Category: Seattle

Microsoft, TechStars Unveil New Program for Azure Cloud Services

Updated 3 pm with correction Microsoft is taking its relationship with startup accelerator TechStars to another level. Today, the software company revealed that it’s sponsoring a second startup program based around the TechStars model, this time for companies that use Microsoft’s Azure cloud-computing service. That’s in addition to the Microsoft-TechStars accelerator based on the Kinect … Continue reading “Microsoft, TechStars Unveil New Program for Azure Cloud Services”

Optimism and Innovation

There are many opinions on the essential elements for innovation. One component is particularly crucial, and one of my favorite quotes on the matter is by Intel co-founder Robert Noyce, who said “Optimism is an essential ingredient for innovation. How else can the individual welcome change over security, adventure, over staying in safe places?” Having … Continue reading “Optimism and Innovation”

Driving for a Better Way to Engage Consumers in their Own Health

Attention to health is life’s greatest hindrance—Plato Let’s just say you own a car. You have undoubtedly purchased insurance for the car and if you are diligent and worried about value and performance, you also are diligent about maintenance. You get the oil changed according to schedule, you fill it with the right kind of … Continue reading “Driving for a Better Way to Engage Consumers in their Own Health”

Dendreon CEO John Johnson: ‘This is My Last Stop’

Dendreon was run its entire 20-year history by people trained in science and medicine, and the big achievement was FDA approval of the first treatment to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer cells like a virus. But it stumbled in the early days of marketing its prostate cancer drug, so Dendreon did what many … Continue reading “Dendreon CEO John Johnson: ‘This is My Last Stop’”

Opanga Networks Receives $6,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=33f460f6-deea-4ff9-9f07-29f9f84b21ea&Preview=1 Date 4/17/2012 Company Name Opanga Networks Mailing Address 1201 3rd Ave Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description Opanga Networks, Inc is a privately held company based in Seattle, Washington. As the leading innovator of pragmatic video optimization solutions Opanga overhauls the mobile video experience for consumers while substantially improving network utilization for … Continue reading “Opanga Networks Receives $6,000,000 New Financing”

Ex-MSFT, AOL Exec Gounares Tackles Datacenter Software with Concurix

Microsoft veteran and former AOL chief technology officer Alex Gounares, who once served as Bill Gates’ top technical assistant, is back in the Seattle area and jumping into the startup scene again with Concurix, a still-forming company that plans to sell next-generation operating system software for big datacenters. Concurix is still in the very early … Continue reading “Ex-MSFT, AOL Exec Gounares Tackles Datacenter Software with Concurix”

Abbott’s Humira, the 3rd-in-Class Drug That Toppled Lipitor as No. 1

Sometimes the biggest success stories in business never make it to the magazine covers. There’s no single Eureka moment, no surprise turning point, no redemption, no swashbuckling CEO delivering the goods. There’s just a team pursuing genius like Edison once said: through 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Dull as it may sound, there … Continue reading “Abbott’s Humira, the 3rd-in-Class Drug That Toppled Lipitor as No. 1”

Voyager Co-Founder Godreau at New Firm with Ex-MS, Yahoo, AOL Execs

Updated 4/16 Enrique Godreau III, a founder and former managing director at Seattle’s Voyager Capital, has resurfaced at a new venture firm where he’s working closely with former Microsoft executives who recently left high-profile jobs at AOL and Yahoo. In fact, the firm—-GSharp Ventures—appears to be so new that the only real thing I could … Continue reading “Voyager Co-Founder Godreau at New Firm with Ex-MS, Yahoo, AOL Execs”

Clipboard’s Gary Flake: Out of the Lab, Building the Personal Web

These are the boom years for the personal Web. Think of a relationship, an interest—hell, even a mundane personal task—and there’s probably at least one connected tool for the job. And more are being built all the time. But which one of those profiles represents the real you? It’s probably some combination of your professional … Continue reading “Clipboard’s Gary Flake: Out of the Lab, Building the Personal Web”

