Microsoft announced today that Dell, eBay, Fujitsu, and Hewlett-Packard have signed agreements to use the Redmond, WA, company’s Windows Azure software platform for cloud computing. Financial terms of the partnerships weren’t given, and the details and goals of each agreement are different. Dell, for example, is partnering with Azure to help deliver cloud-based services for … Continue reading “Dell, eBay, HP Use Microsoft Cloud”
Category: Seattle
Microsoft Gives $1.4M in Faculty Grants
Microsoft Research announced today at its annual Faculty Summit that it has awarded a $200,000 fellowship grant to each of seven young computer science faculty members: Raanan Fattal from Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Cyrill Stachniss from University of Freiburg; Evimaria Terzi of Boston University; Haiying (Helen) Shen of Clemson University; Doug Downey of Northwestern University; … Continue reading “Microsoft Gives $1.4M in Faculty Grants”
Webinar: Bilski v. Kappos: What Does it Mean for Biotech?
Intellectual property lawyers will address how the biotech industry can respond to the patent and intellectual property implications of Bilski v. Kappos, at this webinar hosted by Nixon Peabody. Register here.
South Lake Union Block Party
Businesses and neighbors will gather on August 13th for the South Lake Union block party. There will be music, food, beer, wine, and a kids area. For more information, click here.
Global Health 101: A Summer Science Evening for Families
Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (Seattle BioMed) is opening its doors to the community for an evening of interactive science designed for children, teens and parents. For more information, click here.
Where Do You Check In? The Northwest’s Location-Based Search and Social Networking Mini Cluster
The rising popularity of New York, NY-based Foursquare, which launched in March of 2009 and has quickly become the most popular location-based social networking mobile application in the world, has caused an explosion of development on geolocation applications worldwide. Some of the most well known here in the states include Gowalla, BrightKite, Loopt and Seattle-based … Continue reading “Where Do You Check In? The Northwest’s Location-Based Search and Social Networking Mini Cluster”
Accelerator, Taking a Break from Curing Cancer, Unwinds With Some Mini-Golf Hijinks
The people at Seattle-based Accelerator spend their days doing oh-so-serious stuff, like trying to redefine the state of the art in biotechnology. Yesterday it was time to goof off. I joined in the Accelerator mini-golf tournament at the Interbay Golf Center. It’s the fourth year of the outing for Accelerator, the venture-backed biotech startup incubator … Continue reading “Accelerator, Taking a Break from Curing Cancer, Unwinds With Some Mini-Golf Hijinks”
Maveron, VC Firm and Consumer Trendspotter, Sees Growth in Healthcare for People and Pets
Maveron, the venture firm co-founded by Starbucks mogul Howard Schultz and Dan Levitan, has carved out its niche in spotting consumer trends over the past dozen years. One of the big opportunities that Maveron sees emerging now is the transformation in how healthcare is delivered and paid for. Not just for people, but for pets, … Continue reading “Maveron, VC Firm and Consumer Trendspotter, Sees Growth in Healthcare for People and Pets”
DocuSign Receives $2,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b8fb442e-abec-4df3-ba6f-4ec703302039&Preview=1 Date 7/11/2010 Company Name DocuSign Mailing Address 701 Fifth Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description DocuSign was founded in 2003 with one goal: to make electronic signatures as ubiquitous and simple as email. DocuSign delivers the final step in the online customer relationship—the ability to complete a legally binding agreement over … Continue reading “DocuSign Receives $2,000,000 New Funding Round”
DocuSign Brings In $2M
Seattle-based electronic signature automation software developer DocuSign has raised $2 million in debt financing, according to a regulatory filing. The company, founded in 2003, previously had raised more than $30 million in venture funding, including $5 million in Series D financing in May 2009. In 2009 DocuSign was one of a hundred companies to be … Continue reading “DocuSign Brings In $2M”
Impinj Raises $5.8M
Seattle-based Impinj, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems developer, has raised $5.8 million in debt and options financing, according to a regulatory filing. The company, founded in May of 2000, received $14 million in venture funding in 2008, and later that year sold off its nonvolatile-memory intellectual property business for $5.2 million and acquired Intel’s RFID … Continue reading “Impinj Raises $5.8M”
ADP to Acquire The Cobalt Group for $400M
