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.

Striptease Threats, Aggressive Shushing & Mascot Mania: Memorable Moments from the Seattle 2.0 Awards

Updated 4:15 pm with new photo. Anytime you get a few hundred people in a room and add a couple of drink tickets, there are bound to be some interesting moments. And when that crowd is comprised of the techies, entrepreneurs, risk-takers and rich people from the startup scene, you’re starting from some pretty fertile … Continue reading “Striptease Threats, Aggressive Shushing & Mascot Mania: Memorable Moments from the Seattle 2.0 Awards”

Bezos Invests in General Fusion

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is among the investors in a new financing round for General Fusion, a British Columbia-based company working on “utility-scale fusion power.” The investment, part of General Fusion’s $19.5 million Series B round, was through Bezos Expeditions. Other investors named by General Fusion include Cenovus Energy, Chrisalix Energy Venture Capital, GrowthWorks, along … Continue reading “Bezos Invests in General Fusion”

Buzzlabs acquired by CityGrid

Seattle-based social media monitoring startup Buzzlabs, started by former Microsofties Philip Lee and Dou Shen, has been acquired by West Hollywood, CA-based CityGrid Media. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Buzzlabs’ service helps businesses sort and analyze the cacophony of user-generated content flooding the Web. CityGrid said Buzzlabs’ offering will be added to its existing … Continue reading “Buzzlabs acquired by CityGrid”

Pinpoint Pickup, the Car-Booking Startup Facing off Against Uber, has Seven Cities Under its Belt—and Wants More

For anyone who’s ever stood in the rain waiting for a cramped bus, or wondered if that hurried call to the taxi dispatcher was going to pay off, there’s now a quick way to book a pricier, but more luxurious ride by tapping a few times on your smartphone. I’m not talking about Uber, the … Continue reading “Pinpoint Pickup, the Car-Booking Startup Facing off Against Uber, has Seven Cities Under its Belt—and Wants More”

UW Business Competition Highlights, ExtraHop’s $14M Haul, PopCap’s Acquisition, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup

Anybody concerned with the future of entrepreneurship in the Seattle area would have been buoyed by the enthusiasm at the University of Washington‘s annual business plan competition last week on the waterfront. Nearly 40 teams were whittled down to a “sweet 16” by a horde of judges, but I picked out five that caught my … Continue reading “UW Business Competition Highlights, ExtraHop’s $14M Haul, PopCap’s Acquisition, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”

ExtraHop Lands $14M

Seattle-based ExtraHop Networks, which makes software to help businesses manage their information technology, has raised a $14 million investment round, according to this SEC filing. ExtraHop was was founded in 2007 by Jesse Rothstein and Raja Mukerji, formerly of Seattle’s F5 Networks. GeekWire reports the new round was led by Meritech Capital Partners. ExtraHop and … Continue reading “ExtraHop Lands $14M”

Washington Companies Scored $53M in Equity Financing for March, Led by nLight, Tier 3 & Physware

Washington state companies collected about $53 million in equity financing from venture capitalists and angels in March, led by an $11 million VC round for Vancouver, WA-based semiconductor laser manufacturer nLight Photonics, according to data compiled by research firm CB Insights. nLight still had another $4 million left to sell from the offering, according to … Continue reading “Washington Companies Scored $53M in Equity Financing for March, Led by nLight, Tier 3 & Physware”

Smartphone Robots, Insect-Wing Wind Power, Online Video Game Tourneys & More Notes from the UW Business Plan Competition

Hundreds of people packed the Bell Harbor Conference Center on Seattle’s waterfront yesterday for the University of Washington’s annual Business Plan Competition. Now in its 14th year, the competition is a great showcase of energy and ideas from student entrepreneurs and some of their more experienced collaborators. Last night, the group of 37 teams was … Continue reading “Smartphone Robots, Insect-Wing Wind Power, Online Video Game Tourneys & More Notes from the UW Business Plan Competition”

