the deal by pointing out a few trends in Amazon’s acquisitions over the past decade.
—M2E Power, an energy startup backed by OVP Venture Partners and based in Boise, ID, was bought by fellow Idaho firm Motionetics for an undisclosed price. In 2007, OVP led an $8 million Series A investment in M2E, which was developing technology for generating and storing energy from motion, so as to recharge electronic devices for military and consumer applications.
—Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTI]]) hit up investors for about $40 million to help it gain FDA approval for its latest cancer drug, pixantrone for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, as Luke reported. Last week, the company started selling shares of common stock and warrants to its underwriter, Rodman & Renshaw, and the sale netted $40.3 million when it was all said and done. Cell Therapeutics will use the money to pay down some of its $66 million in debt.
—Eric took a closer look at this month’s energy deal between Ballard Power Systems in Vancouver, BC, and IdaTech in Bend, OR, as they formed a partnership to manufacture hydrogen fuel cell-based backup generators for wireless telecom firm ACME Tele Power in India. It’s a prime example of a Northwest deal with global impact, particularly in the fuel cell sector.
—Bellevue, WA-based Finsphere closed $9 million in equity funding from undisclosed investors. The company’s board of directors includes representatives from Frazier Technology Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, and Shasta Ventures. Finsphere is a startup focused on security and authentication technologies to help banks and their customers fight identity fraud.
—Seattle-based Big Fish Games formed a partnership with People.com to put its casual games on the popular website, as Eric reported from the Casual Connect gaming conference. Financial terms of the deal weren’t given, but it provides major visibility for Big Fish. People.com gets 32.6 million unique visitors a month, and 88 percent are female, which traditionally has been the core demographic of casual gamers.