The Cobalt Group, a Seattle-based automotive digital marketing company, said today it has agreed to be acquired by Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ADP]]) for approximately $400 million in cash. The deal is subject to regulatory review and is expected to close in the next four to six weeks, according to ADP. Roseland, NJ-based ADP said … Continue reading “ADP to Acquire The Cobalt Group for $400M”
Concur’s Raj Singh on the Emerging Mobile Scene and Where He Sees the Company Going in the Next Five Years (Part 2)
For Raj Singh, the co-founder, president, and chief operating officer of Redmond, WA-based Concur, a travel and expense reporting software developer, the recipe for success has involved jumping on trends as they are in the making. In 2002 and 2003, this meant getting on board the software-as-a-service-industry. Today it means staying relevant by embracing another … Continue reading “Concur’s Raj Singh on the Emerging Mobile Scene and Where He Sees the Company Going in the Next Five Years (Part 2)”
Sex, Power, and Money: Dave McClure Tells Web Startups to Tap Into Consumers’ ‘Reptilian Psyche’
Dave McClure is a dynamic guy. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak to a small audience of tech startup founders in Seattle earlier this week. His impassioned message to entrepreneurs was, first of all, to take risks and be ambitious, and second, to build something that people really, really care about. That sounds … Continue reading “Sex, Power, and Money: Dave McClure Tells Web Startups to Tap Into Consumers’ ‘Reptilian Psyche’”
Adventures in YouTube-Land: The Making of “World Wide Wade Goes West”
It’s one of the cardinal rules of startup life: stick to your knitting. Don’t get distracted by all the cool things you could do, at the expense of the thing you already do well. At Xconomy, we’ve followed that rule pretty well: We’re journalists who write about technology and entrepreneurship for a living, and we … Continue reading “Adventures in YouTube-Land: The Making of “World Wide Wade Goes West””
A Place for Mom Sells Majority Stake to Warburg Pincus
Seattle-based online elder care referral service, A Place for Mom, has sold a majority ownership stake to international private equity firm Warburg Pincus, according to a company asset track record kept by investment banking advisory firm GCA Savvian. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. A spokesperson for A Place for Mom didn’t immediately … Continue reading “A Place for Mom Sells Majority Stake to Warburg Pincus”
Impinj Secures $5,800,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=46ffeb25-ba25-4f16-bd6b-45b19630afbe&Preview=1 Date 7/9/2010 Company Name Impinj Mailing Address 701 N. 34th Street Seattle, WA 98103 Company Description Impinj, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company whose patented Self-Adaptive Silicon technology enables its two synergistic business lines: high performance RFID products and innovative semiconductor intellectual property (IP). Website http://www.impinj.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Impinj Secures $5,800,000 New Financing Round”
Mirador Biomedical Seeks FDA Nod
Seattle-based Mirador Biomedical said today it has filed for FDA clearance to start selling a device that helps medical professionals tell the difference between a vein or an artery as a catheter gets inserted. More than 6 million central venous procedures are done each year in the U.S., and thousands of people suffer severe injuries … Continue reading “Mirador Biomedical Seeks FDA Nod”
Big Fish, Z2Live Add Voice Chat to Games
Seattle-based Big Fish Games, a leading casual game developer and distributor, has teamed up with Z2Live to add new voice chat and multiplayer capabilities to Big Fish’s iPhone and iPad “Big City Adventure: San Francisco” applications. Z2Live, a social mobile gaming startup, first unveiled its multiplayer voice chat feature, which will allow players to talk … Continue reading “Big Fish, Z2Live Add Voice Chat to Games”
Concur Co-founder Raj Singh on How Surviving the Dotcom Bust Shaped the Company Culture and How Mobile Has Changed its Course (Part 1)
Seattle was one of the hardest hit regions during the dotcom boom and subsequent crash of the early 2000s. The companies that were able to survive the fall, however, were grandfathered into a strong regional, and once again booming, technology industry. One of these survivors—now a veteran on the local tech scene—is Redmond, WA-based Concur … Continue reading “Concur Co-founder Raj Singh on How Surviving the Dotcom Bust Shaped the Company Culture and How Mobile Has Changed its Course (Part 1)”
Amazon’s Vision for Biology in the Cloud, Uptake Nabs $17.5M, CMC Icos Mounts Comeback, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
