Category: Seattle

LaserMotive Beams Power to “Quadrocopter” UAV, Breaks World Record for Electric Aircraft

A couple of startup companies set a world aviation record last night. But they were pretty low-key about it. As I walked into the Future of Flight Aviation Center in Mukilteo, WA, a half hour north of Seattle, I saw little activity. It was after hours, and the hangar-like building was nearly deserted except for … Continue reading “LaserMotive Beams Power to “Quadrocopter” UAV, Breaks World Record for Electric Aircraft”

Nearlyweds Raises $500K, Acquires OneWed, Aims to Make Tying the Knot Simpler

Seattle-based social wedding software company Nearlyweds said today it has closed a $500,000 equity financing round from Founder’s Co-op, Jon Kelly, Andy Liu, David Niu, and other investors. The startup also announced it has acquired Chicago-based OneWed for an undisclosed amount. Nearlyweds, founded in 2007, designs personalized wedding websites for couples for a flat rate. … Continue reading “Nearlyweds Raises $500K, Acquires OneWed, Aims to Make Tying the Knot Simpler”

Triangulation: How Universities, Government, and Business Can Stir More Innovation

Successful innovation in the life sciences requires that three entities with fiercely independent cultures and largely non-overlapping goals—government, universities, and the private sector—have meaningful dialogues with each other. That is not happening at the moment. Consider the cycle for creating a therapy, diagnostic or medical device. Academic research is funded largely by the federal government, … Continue reading “Triangulation: How Universities, Government, and Business Can Stir More Innovation”

Washington Startups Bring in $51.7M in September, Healthcare, Internet, and Software Sectors Lead in Deals

Every month we take some time to look at the deals Washington tech and biotech companies inked in the month prior, and compare them to recent trends. Unlike our weekly investment deals roundups, these monthly features give us the opportunity to look back through both the large investment that made big headlines when they broke, … Continue reading “Washington Startups Bring in $51.7M in September, Healthcare, Internet, and Software Sectors Lead in Deals”

Omeros Nabs $25M from Paul Allen and the State, Immune Design Strikes 1st Big Deal, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

A couple of sizable deals crossed the Seattle biotech news desk this week, and one of the Northwest’s main venture firms eagerly awaited its first IPO in a long time. —Omeros (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OMER]]), the Seattle biotech company, pulled in $25 million through an unusual deal that pooled $20 million from billionaire Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital … Continue reading “Omeros Nabs $25M from Paul Allen and the State, Immune Design Strikes 1st Big Deal, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Nearlyweds Lands $500,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=38ba3b97-05e0-49cd-9080-4243aac9832d&Preview=1 Date 10/28/2010 Company Name Nearlyweds Mailing Address 2722 Eastlake Ave. E. Seattle, WA 98102 Company Description The company operates a website that helps couples make unique wedding plans. Website http://www.nearlyweds.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Concurrent with the financing, the startup announced that it … Continue reading “Nearlyweds Lands $500,000 New Funding Round”

Meet Xconomy’s Tech Editors, Wade Roush and Greg Huang, Friday in Seattle

We’ve been having a lot of fun with our informal Xconomy Meetups, and now I really have a good excuse to do another one. Xconomy’s chief correspondent and San Francisco editor, Wade Roush, and Boston editor Greg Huang—who many of you know well from his two-year run as editor of this bureau—will both be in … Continue reading “Meet Xconomy’s Tech Editors, Wade Roush and Greg Huang, Friday in Seattle”

Limeade CEO Henry Albrecht On Why Healthy, Happy Employees Are the Key Ingredient to a Thriving Business

It’s not often that you meet a CEO who works a maximum of 55 hours a week, participates in push up challenges with coworkers in the office, and wears the company values—which read “anything is possible,” “speak plainly,” “we make things for customers,” and “be it”— on a dog tag around his neck. But for … Continue reading “Limeade CEO Henry Albrecht On Why Healthy, Happy Employees Are the Key Ingredient to a Thriving Business”

Corengi Seeks to Bring Clinical Trial Information Into the World of Web 2.0

Punch the search term “Type 2 diabetes” into the main public website for clinical trials, and you’ll find more than 1,000 ongoing studies. That might be a wealth of information if you are an endocrinologist looking to get up to speed on the latest and greatest therapies. But to patients, it’s mostly a vast wilderness … Continue reading “Corengi Seeks to Bring Clinical Trial Information Into the World of Web 2.0”