Amazon’s Cloud Crash, Under-the-Radar Inventions, Zillow’s Trend-Setting IPO, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup

As we dive into a new week in Seattle, Amazon Web Services‘ big cloud computing crash is still reverberating. The server-farm failure took out countless small sites and apps that rely on Amazon’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) market-leading service, and the company got low marks for its communication while attempting to fix the problem over several days. … Continue reading “Amazon’s Cloud Crash, Under-the-Radar Inventions, Zillow’s Trend-Setting IPO, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”

Paul Allen, the Quiet Billionaire with Fingerprints All Over Seattle, Shows the Hometown Crowd a Bit of Himself

Even in his hometown, Paul Allen can seem like an enigma. His influence is everywhere, from sports teams to politics to real estate development. But because of his famously private ways, Allen is only occasionally seen and very rarely heard. That made last Friday’s long public interview at Town Hall an interesting event. It was … Continue reading “Paul Allen, the Quiet Billionaire with Fingerprints All Over Seattle, Shows the Hometown Crowd a Bit of Himself”

Things Fall Apart: Amazon’s Epic Cloud Failure Reveals Shortsightedness by Some Other Well-Known Tech Companies

As this week’s massive failure of Amazon Web Services cloud-computing infrastructure continued to roil the Web today, a few things were sadly clear. Perhaps most striking of all: Major service providers and websites—companies with enough money and talent to avoid the problem—didn’t spend nearly enough energy planning for the inevitability of a breakdown. Yes, it’s … Continue reading “Things Fall Apart: Amazon’s Epic Cloud Failure Reveals Shortsightedness by Some Other Well-Known Tech Companies”

Zillow’s IPO: As the Market Comes Back to Life, Is this Deal the Bellwether of a New Boom?

Trying to read too much significance into any single event in business can be a dicey proposition. But when we’re talking about a well-known Seattle tech company IPO—something the innovation community here hasn’t seen in quite a while—it’s worth chewing over what the development could say about the months and years ahead. The IPO filing … Continue reading “Zillow’s IPO: As the Market Comes Back to Life, Is this Deal the Bellwether of a New Boom?”

Impinj Files for $100M IPO

Seattle-based Impinj, a 10-year-old RFID tech firm founded by University of Washington professor Chris Diorio, filed registration papers for an initial public offering today. The company said it was seeking up to $100 million. Impinj’s numbers were a little up and down in the past few years: The company went from about $25 million in … Continue reading “Impinj Files for $100M IPO”

Please Don’t Go! Microsoft Boosting Pay Across Company After Watching Silicon Valley Encroach on Its Turf and Talent

Looks like Microsoft is officially tired of having people poached by the Silicon Valley raiders setting up shop in its backyard. CEO Steve Ballmer’s new memo on employee compensation changes, in wide circulation this morning, looks somewhat like the Redmond, WA-based software giant’s version of Google’s abrupt companywide raise-and-bonus combo of late last year. Microsoft … Continue reading “Please Don’t Go! Microsoft Boosting Pay Across Company After Watching Silicon Valley Encroach on Its Turf and Talent”

From Three-Month Ice to Fast Broadband Everywhere: Some Projects You Might Not Know About From Intellectual Ventures Lab

There are two sides to Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue, WA-based “invention capital” company started by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold. The revenue-generating side of the business is a stockpile of more than 30,000 patents, which Intellectual Ventures licenses and sells to other firms, including tech companies large and small looking to defend themselves in lawsuits. … Continue reading “From Three-Month Ice to Fast Broadband Everywhere: Some Projects You Might Not Know About From Intellectual Ventures Lab”

Sparkbuy Adds Product Selection from Best Buy in Quest to Make Electronics Shopping as Powerful as Online Travel