IBM Acquires Varicent Software for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f4575dda-cce6-431c-ae79-113b616739c8&Preview=1 Date 4/13/2012 Company Name Varicent Software Mailing Address 4900 SW Griffith Drive Beaverton, OR 97005 Company Description Varicent Software Incorporated delivers the only complete sales performance management (SPM) solution addressing the needs of the entire corporation. Sales performance management, a subset of corporate performance management (CPM) – or business performance management … Continue reading “IBM Acquires Varicent Software for Undisclosed Sum”

Xconomist of the Week: Jason Baptiste and the Ultralight Startup

Where did this guy find the time to write a book? Never mind that. Jason Baptiste is on the prowl again. The co-founder and CEO of New York-based Onswipe, a tablet-based media and advertising startup, has just released his new book, The Ultralight Startup (Portfolio Penguin, 2012). It’s a how-to-entrepreneur guide with lots of details … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Jason Baptiste and the Ultralight Startup”

Harvest Power, With $100M+ in Revenue, Raises $110M in Tough Cleantech Market

There’s something different about Harvest Power. While other cleantech companies have struggled mightily, the Waltham, MA-based waste-to-energy-and-soil firm keeps chugging along and growing. Today the company says it has raised $110 million in Series C funding, led by True North Venture Partners and American Refining and Biochemical. Previous investors also chipped in, including Kleiner Perkins … Continue reading “Harvest Power, With $100M+ in Revenue, Raises $110M in Tough Cleantech Market”

Beamit Secures $2,400,000 Seed Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0a377581-69c8-4296-be13-567ddb5d7bde&Preview=1 Date 4/12/2012 Company Name Beamit Mailing Address 1725 Westlake Ave N Seattle, WA 98109 Company Description Mobile payments platform Beamit, which focuses on international money transfers between the U.S. and developing markets. Website http://www.beamitmobile.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,400,000 Transaction Round Seed Proceeds Purposes The funds will be used … Continue reading “Beamit Secures $2,400,000 Seed Funding Round”

Wavii Makes Search More Human (Like Google+ Should)

He surely didn’t know it at the time. But Adrian Aoun’s godson, who lives in London and just turned 5, has been supplying the Seattle entrepreneur with inspiration for years. The setting is their regular video chats, which have allowed Aoun to watch the kid’s mastery of language take hold—and even do a little casual … Continue reading “Wavii Makes Search More Human (Like Google+ Should)”

BioPharma Needs A Safe, Reliable Way To Repair Broken Genes

The sequencing of the human genome didn’t immediately lead to treatments for a number of diseases, as many had hoped and a smaller number had predicted. However, the enormous drop in the price of DNA sequencing over the past decade has now made it possible to sequence an individual’s complete genome for less than $5,000. … Continue reading “BioPharma Needs A Safe, Reliable Way To Repair Broken Genes”

Mymetics Ropes in Dendreon, KPCB Vets to Restart Vaccine Developer

[Updated: 7:10 am PT] Sometimes little biotech companies hit the wall, and need a jolt from new management, new investors, and even a change of scenery to see if their technology is ever going to pan out. Mymetics is one of those classic biotech stories, of a little vaccine company heading West to reinvent itself. … Continue reading “Mymetics Ropes in Dendreon, KPCB Vets to Restart Vaccine Developer”

Powerit Holdings Garners $3,008,049 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c9945146-86a4-42d4-a8ac-ab6e7bfb6156&Preview=1 Date 4/11/2012 Company Name Powerit Holdings Mailing Address 568 First Ave South Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description Powerit Solutions provides comprehensive energy demand response and demand control solutions for industrial and commercial applications. We are committed to helping customers in a wide variety of industries manage their energy usage, reduce their … Continue reading “Powerit Holdings Garners $3,008,049 New Funding”

The Billion-Dollar App: How Apple Propelled Instagram to Success

Yesterday’s news that Facebook is buying Instagram and its photo-sharing app was eye-popping for about five reasons at once. But the most interesting reason, to me, has also been the most overlooked so far. Here are the points that jumped out in yesterday’s news, starting with the least important (and most discussed) and building up … Continue reading “The Billion-Dollar App: How Apple Propelled Instagram to Success”

