Category: Seattle

Hipcricket Acquired by Augme for $44.5M to Combine Mobile Marketing Forces

[Updated at 12:15 Pacific with Hipcricket comment] OK, it’s officially M&A week in Seattle. Today we have Kirkland, WA mobile advertising software company Hipcricket being acquired by New York-based Augme Technologies for $44.5 million upfront—$6 million in cash and the balance in Augme stock. The price also could climb by another $27.5 million if Hipcricket … Continue reading “Hipcricket Acquired by Augme for $44.5M to Combine Mobile Marketing Forces”

Xconomist of the Week: Five Questions About Life Sciences Investing for Dennis Purcell of Aisling Capital

Dennis Purcell is the senior managing partner of New York-based Aisling Capital, one of the top venture capital firms in the life sciences industry, with $1.65 billion under management. In 2009, Aisling closed its third fund, worth $650 million. Aisling Capital’s first fund started up in 2002 with the goal of supporting startups across the … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Five Questions About Life Sciences Investing for Dennis Purcell of Aisling Capital”

Presage Biosciences Secures $1,566,295 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=47fcd65a-43e3-4826-954a-9f57bf3ce58b&Preview=1 Date 8/4/2011 Company Name Presage Biosciences Mailing Address 530 Fairview Avenue North Seattle, WA 98109 Company Description Presage Biosciences was founded in November, 2008 based on technology invented in the laboratory of Dr. James Olson, a pediatric oncologist focused on brain tumors. Frustrated by a lack of tools to identify pre-existing … Continue reading “Presage Biosciences Secures $1,566,295 New Funding”

Augme Technologies Acquires HipCricket for $44,500,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6e8ae2f9-9577-49c4-b3f3-95d0d319ff1a&Preview=1 Date 8/4/2011 Company Name HipCricket Mailing Address 11241 Slater Ave NE Kirkland, WA 98033 Company Description HipCricket Inc. specializes in producing interactive mobile marketing campaigns that generate non-traditional revenue for radio, television, and agency clients. The company makes every ad and promotion totally interactive, gives 95% of all cell phone users … Continue reading “Augme Technologies Acquires HipCricket for $44,500,000”

PivotLink Secures $8,085,068 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b181080b-5466-4b99-9a6d-abadbf8c4d1a&Preview=1 Date 8/4/2011 Company Name PivotLink Mailing Address 15325 SE 30th Place Bellevue, WA 98007 Company Description PivotLink is the provider of business intelligence solutions that meet the needs of organizations in a variety of industries. Our PivotLink Solutions and the PivotLink Framework data platform put the full power of business intelligence … Continue reading “PivotLink Secures $8,085,068 New Round”

IDRI Adds Dealmaker

The Seattle-based Infectious Disease Research Institute said today it has hired Erik Iverson, a former associate general counsel for global health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to fill a newly-created position of executive vice president of business development and external affairs. Iverson will work to create proprietary programs, and form partnerships, to advance … Continue reading “IDRI Adds Dealmaker”

Dendreon Takes Huge Hit, Stock Tanks 60% on Sales Shortfall

Dendreon failed to live up to expectations for its new prostate cancer drug, and now it is facing some brutal consequences. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) saw its stock plummet about 60 percent in after-hours trading today after it issued a surprisingly bad second-quarter financial report. The loss, if it holds up in tomorrow’s … Continue reading “Dendreon Takes Huge Hit, Stock Tanks 60% on Sales Shortfall”

Midweek Roundup: AdXpose & Griptonite Sold, Clearwire Reaches for LTE, Fundraising Tidbits

Online advertising company AdXpose is the latest Seattle-area tech firm to get snapped up by a bigger company, joining forces with comScore (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SCOR]]) in a transaction worth $22 million, mostly in comScore stock. And it sounds like the AdXpose team doesn’t have to sweat layoffs because of the buyout: CTO Greg Harrison tells Brier Dudley … Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: AdXpose & Griptonite Sold, Clearwire Reaches for LTE, Fundraising Tidbits”

