Category: Seattle

Point Inside’s GPS for Shoppers Grows Revenue, Looks for More Investment

Josh Marti’s wife is one organized lady. When she sends him a text message with the night’s grocery shopping, it’s arranged like a roadmap to the whole store, with items listed in the order they’re found in the aisles for maximum turn-by-turn efficiency. With four daughters at home, that list is one heck of a … Continue reading “Point Inside’s GPS for Shoppers Grows Revenue, Looks for More Investment”

Xconomist of the Week: Tony Coles’ Journey from Mass General Doctor to SF Biotech CEO

Tony Coles was about nine years old when he decided to become a doctor. His father, a government accountant and a minister, told him that medicine and law were great professions. The younger Coles, a fan of math and science, opted for medicine. And even when teachers underestimated him, placing Coles in a math class … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Tony Coles’ Journey from Mass General Doctor to SF Biotech CEO”

Are Free Motorola Phones in Our Future? A VC’s Take on Why Google is Buying Motorola

I was invited to go on Bloomberg West TV on Monday when news broke of Google’s plan to acquire Motorola for $12.5 billion in cash. I hadn’t had much time to digest the news before going on live television and found myself verbalizing my gut instinct: that is, I think Google will at some point … Continue reading “Are Free Motorola Phones in Our Future? A VC’s Take on Why Google is Buying Motorola”

Bezos Gives $10M to Museum

Billionaire Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is giving $10 million to establish a “Center for Innovation” at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry, which is moving into a new headquarters next year near the new Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The new center will focus on the legacy of … Continue reading “Bezos Gives $10M to Museum”

Scientists Spot New Antibodies Against HIV, Opening Up Potential Path to AIDS Vaccine

Scientists have never been able to make an effective AIDS vaccine, largely because the HIV virus is crafty, always finding ways to mutate and escape the body’s immune defenses. But now a national team of scientists has found antibodies that zero in on newly identified weak spots in the virus, potentially opening up promising new … Continue reading “Scientists Spot New Antibodies Against HIV, Opening Up Potential Path to AIDS Vaccine”

Finding Trends: Cleantech IPOs Skew Toward Biofuels, Materials, Energy Efficiency

Even before global markets reacted to the U.S. credit downgrade, IPOs for cleantech companies have been relatively few and far between. Still, the IPO data for the first half of 2011 reveals the kinds of alternative energy and green technology companies are going public—a good indication of which sectors are more likely to attract more … Continue reading “Finding Trends: Cleantech IPOs Skew Toward Biofuels, Materials, Energy Efficiency”

Seattle Children’s Gets $2.3M from Gates

Seattle Children’s Hospital said today it has received a two-year, $2.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to continue development of its low-cost ventilator for premature infants that need help in order to breathe. More than 1 million infants die every year because of inadequate lung function, and the Children’s device aims … Continue reading “Seattle Children’s Gets $2.3M from Gates”

Zulily, OpsCode, Clearwire: Your 1-Minute Weekly Roundup of Seattle Tech Headlines

One of Seattle’s hotter tech startups, Zulily, has been operating fairly under the radar in recent months, even as competitors in the daily deals/private sales sector court tons of publicity. That modesty ebbed a bit last week, when Zulily announced that it had raised $43 million in venture financing to help fuel its growth in … Continue reading “Zulily, OpsCode, Clearwire: Your 1-Minute Weekly Roundup of Seattle Tech Headlines”

Computing in the Age of the $1000 Genome: Xconomy to Convene Next Big SF Event Oct. 24

An amazing innovation story has been unfolding the past few years in the field of gene sequencing, which is creating one of today’s biggest computing challenges. New DNA sequencing tools are improving at such a rapid pace that scientists say it will soon be possible to generate the 3-billion-letter signature of an individual’s DNA for … Continue reading “Computing in the Age of the $1000 Genome: Xconomy to Convene Next Big SF Event Oct. 24”