Another day, another bit of news for Seattle-based online electronics shopping startups. This time, it’s Sparkbuy announcing that it will offer products from Richfield, MN-based Best Buy (NYSE: [[ticker:BBY]]) on its customizable search site, a big addition for a company that’s only been in the public eye for about two weeks. Sparkbuy, which already featured electronics like … Continue reading “Sparkbuy Adds Product Selection from Best Buy in Quest to Make Electronics Shopping as Powerful as Online Travel”

Zillow Files for IPO, PopCap Heading the Same Way, Zynga Beckons Local Talent, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup

The Seattle tech scene got its first entrant in what looks like a coming wave of initial public offerings when Zillow made its intentions official, filing paperwork with federal regulators Monday for a future stock sale. In its filing, the online real-estate listing and mortgage database said it would seek about $52 million from the stock … Continue reading “Zillow Files for IPO, PopCap Heading the Same Way, Zynga Beckons Local Talent, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”

Stealthy Decide.com Lands $6M

Seattle stealth startup Decide.com, which says it’s working on a consumer electronics shopping service, announced a $6 million Series B financing round today. The latest investment was led by Maveron—Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz’s outfit—along with Madrona Venture Group and angel investors. Decide, led by CEO Mike Fridgen, is also adding some notable names: Dan Levitan … Continue reading “Stealthy Decide.com Lands $6M”

Clearwire, Sprint Settle Wholesale Pricing Dispute with $1B Deal

Troubled 4G wireless network operator Clearwire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLWR]]) had some positive news today, reporting that it and majority shareholder Sprint had resolved a dispute over wholesale pricing. Sprint (NYSE: [[ticker:S]]) will pay at least $1 billion over the next two years for use of Clearwire’s service, the companies said in a joint statement. Interim Chief … Continue reading “Clearwire, Sprint Settle Wholesale Pricing Dispute with $1B Deal”

Groupon Swallows Seattle’s Pelago, Makers of the Whrrl Check-In App

There’s been a bit of discussion lately about whether “the check-in” is dead. Chicago-based daily deals behemoth Groupon apparently doesn’t think so: It’s acquiring Seattle’s Pelago, makers of the Whrrl social check-in service. Terms weren’t disclosed. In a blog post, Groupon Chief Executive Andrew Mason said he was a fan of Whrrl’s technology and people, … Continue reading “Groupon Swallows Seattle’s Pelago, Makers of the Whrrl Check-In App”

Zillow, with Growing Revenue and Shrinking Losses, Files Paperwork for IPO

Seattle online real-estate company Zillow is trying to raise nearly $52 million in an initial public offering, according to registration paperwork filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Zillow, which has been edging toward an IPO for some time, said in the statement that its revenues nearly doubled last year to about $30.5 million. … Continue reading “Zillow, with Growing Revenue and Shrinking Losses, Files Paperwork for IPO”

PopCap, Eyeing an IPO this Fall, Talks Revenue Growth, Shifting Platforms, & Zynga Jealousy in a Blitz with Media, Investors

PopCap, the Seattle-based maker of popular online and casual games like “Bejeweled” and “Plants vs. Zombies,” is coming off a very newsy week as it tries to build buzz among investors ahead of a possible initial public offering later this year. Of course, if PopCap actually files an IPO prospectus with securities regulators, the company … Continue reading “PopCap, Eyeing an IPO this Fall, Talks Revenue Growth, Shifting Platforms, & Zynga Jealousy in a Blitz with Media, Investors”

Concur Stakes a Bigger Claim in India with Cleartrip Investment, New International Office

Concur, which helps businesses manage travel and expense accounts, is making a couple of big moves to broaden its international reach today. The company said it has invested $40 million to obtain a minority stake in Cleartrip, a privately held online travel-booking service in India. Redmond, WA-based Concur said it’s forming a marketing partnership with … Continue reading “Concur Stakes a Bigger Claim in India with Cleartrip Investment, New International Office”