Kiha Software Obtains $20,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9fddb26b-36ad-462b-9d43-19cac3269fe3&Preview=1 Date 10/27/2010 Company Name Kiha Software Mailing Address Undisclosed Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description Kiha announces Aro Mobile, an innovative mobile experience that marries an intuitive user interface with a system that understands your communications, organizes your calendar, plans your travel and gives you relevant and timely information. Website http://www.kiha.com Transaction … Continue reading “Kiha Software Obtains $20,000,000 New Round”

Photobucket Appoints Tom Munro as CEO

Denver, CO-based Photobucket, which merged with Seattle-based mobile imaging startup Ontela in December 2009, has promoted Tom Munro to the position of chief executive, the company said today. Munro previously served as Ontela’s chief financial officer, and has been acting as Photobucket’s president and CFO since the merger last year. MocoNews.net is reporting that along … Continue reading “Photobucket Appoints Tom Munro as CEO”

Competitors Claim ITA Acquisition Would Give Google an Unfair Advantage in Travel Search

[Updated, see page 2] Quite a few online travel-info companies—FareCompare, Fly.com, Hotwire, Kayak, Sidestep, TripAdvisor, and Orbitz, to name a few—get their airline fare and seat availability information from a vast real-time database called QPX, the creation of Cambridge, MA-based ITA Software. Even search engines like Bing rely on QPX for flight data. So it … Continue reading “Competitors Claim ITA Acquisition Would Give Google an Unfair Advantage in Travel Search”

Cray Wins $60M University of Stuttgart Contract

Seattle-based supercomputing company Cray (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRAY]]) has inked a contract deal with the University of Stuttgart, to deliver two supercomputers to the University’s High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS). The multi-year, multi-phase contract is worth an estimated $60 million. The first phase of the contract will take place in 2011, during which the Cray XE6 … Continue reading “Cray Wins $60M University of Stuttgart Contract”

Countdown to VC Crossfire: Get Ready for Sparks to Fly on Thursday

We are chomping at the bit here at Xconomy Seattle about our next big event, circled in magic marker on my white board. This is the gathering we’re calling “VC Crossfire,” coming Thursday evening at Amazon’s new headquarters in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. This event will bring together a fearsome foursome of some of … Continue reading “Countdown to VC Crossfire: Get Ready for Sparks to Fly on Thursday”

The Northwest Cleantech Cluster: The A-to-Z List of Energy Efficiency Players

[UpdatedI 12:15 pm Pacific] We’ve been covering the cleantech space here at Xconomy for some time, and the whispers we keep hearing from the folks at the Northwest Energy Angels, cleantech incubators like the McKinstry Innovation Center, or the Puget Sound Regional Council, is that although the Northwest is an obvious contender to lead in … Continue reading “The Northwest Cleantech Cluster: The A-to-Z List of Energy Efficiency Players”

Immune Design Snags $212M Deal With MedImmune To Provide Vaccine Booster

Immune Design has struck its first big deal with a Big Pharma company. The Seattle-based vaccine developer has agreed to provide a license to an immune-boosting compound, called an adjuvant, to the MedImmune unit of London-based AstraZeneca. The pharma giant plans to use the compound as a key ingredient in potent new vaccines it has … Continue reading “Immune Design Snags $212M Deal With MedImmune To Provide Vaccine Booster”

RPI Raises $5M More, Optify Nabs $6.1M from Triangle Peak, Madrona, TalentSpring and Recruiting.com Are Acquired, & More Seattle-Area BizTech News

For months the flow of news about Seattle-area technology company deals has felt like a trickle, and then all of the sudden this week we have deals coming out of our ears. It must be the fall weather, which has finally set in, quite a bit later than usual. Take a look at the highlights: … Continue reading “RPI Raises $5M More, Optify Nabs $6.1M from Triangle Peak, Madrona, TalentSpring and Recruiting.com Are Acquired, & More Seattle-Area BizTech News”

Trend in Q3 Venture Data From Dow Jones Falls in Line

The quarterly venture capital survey by Dow Jones VentureSource was released earlier today, showing a trend that’s generally in line with data previously reported by CB Insights and The MoneyTree Report. Dow Jones says venture-backed companies in the U.S. raised $5.5 billion in the third quarter—a 5 percent drop in funding from the $5.8 billion … Continue reading “Trend in Q3 Venture Data From Dow Jones Falls in Line”