Get Big, Get Small, Get Lucky: Why EVO Media Was Ready When Opportunity Came Calling

When the customer that would transform their business came calling, the entrepreneurs behind Seattle’s EVO Media Group weren’t exactly flying high. After a $1.5 million fundraising round and a period of rapid hiring, the three-year-old startup was confronting an intractably slow economy and a target market that wasn’t generating enough sales. EVO was forced to … Continue reading “Get Big, Get Small, Get Lucky: Why EVO Media Was Ready When Opportunity Came Calling”

Innovate or Conserve Cash? The Growing Dilemma for Biotech Firms

There’s no doubt that managing a biotech company is an enduring challenge, even during less tumultuous economic times. Now, entrepreneurs are contending with resources that are incredibly tight, an economy that is unsettled, a stock market on a roller-coaster ride, and research and development budgets that are being slashed. The stewardship role entrusted to the … Continue reading “Innovate or Conserve Cash? The Growing Dilemma for Biotech Firms”

Cedexis Lands $6,000,000 Series A Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4d4eaaac-42cf-4eb5-ad60-a46b1c839f9e&Preview=1 Date 8/16/2011 Company Name Cedexis Mailing Address 1125 SE Division St Portland, OR 97202 Company Description Founded in 2009, Cedexis is an international startup delivering Cloud Performance as a Service. Website http://www.cedexis.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $6,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes The company will use the funding … Continue reading “Cedexis Lands $6,000,000 Series A Funding Round”

AVI Starts Duchenne Trial

Bothell, WA-based AVI Biopharma (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVII]]) said today it has started dosing patients in a mid-stage trial of eteplirsen, an experimental RNA-based therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The study is expected to enroll 12 patients at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. Patients will get once-weekly intravenous infusions of the new drug, or a placebo, … Continue reading “AVI Starts Duchenne Trial”

WTIA’s TechPAC Fundraiser

Lawmakers and technology industry leaders mix at this second-annual benefit for the WTIA’s TechPAC, a state political action committee. Includes remarks from Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, of Washington’s 9th District. Tickets are $25, with proceeds going to TechPAC. Details and registration here.

Startups: Always Have a Plan B

One of the key distinctions between an entrepreneur and an operating executive is an entrepreneur’s almost seamless agility in the face of changing circumstances versus an operating executive’s intense execution focus on a plan. World-class entrepreneurs learn how to combine both. WTF? Driving home over the mountains from a Coastal Commission hearing, I had time … Continue reading “Startups: Always Have a Plan B”

Time to Cure Cancer or Stash Cash Under the Mattress?

If you dared to flip the channel to CNBC any time during the past week, it would have been hard to stay calm. The market was whipsawing all over the place, up one minute, down the next. Fear of government defaults and the potential for another recession were topics of endless debate. Fund managers were … Continue reading “Time to Cure Cancer or Stash Cash Under the Mattress?”

There Is an Incubator Bubble—And It Will Pop

This week we published the third annual edition of the Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators. It’s the only source we know of where U.S. entrepreneurs starting technology, life sciences, or energy companies can survey all of the early-stage mentoring and investment programs open to them in a single document. (You can buy the downloadable file … Continue reading “There Is an Incubator Bubble—And It Will Pop”

WA VCs Invest in OR Cloud Startups

A couple of financing deals on the radar this week for Oregon-based cloud computing firms, with the money coming from Seattle-area venture capitalists. The first was the $6 million round for Portland’s Cedexis, which helps companies monitor cloud computing performance. Madrona Venture Group of Seattle was named as an investor, along with Palo Alto, CA-based … Continue reading “WA VCs Invest in OR Cloud Startups”

Born from NASA, Nebula Aims to “Disrupt and Democratize” Cloud Computing

If you’re a young Silicon Valley entrepreneur, you’d probably give your Prius and your iPad, and maybe throw in your X-Men comic collection, to hear Andy Bechtolsheim ask you the question he posed to Chris Kemp this spring: “What’s the name of your company? I want to write you a check right now.” If you … Continue reading “Born from NASA, Nebula Aims to “Disrupt and Democratize” Cloud Computing”