ShipSweet is Now EquaShip

The Seattle package-shipping startup previously known as ShipSweet has changed its name to EquaShip, and is emerging from stealth mode today as it heads for a summer launch. The company is headed by serial entrepreneur Ron Wiener, also of Venture Mechanics. The idea behind EquaShip is to give small- and medium-sized businesses much better deals … Continue reading “ShipSweet is Now EquaShip”

Paul Allen’s Billionaire Book Tour Continues with a “60 Minutes” Sitdown This Weekend

When you’re one of the richest people in the world, your autobiography gets the deluxe publicity rollout. Exhibit A is billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, whose new book, “Idea Man,” is about to hit the market. The first excerpt, adapted in Vanity Fair, caused tons of headlines, mostly for its depiction of a heated fight … Continue reading “Paul Allen’s Billionaire Book Tour Continues with a “60 Minutes” Sitdown This Weekend”

Northwest Entrepreneur Network Showcases Startups in Health Care, Software, Clean Power, Apparel, & Plenty More

A really interesting variety of startups made their initial pitches to the broader investing crowd yesterday at the Northwest Entrepreneur Network’s First Look Forum. The 12 presenters represented a wide array of sectors, from food to retail to software services and—seriously—nuclear fusion power. “I don’t think we could have imagined a more diverse slate, in … Continue reading “Northwest Entrepreneur Network Showcases Startups in Health Care, Software, Clean Power, Apparel, & Plenty More”

Zynga’s Mark Pincus on Becoming the Amazon of Social Games, Big Data Growth, & Recruiting Failures Spawning a Seattle Office

Zynga, the San Francisco-based maker of addictive online games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars, officially opened its new Seattle office with a reception last night that was aimed squarely at recruiting new tech talent. And there wasn’t anything coy about the hunt, echoing a pitch Seattle-area techies have heard from many Silicon Valley companies in … Continue reading “Zynga’s Mark Pincus on Becoming the Amazon of Social Games, Big Data Growth, & Recruiting Failures Spawning a Seattle Office”

Lockerz, a Gamified Social Network Site with Original Content, Scores Another $30M

Seattle startup Lockerz, which is positioning itself as a unifying platform for the online lives of teens and young adults, has raised $30 million out of a possible $45 million investment round, according to a new SEC filing. The company declined to disclose the investors, pending further fundraising. That’s a pretty big chunk of change … Continue reading “Lockerz, a Gamified Social Network Site with Original Content, Scores Another $30M”

Expedia Spins Out TripAdvisor, PopCap Opens a New Studio, LiquidPlanner Makes Work Social & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup

The digital travel sector was a hot source of news for Xconomy readers in the past week—specifically, we had three major appearances from Bellevue, WA-based Expedia (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXPE]]). The online travel giant made its biggest headlines with its decision to spin out TripAdvisor into a separate public company. As Xconomy’s Greg Huang reported, Newton, MA-based … Continue reading “Expedia Spins Out TripAdvisor, PopCap Opens a New Studio, LiquidPlanner Makes Work Social & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”

BigDoor: New Game Platform for Ads

Seattle startup BigDoor is unveiling a new website advertising platform centered around game behavior, hoping to tie a better profit engine to one of the tech world’s current buzzwords—gamification. BigDoor says its “Engagement Economy” approach is based around having advertisers pay on a “cost per quest” basis, which ties ad spending to user tasks, such … Continue reading “BigDoor: New Game Platform for Ads”

Zillow Grabs San Francisco-Based Postlets, an Online Real-Estate Listing Syndicator

Seattle-based online real estate website Zillow has acquired San Francisco-based Postlets, a startup that syndicates property listings across about a dozen sites. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Zillow wouldn’t comment on any possible layoffs as part of the acquisition. Postlets says it has more than 500,000 registered users generating more than 350,000 … Continue reading “Zillow Grabs San Francisco-Based Postlets, an Online Real-Estate Listing Syndicator”

