means we probably won’t see any of them hit the market for a good many years yet.
But we think the increased knowledge of how to bring the immune system to bear on fighting AIDS, cancers, and other diseases is going to have revolutionary results in future medicine.
To email TJS Editor/writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: AIDS, Baltimore, cancer, grants, HIV, MD, NIH, Profectus BioSciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, vaccines
Posted in Maryland, Money, Potomac, University Tech | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
COLUMBIA, MD – The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) has invested $1.12 million in 15 Maryland startups, each receiving $75,000.
“From devices that will make great medical contributions to technologies that will change the face of modern agriculture, TEDCO’s Maryland Technology Transfer and Commercialization Fund helps a wide-range of innovations become a reality,” said John Wasilisin, acting president and executive director of TEDCO.
“This million-dollar investment will contribute to the quality and safety of our everyday lives and we look forward to following the progression of these promising technologies as they move from the laboratory to the marketplace.”
To date, 134 companies have received funding from MTTCF and completed their projects. With an investment of more than $9.3 million, these companies have gone on to receive downstream funding from angel and venture investors, federal awards and other resources exceeding $394.8 million. This is a leverage of the state’s investment through TEDCO of $42.4 to $1.
Companies funded in this round are:
- Amidus, Baltimore, is working with the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Tech Center to provide innovative technology solutions using custom algorithms that have wide applicability, especially in the events industry.
- Cognapse, Baltimore, is a healthcare company working with the Emerging Technology Center to focus on diseases and disorders of the brain as people age, such as Alzheimer’s. Remiva, the company’s first product, expected to be launched in 2011, is a proprietary combination of natural supplements and vitamins.
- CYNCZ, Germantown, Md., is working with the Germantown Life Sciences Incubator to provide an automatic self-updating address book that can aggregate all contact data sources including emails, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), mobile phones and social networking sites.
- Differential Dynamics Corp. (DDMotion), Owings Mills, Md., is working with the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) to introduce an all-mechanical green technology called Infinitely Variable Motion Control (IVMC) which has applications for power generation, compression, air conditioning, and vehicle transmissions. DDMotion is using TEDCO’s grant to enable IVMC to convert variable wind speed into constant output, allowing wind power generation that is capable of capturing a greater portion of available energy.
- Hememics Biotechnologies Inc., Rockville, Md., is working with the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center to provide ambient temperature shipping services to in-vitro diagnostic reagent manufacturers of cells at lower cost, while also extending the shelf life of many cell-based perishable products.
- Nour Immune Inc., Annapolis, is working with UMCP to create “proof of concept” for the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), which will demonstrate the in-vivo activity of its newly created anti-inflammatory agent, Nourexin-4, in a mouse model of H1N1 influenza infections. Nourexin-4, once developed and commercialized, will also have the potential to combat overactive inflammation in other diseases such as Hepatitis C and Sepsis.
- NutriGrown, Columbia, Md., is working with the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Services (USDA ARS) to produce a line of matrix-based, soil nutrient products designed to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous leaching by up to 80 percent, resulting in reduced nutrient leaching and enhanced plant growth.
- Omic Biosystems Inc., Rockville, Md., is working with the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) to create technological solutions for modern omics-based biological sciences such as genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and system biology.
- Pearl LifeScience Partners, Baltimore, is working with the UMBC Tech Center to bioengineer “synthetic dendritic cells” which are capable of stimulating an immune response against foreign agents. These synthetic dendritic cells will then act as host cells infected with an enveloped virus that subsequently replicates and stimulates the cell surface molecules which stimulate the immune system.
- Plasmonix Inc., Baltimore, is working with UMBI to develop Metal Enhanced Fluorescence (MEF) microplates that provide life science researchers with multiple thousand- fold increases in fluorescent signal assays. Once the MEF microplate product line is well-established, the company will introduce applications in the areas of biohazard detection and medical diagnostics.
- Quantum Medical Metrics, Baltimore, is working with the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL) and the UMBC Tech Center to refine, clinically test and produce an affordable, high performance Forearm Strength System for accurately estimating the strength of the forearm, which is one of the most common sites for osteoporotic fractures.