Big Fish Games Bets on Freemium Games, Streaming Service

When Paul Thelen started Big Fish Games—“just in my bedroom, coding games,” he says—the Internet was just beginning to transform the way people got their entertainment. And it was a very big deal: Instead of heading to the store and forking over a few $20s for a disc in a colorful box, you could test … Continue reading “Big Fish Games Bets on Freemium Games, Streaming Service”

Oncothyreon Marches On With ‘Son of Stimuvax’ Cancer Vaccine

Many on Wall Street who follow Seattle-based Oncothyreon know it as the developer of Stimuvax, a product designed to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer cells. But what fewer realize is that Oncothyreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONTY]]) has long envisioned a product that could trump its original Stimuvax, and it has only recently gotten the money … Continue reading “Oncothyreon Marches On With ‘Son of Stimuvax’ Cancer Vaccine”

Mobilisafe Study: Android Apps Show More Security Holes

Chalk up another one for those control freaks at Apple. In a recent study of small and medium-sized businesses, Seattle startup Mobilisafe found that security vulnerabilities on Apple’s mobile devices were largely tied to the company’s iOS platform. The apps that run on those devices, subject to Apple’s picky curation policies, barely registered as security … Continue reading “Mobilisafe Study: Android Apps Show More Security Holes”

Microsoft Research’s Jennifer Chayes: 5 Projects for the Future of Computing

When people talk about the future of technology, they tend to mention the same big players (what I might call the four horsemen of the consumer apocalypse): Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google. And if they want to get more cutting-edge, maybe they’ll throw in a viral newcomer or two like Dropbox or Pinterest. Who they … Continue reading “Microsoft Research’s Jennifer Chayes: 5 Projects for the Future of Computing”

Investing in Biotech Isn’t Just for Investors Anymore

There hasn’t been much to crow about for years in the world of biotech financing. There’s no getting around the fact that new drugs still take a long time and a lot of money to develop, and they usually fail. It doesn’t fly in an instant-gratification economy, where people take extraordinary technical achievements—like, say, streaming … Continue reading “Investing in Biotech Isn’t Just for Investors Anymore”

Rover.com Lands $3,400,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=79f040a8-52fd-426e-9a3e-f96cdfdbccc6&Preview=1 Date 4/9/2012 Company Name Rover.com Mailing Address 1000 Second Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description At Rover.com, our mission is to allow dog owners to easily tap into the 40 million U.S. dog-owning households as well as a myriad of other pet lovers-including professionals – to meet their dog care needs. … Continue reading “Rover.com Lands $3,400,000 Series A Financing Round”

Ultrasound Innovation in Washington

Ultrasound technology has a long history in Washington state, and the WBBA is organizing a conference to discuss the past, present and future of ultrasound innovation. For more information on this event on April 10, click here.

Cymfony Snapped Up by Visible Technologies in Social Analytics

Some consolidation in the field of social media analytics and monitoring today. Boston-based Cymfony is being acquired by Visible Technologies, a Bellevue, WA-based company, for an undisclosed sum. Terms of the deal weren’t given, but communications firm WPP Group, which owns about 24 percent of Visible and all of Cymfony, will own 49 percent of … Continue reading “Cymfony Snapped Up by Visible Technologies in Social Analytics”

Notepaper App Showdown: Bamboo, FiftyThree, and Noteshelf

Most geeks like me suffer from a condition called Amazing New Tech Syndrome. The chief symptom of ANTS is a happy delirium over the latest gadget you’ve acquired, followed by resentful disillusionment toward that same gadget as soon as a newer one comes out. You can only assuage the resentment by buying the new gadget, … Continue reading “Notepaper App Showdown: Bamboo, FiftyThree, and Noteshelf”

Apple and the Cloud: A Cautionary Tale

The consumer’s electronic world as we know it today is shared between Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and a handful of other popular brands. Most offerings must ride on these platforms and play by their rules. Yet I believe our current interest in—and use of—this ecosystem will peak in 3-6 years, and what awaits each of … Continue reading “Apple and the Cloud: A Cautionary Tale”

Presage Looks to Help Millennium Pick Cancer Drug Winners Early

Seattle-based Presage Biosciences, a spinoff from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is looking to help cancer drugmakers separate the winning compounds from the losers early in development, and now it’s found a major partner to put this idea to the test. Cambridge, MA-based Millennium, a unit of Takeda Pharmaceuticals, said today it has struck … Continue reading “Presage Looks to Help Millennium Pick Cancer Drug Winners Early”