Seattle’s Marchex Acquires Boston-Area Startup Jingle Networks for $62.5M, Adding Heft to Phone Call Advertising

Seattle-based Marchex, an online advertising and search company, is acquiring Billerica, MA-based Jingle Networks for up to $62.5 million in cash and stock, the companies announced today. Marchex (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MCHX]]) says the combination will allow its advertising network to reach more than 500 million phone calls annually. Jingle Networks provides advertising to mobile carriers and … Continue reading “Seattle’s Marchex Acquires Boston-Area Startup Jingle Networks for $62.5M, Adding Heft to Phone Call Advertising”

LiquidPlanner, Inspired by Social and Mobile Computing, Aims to Make Business Software Sexier

The explosion of faster networks, connected crowds and mobile computing has made millions of Americans into astonishingly fast and efficient consumers. But when the weekend’s over, too many of us walk back into a technological time-warp of email chains, conference calls and endless meetings. Bellevue-based LiquidPlanner is among the companies trying to break down that … Continue reading “LiquidPlanner, Inspired by Social and Mobile Computing, Aims to Make Business Software Sexier”

Matt McIlwain the Only Seattle-Area VC on New Forbes “Midas List”

With March Madness officially over, Forbes is feeding the thirst for some statistical gamesmanship with its latest “Midas List,” an attempt to rank the country’s top 100 venture capitalists. The Seattle area has just one entry on the list: Madrona Venture Group‘s Matt McIlwain, at No. 75—in fact, there were more women in the rankings … Continue reading “Matt McIlwain the Only Seattle-Area VC on New Forbes “Midas List””

Intellectual Ventures Licenses Patents to Mobile Data Startup Dashwire as Smaller Company Defends Itself in Court

It’s not just the tech behemoths who are girding for the patent wars. Dashwire, a Seattle cloud-services startup, today announced a licensing deal with Intellectual Ventures, Nathan Myhrvold’s Bellevue, WA-based patent middleman firm. Terms were not disclosed. Dashwire’s products synchronize and back up data from smartphones and other mobile devices to the Web. The company … Continue reading “Intellectual Ventures Licenses Patents to Mobile Data Startup Dashwire as Smaller Company Defends Itself in Court”

AT&T’s Buyout of T-Mobile & the Future of Seattle-Area Wireless Innovation: The View from VC Tom Huseby

AT&T’s blockbuster $39 billion bid for Bellevue, WA-based T-Mobile is easily among the biggest stories of this year in Seattle-area tech. But the deal won’t be consummated for a year or more as government regulators consider the massive industry consolidation at stake. As you’d expect, there’s been a fair bit of teeth-gnashing associated with the … Continue reading “AT&T’s Buyout of T-Mobile & the Future of Seattle-Area Wireless Innovation: The View from VC Tom Huseby”

PopCap’s New Indie Label 4th & Battery, the Sandbox For a Death-Metal Horse Romp & Other “Really Strange or Marginal Ideas”

Chalk up another sign of the explosive growth in mobile and casual gaming—Seattle’s PopCap Games, makers of the hit games Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, has set up an “experimental” second label for feeding their weirder side. Yes, even weirder than a Zombie bobsled team. The new studio and label is called 4th & Battery, … Continue reading “PopCap’s New Indie Label 4th & Battery, the Sandbox For a Death-Metal Horse Romp & Other “Really Strange or Marginal Ideas””

Allen vs. Gates and Ballmer, Amazon Takes on Apple, Intellectual Ventures Whips Up a Market, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup

A juicy excerpt from billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen‘s new autobiography caused plenty of chatter around Seattle and the broader tech world this past week, and considering that he’s starting a book tour, I guess that’s the point. The stunning vignette, in the excerpt published in Vanity Fair, was a scene in which Allen writes that … Continue reading “Allen vs. Gates and Ballmer, Amazon Takes on Apple, Intellectual Ventures Whips Up a Market, & More in the Seattle-Area Tech Roundup”

