Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.

Facebook, Smilebox, Intellectual Ventures, & More: The 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech

The past week in Seattle tech stories at Xconomy leads off with a recap of the highest-profile project yet to emerge from Facebook‘s growing engineering office in Seattle: Skype video calling. Philip Su, the social network’s full-time engineer on the video calling project, says he spent a lot of time making the installation process virtually … Continue reading “Facebook, Smilebox, Intellectual Ventures, & More: The 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech”

Smilebox Acquired by IncrediMail for $25M

[Updated at 11:10 am PT] Redmond, WA-based photo software company Smilebox, which lets users turn their photos into electronic greeting cards, scrapbooks, and photo albums, or even physical printouts, is being acquired by Israeli digital media company IncrediMail (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MAIL]]) for $25 million, with the possibility of another $15 million if the acquisition hits performance … Continue reading “Smilebox Acquired by IncrediMail for $25M”

Seattle’s pinch/zoom Designs BBC iPad Video App, Learns to Keep It Simple

Less is more. Obvious marketing messages fall flat. Users are more sophisticated than you think. Those were some of the big lessons that Seattle mobile design shop pinch/zoom took away from its latest big project: designing the new iPad video player application for the BBC, the international TV powerhouse. The new app, called iPlayer Global, … Continue reading “Seattle’s pinch/zoom Designs BBC iPad Video App, Learns to Keep It Simple”

InEnTec Raises $20M for Growth of Garbage-to-Gas Tech

Here’s something you hear far too rarely following the Great Recession: positive growth news for a Northwest cleantech company. Bend, OR-based InEnTec has raised $20 million in growth capital, as part of a round that could grow to the $70 million range. The company’s “plasma-enhanced melter” technology takes refuse—anything from common household garbage to industrial … Continue reading “InEnTec Raises $20M for Growth of Garbage-to-Gas Tech”

Rich Barton & Co. Try a Location-Linked Photo-Sharing App: Trover

That dang Rich Barton is one busy dude. Fresh off the public-market debut of Zillow (NASDAQ:[[ticker:Z]]), the Seattle uber-entrepreneur (he also founded Expedia) is trying to boost the user base of another one of his ventures, the location photo-tagging startup Trover. Yes, indeed—another location/mobile/photo/social play. As we saw with yesterday’s news that Seattle’s PhotoRocket had … Continue reading “Rich Barton & Co. Try a Location-Linked Photo-Sharing App: Trover”

PhotoRocket Cuts Staff, Swaps CEOs, Looks for New Direction

Seattle photo-sharing startup PhotoRocket, stocked with veterans of high-profile companies like Amazon, Microsoft, aQuantive and Qpass, has cut its staff and changed CEOs as it tries to build up the product, including adding new features to make PhotoRocket stand out in a forest of mobile photo apps and services. In an e-mail to Xconomy, founder … Continue reading “PhotoRocket Cuts Staff, Swaps CEOs, Looks for New Direction”

Facebook’s Main Man on Skype, Seattle’s Philip Su, on Making Video Calls Magical

In the six months or so he spent building Skype video chat into Facebook, Philip Su had a particular person in mind: your mom. Well, not just her—when you’ve got a user base 750 million strong, there’s a big contingent of folks who aren’t early adopters or tech geeks. And even though video calling has … Continue reading “Facebook’s Main Man on Skype, Seattle’s Philip Su, on Making Video Calls Magical”

Intellectual Ventures Responds to Public Radio Investigation

Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue, WA-based patent licensing and invention firm, has responded on its blog to a recent report by the influential public radio program “This American Life” that delved into the controversy around intellectual property rights—and specifically, the accusation that IV is a massive “patent troll” that uses its trove of intellectual property to … Continue reading “Intellectual Ventures Responds to Public Radio Investigation”

Zillow, Inrix, Glympse: Your 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News

Zillow’s stock market debut dominated the past week of Seattle tech headlines here at Xconomy, and it’s one of the top stories of the year for the Northwest tech business scene. The significance extends beyond the raw facts and figures of Zillow’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:Z]]) business, which aren’t mind-blowing—the company is growing but unprofitable, and only … Continue reading “Zillow, Inrix, Glympse: Your 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News”

Varolii Rolls up $8M to Grow Communications Biz After Surviving the Great Recession