AVI Biopharma Mulls Deal After Mixed Data With Muscular Dystrophy Drug

AVI Biopharma’s CEO, Chris Garabedian, said when he took the job a year ago that he wanted to build an independent biotech company for the long haul. Key to the plan was the idea that the Bothell, WA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVII]]) would retain full ownership of its drug candidate for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and drive … Continue reading “AVI Biopharma Mulls Deal After Mixed Data With Muscular Dystrophy Drug”

Innovative Pulmonary Solutions Lands $10,600,007 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a43060d5-0aca-472d-bb05-61e3cfff86c3&Preview=1 Date 4/6/2012 Company Name Innovative Pulmonary Solutions Mailing Address 1750 112th Ave. NE. Bellevue, WA 98004 Company Description The company is developing pulmonary medical device technology. Website http://www.innovativepulmonary.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $10,600,007 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. M&A Terms Venture … Continue reading “Innovative Pulmonary Solutions Lands $10,600,007 New Round”

InEnTec Receives $26,250,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fd597305-5c03-4b45-8d55-b11c580a87f5&Preview=1 Date 4/6/2012 Company Name InEnTec Mailing Address 595 SW Bluff Drive Bend, OR 97702 Company Description InEnTec’s technology, called the Plasma Enhanced Melter or PEM, uses the power of plasma to break materials apart into their elemental components (such as hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen) and then transform those elements into synthesis … Continue reading “InEnTec Receives $26,250,000 New Financing Round”

Xconomist of the Week: Roger Ehrenberg Plans for Deeper Investments

Innovative use of data will change our world when you peer through the lens of Roger Ehrenberg, founder and managing partner of two-year-old IA Ventures in New York. From financial services to education and beyond, he sees opportunities to mine, harvest, cleanse, and analyze data in competitive ways. Armed with a $105 million fund that … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Roger Ehrenberg Plans for Deeper Investments”

EndoGastric Solutions Receives $10,890,114 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ad877169-9d83-4a20-88a2-709432b7f312&Preview=1 Date 4/5/2012 Company Name EndoGastric Solutions Mailing Address 8210 154th Ave NE Redmond, WA 98052 Company Description EGS leverages the most current wisdom in gastroenterology and surgery in developing new transoral incisionless procedures and products to advance the state of the art in treating gastrointestinal diseases. Website http://www.endogastricsolutions.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “EndoGastric Solutions Receives $10,890,114 New Round”

Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model: The Photo Gallery

Science is a risky business, and when money is tight, the margin for error gets narrower for those who dare to build biotech companies. Part of what that means is the CEO, or the head of R&D, sometimes ends up being a visionary as well as the chief cook and bottle washer. “When you’re building … Continue reading “Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model: The Photo Gallery”

CareHubs Secures Seed Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f4fee33f-132f-4a32-909a-a85dad910905&Preview=1 Date 4/4/2012 Company Name CareHubs Mailing Address Undisclosed Beaverton, OR 97005 Company Description A social platform that connects patients and doctors. Website http://www.carehubs.com Transaction Type Accelerator Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Seed Proceeds Purposes The company will use the proceeds to accelerate its initial development. M&A Terms Venture Investor Healthbox Chicago

Corengi Garners Seed Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f2b65c1a-41dd-40fb-b7e4-e1842253e857&Preview=1 Date 4/4/2012 Company Name Corengi Mailing Address 7054 Mary Ave NW Seattle, WA 98117 Company Description Corengi is dedicated to helping individuals discover more about clinical trials that may be appropriate for them. Corengi is committed to building a comprehensive, free, and interactive platform for a variety of diseases. This platform … Continue reading “Corengi Garners Seed Financing”

Nathan Myhrvold: Patent Wars “Vindication” for Intellectual Ventures

The mobile computing revolution and the latest waves of big consumer Web companies have put more muscle behind the patent wars in technology—from Steve Jobs declaring he would spend Apple dry to kill Android, to Yahoo reprising its role as IPO-eve litigant by hitting Facebook with a lawsuit. It’s surely made money for lots of … Continue reading “Nathan Myhrvold: Patent Wars “Vindication” for Intellectual Ventures”