- Remedium Technologies Inc., College Park, Md., is working with UMCP to develop a propriety novel hemorrhage controlling technology called “Nano-Velcro.” Nano-Velcro is a wound care technology and user-friendly hemostat, which is able to orchestrate the rapid, self-assembly of a clot-like seal upon contact with blood.
- SAJE Pharma, Baltimore, is working with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to develop new therapeutic drugs that provide significant benefits over currently available therapies. The company’s current lead compound, SPL-334 is being developed to treat asthma.
- Seguro Surgical Inc., located in Columbia, Md., is working with JHU to develop the Lap Pak ™, a medical device for the efficient and secure packing of bowels which will expose the surgical site during major abdominal surgeries.
- Viracine Therapeutics Corp., located in Columbia, Md., is working with the USDA ARS to develop and characterize a series of genetic promoters for DNA containing viruses infecting invertebrates, such as shrimp, that are pantropic in nature and can be used to prevent plant diseases.
Tags: ; Cognapse, Amidus, Annapolis, Baltimore, College Park, Columbia, Differential Dynamics, funding, Germantown, Hermenmics Biotech, Maryland, Nour Immune, NutriGrown, Omic Biosystems, Owings Mill, Pearl LifeSicence Partners, Plasmonix, Quantum Medial Metrics, Remedium Technologies, Rockville, SAJE Pahrma, Seguro Surgical, TEDCO, Viracine Therapeutics
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Maryland, Potomac | Comments Off
Monday, August 30th, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD – Gliknik, a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases, has raised $1.9 million of a targeted $4 million equity round that includes warrants and options, according to a regulatory filing.
The company disclosed in June that Maryland Health Care Product Development Corp. (MHCPDC) had invested an undisclosed amount in the company and said it would invest an additional amount of equity this summer.
The MHCPDC is a non-profit venture investment organization and a supporting organization of the Tech Council of Maryland.
The company also raised a $3.6 million round in Janurary.
The company evolved from research by Dr. Scott Strome professor of Otorhinolarynogology-Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.
The company was founded by David S. Block, CEO and president, who was previously a senior executive at DuPont Merck and was COO of Celera Genomics. A serial entrepreneur, he also previously founded Ruxton Pharmaceuticals in 2004, a venture-backed startup.
Gliknik disclosed the funding in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Atlanta, autoimmune diseases, Baltimore, Biotech, cancer treatment, financing, GA, Gliknik, immune system modulation, MD
Posted in Georgia, Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD - BioMarker Strategies, which is developing tissue-based cancer diagnostics, has nabbed $1.12 million of a targeted $2.4 million equity raise, according to a regulatory filing.
The company previously raised a total of $2.3 million in numerous rounds since 2007.
The company has raised more than $4 million from private investors, including the Abell Foundation. The company was also named one of the “Top 20 Most Promising Startups” in the United States by the editors of the Thomson-Reuters Venture Capital Journal, out of more than 1,200 companies considered.
The company disclosed the raise in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company has also received $1 million of an Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant worth up to $2.3 million.
The company’s automated SnapPath live tumor cell testing system uses a comprehensive systems biology approach to enable ex vivo biomarker tests, known as a Functional Signaling Profile, to guide the development and use of targeted cancer therapeutics.
It says SnapPath will automate the processing, sample preparation and testing of biopsies from patients with solid tumor-based cancers, such as breast, colon, lung and pancreatic cancer.
Previously on TechJournal South: BioMarker lands $1.7M
Tags: Baltimore, BioMarker Strategies, cancer diagnostics, financing
Posted in Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD & RESTON, VA – Signal Hill Captial Group, a Baltimore-based investment banking firm focused on small and mid-cap growth companies in the technology, media, telecommunications, education, business and healthcare Services and insurance sectors, has merged with Updata Advisors Inc., which is focused exclusively on IT.
Financial details of the merger were not disclosed.
The transaction will not affect the growth private equity firm, Updata Partners, a previous affiliate of Updata Advisors.
