Dendreon and Cell Therapeutics Sell Stock, Microsoft Buys BigPark, Calistoga Raises $30M, & More Seattle-Area Deals News

around $550,000, according to media reports. Foodista, which was founded by two ex-Amazon veterans, launched its wiki site in December.

—Neelan Choksi of Lexcycle, the e-book software startup recently bought by Amazon, gave me the scoop on his experiences as an MIT blackjack team member and dot-com entrepreneur, the story of Lexcycle, and his thoughts on moving to Seattle. Lexcycle is the maker of Stanza, a popular iPhone application for browsing, buying, and reading e-books.

—Luke reported on the second-biggest life sciences financing of the year, Kirkland, WA-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals’ $30 million Series B round, led by existing investors Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Alta Partners, Three Arch Partners, and Amgen Ventures. Calistoga was founded in 2006 and is working on novel drugs for cancer and inflammation.

—Seattle-based Powerit Solutions, makers of energy efficiency and energy management technology for commercial and industrial facilities, raised $6 million from new investors Siemens Venture Capital and ArcelorMittal’s Clean Technology Fund. The round also included existing investors @Ventures and Expansion Capital Partners. Powerit will use the money to accelerate market growth and expand its product development and sales.

—Ryan reported on Seattle-based Gist’s $6.75 million Series A round, led by Foundry Group and Vulcan Capital. Gist founder T.A. McCann told me the story of how the deal originally came about through a meeting with Foundry Group’s Brad Feld in Colorado. Gist makes software to help people organize communications with business contacts and Web information about them.

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Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.