Fast Gets Faster: Zipline’s Moai Seeks to Speed Up Mobile Game Development by Knocking Down Language Barriers

It seems like the pace of mobile and casual game development is already pretty fast. But the folks at Seattle’s Zipline Games think it could be faster. Today, the startup is unveiling the beta version of its new Moai mobile-game development platform. The idea is to take friction out of game-building by offering a single … Continue reading “Fast Gets Faster: Zipline’s Moai Seeks to Speed Up Mobile Game Development by Knocking Down Language Barriers”

Agilyx Eyes IPO for Plastic-to-Oil

Tigard, OR-based Agilyx, which turns plastic into synthetic oil, is gauging a possible public offering after raising a $22 million Series B round. The new investment was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and included Vancouver, BC’s Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Waste Management, and Total Energy Ventures International. Chrysalix’s Brian Wawro told the Portland … Continue reading “Agilyx Eyes IPO for Plastic-to-Oil”

Sony Axes 205 Jobs in West; Closes Bellevue Game Office, Other Work Shifts to San Diego

A downer in local tech-job news: Sony Online Entertainment is closing its game development office in Bellevue, WA, part of a broader downsizing that also includes the shutdown of offices in Denver, CO and Tucson, AZ. The company’s statement also says it is stopping work on the undelivered game “The Agency” to focus efforts on … Continue reading “Sony Axes 205 Jobs in West; Closes Bellevue Game Office, Other Work Shifts to San Diego”

Visible Technologies Raises $6M

Bellevue-based Visible Technologies, which provides a social media monitoring service for businesses, announced this week that it has raised an additional $6 million in financing. The company said previous investors re-upped, including Investor Growth Capital, Joe Grano, Ignition Partners, In-Q-Tel, and WPP. Chief Executive Kelly Pennock says the money will help Visible ramp up the … Continue reading “Visible Technologies Raises $6M”

Cheezburger Steps Up the Hiring Stunts With Free Burgers Outside Amazon Staff Meeting

I guess this means it’s game on in Seattle for tech-company hiring gimmicks. The folks at Cheezburger Network, fresh off a new acquisition and $30 million in venture financing, put together a quick marketing stunt today outside Key Arena, where Amazon.com was having a big company meeting. About a half-dozen Cheezburger employees, including CEO Ben … Continue reading “Cheezburger Steps Up the Hiring Stunts With Free Burgers Outside Amazon Staff Meeting”

The Microsoft Memos on Outgoing Marketing Chief Mich Mathews: ‘I Started Here When Microsoft Was the New, New Thing’

One day after AdAge broke the news that Microsoft marketing chief Mich Mathews was leaving the company, All Things Digital has word that her counterpart at Apple also is moving on. So, whose resignation should we look for tomorrow? In any case, here are the internal email announcements about Mathews’ departure, from Microsoft Chief Operating … Continue reading “The Microsoft Memos on Outgoing Marketing Chief Mich Mathews: ‘I Started Here When Microsoft Was the New, New Thing’”

Report: Ignition Adds $3.5M to Swype

Seattle-based Swype, a maker of touchscreen text-input technology for mobile devices, has landed a $3.5 million investment from Bellevue’s Ignition Partners, according to GeekWire. Swype’s technology allows touchscreen users to enter text by dragging their finger across an onscreen keyboard, rather than tapping out messages letter-by-letter. The company recently took top consumer product honors at … Continue reading “Report: Ignition Adds $3.5M to Swype”

Z2Live’s Latest Round Worth $2.5M

[Updated 4:30 p.m. with comment from CEO] Seattle mobile-game startup Z2Live’s latest venture round is worth about $2.5 million, according to a regulatory filing today. Z2Live had previously announced a Series B investment from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, joining previous investor Madrona Venture Group, but hadn’t disclosed the amount. Z2Live is focusing on social gaming for … Continue reading “Z2Live’s Latest Round Worth $2.5M”