The combined firm, to be called Signal Hill, blends Signal Hill’s history of advising a blue-chip roster of leading growth companies with Updata’s 23-year history of more than 400 transactions completed for many of the world’s top technology companies. The firm will continue to be headquartered in Baltimore, and will have offices in Nashville, TN, New York, Reston, VA, and San Francisco.
All of Updata Advisors’ active partners will join the Signal Hill team, as well as all supporting advisory professionals and other personnel. In addition, Ira D. Cohen, Co-founder and Managing General Partner of Updata, will manage the technology advisory practice of Signal Hill.
Tags: Baltimore, merger, Nashville, Reston, Signal Hill Capital Group, Updata Advisors, VA
Posted in Acquisitions, Maryland, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD - Noxilizer, which is developing a gas sterilization tech for hospitals and life science company use, has named Lawrence Bruder president and CEO.
The six-year-old company, housed at the Mryland Baltimore County Tech Center, says its technology will allow sterilization of sensitive medical devices at low temperatures.
Bruder was previously CEO of Guava Technoloiges, a venture-backed firm that sold to Millipore Biosciences in 2009.
Bruder also previously held executive positions at Becton Dickinson, Applied Biosystems, Lecica and Olympus.
Tags: Baltimore, CEO, gas sterilization of medical devices, Lawrence Bruder, Noxilizer
Posted in Maryland, People, Potomac | Comments Off
Monday, July 12th, 2010
 BALTIMORE – SafeNet Holding Corp., parent company of SafeNet Inc., which sells information security technology, has filed for an initial public offering of stock.
It is anticipated that the offering will consist of newly issued shares sold by SafeNet Holding Corporation as well as shares sold by selling stockholders.
The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.Morgan Stanley, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. are acting as joint lead bookrunners and BofA Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., are acting as joint bookrunners for the proposed offering. In addition, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Lazard Capital Markets LLC, Pacific Crest Securities LLC, and RBC Capital Markets Corporation will act as co-managers for the proposed offering.
Tags: Baltimore, IPO, IT security, Maryland, Safenet Inc.
Posted in IPOs, IT, Maryland, Potomac | Comments Off
Monday, July 12th, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD & TAMPA, FL – Environmental Operating Solutions, a Bourne, MA-based company with manufacturing facilities in Baltimore and Tampa that sells water purification technology, has raised $3.5 million in new equity funding.
Existing investor Stuart Mill Venture Partners was joined by new institutional investors MidPoint Food & Ag Fund and Meidlinger Partners. Founded in 2003, the company previously raised $2.5 million in 2008.
Proceeds from the investment will be used to support growth of the company’s MicroC line of non-hazardous, agriculturally-derived carbon sources for biological contaminant removal.
Contact Tech Journal South Editor and writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Baltimore, Environmental Operating Solutions, financing, Tampa, water purification
Posted in Florida, Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Monday, June 28th, 2010
BALTIMORE, MD – JMI Equity, a venture capital firm that specializes in backing software and business services companies, is raising a 7th fund, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing does not disclose a fund amount.
JMI’s $600 million Fund VI launched in 2007.
Founded in 1992, JMI has invested in more than 85 companies throughout North America and has approximately $1.3 billion of committed capital under management. Its portfolio includes Blackbaud, DoubleClick, DriveCam, Jackson Hewitt, Mission Critical Software, NEON Systems, Transaction Systems Architects, Unica Corporation and Vertafore.
Typical JMI investments range from $10 million to $60 million. For larger transactions, it sometimes leverages its large base of Limited Partners, many of whom have the ability to make sizeable co-investments alongside JMI. It limited partners include public and private pension funds, fund of funds, endowments, foundations and financial institutions.
The company also has an office in San Diego, CA.
Contact Tech Journal South Editor and writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Baltimore, business services, JMI Equity 7th fund, MD, software
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
 BALTIMORE – -Arginetix Inc. and Immune Control Inc. have merged to form Corridor Pharmaceuticals Inc., which will develop novel treatments for vascular diseases with an initial focus on pulmonary arterial hypertension. In conjunction with the merger, Corridor Pharmaceuticals completed a $15 million Series A financing with all major investors of both predecessor companies.