Dendreon’s Blow-Up, Epigenomics Leaves Town, Presage Adds $1.5M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

Just when I thought things were going to quiet down in August, and I’d catch up on planning for the fall, all hell broke loose on the Seattle biotech beat. —Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]), the region’s most valuable biotech company of the past couple years, started last week worth more than $5 billion, and ended … Continue reading “Dendreon’s Blow-Up, Epigenomics Leaves Town, Presage Adds $1.5M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Fast-Growing Zulily Adds $43M, Wants to Stand Alone in Mom & Baby Deals

Here’s one way to measure a fast-growing company: It runs through four different headquarters in about 18 months just to contain all the employees. That’s the story with Zulily, one of Seattle’s main contenders in the exploding (and crowded) marketplace for digital discount shopping. Zulily operates a members-only daily deals service targeting moms, bringing discounts … Continue reading “Fast-Growing Zulily Adds $43M, Wants to Stand Alone in Mom & Baby Deals”

AppFog Receives $8,000,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=257062c9-e80d-47aa-8b8b-0f5648b4f47d&Preview=1 Date 8/11/2011 Company Name AppFog Mailing Address 519 SW 3rd Ave. Portland, OR 97204 Company Description The company makes it easier to deploy and scale applications of PHP via cloud computing infrastructure. Website http://www.appfog.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,000,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes AppFog will use the … Continue reading “AppFog Receives $8,000,000 Series B Financing”

Zulily Obtains $43,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=58e9ffbe-1e1e-410a-986b-2b56352c838b&Preview=1 Date 8/11/2011 Company Name Zulily Mailing Address 2200 First Avenue South Seattle, WA 98134 Company Description Just what is zulily? It’s a fabulous new online store offering daily sales on top-quality apparel, gear and other goodies for moms, babies and kids. Members can enjoy savings of up to 70% off retail … Continue reading “Zulily Obtains $43,000,000 New Round”

Presage Adds $1.5M

Seattle-based Presage Biosciences, a spinoff from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has raised $1.6 million out of a new equity financing that could be worth as much as $10.5 over time, according to a regulatory filing. The document doesn’t say who is backing the company, although it says the round includes 20 investors. Presage, … Continue reading “Presage Adds $1.5M”

Lighter Capital: $500K Up for Grabs

Lighter Capital, Seattle’s newly rebranded revenue-based financing startup, is trying to drum up more applications from “weird stuff that makes money” by promising it will lend up to $500,000 to at least one company that applies in August. The winner has to fit Lighter Capital’s requirements—generally speaking, companies that have “a proven revenue model and … Continue reading “Lighter Capital: $500K Up for Grabs”

New Clearwire CEO Faces Tough Road as Wireless Provider Looks for Cash

Clearwire has named Erik Prusch its new president and CEO, replacing interim chief John Stanton as the Kirkland, WA-based wireless broadband provider struggles with Wall Street doubts about its future. Prusch joined Clearwire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLWR]]) in 2009 as chief financial officer, and as the press release notes, helped the company raise more than $6 billion … Continue reading “New Clearwire CEO Faces Tough Road as Wireless Provider Looks for Cash”

New York Cloud Startup Apprenda Expanding to Seattle Area, Targets Microsoft’s Backyard

Money goes out, people come in. That’s the plan for the latest out-of-town investment by Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners, which led a $10 million growth round for Clifton Park, NY-based cloud computing startup Apprenda. I caught up with Apprenda CEO Sinclair Schuller after Tuesday’s announcement to get some more details on a nugget that wasn’t … Continue reading “New York Cloud Startup Apprenda Expanding to Seattle Area, Targets Microsoft’s Backyard”

Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators Back For A Third Year, Sixty-Four Programs Strong