Dendreon Misses Street Expectations, Plans Layoffs, Backs Away from Bullish Forecast

Dendreon is now more than a year into the product launch of its new prostate cancer drug, and it fell short of investors’ expectations today in a pretty big way. The company is now backing away from its 2011 sales forecast, and says it plans to cut expenses and make layoffs to cope with the … Continue reading “Dendreon Misses Street Expectations, Plans Layoffs, Backs Away from Bullish Forecast”

Emergence Leads Janrain Round

San Mateo, CA-based Emergence Capital, an investment fund focused purely on Software-as-a-Service companies, is the lead investor in a $15.5 million Series B financing round announced today for Janrain of Portland, OR. Existing investors Anthem Venture Partners, DFJ Frontier, RPM Ventures, Tim Draper, founder Larry Drebes, and Square 1 Bank also participated. Janrain makes single … Continue reading “Emergence Leads Janrain Round”

How Game Psychology Helped Startup Weekend Become a Global Phenomenon

A couple of years ago, three guys crammed together in a Seattle condo were trying to turn a 54-hour crash-innovation meetup called Startup Weekend into something much bigger. Today, their humble little nonprofit is a global phenomenon, attracting some 36,000 people to events in about 200 cities around the world. Stocked with top mentors, touting some … Continue reading “How Game Psychology Helped Startup Weekend Become a Global Phenomenon”

JanRain Receives $15,500,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=cbdc8d84-ddce-46dd-8433-48485f950fb6&Preview=1 Date 8/3/2011 Company Name JanRain Mailing Address 519 SW 3rd Ave Portland, OR 97204 Company Description JanRain has been a recognized leader and catalyst driving the OpenID market forward since 2005. While providing OpenID solutions for both consumers and businesses, our company has helped create the OpenID Foundation and the majority … Continue reading “JanRain Receives $15,500,000 New Financing”

comScore Networks Acquires AdXpose for $22,000,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=46f68eff-7cfa-482b-b2af-3e7cf687c6ab&Preview=1 Date 8/3/2011 Company Name AdXpose Mailing Address 1418 Third Avenue Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description AdXpose delivers everything people need to find the best deals online. Leveraging our proprietary metasearch and pricing analytics engine, AdXpose’s universal shopping experience offers the broadest selection of both new and used items, from the Web’s … Continue reading “comScore Networks Acquires AdXpose for $22,000,000”

Indie Game Studio Sucker Punch Gobbled by Sony, Will Stay in Seattle Area

Bellevue, WA’s Sucker Punch Productions is heading to the mothership. After a longtime partnership developing games for Sony’s PlayStation consoles, Sucker Punch will become Sony Computer Entertainment’s 16th studio. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, but Sony says Sucker Punch will keep its current headquarters. Sucker Punch, founded in 1997 by former Microsofties, is known … Continue reading “Indie Game Studio Sucker Punch Gobbled by Sony, Will Stay in Seattle Area”

You’d Better Shop Around: Doing Due Diligence on Your VC

For a first-time entrepreneur, dealing with a venture capitalist can involve an equal mix of excitement and apprehension. If the VC has any sort of reputation or prominence, entrepreneurs are often grateful simply to be pitching their idea in the first place. Should discussions get far enough along that a term sheet is offered, a … Continue reading “You’d Better Shop Around: Doing Due Diligence on Your VC”

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”

Breakfast Buzz: NWEN Idol

The Northwest Entrepreneur Network will hold its fourth annual, ever-popular “NWEN Idol” on August 12. Three innovative, growth-oriented companies will pitch their businesses to a panel of investor judges and what NWEN calls its “caffeinated breakfast audience.” Judges will provide constructive feedback on the presentations and businesses, and one lucky contestant will win a ticket … Continue reading “Breakfast Buzz: NWEN Idol”

Driving Healthcare Innovation Through Venturing: Meeting With Merck Global Health

