Done your taxes yet? If so, sit back, relax, and enjoy this rundown of the week’s deals in the Northwest. It’s a mix of software and biotech financings, some encouraging (and not so encouraging) regional and national venture capital stats, and a new crop of inspiring startups.
—Lucid Commerce, a Seattle provider of business intelligence software and data for direct marketers, closed its $5 million Series B round, co-led by OVP Venture Partners and new investor Greycroft Partners. Lucid Commerce is led by co-founder and CEO Tyson Roberts, formerly of aQuantive (in the early years).
—Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group led a new $7 million funding round for Searchandise Commerce, based in Beverly, MA, as Erin reported. Existing investors Cloquet Capital Partners, DFJ Gotham Partners, Draper Associates, Inflection Point Ventures, Milestone Venture Partners, and Wheatley Partners also participated. Searchandise, formerly known as Guidester, makes software that combines paid online search tactics with in-store merchandising practices for e-commerce. Madrona’s investment was led by Brian McAndrews, the former CEO of aQuantive who joined Madrona as a managing director last summer.
—Mercer Island, WA-based Liberty Dialysis received a new investment from KRG Capital Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, and Ignition Partners. The amount was not disclosed. Liberty operates more than 100 dialysis clinics around the United States.
—Bruce reported some encouraging (and somewhat surprising) findings that venture investments in the U.S. improved compared to the previous quarter and the same period a year ago, in terms of the number of dollars and deals. The stats were courtesy of New York-based CB Insights. According to the report, Seattle itself had 17 VC deals in the first three months of 2010, worth a total of $41 million; Washington state saw 30 deals for $138 million.
—The flip side of that news is that VC investments in Washington state companies fell in March compared to the first two months of the year. A report from CB Insights tallied just three venture deals in Washington worth a total of $21.3 million last month. That’s as compared to more than $50 million in each of the first two months of the year.
—Redmond, WA-based Concur Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CNQR]]) raised $287.5 million in convertible note debt financing, to pursue potential acquisitions, strategic transactions, and other corporate purposes. Concur, led by CEO Steve Singh, makes online software for managing employee expenses and corporate travel. Last month, the company said its product was among the initial set of offerings in the new Google Apps Marketplace for businesses.
—Seattle-based Frazier Healthcare Ventures led a $56 million Series C investment in Achaogen, a San Francisco developer of antibiotics that fight multi-drug resistant infections, as Luke reported. Alta Partners also participated in the deal, along with existing investors Arch Venture Partners, 5AM Ventures, Domain Associates, Venrock Associates, Versant Ventures, and the Wellcome Trust.
—Not an actual deal, but a bunch of companies looking for deals: NWEN held its First Look Forum in Seattle yesterday, and 12 worthy startups sang for their supper, pitching a roomful of investors, entrepreneurship coaches, and other interested parties. The companies ran the gamut from medical devices to pet food to trucking aerodynamics to online travel software. Some highlights: Crux Medical Innovations, Darwin’s Natural Pet Products, InsideTrip (winner), Nanocel (runner-up), and Zendorse.
