With baseball’s Fall Classic about to begin (hats off to the Tampa Bay Rays), deals in the Northwest have continued to pick up. No blockbusters in the past week, but there was decent action in tech mergers and acquisitions, as well as funding of biotech and energy companies.
—Bob reported on the top 10 venture deals of the third quarter in the Northwest. Although the total amount of funding in the region is down, Seattle saw some large deals, such as Big Fish Games’ $83.3 million financing and AltaRock Energy’s $26.25 million round.
—GrapeCity, an international software firm with U.S. headquarters in Kirkland, WA, acquired Columbus, OH-based Data Dynamics for an undisclosed amount. The transition will begin in January. GrapeCity partners with Microsoft to make software tools and services for businesses.
—Seattle-based TrackSimple raised $2.5 million in Series A financing, led by Ignition Partners. TrackSimple makes a software platform that captures customer events, aggregating data almost in real-time.
—Luke reported on the dollar amount of the Imperium Renewables financing, which we reported earlier this month was being used to settle debts with the Seattle biodiesel maker’s creditors. According to the Seattle Times, which cited a regulatory filing, Imperium raised more than $18 million from its investors last month.
—Electro Scientific Industries, a photonics company based in Portland, OR, is merging with Middlefield, CT-based Zygo, a metrology and optics firm, in an all-stock transaction. The merger is expected to be complete in the first quarter of next year.
—Micronics, a Redmond, WA, maker of molecular diagnostics and monitoring tools, closed a Series C financing round led by the Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund. Combined with a Series B round raised earlier this year, the deal brings $9 million in capital to Micronics.
—Bothell, WA-based Winshuttle, a maker of data-entry software for businesses, acquired ADAR, a French distributor of data-management tools, and launched a new office in Paris. Winshuttle’s French operations will provide sales and technical support to European customers.
—Seattle Genetics, a Bothell, WA, developer of targeted cancer drugs, received a milestone payment from Progenics Pharmaceuticals, as Luke reported. Progenics bought a license to the Seattle Genetics technology and has used it to develop a drug candidate that is in clinical trials for hormone-resistant prostate cancer.