You could say that the institution of the startup incubator has gotten its chance to shine this year. One way we can tell? Our third annual Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators has nearly doubled in size from the 2010 version. The big boom wasn’t a total surprise, given that this year politicians and the like … Continue reading “Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators Back For A Third Year, Sixty-Four Programs Strong”

Ignition Leads $10M in Apprenda

Bellevue, WA’s Ignition Partners continues its string of cloud computing investments since bringing on longtime software entrepreneur and executive Frank Artale. Today, the venture firm is leading a $10 million Series B round in Apprenda, a Clifton Park, NY-based company that sells cloud infrastructure software services. Artale, who has been an adviser to the company … Continue reading “Ignition Leads $10M in Apprenda”

CEO Change at DocuSign

Keith Krach, chairman of Seattle electronic-signature company DocuSign, is also taking over chief executive duties. He replaces Steve King, who was named CEO in January 2010. Founder Tom Gonser is quoted in the company’s press release praising King, and King is on record praising Krach. The company didn’t give explicit reasons for the change, but … Continue reading “CEO Change at DocuSign”

Video: Concur’s Steve Singh Talks Market Sell-Off and Tech Stocks with CNBC

Steve Singh, the chairman and CEO of Redmond, WA-based Concur Technologies, put the recent stock market swoon in perspective on CNBC yesterday for this “From the C-Suite” segment. While obviously worrisome, Singh takes a somewhat longer view that technology spending—by businesses in particular—will remain strong because it drives productivity. Singh said Concur (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CNQR]]), which … Continue reading “Video: Concur’s Steve Singh Talks Market Sell-Off and Tech Stocks with CNBC”

Former Avanade Chief Takes the Helm at Cloud-Services Startup Opscode

Opscode, a young Seattle company that sells cloud-computing management services, has added some executive firepower to help manage its growth—co-founder Jesse Robbins is handing over chief executive duties to Mitch Hill, founding CEO of tech-services company Avanade. Robbins, an Amazon.com veteran, is staying on board as chief community officer to guide work on Chef, Opscode’s … Continue reading “Former Avanade Chief Takes the Helm at Cloud-Services Startup Opscode”

Downgrading America?

I don’t know how most Americans feel these days, but I haven’t felt like this since just before Richard Nixon left office in 1974. Our political leaders (think “jumbo shrimp” or “military intelligence”) have just completed a grand game of chicken. They ended up in just the same position Neville Chamberlain was when he negotiated … Continue reading “Downgrading America?”

Startup Weekend, Sucker Punch, Dashwire: Your 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News

Last week was acquisition mania in the Seattle tech sector—but before we get to that part of our weekly review, let’s get deep for a minute. In this story, I took a look at the international growth of Startup Weekend, and how its format hits on the same mental triggers that make your favorite video … Continue reading “Startup Weekend, Sucker Punch, Dashwire: Your 1-Minute Week in Seattle Tech News”

Cooley Adds IP Lawyers From Seed

Cooley, the national law firm that serves tech, cleantech, and biotech companies, said today that three new attorneys have joined its Seattle office as partners in its intellectual property practice. Bill Christiansen, Emily Wagner, and Carol Laherty moved over to Cooley from Seed IP, where they represented many of the West Coast’s leading biotech companies.

How Seattle Set Out to Create a Biotech Hub and Fostered a Global Health Nexus

I recently organized a MOHAI walking tour of South Lake Union to begin to explore the roots of the museum’s new neighborhood. My original intent was to explain the importance of South Lake Union as a biotech hub but a different theme emerged in the course of my research. It is true that Seattle has … Continue reading “How Seattle Set Out to Create a Biotech Hub and Fostered a Global Health Nexus”