This being a short holiday week, the Seattle biotech roundup is short and sweet. —Seattle-based online retail giant Amazon has been pushing hard for a few years to become the leader in cloud computing, which has enabled a generation of tech startups to run their businesses with less startup capital. But it’s only recently been … Continue reading “Amazon’s Vision for Biology in the Cloud, Uptake Nabs $17.5M, CMC Icos Mounts Comeback, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Uptake Medical Raises $17.5M for Emphysema Device
Uptake Medical has closed a financing round worth $17.5 million. The Seattle-based company says it will use the money to get clearance to start selling a device to treat emphysema in Europe, to start marketing it outside the U.S., and to pursue FDA approval. The Series B financing was led by Maverick Capital, and included … Continue reading “Uptake Medical Raises $17.5M for Emphysema Device”
World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode VII: Denver, CO
Well, I made it to San Francisco! I officially occupied my new Potrero Hill loft (which will double as Xconomy’s San Francisco bureau) Tuesday morning. But I don’t have an Internet connection there yet, so I’m writing this at the Starbucks on 16th and Kansas. Which means I’m feeling right at home—we depended on Starbucks … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode VII: Denver, CO”
Oncothyreon Lines Up $20M
Seattle-based Oncothyreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONTY]]) said today it has secured a line of equity financing in which it may sell as much as $20 million worth of new common stock to Small Cap Biotech Value. Oncothyreon said it will determine the timing and dollar amounts of the stock sales, and it is not obligated to use … Continue reading “Oncothyreon Lines Up $20M”
CMC Icos Mounts Comeback, Resumes Hiring, After Pausing During the Downturn
CMC Icos Biologics was one of the bright spots in the Northwest innovation community during the dark days of September 2008. The financial crisis was all over the news, yet the Bothell, WA-based biotech drugmaker said it planned to double in size to 250 employees, and quintuple its manufacturing capacity. Two weeks later, the company … Continue reading “CMC Icos Mounts Comeback, Resumes Hiring, After Pausing During the Downturn”
Earth Class Mail CEO Sarah Carr on the Revamped Business Model and What Had to Change in Her First 10 Months
[Corrected: 1:15 pm, see below] Earth Class Mail was built on the notion that businesses which receive a lot of important documents through old fashioned snail mail may benefit from the services it has to offer. The Seattle-based company, founded in 2004 by former head and board chairman, Ron Wiener, develops software that digitizes incoming … Continue reading “Earth Class Mail CEO Sarah Carr on the Revamped Business Model and What Had to Change in Her First 10 Months”
Uptake Medical Corp Obtains $17,500,000 Series B Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d9e6303f-4291-4e19-ae64-e67d6614497c&Preview=1 Date 7/7/2010 Company Name Uptake Medical Corp Mailing Address 1924 1st Avenue 3rd Floor Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description Uptake Medical Corporation is a Seattle-based medical device company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from emphysema and other types of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Website http://www.uptakemedical.com/ Transaction Type … Continue reading “Uptake Medical Corp Obtains $17,500,000 Series B Round”
Washington Health Foundation Health 3.0 Summit
The Washington Health Foundation is holding the Health 3.0 Summit on November 3 and 4 at the Bell Harbor Conference Center in Seattle. The theme for the first day will be “A Convergence of People, Vision and Design.” The second day will focus on “Healthiest State Legislative Conference.” Cost is $250 per day or $500 … Continue reading “Washington Health Foundation Health 3.0 Summit”
NWEN Breakfast Buzz: Game On
Info and registration here. Let’s face it – another business networking event in the heat of summer (come on, heat) just isn’t that appealing. You’d really rather be gaming. At NWEN we feel your pain – and so we’ve combined the best of both worlds for our next breakfast. Our festive topic is the phenomenon … Continue reading “NWEN Breakfast Buzz: Game On”
UC4 Hires Jason Liu as CEO
Global automation software developer UC4, which has its U.S. headquarters in Bellevue, WA, said today it has appointed Jason Liu as its new chief executive officer. Liu has a background in software, mobile and cloud systems management, and has served as CEO to several companies, including Callisto Software, Intrinsic Technologies and most recently, Univa UD. … Continue reading “UC4 Hires Jason Liu as CEO”
Lockerz.com Raises Cash From Kleiner Perkins for Social Commerce Site
Seattle-based startup Lockerz is a new kind of social networking service—an invitation-only social commerce site where the ultimate goal is for members to earn rewards for their online interaction. Through the site, members collect points redeemable for discounts on brand name products by connecting with friends, watching videos, shopping online, and otherwise engaging in the … Continue reading “Lockerz.com Raises Cash From Kleiner Perkins for Social Commerce Site”