[Updated 11:15 am, see below] Varolii, an 11-year-old software company that handles customer and employee communications for big companies, has served as something of a barometer for the U.S. economy’s troubles over the past few years. After generating double-digit sales growth in the mid-2000s and preparing for an $86 million IPO, Varolii had to back … Continue reading “Varolii Rolls up $8M to Grow Communications Biz After Surviving the Great Recession”

Inrix Lands $37M, Plans to Step on the Gas Expanding Global Traffic Data

[Updated at 2:10 pm] Traffic data provider Inrix, born out of the team that developed Microsoft’s SYNC in-car software system with Ford, plans an aggressive global expansion and a public-market debut “sooner rather than later” after landing a $37 million round of investment led by top Silicon Valley venture capitalists. That’s the word today from … Continue reading “Inrix Lands $37M, Plans to Step on the Gas Expanding Global Traffic Data”

Glympse’s $7.5M Leads June Deals in WA

Glympse’s $7.5 million venture capital haul topped the list of tech, biotech, and cleantech equity deals in Wahingtion state last month, according to data compiled by our partners at CB Insights. Founded by former Microsofties, Glympse is a “social GPS” offering that allows users to broadcast their whereabouts in real time, kind of like a … Continue reading “Glympse’s $7.5M Leads June Deals in WA”

Concur Invests $5M in Yapta

Seattle-based Yapta, an online airfare and hotel rate tracking service, has a new partner: Concur (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CNQR]]), the online expense and travel management service for businesses, is making a $5 million strategic investment. The deal includes Concur using Yapta’s price tools for its TripIt Pro service, which helps business travelers manage their itineraries. Concur bought TripIt … Continue reading “Concur Invests $5M in Yapta”

Zillow Stock Climbs 79 Percent in Action-Packed First Day of Trading

Zillow’s stock ended a roller coaster ride of trading on Wednesday, its first day as a public company. The Seattle-based online real estate listing company’s stock traded as low as $32.50 and as high as $60, but ultimately posted a 79 percent gain, finishing the day at $35.77. Zillow (NASDAQ: [[ticker:Z]]), by pricing its shares … Continue reading “Zillow Stock Climbs 79 Percent in Action-Packed First Day of Trading”

Zillow Prices IPO at $20, Trading to Start Wednesday

Seattle online real-estate listing company Zillow says it will begin trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange Wednesday at $20, a price higher than its recently revised estimate of $16-$18 per share. That price could value the company at about $540 million. Zillow is selling nearly 3.5 million shares, seeking about $70 million. Nationally, the Zillow … Continue reading “Zillow Prices IPO at $20, Trading to Start Wednesday”

PopCap’s Sale to EA, Intellectual Ventures’ Legal Battle, Frank Artale’s Insights: Your 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News

Electronic Arts is betting that the creative minds at Seattle’s PopCap Games can help the console stalwart tackle social network gaming leader Zynga. That’s why EA paid $750 million up front, with incentives to add another $550 million, to acquire the 9-year-old casual game company last week. The deal had been rumored for a few … Continue reading “PopCap’s Sale to EA, Intellectual Ventures’ Legal Battle, Frank Artale’s Insights: Your 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News”

Winshuttle Acquires ShareVis

Bothell, WA-based business software company Winshuttle is growing again—this time, it’s acquired privately held ShareVis, based in Carlsbad, CA. Terms weren’t disclosed. Winshuttle makes software that lets companies “shuttle” huge reams of data between different programs—for instance, bridging the gap between familiar programs like Excel and sophisticated business-management software from German software giant SAP. ShareVis does … Continue reading “Winshuttle Acquires ShareVis”

3 Big Ideas from Frank Artale: Seattle’s Startup Ecosystem, VC Ground Rules, & the New Inflection Point

One of the newer venture capitalists plying his trade in Seattle isn’t really all that new. How’s that? I’m talking about Frank Artale, who joined Ignition Partners earlier this year as a managing director. Artale’s a pretty familiar face around the Puget Sound region, having worked at Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) for nearly a decade—he was … Continue reading “3 Big Ideas from Frank Artale: Seattle’s Startup Ecosystem, VC Ground Rules, & the New Inflection Point”

