Artificial intelligence technologies could have a profound impact on the healthcare system, and the Northwest’s technology giants, world-class medical and technology researchers, and startup entrepreneurs are poised to make it happen. Xconomy Seattle invites you to preview the opportunities and challenges ahead at Healthcare + A.I. Northwest, our next innovation conference coming up on Nov. … Continue reading “Healthcare + A.I. Northwest Features Microsoft, Allen Institute on Nov. 9”
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.
With $45M in New Cash, Skytap Covers Terrain Missed by Cloud Giants
Despite their size, the cloud computing services provided by tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, don’t work for everyone. Skytap, a Seattle-based company that spun out of University of Washington at the dawn of cloud computing to help businesses move traditional IT functions to the cloud, on Tuesday announced it has raised $45 … Continue reading “With $45M in New Cash, Skytap Covers Terrain Missed by Cloud Giants”
Microsoft Can Recognize Speech as Well as Humans on Switchboard Task
Microsoft researchers have been steadily improving the accuracy of their speech recognition technology—a necessary precursor to many other artificial intelligence applications—achieving parity with human performance on a benchmark task called Switchboard last year. Since then, the bar for human parity has been moved. Another research group improved the human word error rate to 5.1 percent … Continue reading “Microsoft Can Recognize Speech as Well as Humans on Switchboard Task”
Private Equity Investors Have $740 Billion to Spend, Driving Valuations
Private equity investors have more capital at their disposal than at any time in more than a decade, which could boost prices for companies seeking acquisitions. As of Aug. 1, private equity firms in North America and Europe had secured $212.6 billion in new commitments this year, on pace to eclipse the “already stellar” fundraising … Continue reading “Private Equity Investors Have $740 Billion to Spend, Driving Valuations”
PARC Spinout Metawave Adds A.I. to Metamaterials for Autonomous Cars
A serial entrepreneur in the field of metamaterials is building a new company to develop the technology for use in autonomous vehicles and wireless communications. Maha Achour co-founded Metawave early this year, spinning the company out of the storied PARC laboratories, a unit of Xerox, in Palo Alto, CA, with an exclusive license to commercialize … Continue reading “PARC Spinout Metawave Adds A.I. to Metamaterials for Autonomous Cars”
Seattle Week in Review: Pol Visits, Cash for Donuts, Local M&A
With a shift in the wind, the smoke over Seattle is clearing, only to be replaced by the fear of nuclear war. Tough to stay focused on the tech news, but we’re trying. Here’s a review of visits to the Northwest by two Trump cabinet secretaries; more Amazon real estate news; financing for Donuts and … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: Pol Visits, Cash for Donuts, Local M&A”
Tech Hiring Trends: Buzzwords, Trump Effect, and Gender-Pay Gap
As the tech economy continues its historic boom, here’s three views of labor market trends released this week, including the rise and fall of buzzwords in engineering job postings; the Trump Administration’s impact on U.S. companies’ interest in foreign workers; and another disappointing look at the gender-pay gap. —In the last two years, big data … Continue reading “Tech Hiring Trends: Buzzwords, Trump Effect, and Gender-Pay Gap”
Pro.com Becomes a ‘Tech-Enabled General Contractor,’ Raises $10M
Finding someone to repair, remodel, or build your home—the largest asset most people will ever own—is fraught. For years, technology companies such as Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor have been trying to help, with varying degrees of success, by matching homeowners with vetted, reviewed service professionals. Seattle has seen its share of companies pursue a version … Continue reading “Pro.com Becomes a ‘Tech-Enabled General Contractor,’ Raises $10M”
Opportunity Abounds as Washington Builds the Modern Electricity Grid
[Updated 8/9/17, 9:48 a.m. See below.] In a dry grassland set amid some of the region’s preeminent energy research, production, and training facilities, you can see the future of the electricity grid, and Washington state companies and workers are playing a major role in shaping it. The Horn Rapids Solar, Storage, and Training Project—which would … Continue reading “Opportunity Abounds as Washington Builds the Modern Electricity Grid”
Seattle Week in Review: Blue Angels, Smoke, and Surveillance Above
As the Blue Angels streak across Seattle’s smoke-filled skies preparing for this weekend’s Seafair, we’ll review some of this week’s news, including some of the latest dire climate change forecasts; the race for mayor; Amazon’s ongoing hiring and real estate sprees; odd flight patterns; and a Periodic Table of haiku. —It’s impossible not to think … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: Blue Angels, Smoke, and Surveillance Above”
Azuqua Gets $10.8M Round for Platform to Integrate Cloud Apps
It should come as no surprise that Cloud City has a proliferation of tech companies helping businesses manage the proliferation of cloud apps. One of these is Azuqua, a four-year-old Seattle startup building software that allows businesses to integrate their various cloud applications to serve specific needs. The company announced a $10.8 million Series B … Continue reading “Azuqua Gets $10.8M Round for Platform to Integrate Cloud Apps”
Booster Fills Up With $20M for On-Demand Gas—Is It ‘Sustainable’?
