Borealis portfolio company Handmark, the leading on-device portal company in the mobile applications market, has recently closed $5 million in Series B funding. The investment was led by Motorola Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT). Borealis and other existing investors Apax Partners, Village Ventures, and Hanna Capital Management also participated.

Handmark will use the funding to accelerate its leadership in the fast-growing on- device portal category, including expansion of Handmark Pocket Express content and infotainment services. Pocket Express is Handmark's flagship product and the leading on- device portal — installed on more wireless handsets in the U.S. than all other independent mobile portals combined. Handmark also plans to advance its international expansion, particularly in Europe and Asia.

The investment by Motorola is an important endorsement of Handmark by a proven industry leader and further underscores Borealis’ confidence in Handmark’s consumer offering, the technology, the business and the team. The Company anticipates that this relationship will facilitate deeper and more meaningful partnerships across the mobile space, from branded content creators to mobile network operators.

Handmark’s compelling Pocket Express application is already available for the extremely popular MOTO Q smartphone and on most versions of the market-leading RAZR handset.

Borealis is partnering with Johnson & Johnson and Dartmouth College on a new seed funding program to validate Dartmouth research innovations with promising commercial potential.

Funded equally by Borealis and Johnson & Johnson and co-managed by a committee of representatives from Dartmouth, J&J, and Borealis, the program initially will fund four to eight projects at $50,000 to $100,000 each. All medical and life sciences faculty of Dartmouth Medical School, the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, and Dartmouth- Hitchcock Medical Center will be eligible to apply.

“The Seed Grant Program will serve as a catalyst for collaboration and innovation all across the Dartmouth campus,” said Stephen Spielberg, Dean of Dartmouth Medical School. “It will be an active partnership with Johnson & Johnson and Borealis. This program is a crucial asset in the continuing struggle to move promising new findings from the lab bench to the bedside and into best clinical practices.”

“Borealis Ventures has supported technology commercialization opportunities at Dartmouth from our beginning, starting with our first investment in GlycoFi,” said Borealis managing director Phil Ferneau. “We are pleased to join with J&J in this Seed Grant initiative, because we believe that J&J’s involvement further validates the commercial significance of the research being done here. We also are confident that the resulting working relationships and knowledge sharing with J&J’s operating companies will spur additional innovations on campus.”