Venture capital investment in cleantech was down locally and nationally for most of last year, as several firms retreated from a broad, ill-defined sector that may never have been well-suited to the typical VC model in the first place. The trend is expected to continue this year, which means young companies looking for funding from … Continue reading “New Finance Models For NW Cleantech, Sustainability As VC Wanes”
Author: Benjamin Romano
Benjamin is the former Editor of Xconomy Seattle. He has covered the intersections of business, technology and the environment in the Pacific Northwest and beyond for more than a decade. At The Seattle Times he was the lead beat reporter covering Microsoft during Bill Gates’ transition from business to philanthropy. He also covered Seattle venture capital and biotech. Most recently, Benjamin followed the technology, finance and policies driving renewable energy development in the Western US for Recharge, a global trade publication. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.
Seattle Roundup: Qliance, Remitly, Yapta, Clipboard Attract Investment
A steady stream of technology investment in the Seattle area continued as 2013 dawned, with Qliance Medical Management, Remitly, Yapta, and Clipboard attracting follow-on funding. The details: —Qliance Medical Management—a flat-fee primary care provider backed by the likes of Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Drew Carey—raised $8.7 million out of a $10.1 million offering to … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Qliance, Remitly, Yapta, Clipboard Attract Investment”
Union Bay Capital, Tola Capital, Unitus Raise Funds
Local investment funds focused on technology companies have raised money as the calendar flipped from 2012 to 2013—more than $90 million, in separate moves by Union Bay Capital, Tola Capital, and Unitus Seed Fund. —Seattle private investment firm Union Bay Capital Partners has raised $72.3 million from 71 investors, out of an $80 million offering … Continue reading “Union Bay Capital, Tola Capital, Unitus Raise Funds”
New Seattle Accelerator 9Mile Labs Wants To Build On TechStars Model
Three startup devotees are launching a new accelerator program called 9Mile Labs in a bid to boost support for technology entrepreneurs in the Seattle area, testing demand in the burgeoning—some say bubbling—market for business incubators. Sandy Sharma, Sanjay Puri, and Kevin Croy are technology executives with experience founding or working at about a dozen startups … Continue reading “New Seattle Accelerator 9Mile Labs Wants To Build On TechStars Model”
Madrona Invests $4.2m in 2nd Watch; TechStars’ MobileDevHQ Funded
It’s time to squeeze in a couple more local deals before Christmas. Madrona Venture Group is investing in a cloud services provider, and MobileDevHQ, a graduate of TechStars Seattle, has secured some new angel investment. The details: —Madrona is leading a $4.2 million investment in 2nd Watch, which helps companies use public clouds, such as … Continue reading “Madrona Invests $4.2m in 2nd Watch; TechStars’ MobileDevHQ Funded”
Roundup: Madrona Invests in LUMO; news from Glympse, Carena, Sandglaz
As the year wanes, Seattle investors and companies are still closing some interesting deals. Here are a few highlights from recent days: —Madrona Venture Group, continuing its busy fourth quarter, is making its first investment in a consumer hardware company. The Seattle firm is leading a $5 million Series A investment in LUMO BodyTech, a … Continue reading “Roundup: Madrona Invests in LUMO; news from Glympse, Carena, Sandglaz”
NW Energy Angels Eye Record Year With Investment in Ethical Electric
The Northwest Energy Angels are closing 2012 with a bang, leading a $2.4 million investment in Ethical Electric, a startup clean energy retailer. It’s a deal that exemplifies some trends for the longest-tenured cleantech angel group in the country, which touted a record year at its annual holiday showcase Thursday night in Seattle. Updates from … Continue reading “NW Energy Angels Eye Record Year With Investment in Ethical Electric”
Mobile Madness Northwest: Highlights, Predictions, and Takeaways
A great crowd of enthusiastic mobile professionals, VCs, and other future-dwellers slid into the comfy pews of Town Hall Seattle for the second Xconomy Mobile Madness Northwest forum Wednesday. Chris DeVore, who moderated a provocative panel on location-based services, noted at one point that “everyone in this room lives in the future.” We’ve held the … Continue reading “Mobile Madness Northwest: Highlights, Predictions, and Takeaways”
Seattle Broadband Upgrade: Gigabit Speeds Coming to 12 Neighborhoods
