I wondered about Vertafore, the Bothell, WA-based insurance software company which got bought by TPG Capital last week. Vertafore was previously owned by private equity firms Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity. The software company, formerly called AMS Services, was founded in 1985 and moved its headquarters from Connecticut to Washington state in 2005.
—Seattle-based Modumetal, an advanced materials company looking to reinvent the metals industry (no pressure), has raised its second round of venture financing, led by San Francisco-based Catamount Ventures. The exact funding amount was undisclosed, but is several million dollars. Modumetal “grows” a fundamentally new kind of nanotech-based metal that is stronger and lighter than steel, and can be used for construction, transportation, and military applications.
—Novel, a video-game company in Redmond, WA, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Vancouver, BC-based venture firms McLean Capital and Nairbo Investments. Novel is developing a new kind of massively multiplayer online game called Empire & State. More interestingly, it is looking to create something like “The Matrix” for businesses, whereby companies will use Novel’s technology to devise virtual-reality simulations of business situations with which to evaluate employees.
—Martin Tobias is on the prowl. The Seattle entrepreneur, investor, and self-described “arms dealer” of the online group-buying world talked with me about his company Tippr’s acquisition of Austin, TX-based FanForce (for an undisclosed amount), and how its strategy differs from Groupon’s. The upshot is that Tippr (whose parent company is Seattle-based Kashless) is aiming to be the technology platform for Web publishers to get in on the daily deals game—not just a consumer-facing site.