Seattle Deal Roundup: Livemocha, TTM, RootMetrics Raise Money

We’ve got a trio of quick Seattle-area technology fundraising items today, fresh from the SEC filings. Livemocha reports that it has raised about $5 million in a Series C round, which appears like it could grow to the $7.5 million range with warrants and options. I tried to get more details on that aspect from … Continue reading “Seattle Deal Roundup: Livemocha, TTM, RootMetrics Raise Money”

Seattle’s Ground Truth Merges with Boston’s Umber Systems to Become NYC-Based Mobile Intelligence Solutions

Consumers who gobble up smartphones and tablets are getting revolutionary tools for work and play. An ever-growing forest of app developers is targeting the devices as a juicy new business platform. But for mobile carriers and marketing pros, it’s all about the data—who’s consuming the bandwidth, what they’re doing online, and what else they might … Continue reading “Seattle’s Ground Truth Merges with Boston’s Umber Systems to Become NYC-Based Mobile Intelligence Solutions”

Andy Sack on Lighter Capital: Expanding Beyond RevenueLoan to Finance More “Weird Stuff that Makes Money”

Premium goat-milk ice cream. Bouncy-house rentals for kids’ parties. Electronic medical records for psychiatrists. None of these sound like your textbook target for early stage investors, who are often found hunting consumer tech startups that can turn into billion-dollar home runs. For ubiquitous Seattle investor and entrepreneur Andy Sack, that’s precisely the point. Those three … Continue reading “Andy Sack on Lighter Capital: Expanding Beyond RevenueLoan to Finance More “Weird Stuff that Makes Money””

Lockerz Acquires AddToAny

Seattle social networking startup Lockerz has acquired AddToAny, a software company that provides “share” buttons on websites. Terms were not disclosed. Lockerz, led by Amazon.com veteran Kathy Savitt, is positioning itself as a kind of younger alternative to Facebook. It’s organized around “PTZ,” a system of points that users gather by doing regular social functions … Continue reading “Lockerz Acquires AddToAny”

Swype Adds $6M

Seattle mobile-startup Swype, which makes input software for mobile devices, has closed a $6 million Series C financing round led by Ignition Partners and previous investors Samsung Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, Benaroya Capital, Docomo Capital. Swype’s main product allows people using touchscreen devices like smartphones enter text by sliding their finger across the virtual keyboard, … Continue reading “Swype Adds $6M”

EA Buys PopCap Games for up to $1.3B, Says Seattle Company Will Keep Doing its Thing

[Updated at 3:40 pm] Never mind about that IPO. Electronic Arts announced today that it’s buying Seattle casual gaming company PopCap Games in a deal that could be worth up to $1.3 billion. The initial price is $650 million in cash and $100 million in EA (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ERTS]]) stock, with later performance-based payouts that could … Continue reading “EA Buys PopCap Games for up to $1.3B, Says Seattle Company Will Keep Doing its Thing”

Intellectual Ventures Steps Up Legal Battle with Memory Manufacturers, Brings H-P, Best Buy & Others Along for the Fight

[Updated at 2:30 pm with details of ITC complaint] Now it’s really getting serious. Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue, WA-based intellectual property and invention firm, is stepping up its fight against a pair of Asian memory manufacturers with a complaint to the International Trade Commission seeking to block the companies’ products from being imported to the … Continue reading “Intellectual Ventures Steps Up Legal Battle with Memory Manufacturers, Brings H-P, Best Buy & Others Along for the Fight”

Wag.com, Facebook, Skype, Iota, Moai: The 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News

A short holiday week still left us with plenty of good tech news to chew over in the Puget Sound region. Here’s the quick version of the headlines and deep dives from the past seven days here at Xconomy Seattle, from big players and VCs to startups and researchers: —Cue the circa-2000 sock puppet jokes—Amazon.com … Continue reading “Wag.com, Facebook, Skype, Iota, Moai: The 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News”

Finsphere Adds $1.75M

Bellevue, WA-based Finsphere, which makes mobile software to help banks and other institutions fight financial fraud and identity theft, has added $1.75 million in financing from undisclosed investors. Paperwork filed with the SEC shows this latest round is in addition to a previous $1.75 million financing that Finsphere reported in March. Finsphere is led by … Continue reading “Finsphere Adds $1.75M”

