If you’re looking for a concise, articulate answer to the question of why to invest in or start a company in Seattle, look no further than Heather Redman. Her comments lead off our Xconomy Seattle Week in Review, which also covers the boom in coding schools locally and nationally, new data on the fastest-growing occupation … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: Why We’re Great, Code Schools, Health IT, Art in Space”
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.
Art on the Moon: Contemplating Culture as a Space-faring Species
Let’s say you’re the first artist sent to space. You have a $500,000 budget, up to 60 kilograms of supplies, and 12 hours on the surface of the Moon to execute your vision, with the help of one astronaut assistant. What mark will you make on behalf of humanity? Dozens of answers from artists in … Continue reading “Art on the Moon: Contemplating Culture as a Space-faring Species”
New UniEnergy Investor Bullish on Storage, But Prices Must Drop
UniEnergy Technologies (UET), the grid-scale battery maker based north of Seattle, began 2016 with a fresh $25 million funding round from investors including Orix, a Japanese financial services firm with business lines in renewable energy project development and energy storage. Last week, Orix executive vice president Yuichi Nishigori (pictured) visited UET and spoke to clean energy advocates … Continue reading “New UniEnergy Investor Bullish on Storage, But Prices Must Drop”
Seattle Week in Review: Tradeoffs in Wi-Fi, Solar, Self-driving Cars
Sneak out for a run on one of the first springlike days of the year, or stay inside and finish that project? Connect via Wi-Fi or save your phone’s battery? Own your own self-driving car or join a transportation network? Meet with a potential customer or order beer for your event next week? We all … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: Tradeoffs in Wi-Fi, Solar, Self-driving Cars”
Emissions May Rise if Self-Driving Cars Become Too Convenient
If a road trip from Seattle to Portland meant three hours of focused work rather than gripping the wheel and gritting your teeth through traffic, would you be more likely to go by car than take the train, plane, or bus? That’s one scenario that could cause a transition to fully automated self-driving cars to … Continue reading “Emissions May Rise if Self-Driving Cars Become Too Convenient”
Keiretsu Forum NW Invested a Record $43.5M in 2015
Angel investors affiliated with Keiretsu Forum Northwest invested $43.5 million in 57 companies last year, a record for the organization in this region. Keiretsu Forum Northwest, which began with a single chapter in 2005, has also seen its membership swell, attracting about 100 new members each of the last two years—including members gained through its … Continue reading “Keiretsu Forum NW Invested a Record $43.5M in 2015”
Seattle Week in Review: Northwest Energy, Space Education, & More
This week, we’re reviewing a new long-term energy plan for the Northwest that calls for more of the same: energy efficiency. Also, a new regional space education effort is under way. Might it yield applicants to NASA’s next astronaut class (the latest one received a record 18,300 applicants)? And check out some good reading and … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: Northwest Energy, Space Education, & More”
Medical Devices Tie-up: Stryker to Buy Physio-Control for $1.28B
Physio-Control, a progenitor of the Seattle-area medical devices industry, will again become part of a large public company headquartered elsewhere. Kalamazoo, MI-based Stryker (NYSE: [[ticker:SYK]]) has agreed to buy the maker of automated external defibrillators and other devices for $1.28 billion in cash. For Stryker, Physio-Control is the third acquisition announced this month and its 20th since 2010. Stryker … Continue reading “Medical Devices Tie-up: Stryker to Buy Physio-Control for $1.28B”
Seattle Week in Review: Space, VR, Machine Intelligence
Welcome to Xconomy Seattle’s new Week in Review. Today, we’ll look back at significant happenings from the Seattle area and beyond, in space, virtual reality, and machine intelligence. The idea is to give you a quick, visual way to digest some of the week’s news. As we all know, dealing with information overload is an … Continue reading “Seattle Week in Review: Space, VR, Machine Intelligence”
A Slice of DFJ’s New $350M Fund Intended for Northwest Entrepreneurs
[Corrected 2/11/16, 9:00 pm. See below.] Bill Bryant is something of an anomaly in Pacific Northwest venture capital: He’s a full-fledged investing partner in a big, storied Silicon Valley firm—Draper Fisher Jurvetson, which just announced a $350 million 12th venture fund—who is based permanently in Seattle and focused squarely on investments in the region. Bryant, a … Continue reading “A Slice of DFJ’s New $350M Fund Intended for Northwest Entrepreneurs”
How Google Enables VR Content, From Pro Rigs to Smartphone Cameras
While investors might fret about when or whether forthcoming virtual reality headsets will be ready to support a new technology ecosystem, Google is building out a substantial one of its own around its low-end Cardboard viewer. Much of the work behind the scenes is led by a team in Seattle. There are now more than … Continue reading “How Google Enables VR Content, From Pro Rigs to Smartphone Cameras”
Microsoft Taps 10 Machine Learning Startups for Seattle Accelerator
Ten nascent businesses applying machine learning to everything from answering medical questions to recruiting university students were tapped for Microsoft Ventures’ latest accelerator, kicking off this week in Seattle. It’s the third running of the accelerator program in Seattle. The focus this time around is machine learning and data science, enabled, naturally, by Microsoft services such … Continue reading “Microsoft Taps 10 Machine Learning Startups for Seattle Accelerator”
Is 2016 the Year Virtual Reality Platforms Take a Magic Leap?