Recruiting.com Acquired by Jobing

Seattle-based Recruiting.com (formerly called Jobster) has been acquired by Phoenix, AZ-based employment website Jobing, according to a report by TechFlash. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Recruiting.com was founded in 2004 and has raised more than $50 million in venture capital from Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners, Trinity Ventures, Reed Elsevier Ventures, and … Continue reading “Recruiting.com Acquired by Jobing”

Grab a Beer With Me and Chris Rivera Tuesday at Xconomy Meetup

The Xconomy Meetup was an experiment last month. Now I reckon it’s time to replicate the experiment. Tomorrow afternoon, Xconomy readers are welcome to break away from the lab or the desk to come join me and special guest Chris Rivera of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association for an informal meetup-style event. Regular Xconomy … Continue reading “Grab a Beer With Me and Chris Rivera Tuesday at Xconomy Meetup”

Omeros Nabs $25M from Paul Allen, State Life Sciences Fund to Pursue Elusive Drug Targets

Seattle-based Omeros has raked in $25 million for its drug discovery technology from a couple of unusual suspects—billionaire Paul Allen and Washington state’s Life Sciences Discovery Fund. Omeros (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OMER]]) is collecting $20 million from Allen’s investment operation, Vulcan Capital, along with a $5 million grant from the state fund that aspires to spur more … Continue reading “Omeros Nabs $25M from Paul Allen, State Life Sciences Fund to Pursue Elusive Drug Targets”

The End of a Recession, the Beginning of a Talent Crunch

The longest recession in U.S. history officially ended in June of this year, according to the National Bureau of Economic Statistics. Yet people in Washington State, even in the technology sector, are still feeling the pinch. Between July and August of this year, our state lost more than 9,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau … Continue reading “The End of a Recession, the Beginning of a Talent Crunch”

Dendreon CEO at WBBA Meeting: State Should Reject Income Tax, Inspire Young Scientists

Dendreon CEO Mitch Gold has said for years that he wants to make his company the anchor tenant for Seattle biotech. Now that his company has had a breakout success, he’s clearly got the full attention of 700 members of the biotech community who met this morning, wanting to know what can be done to … Continue reading “Dendreon CEO at WBBA Meeting: State Should Reject Income Tax, Inspire Young Scientists”

Find The Investor of Your Dreams—For Free

There’s all sorts of wisdom about how to find folks to invest in your startup, ranging from the obvious to the slightly stalkerish. Approach investors who’ve supported companies like yours in the past. Go to startup school. Wait until a famous VC is stranded somewhere and give him a lift. In some ways, the most … Continue reading “Find The Investor of Your Dreams—For Free”

NewBay, Irish Mobile Software Company, Opens U.S. Headquarters in Seattle, Looks to Hire 100 People (and Take On Real, Motricity)

There’s a new mobile company in town—Dublin, Ireland-based NewBay Software, which is celebrating the opening of its new U.S. headquarters in Seattle today. The firm says it chose Seattle for its Americas headquarters because of the unique mobile and technological ecosystem here in the Pacific Northwest. NewBay, founded in 2002, sits in a tech sector … Continue reading “NewBay, Irish Mobile Software Company, Opens U.S. Headquarters in Seattle, Looks to Hire 100 People (and Take On Real, Motricity)”

10 Fantastic Photo Apps for the iPad

The Apple iPad doesn’t have a camera—yet. But it does have a big, beautiful, multi-touch screen. And that makes it one of the best devices ever built for browsing and manipulating images. Mobile app developers have realized this, and have created a profusion of fascinating apps for editing or simply exploring photographs. In fact, there … Continue reading “10 Fantastic Photo Apps for the iPad”

RPI Raises $5M More from Riverlake Partners, Huntington Capital

Tukwila, WA-based digital-to-physical media company RPI has raised an additional $5 million financing round led by Portland, OR-based Riverlake Partners, with participation from its previous investor, San Diego-based Huntington Capital, the company said today. RPI has quite an interesting story. One of the few veteran mid-sized companies left in the Seattle area, RPI has been … Continue reading “RPI Raises $5M More from Riverlake Partners, Huntington Capital”