Zillow Estimates $12-$14 Share Price

Online real-estate company Zillow has updated its SEC papers for a planned IPO, saying it expects shares to have an initial price of between $12 and $14. That could bring the company about $55.7 million and put its value close to $380 million, not including options for underwriters to cover over-allotments. The top end of the … Continue reading “Zillow Estimates $12-$14 Share Price”

Skype on Facebook, Live from Seattle: a Partial Answer to Google+ and a Big Debut for Emerald City Engineers

On his way to work today, Mark Zuckerberg says he ran into a neighbor who’d heard reports that Facebook was about to unveil a new video-calling feature. Get on that, he told the youthful billionaire, so I can chat with my grandkids. That’s now possible, with Facebook’s announcement that its 750 million users will be able … Continue reading “Skype on Facebook, Live from Seattle: a Partial Answer to Google+ and a Big Debut for Emerald City Engineers”

Zipline’s Moai Powering “Crimson,” the First Mobile Game Release through Bungie Aerospace

The gaming industry’s ears recently perked up with news that Bungie, the studio behind the hit Xbox franchise Halo, wanted to give mobile game developers more thrust behind their products with its new Bungie Aerospace platform. It turns out that one Seattle startup was a little more interested than most. Zipline Games, based in South … Continue reading “Zipline’s Moai Powering “Crimson,” the First Mobile Game Release through Bungie Aerospace”

Iota, led T-Mobile Vets, Seeks a Simpler Way to Navigate the ‘Internet of Things’

With big bets by the titans of technology and consumer finance, 2011 is becoming the year that American business got serious about jumpstarting the “Internet of things“—a broad web of digitally enhanced locations that consumers can navigate the same way they now use smartcards to pay their bus fare or open security doors at work. … Continue reading “Iota, led T-Mobile Vets, Seeks a Simpler Way to Navigate the ‘Internet of Things’”

Zuckerberg Promises “Something Awesome,” Likester Parses Facebook Data, RevenueLoan Recalibrates, & More in Seattle-Area Tech News

How does one of the world’s hottest web properties keep up with insane user growth, continue adding features, and still keep the whole thing held together? To hear the head honchos of Facebook tell it, the answer isn’t to just vacuum up all the engineers you can find. Instead, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and … Continue reading “Zuckerberg Promises “Something Awesome,” Likester Parses Facebook Data, RevenueLoan Recalibrates, & More in Seattle-Area Tech News”

RevenueLoan is now Lighter Capital

RevenueLoan, an alternative financing service for entrepreneurs, is changing its name and broadening its focus. Founder and CEO Andy Sack writes about the name change and hints at the larger implications in this blog post, which says the Seattle-based startup’s team has “realized there’s a lot more opportunity to disrupt the small business growth capital … Continue reading “RevenueLoan is now Lighter Capital”

Zuckerberg, Schroepfer: Facebook’s Crazy Growth Means Balancing Small-Team Culture While Making Sure Things Don’t Fall Apart

As it marches toward 1 billion users, Facebook’s leaders are keenly focused on a defining tug-of-war: Making sure the company has enough hands working on critical projects without getting too big too fast and diluting the talent pool. That’s one of my key takeaways from tonight’s Seattle appearance by founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and … Continue reading “Zuckerberg, Schroepfer: Facebook’s Crazy Growth Means Balancing Small-Team Culture While Making Sure Things Don’t Fall Apart”

Likester Looks to Ride its “Popularity Engine” from Reality TV to Political Campaigns—Maybe Even the Next Big Thing in Online Shopping

Could a startup best known for predicting the winner of “American Idol” be poised to capitalize on the next wave of e-commerce? When you’re talking about the ever-expanding world of Facebook—and the mountains of data it churns out—that kind of evolution starts to sound a lot less crazy. At least, that’s the impression you might … Continue reading “Likester Looks to Ride its “Popularity Engine” from Reality TV to Political Campaigns—Maybe Even the Next Big Thing in Online Shopping”

Mark Zuckerberg Heading North for Sold-Out Developer Q&A at Facebook Seattle Office

If this counts as a recruiting stunt, it’s the best one yet. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is heading north for a Wednesday visit to the social networking behemoth’s Seattle office, its first outside of California. Word comes from Seattle office lead Ari Steinberg, who says in an e-mail to Seattle-area techies that Zuckerberg … Continue reading “Mark Zuckerberg Heading North for Sold-Out Developer Q&A at Facebook Seattle Office”