Investors include: Domain Associates, Quaker BioVentures, MedImmune Ventures, NewSpring Capital, Maryland Health Care Product Development Corp., Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA, Acidophil LLC, and Red Abbey Venture Partners.
We think this is an interesting trend, venture firms merging and recapping complementary companies under one management team.
Gary Lessing, formerly the CEO of Arginetix, will serve as CEO of Corridor, and Stephen Roth, Ph.D., formerly CEO of Immune Control, will serve as executive vice chairman of the board.
“This merger combines two talented teams and two complementary technology platforms to develop promising new therapeutics to treat pulmonary and vascular diseases,” says Lessing. “Together, we have the resources to advance our product pipeline and manage critical clinical, scientific and regulatory activities.”
C-122, Corridor’s lead candidate for PAH, has undergone extensive preclinical pharmacokinetic and toxicology testing. In animal models of PAH, the drug candidate prevents the elevation of pulmonary arterial blood pressure and reduces arterial hypertrophy and perivascular fibrosis. The company plans to file an IND application for C-122 in the second half of 2010.
The new firm is based in Baltimore with offices in West Conshohocken, PA.
Tags: Baltimore, Corridor Pharmaceuticals, financing, Maryland, Pharma, vascular diseases
Posted in Maryland, Money, Potomac | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 7th, 2010
 WINSTON-SALEM, NC – In one of the largest real estate deals in downtown Winston-Salem history, a Baltimore developer plans to convert two former R.J. Reynolds facilities into 242,000 square feet of high tech lab and office space in an $87 million project at Piedmont Triad Research Park.
Scheduled for completion by the end of 2011, the project is being developed by Baltimore-based Wexford Science+Technology, which will receive federal and state historic renovation tax credits worth about $32 million.
When it is completed, hundreds of Wake Forest University Health Sciences researchers and employees will move into the new offices and labs. The Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center will move about 320 people into the new facility.
The project is expected to create approximately 130 new jobs.
About 900 people work in the PTRP’s Central District, which houses Targacept and the Institute for Regenerative Medicine as well as many from Wake Forest Medical Center departments.
Tags: Baltimore, Economic Development, NC, Piedmont Triad Research Park, Wexford Science+Technology, Winton Salem
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, North Carolina | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
 By Allan Maurer
ATLANTA & RESEARCH TRIANGLE – The economic recovery is not jobless in venture-backed startups. Southern Capitol Ventures’ Jason Caplain tells us, “100 percent of our portfolio companies are hiring.”
In Atlanta, Noro-Moseley Partners portfolio companies list about 150 openings on its site.
Intersouth Partners, based in Durham, NC, says that 14 of 16 of its portfolio companies it surveyed are “hiring across the board.”
Caplain says many of Southern Capitol’s portfolio firms are staffing up in sales and marketing. Southern Capitol’s 11 portfolio companies include firms in Miami, RTP, Baltimore, Morrisville, Raleigh and Durham.
Noro-Moseley’s portfolio firms list jobs for network and systems engineers, security specialists, software engineers, a director of channel sales, a PR associate, and a project manager, among many others.
Intersouth tells us 14 of its companies plan to hire an average of 18 employees each this year with jobs open in both its tech and biotech companies.
Jobs across the board
Jobs are across the board – in sales, development, engineering, clinical, operations, marketing, says Intersouth spokesperson Suzanne Cantando.
We think a broader survey of the Southeast and in fact the nation would reveal that venture-backed startups and those bootstrapped, as well, are the real engine of job creation, not all these huge companies the government keeps pumping money into.
 Intersouth Partners Dennis Dougherty Intersouth’s Dennis Dougherty points out that ““High-growth startups aren’t using the money they’ve raised to acquire real estate or build new buildings – they’re using it to hire people. If you take the amount of venture capital raised each quarter and multiply it by 80 percent, that’s probably about the amount of money that will be going to paying for jobs.”
