Maybe everyone has finally done their taxes, so they can announce their funding deals. For whatever reason, it was a busy week for deals in the Northwest, with quite a bit of financing activity in software, biotech, and devices.
—Seattle-based ExtraHop Networks announced it raised a $5.1 million Series A round led by Madrona Venture Group, with Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz also participating. ExtraHop was founded by F5 Networks veterans, and provides software for companies to troubleshoot and manage their IT networks efficiently.
—Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) raised $15 million from Cranshire Capital, as Luke reported. The deal provides Cranshire with shares of preferred stock, as well as the right to buy more preferred stock with a stated value of $5 million within 60 days. The financing could help Cell Therapeutics, which has been running out of cash, stay operational for at least another seven months.
—Seattle-based Adapx closed a $9 million Series B funding round, led by new investor UV Partners. Previous investors OVP Venture Partners and Paladin Capital Group also participated in the round. Adapx makes digital pen technology for mobile field workers in defense, construction, mapping, public works, and other fields. The new funding will be used to expand the company’s product line, partner network, and sales and marketing.
—Seattle-based Geospiza raised $750,000 from new and existing angel investors, as Luke reported. Geospiza makes software that helps biomedical researchers do genomic analysis. The company also received a $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health last month.
—CarDomain, the Seattle-based auto-enthusiast site, acquired its rival, Los Angeles-based StreetFire, in an all-stock deal. The merged company, called CarDomain Network, will be run by CEO Glenn Rogers from StreetFire, while CarDomain founder Alex Algard remains chairman. The two websites will remain separate. CarDomain editor-in-chief Rob Einaudi gave some more context about the deal and what it means for community sites in the automotive sector.
—TalentSpring, a Seattle-based developer of semantic-search software that helps recruiters and job candidates hook up online, closed $1.6 million from Second Avenue Partners and private investors. The startup plans to release its product publicly next month.
—Isonics Semiconductor Group, based in Vancouver, WA, was acquired by San Jose, CA-based WRS Materials. Financial terms were not disclosed. The semiconductor group, which includes silicon wafer manufacturing facilities, was a division of New York-based Isonics.
—Microsoft’s digital advertising division sold off Franchise Gator, a lead-generation subsidiary based in Seattle and Roswell, GA, to Landmark Interactive for some $20 million. Franchise Gator was bought for $21.5 million in 2006 by aQuantive, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) in 2007.
