VENTURE CAPITAL
Health care investing rose last year
New England’s health care sector was a rare bright spot for venture investing in 2016, growing 11 percent while other industries saw a significant decline in the amount of new money coming into startups and privately held companies. The figures, compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers and CB Insights, further underscore the boom in biotech and pharmaceutical investment that has converged on the Boston area in recent years. Health care companies in New England raised a combined $3.48 billion in 2016, up from $3.13 billion in 2015, according to the firms’ most recent MoneyTree Report. That increase stood apart from a decline in investing in health care and technology companies elsewhere in the United States. Nationally, venture investing across all industries declined about 20 percent, to $58.6 billion in 2016, the MoneyTree report said. New England-based companies captured about $6.2 billion in 2016, down about 11 percent from 2015. The region’s tech sector raised $2.37 billion last year, down 26 percent from 2015, the report said. — CURT WOODWARD
HEALTH INSURANCE
Businesses could face per-employee fines
Governor Charlie Baker, looking to rein in the continued rise in medical spending, is proposing to penalize employers $2,000 per worker if they do not provide health insurance, and to also place new limits on hospital prices. Administration officials said Tuesday that they want to bring back a provision of Massachusetts’ landmark 2006 health care law that was later axed: requiring employers with more than 10 full-time workers to pay a penalty if they fail to offer “adequate” health insurance. Business groups called the plan an expensive new tax. The governor also wants to cap payments for some health care providers, eliminate certain hospital fees, and end new coverage requirements that drive up premiums. The measures are expected to be detailed in the governor’s annual budget proposal next week and would require legislative approval.
— PRIYANKA DAYAL MCCLUSKEY
LEAVING TOWN
Head of New England Aquarium quits
Less than three years after taking the top job at the New England Aquarium, Nigella Hillgarth said she is stepping down to return to her first love: field research. Hillgarth’s announcement on Wednesday caught many in Boston’s tight-knit nonprofit and civic circles off guard, and comes at a delicate time for one of the city’s most popular destinations. Under her leadership, the aquarium has been battling a high-profile development next door, putting forth its own master plan for Central Wharf, and expanding its science and research agenda. Hillgarth will leave later this spring for a post teaching biology at the University of Washington in Seattle. It’s a return to the West Coast, where the 63-year-old Irish-born, Oxford-educated scientist spent most of her professional life. And it’s a move, Hillgarth said, that will enable her to return to field research after nearly two decades running zoological institutions. “I’ve been feeling more and more drawn to actually doing research again. That’s the heart of where I come from,” Hillgarth said.
— TIM LOGAN
RESTAURANTS
The owners of the Wahlburgers chain have signed their biggest expansion deal since starting the company more than five years ago: a joint venture with Shanghai-based Cachet Hospitality Group and Middle East businessman Farooq Arjomand, an investor in Cachet. Wahlburgers chief executive Rick Vanzura said it plans to develop as many as 200 locations during the next decade, with roughly half of them opening in China. The new development agreement covers Asia and Latin America. After they opened their first restaurant in Hingham in 2011, brothers Mark, Donnie, and Paul Wahlberg added 12 locations to their chain, including two in Canada. The total is expected to grow to 20 by sometime this summer. Before the Cachet deal, Vanzura said the company had franchising agreements to open up nearly 150 locations over time. The Asia venture, in the works for 10 months, represents the first overseas expansion for the Hingham-based company. Wahlburgers previously signed a development agreement for the Middle East with Arjomand. But that project was put on hold while Arjomand, who is investing in these ventures through his United Arab Emirates-based holding company, worked with Wahlburgers on the Cachet deal, Vanzura said. — JON CHESTO
TRANSPORTATION
Logan travelers finally will be able to get a Lyft
Logan International Airport will soon be open for Lyft, and Uber may not be far behind, as one of the last major US airports to limit usage of the popular ride-hailing services made plans to ease its restrictions. Lyft will be allowed to pick up passengers at the airport beginning Feb. 1 under the terms of an agreement announced Thursday with the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport. Massport is negotiating a similar arrangement with Uber, Lyft’s larger rival, the authority said. In a statement, Uber expressed confidence it would also soon be able to offer rides at Logan through its low-cost UberX platform. Under the agreement, Lyft will pay a $3.25 fee for each passenger pickup, the same amount livery services such as limousines pay at Logan. Typically, those costs are passed on to passengers. Uber and Lyft drivers are already allowed to drop riders off at Logan. Uber has been able to offer its more limited livery service to passengers, as well, but its UberX service is more commonly used outside the airport.
— ADAM VACCARO