Try as he might, Madrona managing partner Tim Porter could not get Sachin Deshpande to share much of anything about Magic Leap. The two were on stage last week at a virtual reality conference in Seattle. Deshpande is senior director of product management at Qualcomm Ventures, an early investor in the Florida augmented reality company, … Continue reading “Is 2016 the Year Virtual Reality Platforms Take a Magic Leap?”
Seattle Roundup: Moz, PitchBook, Cedexis, Corbis, Getty, Nimia
A pair of Seattle companies, Moz and PitchBook, announced $10 million funding rounds this week and were both refreshingly forthcoming about things that private tech companies typically keep close to the vest: revenue and valuations. Meanwhile, Portland-based Cedexis raised $22 million, and some big deals went down involving Seattle-based digital image licensing giants Corbis and … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Moz, PitchBook, Cedexis, Corbis, Getty, Nimia”
UW Researchers Work on Financial Services for the Developing World
In Kenya, sending money to anyone with a mobile phone is easy, fast, and just a normal part of life for everyone from fishermen and rural farmers to wealthy business owners in the cities. But for all the good that Kenya’s M-Pesa system has done in spreading access to the country’s formal financial system, duplicating … Continue reading “UW Researchers Work on Financial Services for the Developing World”
ISpot.tv Measures Ad Effectiveness in World of Fragmented TV Viewing
The Super Bowl, its 50th incarnation now less than a fortnight away, is one of the few remaining events on the calendar that qualify as must-see, appointment television viewing for a mass audience. And many of us come for the commercials as much as the football game. The rest of the year, television viewers—if that’s … Continue reading “ISpot.tv Measures Ad Effectiveness in World of Fragmented TV Viewing”
Seattle Roundup: Airbnb Regulations, Sendachi, Health IT, & More
Seattle lawmakers are moving toward regulations of short-term rentals facilitated by the likes of Airbnb, which says its guests generated some $138 million in direct spending in the city. In other news, Sendachi, a DevOps-focused IT services company, raised $10 million; Seattle healthcare IT companies Wellpepper and EveryMove announced significant new customers; a startup from … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Airbnb Regulations, Sendachi, Health IT, & More”
Seattle Roundup: Venture Stats, Elevate Capital, VR, UIEvolution, & More
Lots to catch up on this week in the Northwest including Washington’s 2015 venture investment tally; a new Portland, OR-based venture fund forming with an explicit focus on under-represented entrepreneurs and parts of the region; new funding for EnvelopVR and UIEvolution; the growing regional and global footprint of Tableau Software; and a new round of … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Venture Stats, Elevate Capital, VR, UIEvolution, & More”
Kymeta Raises $62M, Demonstrates Satellite Antenna on Toyota Car Roof
Investors in Kymeta, including Bill Gates, have plowed another $62 million into the Seattle-area technology company as it aims to bring lower cost, high-speed satellite communications to automobiles and other vehicles. Kymeta’s metamaterials-based satellite antenna technology is on display this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where Toyota is showing a … Continue reading “Kymeta Raises $62M, Demonstrates Satellite Antenna on Toyota Car Roof”
Amazon, Founders’ Co-op Fund AI2 Natural Language Spinout KITT.AI
Add KITT.AI to the growing cluster of startups and established technology companies pushing the boundaries of machine intelligence in Seattle. A spinout of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2), KITT.AI received an investment from Founders’ Co-op and the $100 million Amazon Alexa Fund, which points to the technology KITT.AI is working on: natural language … Continue reading “Amazon, Founders’ Co-op Fund AI2 Natural Language Spinout KITT.AI”
Seattle Roundup: CES News from Satellites to Connected Cars, & More
With CES sucking up all the early 2016 air, we’ve cherry picked a few announcements from the big technology show from Seattle-area companies including Planetary Resources, Kymeta, and UIEvolution. (Our correspondent João-Pierre S. Ruth is on the scene, covering all the droids you’re looking for and more.) We’re also tracking a merger between TalentWise and … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: CES News from Satellites to Connected Cars, & More”
UW Lab Links Healthcare Innovators with Primary Care Doctors