Add refueling your car to the list of mundane tasks you don’t have to put on your to-do list. Booster Fuels, a service that brings gas to parked cars on-demand, said Tuesday it has raised $20 million to continue growing in the two large markets where it operates: the San Francisco Bay Area and Dallas-Forth … Continue reading “Booster Fills Up With $20M for On-Demand Gas—Is It ‘Sustainable’?”
Convoy Raises $62M From Gates, Y Combinator for Trucking Marketplace
Convoy, a startup trying to modernize the way truck drivers connect with customers, just got a $62 million boost from investors including the Y Combinator Continuity Fund and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The Seattle startup, which makes technology that would automate the work of freight brokerages and dispatchers, announced the Series B funding round that … Continue reading “Convoy Raises $62M From Gates, Y Combinator for Trucking Marketplace”
Arzeda Raises $12M for Computational Protein Design
Nine years passed between Arzeda’s emergence from the Baker lab at University of Washington and the $12 million Series A funding round the Seattle computational protein design company announced Thursday. But Arzeda has grown the old-fashioned way: by bringing in revenue from customers, and plowing profits back into the company. The company has developed custom … Continue reading “Arzeda Raises $12M for Computational Protein Design”
Civic Data Startup LiveStories, Estate App Tomorrow Ideas Raise Cash
[Corrected 7/20/17, 1:31 p.m. See below.] Here’s a look at funding news for two interesting Seattle-area technology startups this week: LiveStories raised $10 million to grow its civic data analysis and visualization business and Tomorrow Ideas raised $2.6 million to support a new estate planning app. —LiveStories, an online service for creating visualizations and analysis … Continue reading “Civic Data Startup LiveStories, Estate App Tomorrow Ideas Raise Cash”
Redfin Sets IPO Price Range, Would Raise Up to $148.6 Million
Redfin would raise up to $148.6 million in its planned initial public offering, according to an updated securities filing Monday. The Seattle-based online real estate brokerage lifted the veil on its IPO plans June 30, initially filing to raise up to $100 million. With Monday’s amended filing, the company set its proposed IPO price at … Continue reading “Redfin Sets IPO Price Range, Would Raise Up to $148.6 Million”
Amazon Alexa Accelerator Begins in Seattle With Nine Startups
Amazon and Techstars announced the nine companies selected for the Amazon Alexa Accelerator, which began its initial 13-week program in Seattle Monday. Why it matters: Seattle is already a hub of artificial intelligence research and commercialization activity at technology giants including Microsoft and Amazon, and research institutions such as the University of Washington and the … Continue reading “Amazon Alexa Accelerator Begins in Seattle With Nine Startups”
Seattle Tech Delegation Heads to Japan, Seeking A.I. Business
Eleven Seattle-area tech companies are heading to Japan this week, carrying with them this region’s credentials in artificial intelligence in hopes of winning new business. The visit follows five meetups organized in Seattle over the last two years in which representatives of large Japanese corporations have heard pitches and discussed business deals with Northwest companies. … Continue reading “Seattle Tech Delegation Heads to Japan, Seeking A.I. Business”
Seattle Week in Review: VC Culture, Income Tax, Ayn Rand
The tech industry’s sexual harassment problem—and some potential avenues to address it—came home to Seattle this week. Meanwhile, pet services company Rover raised $65 million, A.I.’s impact on global GDP could be $15.7 trillion by 2030, and the city approved an income tax on high-earners, likely to be challenged. We’ve got more details on all … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: VC Culture, Income Tax, Ayn Rand”
Microsoft Paints Picture of Helpful A.I., Deployed to Benefit Humans
Microsoft laid out a higher purpose for its ongoing development of what could someday amount to a so-called general artificial intelligence: helping people and healing the planet. A flurry of announcements Wednesday touched on the business value of the suite of A.I. technologies the company is racing to develop alongside competitors including Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Microsoft Paints Picture of Helpful A.I., Deployed to Benefit Humans”
Artale Forced Out of VC Firm Ignition Partners After Misconduct Complaints
[Updated 7/13/17, 3:05 p.m. See below.] Ignition Partners, a venture capital firm based in Bellevue, WA, with offices in Los Altos, CA, announced the resignation of managing partner Frank Artale following complaints of inappropriate conduct. The firm issued a statement late Tuesday afternoon via Twitter (reproduced in full below) describing a misconduct complaint against Artale … Continue reading “Artale Forced Out of VC Firm Ignition Partners After Misconduct Complaints”
