Thea is taking some time off, so that means the biotech guy in the house has to write up the weekly tech roundup. I’ll try not to say anything too dumb.
—Bellevue, WA-based Smartsheet, the developer of software to help people collaborate on projects, raised $1.5 million in a new equity round led by Madrona Venture Group. The company also confirmed that it has started operating in the black.
—Seattle-based e-retail giant Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) joined a venture syndicate that is betting $10 million on San Jose, CA-based Cirtas Systems. Amazon, a leading provider of cloud computing services, has a clear interest in this startup, which makes storage appliances that are designed to seamlessly link on-site enterprise storage servers to cloud storage.
—Thea recapped an intriguing conversation among six angel investors last week at a Zino Society investing forum, where they talked about some their experiences behind the scenes in a number of deals (some good, some not so good).
—Seattle-based RealNetworks (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RNWK]]) made another move into the gaming world, particularly beefing up its presence in social gaming, through acquiring Victoria, BC-based Backstage Technologies. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
—Buteeq, a stealthy Seattle-based developer of mobile phone applications, has raised $1.1 million in new equity financing, according to a regulatory filing.
—And our neighbors on the eastern side of the Cascades scored a couple of notable stimulus grants for cleantech projects. Kennewick, WA-based Infinia received $1.5 million, and Richland, WA-based Innovatek secured $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a batch of commercialization grants that went to 33 companies around the country.