There is no shortage of innovation in healthcare, but startups and even large companies face challenges in getting their new technologies in the hands of the front-line doctors who would implement them. Enter the University of Washington’s new Primary Care Innovations Lab, which aims to connect private companies with doctors and other experts to assist … Continue reading “UW Lab Links Healthcare Innovators with Primary Care Doctors”
With $25M Investment, UniEnergy Technologies Plans to Scale Up
UniEnergy Technologies (UET) has landed a $25 million “strategic equity investment” from Japanese financial services firm Orix Corporation and a prior investor to accelerate production and sales of its grid-scale batteries. The company, based in Mukilteo, WA, about 40 minutes north of Seattle, is trying to build momentum after winning contracts in the last 18 … Continue reading “With $25M Investment, UniEnergy Technologies Plans to Scale Up”
Seattle Roundup: Mazlo, Textio, Pixvana, Janrain, Innervate, Matcherino
‘Twas the week before Christmas, And throughout the Northwest, Tech companies scored funding, For VR, e-sports, and being your best Read on for details of new rounds for Mazlo, Textio, Pixvana, Janrain, Innervate, and Matcherino. —Mazlo is trying to help people improve themselves through brief, focused practice sessions on things like public speaking, meditation, nutrition, and … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Mazlo, Textio, Pixvana, Janrain, Innervate, Matcherino”
With New Funding, Textio Trains Machines to Improve HR Writing
Textio, a Seattle startup using machine intelligence and natural language processing to help people improve documents like job listings and recruiting e-mails as they’re writing them, has raised $8 million and plans to triple its workforce in the coming year. Emergence Capital led the $8 million Series A, with existing investors Cowboy Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, … Continue reading “With New Funding, Textio Trains Machines to Improve HR Writing”
International Startup Resin.io Aims to Fix IoT Software Updates
Tucked into a small office in the heart of Seattle’s Capitol Hill is one hub of a tech startup whose team members hail from 10 countries. The international aspect of Resin is interesting by itself, and so is the challenge it’s tackling: wirelessly updating software on the billions upon billions of Internet of Things (IoT) … Continue reading “International Startup Resin.io Aims to Fix IoT Software Updates”
Seattle Roundup: TINYpulse, Eventbase, MetricStory, Pogo, & More
A “drunken” rainstorm barraged the Northwest this week. Entrepreneurs made it rain, too. Read on for details of funding news from TINYpulse, Eventbase Technology, MetricStory, and Pogo, as well as results of surveys of software engineer salaries and the best companies to work for. —TINYpulse, the Seattle startup that makes anonymous survey and feedback tools … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: TINYpulse, Eventbase, MetricStory, Pogo, & More”
New Madrona Venture Labs Startup ReplyYes Sells Via Text Messaging
Madrona Venture Labs’ latest spinout company is ReplyYes, a text-message-based retail service that promises a simple way for people to buy things like vinyl records. Madrona isn’t talking yet about the second company to emerge from its in-house effort to develop and validate business ideas, and then hand them off to operators to build into … Continue reading “New Madrona Venture Labs Startup ReplyYes Sells Via Text Messaging”
New Map Shows Expanding Seattle Tech Universe
If the crane-filled skyline, increasing home prices, worsening traffic, and competitive job market weren’t enough to tell you that Seattle’s tech economy is booming, a new map released Wednesday should do the trick. A previous star-chart-like depiction of the Seattle-area tech universe, released in 2009, helped investors, entrepreneurs, job seekers, and others visualize the region’s … Continue reading “New Map Shows Expanding Seattle Tech Universe”
Gates Leads Global Billionaires in Clean Energy Investment Pledge
In a bid to build momentum toward meaningful action on global climate change, Bill Gates announced a new coalition of global billionaires to back companies commercializing clean energy innovations. Those innovations would be achieved through government research and development funding, which 20 nations pledged to double in a related move. The Breakthrough Energy Coalition, announced … Continue reading “Gates Leads Global Billionaires in Clean Energy Investment Pledge”
Somasegar Is Latest Outgoing Microsoft Exec to Join Madrona
Madrona Venture Group has welcomed another long-tenured Microsoft executive to its ranks, naming S. “Soma” Somasegar, who last month left the software giant after 27 years, as its newest venture partner. Madrona has been a way station for other top Microsoft leaders after exiting the Redmond, WA, company. Kurt Delbene spent 21 years at Microsoft … Continue reading “Somasegar Is Latest Outgoing Microsoft Exec to Join Madrona”