VC Investment in Seattle Companies Up 27 Percent in First Half
[Updated 7/11/17, 2:47 p.m. See below.] Seattle companies raised $803 million in venture capital during the first half of 2017, a 27 percent increase over the first six months of 2016, according to data the Venture Monitor report from Seattle-based PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The deal count is also up 34 … Continue reading “VC Investment in Seattle Companies Up 27 Percent in First Half”
Seattle Week in Review: MSFT Sales Reorg, UW, Phytelligence, & More
Lots to catch up on this holiday-shortened week in Seattle tech. We’re reviewing a Microsoft sales reorganization and staff reduction; a battery-free cellphone from the University of Washington, as well as a spate of new computer science faculty hires at the Allen School; funding for agtech company Phytelligence; bike sharing in Seattle; and more. Read … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: MSFT Sales Reorg, UW, Phytelligence, & More”
With Triage System, Companies See Toehold for A.I. in Radiology
This story is part of an ongoing Xconomy series on A.I. in healthcare. Other stories cover big-company efforts, a genomics hackathon, the impact on doctors and patients, and business models of A.I. in healthcare. Years ago, radiology underwent a radical transformation with the shift from film to widespread use of digital image displays. That set … Continue reading “With Triage System, Companies See Toehold for A.I. in Radiology”
Baidu Acquires Seattle Natural Language Startup KITT.AI
KITT.AI, a startup spun out of the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence in 2015 and backed by investors including Amazon’s Alexa Fund, has been acquired by Chinese technology giant Baidu. KITT.AI makes technology to enable voice interaction with digital devices and services, including a platform that allows people to “wake up” devices with a … Continue reading “Baidu Acquires Seattle Natural Language Startup KITT.AI”
Redfin Files for IPO, Discloses ‘Redfin Now’ Home Flipping Business
Seattle-based online real estate brokerage Redfin is filing to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. The offering paperwork filed Friday afternoon by the 15-year-old company also revealed a new business it has quietly been testing called Redfin Now, which began purchasing properties earlier this year with the intent to refurbish and … Continue reading “Redfin Files for IPO, Discloses ‘Redfin Now’ Home Flipping Business”
Seattle Week in Review: State Budget, Startup Funding, Asteroid Day
The clock ticks toward midnight and the deadline for the state of Washington to pass a two-year budget or face a government shutdown. Lawmakers just released the 600-odd page, $43.7 billion budget for public review Friday morning. It was negotiated secretly. Some of the headlines include a 13.5 percent spending increase, and a $7.3 billion … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: State Budget, Startup Funding, Asteroid Day”
Make.TV Enables Professional Live Video Production in the Cloud
Anyone with a smartphone can do a form of live video broadcasting on social media. Anyone with a drone can rig up a version of their own news chopper. But as live, amateur video proliferates, professional broadcasters need to both distinguish their content with higher production values, and incorporate the myriad video streams washing over the … Continue reading “Make.TV Enables Professional Live Video Production in the Cloud”
Cleantech Startups Aim to Mitigate, Use, and Adapt to Increasing CO2
It can be hard to wrap your mind around the scale of change necessary to restore the Earth’s climate trajectory to one that will restore conditions resembling those in which modern civilization blossomed. It requires nothing short of “a movement to unmake and rebuild the world we were born into,” in the words of futurist and … Continue reading “Cleantech Startups Aim to Mitigate, Use, and Adapt to Increasing CO2”
Seattle Week in Review: Disneyland, the Appiest Place on Earth
Xconomy Seattle was in Disneyland most of this week, where the operative question, voiced by one of the thousands of other kindred spirits hiking through the hot, crowded streets of Adventureland Thursday afternoon was, “What are all these people waiting for?” More on that below—including a gripe about the princess industrial complex. But first a … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: Disneyland, the Appiest Place on Earth”
With $20M from Scale, Textio Envisions ‘Augmented Writing’ Everywhere
In a prime example of the promise of artificial intelligence to improve human capabilities, rather than just replace them, Textio is bringing its “augmented writing” technology to e-mails, sales and marketing communications, and other forms of business writing, and just raised $20 million to do it. The Seattle startup, which until now focused on improving … Continue reading “With $20M from Scale, Textio Envisions ‘Augmented Writing’ Everywhere”