World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode VI: Wall, South Dakota
If Xconomy had an official interstate highway, it would be I-90. The longest highway in the whole interstate system, it stretches 3,099 miles from Logan Airport in Boston (Xconomy’s birthplace) to Safeco Field in Seattle (the second city in our network). On our way to San Francisco, we followed I-90 from Boston to Buffalo, and … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode VI: Wall, South Dakota”
What Google’s $700M Acquisition of ITA Means to Boston, and to Competition with Expedia, Bing, and Kayak
This deal has a little bit of everything. A compelling startup story, technology used by millions of consumers, big company strategy and competition, antitrust issues, and, on top of all that, a really significant local innovation angle. I’m talking, of course, about last week’s $700 million acquisition of Cambridge, MA-based ITA Software by Google. ITA’s … Continue reading “What Google’s $700M Acquisition of ITA Means to Boston, and to Competition with Expedia, Bing, and Kayak”
Amazon’s Cloud Computing Service Sees Opportunity in Genomic Data Overload
The future of biology, if Amazon has its way, will be in the cloud. The Seattle-based online retailer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) has generated buzz the past few years with its foray into cloud computing through Amazon Web Services. This is the model in which customers rent server space on a pay-as-you-go basis, and get access to … Continue reading “Amazon’s Cloud Computing Service Sees Opportunity in Genomic Data Overload”
Amazon Acquires Woot, Symform Raises $4M, Starbucks Offers Wi-Fi for All, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
It’s been a slow deal week for Northwest tech companies, most likely because of the holiday weekend. But that’s not to say nothing of note happened. In the past week we’ve seen two cloud storage and health IT startups rake in some dough, the free Wi-Fi trend expand to one of the biggest retail brands … Continue reading “Amazon Acquires Woot, Symform Raises $4M, Starbucks Offers Wi-Fi for All, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
Lockerz Garners New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b5e440a4-88b4-417c-9c41-75175e3e7141&Preview=1 Date 7/6/2010 Company Name Lockerz Mailing Address Undisclosed Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description social networking service—an invitation-only social commerce site where the ultimate goal is for members to earn rewards for their online interaction. Through the site, members collect points redeemable for discounts on brand name products by connecting with friends, … Continue reading “Lockerz Garners New Financing Round”
World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode V: Minneapolis, MN
When I hatched this kooky plan to drive across the country to San Francisco, shooting, editing, and publishing videos along the way, I had no idea it would be quite so exhausting. So when we reached the home of Graham’s friend Oliver Zhou in Minneapolis Wednesday night, we were grateful to have a place to … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode V: Minneapolis, MN”
Xconomy Seattle’s Top 20 Stories of the Quarter: The Quest for the Land Speed Record, Dendreon Makes History, & Geoff Entress Up Close
A veteran newspaper reporter once said that if you wrote a story six months ago, it was fine to follow up again, because nobody would remember you wrote that other piece. Now that news moves at electron speed on the Web, we figure people can barely remember what we wrote just a couple weeks ago. … Continue reading “Xconomy Seattle’s Top 20 Stories of the Quarter: The Quest for the Land Speed Record, Dendreon Makes History, & Geoff Entress Up Close”
See You at the Xconomy Seattle Open House, to Welcome Thea and Say Goodbye to Greg
It’s almost time to finish up tomorrow’s stories and make the beer run here at Xconomy Seattle. In case you missed our note on Monday, we’re having a little open house for our friends and readers from 4 pm to 7 pm today at 1102 Columbia Street on First Hill. This will be a chance … Continue reading “See You at the Xconomy Seattle Open House, to Welcome Thea and Say Goodbye to Greg”
Starbucks Offers Free Wi-Fi
Starbucks (NASDAQ: [[ticker: SBUX]]) began offering unlimited free Wi-Fi in all of its corporate-owner stores across the United States and in Canada today. The company said it would be rolling out the new program July 1 “as a part of its ongoing commitment to enhancing the customer experience.” Prior to this, free Wi-Fi has been … Continue reading “Starbucks Offers Free Wi-Fi”