Amazon Funds Risky UW Projects & More Recent Seattle Tech News
The public research university is the source of so much that makes an innovation ecosystem run: talent, technology, fresh ideas, and a conduit for research funding. But where federal dollars fall short, Amazon is stepping in with a new program of small grants to back students, researchers, and others pursuing “bold, risky, globally impactful projects.” … Continue reading “Amazon Funds Risky UW Projects & More Recent Seattle Tech News”
Artificial Intelligence, Today and in 2035, Still Not Human-Level Smart
Computers are a long way from possessing human-level smarts, but they are doing increasingly useful things with technologies that form the building blocks of artificial intelligence, and by 2035, they’ll be driving our cars, at least sometimes. So says Oren Etzioni, CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2).”My contention is that human-level intelligence … Continue reading “Artificial Intelligence, Today and in 2035, Still Not Human-Level Smart”
Madrona Doubles Down on Venture Labs, Taps Fridgen as CEO
Madrona Venture Group likes the “startup studio” model it inaugurated 18 months ago so much that it not only backed a similar effort outside its walls, but is now doubling the staff of its own Madrona Venture Labs, under the new leadership of serial entrepreneur Mike Fridgen. Fridgen, who has been heavily involved with three … Continue reading “Madrona Doubles Down on Venture Labs, Taps Fridgen as CEO”
OfferUp Raises $90M for Mobile, Local Craigslist Killer
OfferUp, a mobile-first marketplace for buying and selling things locally, revealed that it has raised $90 million in total funding, including a $73 million round earlier this year, and is conducting billions of dollars in transactions. A would-be Craigslist killer, or at least a formidable competitor, Bellevue, WA-based OfferUp has been scrupulously quiet as it … Continue reading “OfferUp Raises $90M for Mobile, Local Craigslist Killer”
Seattle 2035: A Glimpse of the Future of Innovation
Self-driving cars. Conferences you attend virtually. People visiting outer space for tourism and work. A denser Seattle, perhaps one with ultra energy efficient buildings and sophisticated aquaponic systems for growing food in the city. These were just some of the visions that emerged from Xconomy’s conference on the future of our regional innovation ecosystem, Seattle 2035. In … Continue reading “Seattle 2035: A Glimpse of the Future of Innovation”
Join Us Friday at Seattle 2035 to Talk About the Future
Seattle 2035, Xconomy’s exploration of the Seattle area’s long-term future, kicks off tomorrow morning at Northeastern University’s South Lake Union campus. There’s still time to grab a ticket to this day-long conversation with the leading innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and investors building the technologies and businesses that could become pillars of our region’s innovation economy in … Continue reading “Join Us Friday at Seattle 2035 to Talk About the Future”
Envelop VR Raises $4M in Seattle’s Revved Up Immersive Tech Cluster
Imagine donning a headset that transforms your office from a drab cubicle to a mountain top, with virtual screens floating all around you. You can move them into view with a click, or eventually a gesture. Or you can just turn your head. You can invite in colleagues on another floor or another continent. You can … Continue reading “Envelop VR Raises $4M in Seattle’s Revved Up Immersive Tech Cluster”
Techstars Seattle Startups Do Demo Day Twice
In the midst of its annual celebration of all-things startup, Seattle tech investors and supporters heard from 11 well-polished new companies—some already gaining significant momentum—graduating from the Techstars program on Tuesday. The startups in the 2015 Techstars Seattle class are tackling everything from candy to cloud security. Managing director Chris DeVore calls it one of … Continue reading “Techstars Seattle Startups Do Demo Day Twice”
Seattle Roundup: Outreach, Salesforce, Remitly, Pyramid, & More
[Corrected 10/27/15, 9:54 am. See below.] Cloud-based customer relationship management software giant Salesforce is beefing up its presence in the region. Meanwhile, sales software upstart Outreach is raising $9.2 million for what it calls a faster, more efficient approach to selling. Read on for details on these stories, as well as a big new market for … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Outreach, Salesforce, Remitly, Pyramid, & More”
Seattle 2035 Reading List: Stories to Get You Ready for Friday