To maintain its position as a world-class technology hub, Seattle needs faster broadband, city leaders say. To that end, broadband developer Gigabit Squared, in partnership with the city of Seattle and the University of Washington, is starting an ultra-fast broadband pilot project, with speeds promised up to 1 Gigabit per second. Gigabit Seattle would lease … Continue reading “Seattle Broadband Upgrade: Gigabit Speeds Coming to 12 Neighborhoods”
UW Spinout Funded by Madrona To Build Cheap Home Sensor Networks
A team including a “genius” University of Washington professor and one of Seattle’s top serial entrepreneurs just landed $1.5 million from Madrona Venture Group and others to build a small, inexpensive, long-lasting wireless sensor network that could revolutionize home hazards detection. Led by Jeremy Jaech, SNUPI Technologies—for Sensor Network Utilizing Powerline Infrastructure—is building a communications … Continue reading “UW Spinout Funded by Madrona To Build Cheap Home Sensor Networks”
TechStars’ Apptentive Gets $1.2m to Improve Customer Service in Apps
If this is indeed the Christmas of the tablet, application publishers will have a huge new group of customers to serve in 2013. Lucky for them, Seattle startup Apptentive—which has closed a $1.2 million seed round from Founder’s Co-Op, Google Ventures, and others—is releasing a tool to help app developers do customer service better. A … Continue reading “TechStars’ Apptentive Gets $1.2m to Improve Customer Service in Apps”
Seattle Roundup: Powerit nabs $5.5m, SEOmoz’s Portland buy, more
Holiday deal doldrums? Not yet. In addition to Smartsheet’s $26 million raise announced on Monday, a handful of other smaller financing and acquisition deals have emerged in recent days. Here are a few that caught our attention: —Powerit Solutions, which makes energy demand management technology for industrial customers, plans to use a $5.5 million Series … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Powerit nabs $5.5m, SEOmoz’s Portland buy, more”
Under Seattle’s Cloud, a Big Data Cluster Grows
It’s a good time to be doing big data in Seattle. So says Ed Lazowska, the University of Washington computer science professor who played host and tour guide to the region’s big data lineup during the Washington Innovation Summit last week. He points to the region’s strengths in cloud computing, and a steady stream of … Continue reading “Under Seattle’s Cloud, a Big Data Cluster Grows”
Smartsheet Lands $26m From Insight, Madrona For Online Collaboration
Smartsheet, which makes spreadsheet-based online collaboration tools, is six years old but chief executive Mark Mader says “we’re operating as a two-year-old company.” And now, a very well-funded two-year-old thanks to a $26 million investment from Insight Venture Partners and Madrona Venture Group. Two years ago, Smartsheet pivoted not to a new business, but to … Continue reading “Smartsheet Lands $26m From Insight, Madrona For Online Collaboration”
Seattle Roundup: TechStars’ Bizible, Amazon, Conductiv, CENTRI, Avvo
A Seattle TechStars grad landed funding in what should be the first of several closed deals from the Fall 2012 class of the startup accelerator, while Amazon got the green light to more than double its Seattle headquarters footprint, and other local tech companies pulled in equity investments in recent days. —Bizible, a Seattle startup … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: TechStars’ Bizible, Amazon, Conductiv, CENTRI, Avvo”
Wavii Builds a Facebook-Style Feed for All the World’s News
After talking with the guys behind Wavii, a Seattle startup that has built a Facebook-style feed for all the world’s events, I had two somewhat conflicting impressions: Wavii is potentially good medicine for information overload, and at the same time another sign that this modern affliction has us tightly in its grasp. Wavii delivers a … Continue reading “Wavii Builds a Facebook-Style Feed for All the World’s News”
Hydrovolts Prepares For 2013 Commercialization With New Leadership
The first half of November was busy for Seattle micro hydropower technology developer Hydrovolts with a leadership change, an important new federal funding opportunity, and an international award. Burt Hamner, co-founder of the 5-year-old company, is stepping down as chief executive, though he will remain on the board of directors. Mike Layton, chief operating officer … Continue reading “Hydrovolts Prepares For 2013 Commercialization With New Leadership”
Itron Names Mezey as CEO, Lands Hong Kong Smart Grid Pilot Project
More news from Itron today: The maker of utility meters and smart grid technology has appointed Philip Mezey chief executive officer, taking over from LeRoy Nosbaum on Jan. 1. Itron also announced another smart grid win in Asia. Mezey joined Itron (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ITRI]]) in 2003 through the acquisition of Silicon Energy. He has held several senior … Continue reading “Itron Names Mezey as CEO, Lands Hong Kong Smart Grid Pilot Project”
Itron In Deal With Panasonic For Huge Japanese Smart Meter Market