Zapd Attracts $3.5M

Zapd, a service that lets you design a webpage from your smartphone, has attracted a nearly $3.5 million Series B round for parent company PressPlane. The investment was led by Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group and includes RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser, who is joining the company’s board. PressPlane previously rolled out Inkd, an online marketplace for graphic … Continue reading “Zapd Attracts $3.5M”

PopCap on the Block, Cloud Deals Aplenty, VC Anxiety, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup

PopCap Games is an undeniable Seattle success story. The company, started by three twenty-somethings in the aftermath of the dot-com bubble, has evolved from a freemium version of “Bejeweled” into an international, multi-platform publisher with $100 million in revenue and 400 employees. This year, with the casual games industry reaching mass-market investment potential, PopCap announced … Continue reading “PopCap on the Block, Cloud Deals Aplenty, VC Anxiety, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”

PopCap’s Big Moment: Acquisition or IPO, with Pitfalls and Promise Either Way

Whether it forges ahead with previous hopes for an IPO, or jumps at an acquisition, it’s clear that Seattle-based PopCap Games is unlikely to leave 2011 without being transformed. The question is, which outcome is better for PopCap? Just a few days ago, the storyline seemed pretty clear. Profitable for years and with few investors … Continue reading “PopCap’s Big Moment: Acquisition or IPO, with Pitfalls and Promise Either Way”

Amazon Brings its Deals Site to Seattle Area, Still Backed by LivingSocial for Now

Amazon.com’s attempt to cash in on the online-coupon craze, AmazonLocal, is spreading to a bigger market: The online retailer’s hometown of Seattle. Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) kicked off its deals offering earlier this month, starting out in Boise, ID. Today, Amazon is announcing its first discounts in the Seattle area, including a half-off coupon for food … Continue reading “Amazon Brings its Deals Site to Seattle Area, Still Backed by LivingSocial for Now”

PopCap Games, Previously Talking Plenty About an IPO, Now Subject of $1B Buyout Report

Seattle’s PopCap Games, which makes well-known casual game titles like Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, has been making lots of noise about its plans to possibly seek an IPO later this year. Of course, one result of a lot of IPO talk is sometimes an acquisition, and that may also be in the cards. This … Continue reading “PopCap Games, Previously Talking Plenty About an IPO, Now Subject of $1B Buyout Report”

Giant Thinkwell Gets $600K Seed

Seattle social-gaming startup Giant Thinkwell, which just unveiled its first official celebrity endorsed game with Seattle hip-hop legend Sir Mix-A-Lot, is also announcing that it’s landed a $600,000 seed investment round. The investment was led by Madrona Venture Group, with Founder’s Co-op and unnamed angels also participating. Giant Thinkwell, part of the first Seattle TechStars class, … Continue reading “Giant Thinkwell Gets $600K Seed”

ScaleXtreme’s $11M, led by Ignition and Accel, Shows Stronger Valley Ties with the Northwest

Personal connections between Silicon Valley and the Pacific Northwest are what make deals flow between the two regions. Today’s example is Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners taking the lead role for an $11 million Series B investment in Palo Alto, CA’s ScaleXtreme, a provider of online IT management software. This particular cross-border connection is personified by … Continue reading “ScaleXtreme’s $11M, led by Ignition and Accel, Shows Stronger Valley Ties with the Northwest”

ExtraHop, Profibrix, Avalara Lead Way Toward $70M in Equity Deals for WA Companies in May

Companies working on IT management, drug development, and software of all kinds led the way to about $70 million worth of equity deals in Washington state during May, according to data compiled by CB Insights. The top investment went to ExtraHop Networks, which reeled in $14 million in an over-subscribed round led by Meritech Capital … Continue reading “ExtraHop, Profibrix, Avalara Lead Way Toward $70M in Equity Deals for WA Companies in May”

Edward Jung on Innovation, Startup Weekend Branches Out, Nuance’s Innovation Hub, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup

I’m still re-adjusting to Pacific time after spending most of last week back in Boston for XSITE 2011, the latest installment of our annual conference that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and more for an all-day confab on innovation. Among the top-notch speakers and presenters was Edward Jung, a Microsoft veteran and co-founder of Bellevue, … Continue reading “Edward Jung on Innovation, Startup Weekend Branches Out, Nuance’s Innovation Hub, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”