Tech Stories We Missed: A Roundup of Stories That May Not Have Made the News the First Time Around

It’s been quite a busy week here for Northwest-area technology companies and entrepreneurs. There haven’t been a particularly high number of straight deals, but while flipping through my notebook this week, I realized that there’s been a lot of smaller news that speaks to some interesting trends and happenings. —Portland, OR-based social e-commerce company ShopIgniter … Continue reading “Tech Stories We Missed: A Roundup of Stories That May Not Have Made the News the First Time Around”

Intellectual Ventures’ Med-Tech Foray, PATH Takes Ultra Rice to Africa, Mirador Gets FDA OK, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

We had a hodgepodge of news this week on the biotech scene, with financings, an FDA approval, and an exclusive feature on what Nathan Myhrvold’s invention shop is doing in the medical device business. Get caught up here. —Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]), the Seattle-based cancer drug developer, raised $21 million through the sale of preferred … Continue reading “Intellectual Ventures’ Med-Tech Foray, PATH Takes Ultra Rice to Africa, Mirador Gets FDA OK, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Dream it! Launch it! Live it! Seattle Conference for Women Entrepreneurs

Join local celebrity speakers including Danielle LaPorte, Marianne Scholl, Lily Jang and Elisa Camahort Page (plus a broadcast of Joan Lunden and Dr. Martha Beck in NYC) who will deliver advice and tools on women entrepreneurship. The events will engage women to manifest the best version of themselves – as women, as leaders, and entrepreneurs … Continue reading “Dream it! Launch it! Live it! Seattle Conference for Women Entrepreneurs”

Optify Raises $6.1M More From Triangle Peak, Madrona, and Angels

Seattle-based search engine optimization (SEO) and social media software startup Optify has raised $6.1 million in a Series B round led by Triangle Peak Partners, the company said today. Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group, and a number of prominent angel investors, including Upstage Ventures founder Mark Wachen, former Microsoftie Bill Baker, Alexrod Capital Management founder Alan … Continue reading “Optify Raises $6.1M More From Triangle Peak, Madrona, and Angels”

Cell Therapeutics Adds $21M

Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]), the Seattle-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has raised $21 million through a securities offering to four institutional investors. The investors will get preferred stock worth the equivalent of 56.7 million shares of common stock, and warrants to buy another 22.7 million shares of common stock. Cell Therapeutics struck … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Adds $21M”

PATH Snags $1M Federal Grant to Take Ultra Rice to Africa

One of the cool projects that PATH has been working on for years to put a dent in global malnutrition just got a significant boost in the place it could have its biggest impact—Africa. PATH, the global health hothouse with headquarters in Seattle, is announcing today it has received a $1 million grant from the … Continue reading “PATH Snags $1M Federal Grant to Take Ultra Rice to Africa”

Study Shows Startup Executive Pay on the Mend

A study of private information technology and life sciences companies shows that tech executive pay is recovering from a dismal 2009. And it provides the public a rare glimpse at how much executives at startups are paid; that’s information privately held firms don’t have to divulge to the SEC, as public companies do. The CompStudy—completed … Continue reading “Study Shows Startup Executive Pay on the Mend”

The Challenge of Understanding Biotech: Sifting Through the Fog and Jargon

I recently enjoyed reading two books on the mortgage meltdown, “The Big Short” by Michael Lewis and Gregory Zuckerman’s “The Greatest Trade Ever.” They each provided a detailed post-mortem on the implosion of the housing bubble. What fascinated me most about their accounts was how virtually everyone on Wall Street, with a few notable exceptions, … Continue reading “The Challenge of Understanding Biotech: Sifting Through the Fog and Jargon”

Bezos-Backed Doxo Rolls Out Free Paperless Bill Management Service

There’s been a lot of buzz around Seattle about Doxo lately. And yet, the startup has managed to maintain some stealthiness around what it actually does—despite the fact that it has some big names involved. The company has ex-Qpass dream-team Steve Shivers, Roger Parks, and Mark Goris (also known as the “Qpass mafia“) for founders. … Continue reading “Bezos-Backed Doxo Rolls Out Free Paperless Bill Management Service”

Turning “Black Silicon” Into Gold: SiOnyx Closes $12.5M from Bay Area and Seattle Firms, Goes After Image Sensor Market

