TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

Via News Release

“MINNEAPOLIS – March 5, 2013 – Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNIN), a leading marketing technologies provider, today announced that it has entered into agreements to sell approximately $1.56 million of its securities in a registered direct offering.

Pursuant to these agreements, the company will issue 868,000 units at a price of $1.80 per unit, with each unit consisting of (i) one share of common stock, and (ii) one five-year warrant to purchase 0.50 of a share of common stock, with exercisability commencing six months and one day after issuance, at an exercise price of $2.73 per share. The company expects net proceeds at closing of approximately $1.3 million, which it plans to use for general corporate purposes, including working capital. “

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Via News Release

“MINNEAPOLIS – Feb. 28, 2013 – Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV), the revenue growth experts in global cloud commerce, announced today that its board of directors has appointed David C. Dobson chief executive officer.  Dobson, 50, who will also join Digital River’s board of directors, was previously executive vice president at CA Technologies, a global IT management software and solutions company.

Dobson succeeds Digital River’s Chairman Thomas Madison, who has served as interim chief executive officer while the company conducted a search for a permanent replacement [Joel Ronning].  Madison will continue to serve as the non-executive chairman of Digital River’s board of directors.”

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Via NR

“MINNETONKA, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb. 21, 2013– UnitedHealthcare and Novu are launching an innovative online portal, www.uhc.novu.com, that enables people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plans to create their own health-improvement and wellness programs.

The UnitedHealthcare-Novu program is available at no charge now to UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plan members in New Jersey, Wisconsin and Washington state. This expanded pilot builds on the company’s successful initial test of the program, which started in October 2012 and included about 90,000 members in Texas, Ohio, Arizona and Colorado.”

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By Thom Fountain, VolumeOne

“Plans unveiled Wednesday morning by a software firm and a private developer could significantly reshape the ongoing North Barstow Street redevelopment.

At the Eau Claire Redevelopment Authority meeting, JAMF Software unveiled a proposal for an office building it hopes to build in the Phoenix Park neighborhood. JAMF Software founder Zach Halmstad said the company is quickly outgrowing its space on Graham Avenue, but wants to stay in downtown. The company currently has 90 employees in Eau Claire and expects to grow to 125 by the end of the year and to 150-200 by the end of 2014.”

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Via News Release

“Minneapolis, February 18, 2013 – Eighteen nonprofits and web development teams were selected today to spend daylight saving weekend losing their hour of sleep among 24 hours of pro-bono service at The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge.

During the spring-forward weekend of March 9-10, these nonprofits’ websites will undergo extreme makeovers:”

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By Ann Carrns, The New York Times

“We’ve all wished at times that we could just chat with a doctor from our office, instead of taking time away from work to drive to the clinic. Now, a case study of medical care delivered online suggests that virtual visits can effectively treat some common ailments at a lower cost than in-person visits.

A report by the creators of the Virtuwell clinic, an online service started more than two years ago by the HealthPartners health care system in Minnesota that has handled roughly 40,000 cases, says that such visits were, on average, $88 less expensive than treatment provided in traditional settings. The visits also saved an estimated 2.5 hours, on average, of patients’ time.”

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By Dhanya Skariachan and Jessica Toonkel and Olivia Oran

“(Reuters) – Best Buy Co Inc  founder Richard Schulze may scrap a buyout bid and instead line up investors to take a minority position in the electronics retailer, sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

The latest twist in Schulze’s months-long quest came two weeks before the deadline set by Best Buy for him to make a bid for the company he founded in 1966.”

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Via News Release

“…As the Company intensified its focus on data storage and data security, management announced in the third quarter that Imation would be exploring strategic alternatives for the consumer electronics brands and businesses. Imation has decided to divest its Memorex and XtremeMac consumer electronics businesses.

The Company will continue its TDK Life on Record business on a more focused basis. Lucas commented, “Divesting the Memorex and XtremeMac consumer electronics brands will allow us to direct our time and resources to the right opportunities in data storage and security, as well as our retail optical business under the Memorex and TDK Life on Record brands.”

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By Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Star Tribune

“Marcus Schappi’s compulsion to endow inanimate objects with Internet capabilities was sparked by the loss of a beloved chicken to a fox.

Schappi’s home in Sydney, Australia, abuts a national park, and the predator would emerge from the woods to stalk his three egg-laying “chooks” — Hen Solo, Princess Layer and Chook Norris.  When the fox turned Hen Solo into a pile of feathers, Schappi knew he had to act.”

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By Leslise Brooks Suzukamo, St. Paul Pioneer Press

“E-commerce specialist Digital River swung to a loss of $200 million for the fourth quarter last year due to a goodwill impairment charge for its past acquisitions.

The company is cutting some positions, but there should be little effect on its Minnetonka headquarters, where it employs about 700 people — or half its global workforce — officials said Wednesday, Feb. 6.

The company, which runs the online stores for numerous makers of software, consumer electronics and electronic games, reported Wednesday that revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 fell by 9.5 percent to $101.3 million.”

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