Seattle Week In Review: The Whole Everything Store, Yes, All of It
In 20 years, which of these two Jeff Bezos-related announcements this week will have had a bigger impact: The $13.7 billion deal for Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) to acquire high-end grocer Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: [[ticker:WFM]]) or Bezos’ stepped-up philanthropic ambitions, indicated by a tweet Thursday requesting ideas for how to give away his money ($84.8 … Continue reading “Seattle Week In Review: The Whole Everything Store, Yes, All of It”
Bill Gates Backs Fourth Metamaterials Spinout, Pivotal Commware
Pivotal Commware, a year-old metamaterials startup built inside patent licensing and invention business Intellectual Ventures, has raised $17 million from investors including Bill Gates. If that sounds familiar, it should. Pivotal is the fourth Gates-backed company to spin out of Intellectual Ventures armed with software-driven radio-wave bending metamaterials technology. Like its sister companies in satellite … Continue reading “Bill Gates Backs Fourth Metamaterials Spinout, Pivotal Commware”
Xealth Raises $8.5M to Help Doctors Prescribe Digital Health Apps
With more digital health apps and devices popping up each week, the debate continues about their effectiveness at improving health. But there’s another big problem for doctors and hospitals that want their patients to use the apps that do work: prescribing them. Xealth, a cloud-based software startup, aims to make prescribing a diabetes management app as … Continue reading “Xealth Raises $8.5M to Help Doctors Prescribe Digital Health Apps”
Washington State Program Could Be Model for Trump Apprenticeship Push
[Updated 6/13/17, 10:25 pm PT. See below.] President Trump, once the star of reality television show “The Apprentice,” is pushing for apprenticeships as a way to connect more people with some 6 million unfilled jobs in fields such as healthcare and information technology. A program from Washington state’s technology industry is doing just that, and planning to … Continue reading “Washington State Program Could Be Model for Trump Apprenticeship Push”
Accolade A.I. Engine Aims to Personalize Healthcare Choices
This story is part of an ongoing series on A.I. in healthcare. Accolade, a healthcare concierge company, has built what it’s calling an intelligence engine to do things like suggesting when an individual should seek a second opinion about a planned surgical procedure. The goal is to make interacting with health insurance benefits more like … Continue reading “Accolade A.I. Engine Aims to Personalize Healthcare Choices”
Seattle Week in Review: The A.I. Driver/Psychiatrist Will See You Now
If the TV show Frasier, which aired from 1993 to 2004, were rebooted and set in Seattle of, say, 2037, Dr. Frasier Crane would be an artificial intelligence avatar that would pick you up in a driverless, all-electric luxury sedan, and, after confirming your destination, inform you in an approximation of Kelsey Grammer’s dulcet tone: … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: The A.I. Driver/Psychiatrist Will See You Now”
DimensionalMechanics Joins Rush to Bring A.I. to All
When he was 13, Rajeev Dutt, inspired by science-fiction authors such as Isaac Asimov, envisioned a world with ubiquitous artificial intelligence. His startup, DimensionalMechanics, is one of many companies large and small trying to deliver on that vision. The company has built a set of software tools meant to make it easier for non-experts to … Continue reading “DimensionalMechanics Joins Rush to Bring A.I. to All”
States Seek Slice of $7 Trillion Autonomous Vehicle Industry
As U.S. states and cites vie to capture some of the trillions of dollars of economic activity expected to flow from a shift to autonomous vehicles in the coming decades, Washington on Wednesday joined about two dozen states that have paved the way for testing driverless cars. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee directed relevant state agencies … Continue reading “States Seek Slice of $7 Trillion Autonomous Vehicle Industry”
Snap Buys Placed, Maker of Ad Attribution Technology
Placed, a Seattle company that tracks traffic to physical locations using mobile devices to help measure the offline impact of online advertising, has been acquired by camera company Snap Inc. (NYSE: [[ticker:SNAP]]), the maker of messaging app Snapchat. Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, pegged the value of the deal at $125 million with stock payouts that … Continue reading “Snap Buys Placed, Maker of Ad Attribution Technology”
BridgeCare Finance Aims to Ease Burden of Paying for Child Care