Microsoft Drops Kin Phone
Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) has decided to stop producing the Kin phone just six weeks after its release, according to a report by Gizmodo Wednesday citing testimony from “sources close to Microsoft.” In Microsoft’s official statement the company said it will instead be focusing exclusively on the Windows Phone 7, and “will not be shipping KIN … Continue reading “Microsoft Drops Kin Phone”
Amazon Upgrades Kindle DX E-Reader with New E Ink Display
Can this device take on the iPad? Last night, Seattle-based Amazon.com announced its new version of the Kindle DX (its larger e-reader device), which it touts as having “50 percent better contrast for the clearest text and sharpest images,” as well as a slew of other features including long battery life, 3G wireless connectivity, and … Continue reading “Amazon Upgrades Kindle DX E-Reader with New E Ink Display”
World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode IV: Torch Lake, MI
Sharon Branson, a retired nurse, and her husband Dean Branson, a retired industrial chemist and toxicologist, are busy enough for any three non-retired couples. I met this fascinating couple through my parents, who serve with Dean in the Three Lakes Association, a conservation group working to preserve the natural environment around Michigan’s Torch Lake and … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode IV: Torch Lake, MI”
Medify, Incubated at Voyager Capital, Raises $1.3M to Reshape Health IT for Consumers
It’s not quite two guys in a garage getting their big break, but it’s close. Medify, a healthcare IT startup incubated at Seattle-based Voyager Capital, said today it has raised $1.3 million in first-round venture funding. Voyager put in $1 million, and the rest was from angel investors and the founders. The stealth company is … Continue reading “Medify, Incubated at Voyager Capital, Raises $1.3M to Reshape Health IT for Consumers”
New CFO Pearl Chan on What Drew Her to the Cheezburger Network and Why Humor is for Everyone
If you like to spend your spare time crawling the Internet for pictures of cute animals with silly captions or stories of others’ “fails” (i.e. moments of sheer misfortune caught on camera), odds are you’ve stumbled upon I Can Has Cheezburger. It’s grown into a network of 51 sites that have become the viral ‘it … Continue reading “New CFO Pearl Chan on What Drew Her to the Cheezburger Network and Why Humor is for Everyone”
Calistoga Pockets $40M, NanoString Hires CEO, Spiration Sells to Olympus, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
This week was so busy with companies breaking news before the holiday weekend that I didn’t have time to immediately jump on the latest tempest affecting Dendreon. Alas, tomorrow is another day. —Seattle-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals generated the big news of the week, by raising $40 million in the biggest venture deal of the year so … Continue reading “Calistoga Pockets $40M, NanoString Hires CEO, Spiration Sells to Olympus, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Should It Be Called “Startbucks?”
Today Starbucks begins providing free Internet in their stores. To me, this means that Howard Schultz has just provided 11,000 free offices for startups. To an entrepreneur, having tables, chairs, free Internet, and access to food and coffee is a golden opportunity. To a professional who provides support services to startups (e.g. marketing, design, business … Continue reading “Should It Be Called “Startbucks?””
Medify Lands $500,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bca08d3b-c980-4b43-8f4d-597018adfcb9&Preview=1 Date 7/1/2010 Company Name Medify Mailing Address 1603 Bigelow Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98109 Company Description The company is developing data-driven care management for consumers. Website http://www.mymedify.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Undisclosed
Amazon Acquires Woot
Carrollton, TX-based deal-a-day online marketplace Woot said today it has signed an acquisition agreement with Seattle-based e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]). Under the agreement, Woot said it would become an independent subsidiary of Amazon, maintaining the same level of autonomy as other subsidiary companies, such as Audible and Zappos. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, and Amazon … Continue reading “Amazon Acquires Woot”
Obtaining Maximum Value for Your Company in Today’s M&A Market
At the end of 2009, we were optimistic that the M&A markets would pick up and become the key near-term source of liquidity for investors before any real momentum in the IPO and capital markets kicked in. We also believed the technology sector, led by reemerging growth and profitability, would be at the forefront of … Continue reading “Obtaining Maximum Value for Your Company in Today’s M&A Market”