The digital health-tracking craze is in full swing. Tech companies are trying to help us quantify ourselves and stay in better shape. MIT startup Quanttus has come out of stealth mode this week, with $22 million in funding from East and West Coast investors. The 25-person company makes a wrist-worn device that monitors vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. The idea is to give both consumers and doctors new insights into personal health. One question is how the emerging Boston health-tech cluster will compete with big guys like Apple, Google, Jawbone, and Fitbit. But we certainly have the brainpower and medical expertise to make it interesting.
In other innovation news:
• Radius Health is the latest Boston-area biotech company to file for an IPO. The osteoporosis drug maker is looking to raise $86 million in a public offering.
• Our deals of the week are both around enterprise data. NuoDB, a developer of a new kind of database, has gotten $14 million in new funding. And online database software firm Cloudant is being acquired by IBM. That’s Big Blue’s 22nd acquisition of a Massachusetts company since 2003.
• And lastly, how will education technology impact student success? That’s the theme of a conference happening today and tomorrow at Harvard University. Ed-tech nonprofit LearnLaunch is bringing together schools and companies like TenMarks, Panorama Education, and Curriculum Associates to talk about the digital learning market---and the challenging future of America’s classrooms.
