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An expert in biotechnology says software coders should be thinking about improving the climate on Mars, designing human organs that fend off disease or cloning cattle that produce powerful vaccines in lieu of dairy products.This was the big-picture view in San Francisco on Thursday, where Juan Enriquez - a managing director at Boston-based Excel Venture Management, and a director at biotech powerhouse Synthetic Genomics Inc. - spoke to a group of aspiring app developers.

U.S. House passes legislation to increase taxation of carried interest, but the National Venture Capital Association expects the Senate to make changes to favor long-term investment.

A start-up company drew chuckles from our news team for its brazen attempt to insert humor in an otherwise mundane announcement. We just had to share.

Maveron, a specialist investor in consumer-facing businesses known for its Starbucks Corp. connection, is staring at what looks like a once-in-a-lifetime shift in consumer attitudes.

The most active states for entrepreneurial activity last year were Montana and Oklahoma, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.

Social Web technology continues to move into corporations.

A group of former Pfizer Inc. employees is offering start-ups an alternative to traditional venture financing through MicroDose Life Sciences.

Sonim Inc., a maker of phones that are nearly unbreakable, has tapped new and existing investors for a $9 million Series D round.

When biotech executives are courting investors to raise money, they have to find ways to sell company stock without selling their soul. That was one of the messages panelists had for executives during a recent BIO convention panel in Chicago.

Secondary investor Industry Ventures is launching a program aimed at the hundreds of venture firms with funds at the end of their ten-year lifecycle.

A new start-up, Etacts Inc., is attempting to unify all inbox messages into one place, focusing on people who have to stay in touch with contacts for their jobs.

While venture investors await further signs of life from the public markets, a growing market for private company shares is fueling secondary marketplaces launched last year by SecondMarket Inc. and SharesPost Inc.

The NVCA delivers a letter to the U.S. Senate with more than 1,700 signatures opposing an increase in the taxation of carried interest.

Swipely Inc., a company that enables people to automatically post information about their purchases and discuss the purchases with their friends, has raised $7.5 million in Series A financing led by Index Ventures.

Swipely Inc., a company that enables people to automatically post information about their purchases and discuss the purchases with their friends, has raised $7.5 million in Series A financing led by Index Ventures.

Internet Pawn Inc. recently secured a $1.5 million Series A round of funding from Daylight Partners and Access Ventures to launch an Internet pawn shop.

The three-day 2010 Angel Capital Association Summit drew more than 400 investors from across the U.S and nearly 50 other countries.

In a guest column, serial entrepreneur and Boston University professor Vinit Nijhawan urges U.S. entrepreneurs build products and services that can compete on price in both domestic and emerging markets.

Venture capitalists and corporate investors say they are learning to work together.

Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn Corp. and partner at Greylock Partners, in a talk at the National Venture Capital Association annual meeting Tuesday, said he is now looking for the next big social media hit through Greylock.