Dan Primack

Apologies for the light posting today, but I’m heading off to judge the semifinals round of a cleantech business plan competition sponsored by MIT. I and two other judges will get pitched by three different companies, includes ones that claim to have: (1) Developed a new process for producing solar-grade silicon; (2) Developed an onsite renewable generation system; […]

I don’t usually root for VC-backed companies to succeed or fail. It’s not my job and it’s not my money. The only exception comes when I publicly express faith in a company’s prospects, only to get accused of ill-informed pandering by those with more insight into the company’s technology and competitive position. One recent (and […]

Pixim, a Mountain View, Calif.-based maker of chips for video security and surveillance cameras, yesterday announced that it had raised $15 million in new VC funding. It’s the company’s first round since a $12 million VC recap in 2005, which came after VCs had invested around $75 million (mostly during the bubble). The recap round […]

Carticept, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based developer of medical devices that help repair cartilage defects, has quietly raised $23 million in additional Series A funding from return backers Domain Associates and New Enterprise Associates. If the company doesn’t ring a bell, that’s probably because it was called Windward Medical Inc. when it scored $2.55 million in startup […]

Microbia Inc. today announced that it has raised $50 million in Series F funding, which will help its three lead compounds move through Phase II trials. Yes, two of those three drugs focus on [insert scatologic reference here] – specifically, chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome – but the third is aimed at high cholesterol, so […]

Some assorted notes from the past few days in Beaver Creek, as I reacclimate myself to Eastern Standard Time… *** VC in the Rockies was not a “boondoggle.” I don’t write this in order to preempt corporate overlord questions about my pending expense report, but rather because this was the term used by almost every […]

Thirty-three companies presented at VC in the Rockies on Wednesday, including 23 that are currently seeking new funding. What follows are the basic details of those seekers: Abla-Tx Inc. www.abla-tx.com Founded: 2005 Description: Developing a platform for supporting the treatment of solid tumors by thermal ablative techniques.  $$$ Seeking $10 million Series C round this […]

I just got out of the Brad Feld Session here at VC in the Rockies. OK, that wasn’t its official name, but Brad was an early backer of all three presenting companies: Lijit Networks, NewsGator Technologies and Me.dium.   Lijit is a vertical search startup and NewsGator is an established RSS company — but it’s Me.dium I […]

A lot of you have been writing in to ask my take on the FilmLoop situation, in which one of its VC backers – ComVentures — allegedly engineered a company liquidation by having it get acquired by another one of the VC firm’s portfolio companies. Questions about self-dealing, ethics, actual facts, etc. Oh, and TechCrunch’s […]

Yesterday I was interviewed by a Boston radio station that’s doing a piece on the finances of drug rehab centers, like Bain Capital’s $723 million acquisition last year of CRC Health Group. I broadened the conversation a bit to discuss specialty healthcare facilities in general, since most of them have similar value propositions: Guaranteed reimbursement […]