We’re four days away from Seattle 2035, Xconomy’s exploration of the future of our region’s innovation economy. The topics, companies, and individuals we will focus on at this unique event are very much in the news. We’ve highlighted a handful of stories to get you primed for an interactive discussion on everything from artificial intelligence … Continue reading “Seattle 2035 Reading List: Stories to Get You Ready for Friday”
Washington Tech Industry Weighs Approaches to Improving Diversity
Seattle and its booming tech industry are grappling with how to ensure that the prosperity being created here can be shared by minority groups that have been under-represented in the field. A new report—or “playbook”—from the Washington Technology Industry Association indicates widespread concern about the tech industry’s poor showing on diversity, and the racial and economic … Continue reading “Washington Tech Industry Weighs Approaches to Improving Diversity”
Back to the Future of Innovation: Seattle 2035 Coming Oct. 30
Back to the Future II, released in 1989, sent Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown to Oct. 21, 2015—which happens to be today. On Oct. 30, Xconomy is setting its DeLorean time machine for the year 2035 to explore the future of Seattle’s innovation economy. Hop in. The Internet is abuzz with Back to the … Continue reading “Back to the Future of Innovation: Seattle 2035 Coming Oct. 30”
Seattle Roundup: Simply Measured, Keiretsu + ZINO, Fledge, & More
Catching up this week on another acquisition by Simply Measured, a tie-up of two Northwest angel investing groups, a milestone for “conscious company incubator” Fledge, funding for mobile app developer AppSheet, a new technology licensing program from NASA, and news from Spaceflight, Allrecipes, and Impinj. Details: —Simply Measured, a Seattle-based social media analytics company, made … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Simply Measured, Keiretsu + ZINO, Fledge, & More”
Ana Mari Cauce Named 33rd University of Washington President
The University of Washington Board of Regents today erased the “interim” in front of President Ana Mari Cauce’s title, selecting her to be the first woman to hold the position on a permanent basis in the university’s nearly 154-year history. Despite spending upwards of $160,000 on an outside search firm, the regents found the next … Continue reading “Ana Mari Cauce Named 33rd University of Washington President”
Seattle to Mars: Exploring Substance and Hype in a New Era of Space
We’ve reached a new level of excitement about space in Seattle, and across the country, with “The Martian” as the No. 1 film at American movie theaters for the second weekend in a row. This adds to an already amazing year in which humanity has landed a probe on the surface of a comet, taken … Continue reading “Seattle to Mars: Exploring Substance and Hype in a New Era of Space”
Seattle 2035: Agenda Posted for the Future of Our Innovation Economy
I had a vivid dream last night. I hopped a rocket—it seemed routine—to an orbiting laboratory where I interviewed a youthful Oren Etzioni and a team of action heroes working on a half-dozen different AI robots. Clearly, I’ve got Seattle 2035 on my mind. We’ve just posted the full agenda for Xconomy’s Oct. 30 conference … Continue reading “Seattle 2035: Agenda Posted for the Future of Our Innovation Economy”
Seattle Roundup: Dolly, ISB, Machine Learning, & More
Before Monday Night Football gridlocks Seattle traffic (The Seahawks at home against the Lions), let’s catch up on a few interesting items from the last week. Read on for details of Dolly’s Series A funding; a grant for “scientific wellness” to the Institute for Systems Biology; Microsoft Venture’s next startup accelerator topic: machine learning; Dato’s … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Dolly, ISB, Machine Learning, & More”
Big Name VCs Back Seattle ‘Startup Studio’ Pioneer Square Labs
Some of the biggest names in Northwest investing and entrepreneurship, including prolific angel investor Geoff Entress and startup founder/venture capitalist Greg Gottesman, have opened a “startup studio” to form new companies with financial backing from most of the region’s venture firms, along with notable players from Silicon Valley and beyond. Pioneer Square Labs (PSL), based … Continue reading “Big Name VCs Back Seattle ‘Startup Studio’ Pioneer Square Labs”
Spaceflight Buys SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket for 2017 Rideshare Mission
Seattle space business Spaceflight, which sends its customers’ small satellites into orbit by renting excess capacity on other companies’ launch vehicles, bought a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX to conduct its own dedicated “rideshare” mission in 2017. By controlling the entire mission, Spaceflight can cater to higher-value customers who weren’t willing to trade the cost … Continue reading “Spaceflight Buys SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket for 2017 Rideshare Mission”