Over the next 10 years, Japan will install some 80 million smart electric meters. Itron, the 35-year-old Washington utility metering technology provider, just landed a big deal with Panasonic that should help it get a slice of that market. Itron (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ITRI]])—based in Liberty Lake, WA, just east of Spokane near the Idaho border—said Friday … Continue reading “Itron In Deal With Panasonic For Huge Japanese Smart Meter Market”
Deals Roundup: Cray Buys Appro, Avanade + Azaleos, Meteor and more
While this was Zulily’s week, with an $85 million Series D, there were several other more modest deals done in recent days, headlined by Seattle supercomputer maker Cray. —Cray (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRAY]]) announced plans to acquire Appro International, a maker of high performance computing (HPC) cluster systems, for $25 million. Appro focuses on medium to large … Continue reading “Deals Roundup: Cray Buys Appro, Avanade + Azaleos, Meteor and more”
WaveDivision Aims to Continue Growth With $1B Recapitalization
Independent cable and broadband services provider WaveDivision Holdings has completed a $1.052 billion recapitalization, swapping out old investors for some fresh new ones. Launched in late 2001 to acquire and upgrade cable and fiber-optic network assets in the Pacific Northwest, Kirkland, WA-based WaveDivision took on Sandler Capital in 2002 as its equity partner. Ten years … Continue reading “WaveDivision Aims to Continue Growth With $1B Recapitalization”
With Ex-Isilon Chief Patel, Elemental Looks To Enter New Industries
Elemental Technologies has grown to more than $20 million in revenue by supplying software and hardware that helps video speed its way down the digital stream. With the addition of Isilon Systems co-founder Sujal Patel to the board of directors, the company is looking for guidance in expanding into new businesses, such as helping the … Continue reading “With Ex-Isilon Chief Patel, Elemental Looks To Enter New Industries”
How 3Tier Wind Forecasts Enable the Northwest Smart Grid
The Northwest is undertaking a grand project that could unlock a future of efficient energy use and smooth integration of renewables—two necessary pieces of a solution to the immense challenge of climate change. The beating heart of the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project, one of the largest in the world, is an incentive signal … Continue reading “How 3Tier Wind Forecasts Enable the Northwest Smart Grid”
Deals Roundup: Limeade’s $5M, Blue Box’s $3.5M, Zillow’s Acquisitions
As investors showered attention on the latest crop of Seattle TechStars companies last week, other more established Seattle-area tech companies were landing capital from far and near. Meanwhile, Zillow (NASDAQ: [[ticker:Z]]) bought a pair of companies–its fourth and fifth acquisitions in the last two years—to enhance its offerings for real estate and mortgage pros. —Bellevue-based … Continue reading “Deals Roundup: Limeade’s $5M, Blue Box’s $3.5M, Zillow’s Acquisitions”
No Ha Muerto: Rinearson’s Intersect Nearing Launch of New Service
Not exactly new, but still an appropriately macabre afternoon distraction on Dia de los Muertos, Dead.AtYourAge.com — built “a couple of years ago as a lark” by Peter Rinearson’s Seattle startup Intersect PTP — takes your birth date and tells you who you’ve outlived. After a friend pointed me toward it today, I got to … Continue reading “No Ha Muerto: Rinearson’s Intersect Nearing Launch of New Service”
TechStars Seattle Demo Day: Have You Invested Yet?
[Updates at 3:45 p.m. PT Nov. 1 and 10:33 a.m. PT Nov. 2, See below] There are a number of ways to measure the success of TechStars Seattle as its third class comes to a close with Demo Day this afternoon. But let’s follow the money. I think we’ll see that this year’s class has … Continue reading “TechStars Seattle Demo Day: Have You Invested Yet?”
Report: Isilon Co-Founder Sujal Patel Leaving EMC
Sujal Patel, co-founder of Isilon Systems, one of the Seattle area’s biggest recent VC success stories, is leaving data-storage giant EMC, which acquired Isilon for $2.25 billion in late 2010. The move, first reported by John Cook at GeekWire, raises the welcome prospect of a seasoned and successful Seattle tech entrepreneur again on the prowl. … Continue reading “Report: Isilon Co-Founder Sujal Patel Leaving EMC”
With SIC, Seattle’s Digital Marketing Ecosystem Finally Gets Its Due
Despite more than a decade leading digital advertising in Seattle, Razorfish chairman Clark Kokich is giving his first speech in his home town tomorrow. That’s an odd oversight for a 21st century Mad Man who’s sought after in advertising hotspots around the world. But Kokich’s newfound recognition close to home says something about what has … Continue reading “With SIC, Seattle’s Digital Marketing Ecosystem Finally Gets Its Due”