Quick, name a semiconductor company in the Boston area that’s been getting lots of venture financing lately. OK, well, you already read the headline, so that one doesn’t count. My point is, there haven’t been too many of those—until today. SiOnyx is the Beverly, MA-based semiconductor materials company that is working on commercializing so-called “black … Continue reading “Turning “Black Silicon” Into Gold: SiOnyx Closes $12.5M from Bay Area and Seattle Firms, Goes After Image Sensor Market”

Torrent Technologies Garners $7,500,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=df05351f-39b3-4ce0-b823-2de6a3285986&Preview=1 Date 10/20/2010 Company Name Torrent Technologies Mailing Address 1000 2nd Ave. Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description Torrent Technologies, Inc. provides fresh technology, innovative solutions and customized services for insurance companies and the U.S. government.. Our flagship product, TorrentFlood, revolutionizes FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and improves the way in which … Continue reading “Torrent Technologies Garners $7,500,000 New Round”

Optify Receives $6,100,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=172ce8db-3cb4-47ed-9a90-8c3521a858da&Preview=1 Date 10/20/2010 Company Name Optify Mailing Address 710 2nd Ave Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description The company provides Internet marketing services. Website http://www.optify.net Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $6,100,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes This funding will enable us to accelerate our development efforts and invest further in sales and … Continue reading “Optify Receives $6,100,000 New Financing Round”

Calistoga Starts Mid-Stage Trial

Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, the Seattle-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has started a mid-stage clinical trial of its lead drug candidate for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma. The trial is expected to enroll 65 patients who will get a twice-daily dose of Calistoga’s CAL-101 oral pill in combination with eight … Continue reading “Calistoga Starts Mid-Stage Trial”

Andy Sack, the Jack of All Startup Trades, Joins VC Crossfire Panel Oct. 28

There might not be anyone else in Seattle pursuing more tech startup ideas, through more different financial avenues, than Andy Sack. He’s one of the key players at three organizations that seek to invest and help foster more high-impact tech companies in Seattle—Founder’s Co-op, TechStars, and RevenueLoan. And now he’s agreed to share his latest … Continue reading “Andy Sack, the Jack of All Startup Trades, Joins VC Crossfire Panel Oct. 28”

TalentSpring Acquired by Talent Technology

Seattle-based TalentSpring has been acquired by Richmond, B.C.-based recruitment and hiring software company Talent Technology, according to a statement released today. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

TalentSpring is a semantic-search software developer that helps job recruiters better match candidates to open positions. To date, the company has raised $2.7 million in financing from Second Avenue Partners and private investors. TalentSpring’s system gives employers access to over 120 million resumes, aggregating information from Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, and Dice, alongside niche job boards, social networks, the Web, and the company’s internal resume database.

Geospiza Adds Montgomery to Board

Geospiza, the Seattle-based maker of software for biological analysis, is announcing today that veteran drug developer Bruce Montgomery is joining its board of directors. Montgomery recently stepped down as senior vice president of respiratory drugs at Gilead Sciences, four years after he sold Seattle-based Corus Pharma to Gilead for $365 million. Geospiza’s chairman, Gordon Gardiner, … Continue reading “Geospiza Adds Montgomery to Board”

Halosource’s $80M IPO, Avelle Raises $1M, NW Cleantech Ideas Compete in GE Ecomagination Challenge, and More Seattle-Area Deals News

The last few weeks have been slow on deals for Seattle-area technology companies, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some interesting ones to watch. Take a look at the highlights: —Just a few days after we ran a story about the business’s strategy moving forward, Bellevue, WA-based mobile software company Motricity (NASDAQ: [[ticker: MOTR]]) … Continue reading “Halosource’s $80M IPO, Avelle Raises $1M, NW Cleantech Ideas Compete in GE Ecomagination Challenge, and More Seattle-Area Deals News”

Talent Technology Acquires TalentSpring for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=38221aca-fae0-4390-bb42-b186a10bc298&Preview=1 Date 10/19/2010 Company Name TalentSpring Mailing Address 1525 4th Ave. Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description TalentSpring, Inc. is a leading provider of semantic search technology for talent sourcing. The service enables recruiters and hiring managers to quickly find resumes of top candidates for their open job descriptions utilizing revolutionary resume-ranking algorithms … Continue reading “Talent Technology Acquires TalentSpring for Undisclosed Sum”