Noro-Moseley’s Mike Elliott says all of its portfolio companies have positions open. “If we were an investor during the downturn, they were stripped to minimal staffs,” he says, “So now they’re beginning to put people in both C level and middle management positions.”
Eliot says that while he feels “We’re definitely coming out of the recession, I don’t think we’re going to come roaring out. We have to remain cautious.”
He adds, however, “That we would like to show the folks in DC that it’s the young companies that really create the fuel for growth.”
Tags: Atlanta, Baltimore, Dennis Dougherty, Durham, economic recovery, Intersouth Partners, Jason Caplain, jobs, Mike Eliot, Morrisville, NC, Noro Moseley Partners, Raleigh, RTP, Southern Capitol Ventures, startup company jobs
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, Georgia, IT, Maryland, North Carolina, Potomac, TechJobs | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD – Social Solutions Global Inc., which sells performance management software for human services, has closed on $2.5 million in new equity, according to a regulatory filing.
The company raised $6.5 million from Charlotte, NC-based Frontier Capital and existing investors in February 2009, and $2.75 million from WWC Capital of Reston, VA, and IDEA Fund Partners of Durham, NC, in 2008.
The company says its Efforts to Outcomes software goes beyond case management and electronic medical records to help public, private, and nonprofit organizations collaborate, save time and improve service quality and effectiveness.
It says its Web-based software helps connect people to services, efforts to outcomes, and communities to stakeholders.
The company’s customers include:
Harlem Children’s Zone, Catholic Charities, YWCA, United Way, Goodwill, Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Social Service Administration, the US Department of Health and Human Services, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Boulder County, and cities such as Boston and Hartford.
The company disclosed the latest raise in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
www.socialsolutions.com
Tags: Baltimore, financing, Fronteir Capital, IDEA Fund, IT, Maryland, Social Solutions, WWC Capital
Posted in Carolinas, IT, Maryland, Money, North Carolina, Potomac | Comments Off
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
 RALEIGH, NC & ATLANTA – Forbes Magazine has ranked Raleigh the most wired city in the United States in its annual “Most Wired Cities,” list. The magazine says Atlanta, number 1 in 2008, is second, while last year’s number 1 selection, Seattle, is third.
The magazine bases its rankings on three criteria, broadband penetration, broadband access and Wi-Fi spots. It said Raleigh placed in the top ten in all three areas.
It points out that Sprint chose Raleigh and the nearby Research Triangle as one of the first areas for its 4G wireless network.
Calling Raleigh a “surprising winner,” the magazine wrote, “Raleigh is the kind of tech-forward city that, innovative as it is, often gets overlooked in favor of San Francisco, San Jose or Seattle.”
It said Raleigh boasts plenty of tech assets, including a high concentration of info-tech companies, research universities and state government offices. It noted that IBM, Cisco, and Lenovo all maintain large offices in the RTP.
Comments on the magazine’s article point out that some of the assets it cites, such as much of Research Triangle Park and Duke University are actually in Durham, but many surveys and lists of this type look at the Raleigh-Durham Metro Area rather than the individual cities.
The DC-Potomac region ranked 5, Baltimore 8, and Orlando 9 on the list.
Tags: Atlanta, Baltimore, DC, Durham, Forbes wired cities ranking, Raleigh, RTP
Posted in Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Potomac, Studies, surveys, reports, Washington, DC | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 1st, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD – ZeniMax Media Inc., an interactive media agency, has raised $1.8 million of a $2.1 million equity offering, according to a regulatory filing. We see the company includes some well-known names on its board, including film producer Jerry Bruckheimer, CBS President Leslie Moonves, and former Baltimore Orioles player Cal Ripken.
The company raised a whopping $300 million round from Providence Equity Partners in 2007, another $9.9 million in 2008, and $105 million via convertible notes to buy game developer id Software in 2009.
Founded in 1999 by Chris Weave, founder of Softworks, and Robert Altman, the company creates and publishes interactive entertainment content for consoles, PCs, and handheld devices.
