Boston Tech Watch: Dell-EMC, Codeship, Compete Job Cuts & More
We’ve got lots of Boston tech news to catch up on from the past week, including a crucial step for the Dell-EMC merger, new venture capital deals, job cuts, and executives on the move. Read on for details.
Grabbing cash
—Boston-based Codeship announced Tuesday it raised $ 7 million in a Series A funding round led by Ascent Venture Partners, with contributions from previous backers Sigma Prime Ventures, Boston Seed Capital, and F-Prime Capital Partners. Codeship, whose Web-based service enables automated testing and implementing of software code, said it has raised $ 11.1 million total from investors to date.
—Liberty Mutual has invested in a new mobile app startup, All Set Works, that helps consumers find house cleaning and lawn care services recommended by other customers, according to reports by BostInno and the Boston Business Journal. The startup disclosed in an SEC filing that it raised almost $ 14.5 million from investors.
Liberty Mutual formed an in-house technology incubator, Solaria Labs, last year at WeWork South Station, and it created a venture capital fund this year. All Set will reportedly be independently operated.
Making deals
—EMC (NYSE: EMC) shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favor of the company’s merger with Dell, bringing the $ 60 billion-plus deal close to the finish line. The final step is securing the approval of Chinese regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported.
—Needham, MA-based Enservio is being acquired by Westlake, TX-based Solera Holdings for an undisclosed price. Enservio provides software and services for the insurance industry, while Solera makes software that does things like process transactions for the auto and housing industries.
Business shakeups and shutdowns
—Almost two months after being acquired, Boston-based marketing technology company Fiksu has split itself into four businesses focusing on different aspects of mobile advertising and marketing. The new companies will be independent, but will work closely together, Fiksu said. Fiksu founder and CEO Micah Adler will lead one of the new entities, called Fiksu DSP.
—Lineage Labs—maker of Bevy, a device and software system that enables families to collect and store photos and videos—is shutting down. In a blog post, the company cited a lack of funding. BostInno reported Lineage Labs had raised $ 4 million from Converge Venture Partners, the Kraft Group, and Blade, the former venture creation outfit led by Paul English.
—Boston-based data analytics firm Compete is cutting 70 jobs after selling parts of its business to ComScore in April, the Boston Business Journal reported.
People on the move
—Dave Porcello, the founder and chief technology officer of Boston-based cybersecurity startup Pwnie Express, has transitioned to an advisory role, according to an e-mailed statement attributed to CEO Paul Paget. The company named Artur Adib, a former software engineer at Twitter and Mozilla, as its new CTO. Pwnie Express was founded in 2010 and has raised about $ 20 million from investors, including a $ 12.9 million Series B round announced in May.
—Executive turnover at Athenahealth: the Watertown, MA-based healthcare software maker (NASDAQ: ATHN) said chief operating officer Ed Park will leave that position at the end of the year and join the company’s board. That follows the departure in May of chief financial officer Kristi Matus, the Boston Business Journal reported.
—MassChallenge named Nick Dougherty as the program director of Pulse@MassChallenge, its new “innovation lab” for digital health entrepreneurs, which is located at the Landmark Center in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. Dougherty previously co-founded and led VerbalCare, a healthtech startup that went through MassChallenge’s flagship accelerator program in Boston in 2013 and was acquired by Medical Specialties Distributors last year.
The lab, which will open the application process in September, is part of a digital health initiative backed by the state, the city of Boston, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP), MassChallenge, and other stakeholders in healthcare, academia, and industry.
—RockTech CEO David Gowel has left to become president and chief operating officer of RallyPoint Networks, a Watertown, MA-based startup that runs an online professional networking service for current and former members of the military. RallyPoint is led by co-founder and CEO Yinon Weiss, who served in the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps.
—LifeImage, a Newton, MA-based company that makes software tools for sharing medical images, named Janak Joshi to the newly created position of CTO. Joshi previously worked at Deloitte, Siemens Healthcare, Generation Health, and Partners HealthCare.
—Molecular Health, a Germany-based healthcare software company, made two hires at its Boston office: Gerry Sheridan was named CFO, and Les Paul was appointed its chief medical officer. Paul has worked at Novartis, AstraZeneca, and MedCo Health Solutions, among others. Sheridan has worked at Seno Medical Instruments and GDC Technics.
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