The WBBA is offering the chance to hear from Merck Global Health Innovation (GHI) on August 23. Merck GHI seeks to identify new business models and adjacency opportunities in the healthcare marketplace that may not fit immediately into Merck’s traditional pharmaceutical and vaccine business units. This includes service solutions, products and technology. For more information … Continue reading “Driving Healthcare Innovation Through Venturing: Meeting With Merck Global Health”

iHT2 Health IT Summit

More than 200 CIO’s, VP’s, and Directors of IT from hospitals, health systems, and physician practices will come together on August 15-16 in Seattle for the iHT2 Health IT Summit. For more information on how to register, click here.

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”

What I Learned About Healthcare as a Patient: The Delivery System Has Got to Change

You can read all the books and news stories you want on the U.S. healthcare system, and conclude it’s profoundly messed up. But sometimes there’s nothing so enlightening as first-hand experience. I’ve been thinking about how awful U.S. healthcare is the past couple weeks, based on my latest experience as a patient. It’s made me … Continue reading “What I Learned About Healthcare as a Patient: The Delivery System Has Got to Change”

IncrediMail Acquires Smilebox for $40,000,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9ae10f8a-3d91-4c5e-9be8-3a407a5c3bca&Preview=1 Date 8/1/2011 Company Name Smilebox Mailing Address 15809 Bear Creek Parkway Redmond, WA 98052 Company Description Smilebox makes it easy to connect with friends and family in a more creative and compelling way. Unlike existing solutions that focus on organizing, editing and sharing photos or sending pre-packaged greetings, Smilebox enables users … Continue reading “IncrediMail Acquires Smilebox for $40,000,000”

At 2011’s Midpoint, Three Good Tech Trends and Three Not-So-Good Trends to Watch

Mid-year reports tend to be check-ins or check-ups; and they’re usually not very interesting, analytical, or helpful. The real fireworks often take place at the end of the year, when the 12-month look-back and 12-month look-ahead forecast steals the show—in terms of shedding light, providing perspective, and setting the agenda. Not so in 2011. Here … Continue reading “At 2011’s Midpoint, Three Good Tech Trends and Three Not-So-Good Trends to Watch”

How I Decide What to Write About-And Why I Might Not Cover Your Company

Dharmesh Shah, the co-founder of HubSpot and the author of the blog OnStartups, shared a post last week that really hit home. It was called “Dear Friend: Sorry: My Heart Says Yes, But My Schedule Says No.” Dharmesh explained that his e-mail inbox is perpetually overloaded with requests from people who want to meet with … Continue reading “How I Decide What to Write About-And Why I Might Not Cover Your Company”

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”

Lucid Commerce Lands $8,000,000 Series C Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1aa9ce4d-c37f-497e-b3c5-a97da75c4121&Preview=1 Date 7/29/2011 Company Name Lucid Commerce Mailing Address 159 S. Jackson St Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description Lucid Commerce provides on-demand business intelligence that combines automatic data consolidation, organization, and analysis for direct marketing companies. Website http://www.lucidcommerce.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,000,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes Proceeds … Continue reading “Lucid Commerce Lands $8,000,000 Series C Funding”

InEnTec Secures $20,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d3f79240-3f67-427f-aba1-c4f26f92797b&Preview=1 Date 7/29/2011 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 Secures $20,000,000 New Funding”

National Science Foundation Unveils a Startup School Modeled on Steve Blank’s Lean LaunchPad

Incubator madness has reached all the way to Washington, D.C. The National Science Foundation announced today that with the help of private-sector partners, it plans to put at least $5 million per year into a new program, the Innovation Corps or I-Corps, aimed at helping university scientists and engineers build startups around their technologies. The … Continue reading “National Science Foundation Unveils a Startup School Modeled on Steve Blank’s Lean LaunchPad”

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”