The company’s game development division, ZeniMax Online Studios, is based in Hunt Valley, MD. It develops massively multiplayer online games.
Id Software, which the company purchased, developed the DOOM and QUAKE games.
It Bethesda Game Studios created the 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the 2008 Game of the Year, Fallout 3.
Vir2L Studios is an award-winning interactive design division developing cross-platform games for handheld devices and mobile phones in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
Principals listed in the filing, in addition to Altman, chairman and CEO of the company, include:
Film and TV producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whose credits include CSI, and the films “Beverly Hills Cop,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” among many others.
Michael Dominguez, managing director of Providence Equity Partners.
Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corp.
Cal Ripken Jr., president and CEO of Ripken Baseball Inc, and former baseball player, now an author, public speaker and businessman. Ripken played ball for Baltimore Orioles for 21 years and retired from professional baseball in 2001.
Robert S. Trump, Donald Trump’s brother and president of real estate management company Trump Management, and an original investor in ZeniMax.
www.zenimax.com
Tags: Baltimore, Cal Ripken, Doom, Jerry Bruckheimer, Leslie Moonves, MD, online games, Quake, ZeniMax Media
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD – Millennial Media, the largest independent mobile advertising network, says it will acquire TapMetrics, a San Francisco-based mobile analytics firm, focused on application usage and behavior. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
TapMetrics software suite provides detailed analytics to enable developers to better manage their application sales and revenue.
Since adding $16 million to its cash position in November, Millennial Media has expanded its offerings to key customer segments, to include OEM and platform partnerships that seek to access its strong base of developers and publishers. Additionally, Millennial Media’s employee base has grown by more than 20 percent, as it continues to expand operations in the U.S. and Europe.
We see Millennial’s rapid growth as another indicator that the mobile sector is indeed taking off the way analysts have been predicting it would this year.
The company says its brand business grew by a whopping 756 percent year over year, while its performance business grwe 171 percent and its average deal size increased by 353 percent. It says it reaches 81 percent of mobile Web users.
www.millennialmedia.com
Tags: Acquisitions, Baltimore, Maryland, Millennial Media, Mobile ad network
Posted in Acquisitions, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
 FREDERICK, MD – Vaccinogen Inc., a company developing immunotherapy treatments for cancer and other products, has closed on $4 million in equity, according to a regulatory filing.
Greg Barnhilll, a partner at Brown Advisory Securities in Baltimore is among the principals named in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company was co-founded by CEO and chairman Michael G. Hanna, Jr., Ph.D, a pioneer in developing therapies based on the idea of “turning a patient’s cancer on itself” via the immune system, in 2007.
A key characteristic of cancer is that, because it is a mutation of the body’s own cells, it does not trigger the natural resistance that humans have to other diseases.
We know of several Southeast companies working on ways to bring the immune system into play against cancers, including Durham-based Pique Therapeutics, which has shown some effectiveness against the deadliest form of lung cancer. Vaccinogen, however, says its product is the only one of its kind aimed at battling Stage II colon cancer.
The OncoVAX treatment involves using the patient’s own cancer cells to provide a vaccine to trigger natural resistance.
Vaccinogen is about to start selling its OncoVAX technology as a treatment for Stage II colon cancer in Switzerland this year.
The OncoVAX treatment has U.S. FDA fast track designation for treating Stage II colon cancer in the U.S. and will test the therapy in a Phase IIIb clinical trial.
U.S. availability by 2013-14
The company anticipates the treatment may be available in the U.S. by 2013-2024.
The company has the manufacturing capability to product the OncoVAX product commercially.
Vaccinogen is also focused on discovering, developing and manufacturing fully human monoclonal antibodies for human clinical use. Its HumaSPECT antibody was one of the first to be widely approved for any clinical use worldwide.
www.vaccinogeninc.com
Tags: Baltimore, Biotech, colon cancer, Frederick, funding, Marlyand, Pharma, Vacccinogen, vaccines
Posted in Maryland, Money, Potomac | 1 Comment »
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