Gamification Startup BigDoor Media Levels Up to Bigger Digs, Keeps on Hiring

Can a company that hands out digital coins make real money? That’s the idea at Seattle’s BigDoor Media, a growing startup playing in the burgeoning field of gamification. In case you’ve missed it—which is possible, since the phenomenon is really less than two years old—gamification is the video game-inspired idea that businesses can get users … Continue reading “Gamification Startup BigDoor Media Levels Up to Bigger Digs, Keeps on Hiring”

Dendreon Wounds Are Self-Inflicted, Not the Start of a Biotech Industry Virus

Dendreon has made its share of mistakes before. But last week, the Seattle cancer drug developer achieved the biotech equivalent of fumbling the ball on the 1-yard line with time running out on the clock. The failure was so painful, so shocking, it erased two-thirds of the company’s stock value—about $3 billion. It even started … Continue reading “Dendreon Wounds Are Self-Inflicted, Not the Start of a Biotech Industry Virus”

An Open Letter to Dendreon’s Chairman

[Editor’s Note: This letter was sent today to Dendreon chairman Richard Brewer.] Dear Mr. Brewer: Just over five months ago I wrote to you expressing serious concerns about the composition of the board of directors and its oversight of Dendreon’s management. I appreciated the opportunity to discuss these views in person with management at company … Continue reading “An Open Letter to Dendreon’s Chairman”

OncoGenex Drops on Trial Delay

Bothell, WA-based OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OGXI]]) saw its stock tumble $3.25, or more than 26 percent, to $8.90 in mid-day trading today after issuing its quarterly financial update. The company reported yesterday that a pivotal clinical trial of its lead prostate cancer drug candidate, custirsen, has been dogged by slow patient enrollment. OncoGenex said it … Continue reading “OncoGenex Drops on Trial Delay”

Bonfire of the Vanities: The Difference Between Marketing and Sales in Tech

When I was in my 20s, I was taught the relationship between marketing and sales over a bonfire. — Over 30 years ago, before the arrival of the personal computer, there were desktop computers called office workstations. Designed around the first generation of microprocessors, these computers ran business applications like word processing, spreadsheets, and accounting. … Continue reading “Bonfire of the Vanities: The Difference Between Marketing and Sales in Tech”

Radio Without Radios, Books Without Bookstores: Welcome to the Era of Unbound Media

Last weekend I decided to get serious about the fact that I live in an earthquake zone, and started putting together a kit with all the food, water, and equipment I’d need to survive for a few days if local services broke down. One of the items that turns up on all of the standard … Continue reading “Radio Without Radios, Books Without Bookstores: Welcome to the Era of Unbound Media”

HTC Buys Dashwire to Boost Mobile Cloud Service

[Updated 2:40 pm Pacific] This week of acquisitions in Seattle tech is going out with a bang. Taiwan-based mobile device maker HTC announced early Friday that it is buying Seattle mobile data-syncing startup Dashwire for as much as $18.5 million, making the smaller company a wholly owned subsidiary through its American unit. Dashwire’s products synchronize … Continue reading “HTC Buys Dashwire to Boost Mobile Cloud Service”

HTC Acquires Dashwire for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6849f6a1-34c6-4c5b-8ebd-5203d8c345e0&Preview=1 Date 8/5/2011 Company Name Dashwire Mailing Address 936 N. 34th Street Seattle, WA 98103 Company Description Dashwire seamlessly integrates your mobile phone and the world it captures with your computer and the web, helping you access and share your mobile experiences – no cables required. Website http://www.dashwire.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction … Continue reading “HTC Acquires Dashwire for Undisclosed Sum”

Complete Genomics Stock Falls on Sales Decline, as Sequencing Gets Cheaper

[Updated: 2:24 pm PT] Complete Genomics picked a bad day to have a bad day. The Mountain View, CA-based company that sequences entire human genomes lost more than one-fourth of its value today after it reported a decline in second-quarter revenue, partly driven by price decreases in its service, and a delay in getting enough … Continue reading “Complete Genomics Stock Falls on Sales Decline, as Sequencing Gets Cheaper”