Health IT Is the New Black

Once upon a time there was “ehealth.” That time was the late 1990’s and there was a temporary ripple in The Force when anything that combined healthcare and the Internet had a suddenly popularity in the venture capital investment community. Companies like the original WebMD, the original Medscape, Mediconsult.com, DrKoop.com, Medibuy, Adam.com, PlanetRx, and a … Continue reading “Health IT Is the New Black”

SeniorHomes.com Secures $3,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=11f548be-2869-42d9-bd56-d539fb22a5a4&Preview=1 Date 7/27/2011 Company Name SeniorHomes.com Mailing Address 2722 Eastlake Ave E Seattle, WA 98102 Company Description We understand that the process of looking for a Senior Home is emotional, time consuming and important.Our directory of Senior Homes has information on tens of thousands of options, with many in your local area. … Continue reading “SeniorHomes.com Secures $3,000,000 New Funding”

IPO Activity Returns to Pre-Recession Levels in Second Quarter

The economic deep freeze is thawing for IPOs on U.S. exchanges, according to a quarterly report issued today by the Ernst & Young accounting firm. The number of companies in registration for an initial public offering increased to 140 during the three months that ended June 30, according to the latest the “Ernst & Young … Continue reading “IPO Activity Returns to Pre-Recession Levels in Second Quarter”

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”

Varolii Lands $8,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b18eb5fc-e551-4192-8dd7-eb490317efa9&Preview=1 Date 7/26/2011 Company Name Varolii Mailing Address 821 2nd Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description Our way of communicating lets you reach and interact with your customers and employees in much the same way as person-to-person dialogue. Only we do it through automated communication. And we do it at a fraction … Continue reading “Varolii Lands $8,000,000 New Funding Round”

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”

The Man Behind the Magic

This past week was truly a “magical” one for me. Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the hall of fame basketball star, brilliant entrepreneur, and generous philanthropist joined my venture capital firm, Detroit Venture Partners, as our fourth partner. Spending the day with Earvin reveals something much more than his legendary stats and accomplishments, however. His rarified level … Continue reading “The Man Behind the Magic”

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”

Inrix Garners $37,000,000 Series D Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e6f5b962-7ff2-41ac-b635-998f8ba6afc7&Preview=1 Date 7/25/2011 Company Name Inrix Mailing Address 10210 NE Points Dr. Kirkland, WA 98033 Company Description Inrix delivers highly accurate real-time and predictive traffic services nationwide, providing businesses and individuals with personalized, actionable information that has the power to transform daily commutes and routes. Website http://www.inrix.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Inrix Garners $37,000,000 Series D Funding Round”

The CliffsNotes Version of True University—The 2-Day Startup School from True Ventures

After I wrote a long article profiling the unusual culture at True Ventures, the San Francisco-based early stage investing fund known for its investments in startups like Automattic, GigaOm, and KissMetrics, the firm invited me to attend True University, a two-day conference on startup-building tactics at the University of California at Berkeley. (Well, the truth … Continue reading “The CliffsNotes Version of True University—The 2-Day Startup School from True Ventures”

Dow Jones Shows Slight Decline in Venture Deals, Dollars, Since Last Year

More or less correlating the results of two previous venture capital surveys, Dow Jones VentureSource says today that venture investors throughout the United States put $8 billion into 776 deals during the second quarter that ended June 30. In terms of absolute numbers, that’s fairly close to venture data we reported Wednesday from the MoneyTree … Continue reading “Dow Jones Shows Slight Decline in Venture Deals, Dollars, Since Last Year”

nLight Lands $4,536,546 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=76120863-a931-4448-a0ef-7e68ab63a2aa&Preview=1 Date 7/22/2011 Company Name nLight Mailing Address 5408 NE 88th Street Building E Vancouver, WA 98665 Company Description nLight develops and manufactures industry leading high-power semiconductor diode laser components and subsystems. nLight’s products feature unparalleled power, brightness, and reliability and enable a broad range of laser-based products in the industrial, medical, … Continue reading “nLight Lands $4,536,546 New Financing”