In addition to significant fundraising news from iSpot.tv, Glowforge, and Ignition Partners, we’re tracking the winners of the University of Washington’s business plan competition, Seattle Angel Conference, and more.
First, here’s a recap of Xconomy Seattle stories this week, followed by a few other notable developments:
—Peach expanded to San Diego. We looked at how the Seattle-based lunch delivery startup decided where to expand first.
—iSpot.tv raised $22 million to expand its business providing information on TV ad campaigns and their online impact.
—Glowforge raised $9 million to build its consumer-grade laser cutter. I want one.
—The University of Washington computer science department is leading the way in attracting and retaining women to the field, and was recognized for it this week by the National Center for Women and Information Technology.
—Ignition Partners raised a $200 million sixth fund, focused on enterprise software startups.
—Glamhive, a fashion-focused photo sharing and social shopping startup, won a $205,000 investment from Seattle Angel Conference VII. The Seattle company edged out more than 40 other contenders. Seattle Angel Conference, which is designed to educate newcomers about angel investing, brought 24 new investors into the fold. Since it was launched in 2012, more than 150 people have been introduced to angel investing through Seattle Angel Conference.
—Vie Diagnostics won this year’s University of Washington Business Plan Competition with its rapid molecular diagnostic tests for sexually transmitted diseases. The idea is to allow diagnosis and treatment in a single clinic visit. The UW team beat out 36 other competitors from across the state to take the $25,000 grand prize. Empreva, another UW team, came in second with a plan to develop products that provide birth control and STD prevention to women in the developing world. The full list of winners is here.
—Mountain Safety Research and global health innovation nonprofit PATH, both of Seattle, teamed up to build a portable a water treatment device aimed at disaster relief and developing-world communities with inadequate safe drinking water. The MSR SE200 Community Chlorine Maker does just what the name suggests, using salt, water, and a 12-volt battery or other power source to make enough chlorine to treat 200 liters of water in five minutes. The product is the result of a five-year collaboration, and the first to come out of MSR’s new global health division. World Vision will distribute 150 MSR SE200s to communities in Africa, supported by the Life Sciences Discovery Fund.
—Smartsheet, which makes collaboration tools based on spreadsheets, added a new feature that allows people to link to live data in other tools, such as those of data visualization company Tableau Software, Microsoft Excel, and Qlik. The Smartsheet Live Data Connector is based on the Open Database Connector standard.