Urban Airship Beefs Up Location Service Following Acquisition

Last fall, mobile app service startup Urban Airship scooped up location-services partner SimpleGeo for a bargain price. The two companies already had been working together, but now we’re seeing the real fruits of this consolidation as Urban Airship details its plans for new location services. By adding SimpleGeo’s location data to its services, Portland, OR-based … Continue reading “Urban Airship Beefs Up Location Service Following Acquisition”

See You This Afternoon at ‘Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model’

We’re getting ready to head over to PATH later today for our big event, “Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model.” More than 245 people have registered, so this is shaping up to be the biggest conference we’ve done so far at Xconomy Seattle. For those of you want to follow some of the highlights in real-time, the … Continue reading “See You This Afternoon at ‘Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model’”

BigDoor Media Secures $5,000,000 Series B Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7549dc35-b4b1-4e06-9eef-d6c68399f50a&Preview=1 Date 4/3/2012 Company Name BigDoor Media Mailing Address 511 Boren Avenue North Seattle, WA 98109 Company Description Our platform helps companies build game-like mechanics and loyalty programs into their site or app through points, badges, levels, leaderboards, virtual currency and virtual goods. Website http://www.bigdoor.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,000,000 … Continue reading “BigDoor Media Secures $5,000,000 Series B Funding”

Microsoft’s Kinect Accelerator: The Real Scoop on the Lucky Few

Microsoft is building on the momentum of its one surefire consumer hit, the Xbox video-game system, by expanding its motion- and sound-sensing Kinect controller into fields far beyond gaming. That’s where the Kinect Accelerator comes into play—it’s a hybrid program that gives startups access to Microsoft technology and top-flight mentors, while running entrepreneurs through a … Continue reading “Microsoft’s Kinect Accelerator: The Real Scoop on the Lucky Few”

AVI Biopharma Passes Small Study in Muscular Dystrophy

AVI Biopharma hit the main goal of its most important clinical trial yet for boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and it’s bound to raise a whole set of new questions this year about what it really means for the treatment of this disabling genetic disease. The Bothell, WA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVII]]) said today that … Continue reading “AVI Biopharma Passes Small Study in Muscular Dystrophy”

Biotech Can’t Sidestep Cost-Effectiveness Anymore

Back in the old days of biotech, the business was pretty straightforward. You’d craft your scientific idea, aim a new drug at patients in need, charm investors to give you some money, run bang-up clinical trials, win FDA approval. Do all that, and you’re good as gold. Charge insurers whatever the market will bear, and … Continue reading “Biotech Can’t Sidestep Cost-Effectiveness Anymore”

MolecularMD Lands $6,000,000 Series B Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4c10aa00-5127-461f-8308-96cce670658c&Preview=1 Date 4/2/2012 Company Name MolecularMD Mailing Address 1341 SW. Custer Dr. Portland, OR 97219 Company Description Founded in 2006, MolecularMD is a molecular diagnostics company specializing in clinical development and commercialization of state-of-the-art genomic assays to measure patient response and resistance to targeted cancer therapies. The company has over 30 years … Continue reading “MolecularMD Lands $6,000,000 Series B Funding Round”

Innovation Showcase, Presented by the Technology Alliance

The Innovation Showcase, a program by the Technology Alliance that features presentations from local startup companies, will be held April 10 in Seattle. The developer of ultrasound technology for treating ear aches, the maker of an ultra-thin endoscope, and a technology to prevent key loss will all be described at the forum. For more information, … Continue reading “Innovation Showcase, Presented by the Technology Alliance”

Xconomist of the Week: Andy Ory on the Real Opportunity for Acme Packet

Acme Packet is not the easiest technology company to write about. If you’re not careful, you end up bogging down in things like SIP trunking, IMS deployments, session delivery solutions, and other Internet Protocol networking lingo. Fortunately, Acme Packet’s co-founder and CEO, Andy Ory, makes things easy. Ory has led the Bedford, MA-based company (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Andy Ory on the Real Opportunity for Acme Packet”