Quality child care—an essential foundation for children, with a lasting benefit—can cost as much as or more than college tuition, about $17,700 a year in Washington state, on average. But the expense also comes at a time of life when many parents are still relatively early in their careers, stretching their budgets, and often forcing … Continue reading “BridgeCare Finance Aims to Ease Burden of Paying for Child Care”
Week in Review: States, Corporations Look to Save World from Trump
Will this week be remembered as the moment the Earth’s changing climate went irretrievably over the edge—if it hasn’t done so already—or will it be a catalytic moment that accelerates action in spite of the U.S. president’s rejection of the global accord to address climate change? We explore that question with a couple of veteran … Continue reading “Week in Review: States, Corporations Look to Save World from Trump”
Ghostruck Fined by Washington Regulator for Operating Without Permit
[Updated 6/3/17, 9:27 a.m. PT. See below.] Ghostruck, a Seattle startup connecting movers with customers, was fined $75,500 by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) for “operating as a residential moving company without the required permit,” the commission announced Thursday. More than two-thirds of that penalty was suspended for two years, provided that the company … Continue reading “Ghostruck Fined by Washington Regulator for Operating Without Permit”
Seattle Startup WiBotic Readies Wireless Recharge System for Drones
For drones and other autonomous vehicles to carry out lengthy, meaningful assignments such as ongoing aerial surveillance or a day of delivering packages, they will need a reliable way to recharge their batteries with little or no human intervention. Seattle-based startup WiBotic, a spinout from the University of Washington, is developing a suite of wireless … Continue reading “Seattle Startup WiBotic Readies Wireless Recharge System for Drones”
Week in Review: Seattle Tech Boom From Amazon to Zestimate
With the Memorial Day Weekend weather forecast as nice as it has ever been or will ever be again, it’s time to grab some lab-grown “meat” and fire up the grill. First, let’s recap some of the headlines from booming Seattle’s tech industry this week, including our nation-leading population growth; several large venture capital investments … Continue reading “Week in Review: Seattle Tech Boom From Amazon to Zestimate”
Smartsheet, Outreach, Echodyne, Bulletproof, and Discuss.io Raise VC
Seattle-area tech companies announced a spate of eight-figure investment rounds this week. Here’s a rundown of who’s raising and who’s investing: —Smartsheet. The Bellevue, WA-based maker of online project management and collaboration tools announced a $52.1 million Series F funding round Wednesday. Insight Ventures Partners, an existing backer, took the lead on the funding—Smartsheet’s first … Continue reading “Smartsheet, Outreach, Echodyne, Bulletproof, and Discuss.io Raise VC”
Week in Review: Remembering the Seattle of Chris Cornell and Grunge
Seattle mourns the death of Chris Cornell, the Soundgarden front man and Seattle native synonymous with the city’s grunge sound. Some thoughts on that below, but first tech news including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to the Microsoft CEO Summit; results from the Seattle Angel Conference; new leadership at the University of Washington’s entrepreneurship … Continue reading “Week in Review: Remembering the Seattle of Chris Cornell and Grunge”
Could Seattle’s Life Science Expertise Support Clean Meat Industry?
The Pacific Northwest has the ingredients and the recipes for innovation in animal-free meats and proteins—but entrepreneurs and investors here have yet to don the chef’s toque. An event at the University of Washington’s CoMotion innovation transfer arm on Monday seeks to gauge interest among would-be innovators in the clean meat and plant-based protein. Advocates have … Continue reading “Could Seattle’s Life Science Expertise Support Clean Meat Industry?”
Partnership on AI Adds Corporate, NGO Members, Charts Initial Course
Artificial intelligence is a booming business in 2017, but one that also comes with significant baggage in the form of public misunderstanding, potential job losses, and fear. Last fall, A.I. competitors Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, and Google banded together to form the Partnership on AI to Benefit People and Society, an industry-led attempt to get … Continue reading “Partnership on AI Adds Corporate, NGO Members, Charts Initial Course”
Week in Review: Microsoft’s Introspective CEO on Trust in Tech
There was a lot of interesting tech news to catch up on in Seattle this week, though it was easy to miss it amid the roar and rumble of astonishing political, nuclear waste, and seismic* developments near and far. Read on for highlights from Microsoft’s developer conference; a new Echo device from Amazon, and its … Continue reading “Week in Review: Microsoft’s Introspective CEO on Trust in Tech”