Deal activity picked up a bit in the Northwest this week. But most of the action was in two or three big deals in the software and Internet sectors, with a smattering of deals in biotech and clean IT.
—Portland, OR-based Coaxis raised $10 million in growth capital from Updata Partners, based in Virginia and New Jersey. The money will be used to help Coaxis’s business, Viewpoint Construction Software, expand internationally. Viewpoint’s software, which is built on Microsoft’s .NET platform, is used by construction firms in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
—SinglePoint, the wireless software firm based in Bellevue, WA, sold off its mobile aggregation business to Swedish giant Ericsson (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ERIC]]) for an undisclosed amount. SinglePoint makes mobile marketing software, and its service will help Ericsson expand its reach in text messaging.
—Bellevue, WA-based BlueKai raised a $21 million Series C round led by new investor GGV Capital, as Erin reported. Existing investors Battery Ventures and Redpoint Ventures also participated in the deal. BlueKai is a data exchange firm that enables websites to sell data on consumer demographics or buying behavior to companies that want to target their advertising more directly and efficiently. The company has raised about $35 million in venture capital dating back to March 2008.
—Seattle-based Hemaquest Pharmaceuticals raised $6 million in equity financing from undisclosed investors, as Luke reported. Hemaquest is developing experimental treatments for sickle cell anemia and viral-related blood cancers. The company was founded in 2007 and is backed by Forward Ventures, De Novo Ventures, and Lilly Ventures.
—Seattle-based SEOmoz has formed a partnership with U.K.-based Distilled to hand off its consulting business, which will be worth an estimated $1 million in the first year. As part of the deal, Distilled is opening a small office in Seattle. SEOmoz is now focusing solely on its search engine optimization and Web analysis tools and software.
—Seattle-based Voyager Capital co-led a $14 million Series B investment in Coulomb Technologies, a startup focused on electric vehicle infrastructure, based in Campbell, CA. Rho Ventures is the other main investor in the round. Voyager Capital seems to be making a push in the “clean IT” sector.
—Microsoft said that German giant Siemens has licensed its HealthVault technology platform, as Ryan reported. Financial details weren’t given. Germany will be the third country (after the U.S. and Canada) to adopt HealthVault, which enables people to store their personal health records in a secure online account and to share information with their doctors. Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) released the technology in the U.S. in 2007.
—Bellevue, WA-based Intellectual Ventures, the invention firm led by CEO Nathan Myhrvold, acquired the majority of the patent portfolio of Avistar, a video-conferencing technology firm in San Mateo, CA. The deal is worth $11 million upfront, with Avistar also to receive a full grant back license that protects its products under these patents.
