Top 10 Q3 Venture Deals in the Northwest

The third quarter saw a pretty significant decline in Northwest venture deals, as Greg reported on Saturday. But still some big ones were landed—starting with one of the biggest in the nation: Big Fish Games. The Seattle maker of casual and online games (a 2002 spinoff from RealNetworks) took in a whopping $83.3 million, more than the next four biggest deals in the region combined. But Big Fish wasn’t the only bright spot, as six other firms, four from Washington state and two from Oregon, reeled in $10 million or more in venture rounds during the period.

Here’s the list of the top 10 venture deals for the quarter—and the venture firms that made them. Just having that Big Fish at the top makes you wonder about all the deals that got away.

— Big Fish Games, Seattle, WA — $83.3 million
Investors: Balderton Capital*, General Catalyst Partners, Salmon River Capital of New York

— AltaRock Energy,** Seattle, WA — $26.25 million
Investors: Advanced Technology Ventures, Khosla Ventures*, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers*, Vulcan Capital

— Dexterra, Bothell, WA — $21.5 million
Investors: Canaan Partners, Intel Capital, Mesirow Financial, Motorola Ventures, New Enterprise Associates*, Sigma Partners

— Wellpartner, Portland, OR — $16.1 million
Investors: 3i Group, Buerk Dale Victor, Burrill & Company*, Credit Suisse Group, Integra Ventures, Mediphase Venture Partners

— HaloSource, Bothell, WA — $11.5 million
Investors: Origo Sino-India PLC, Unilever Technology Ventures

— Tableau Software, Seattle, WA — $10 million
Investors: New Enterprise Associates*

— Brammo, Ashland, OR — $10 million
Investors: Chrysalix Energy Management

— RadioFrame Networks, Redmond, WA — $9.3 million
Investors: Ericsson Venture Partners*, Ignition Partners*, Innovacom, Samsung Electronics, VantagePoint Venture Partners*

— RF Surgical Systems, Bellevue, WA — $8.2 million
Investors: Menlo Ventures*, Stanford University

— Elemental Technologies, Portland, OR — $7.1 million
Investors: General Catalyst Partners*, Voyager Capital*

* lead investor

** Founded in Seattle and still has major operations in the city, but has now moved its HQ to Sausalito, CA

Source: Dow Jones VentureSource

Author: Robert Buderi

Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. He is one of the country's foremost journalists covering business and technology. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a 10-times-a-year publication with a circulation of 315,000. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign editions, electronic newsletters, and highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for The Quality Imperative. Bob is the author of four books about technology and innovation. Naval Innovation for the 21st Century (2013) is a post-Cold War account of the Office of Naval Research. Guanxi (2006) focuses on Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World (1996) covered a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an advisor to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation at many venues, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.