Category: Seattle

Clean Tech Open Picks 12 Semifinalists

The Pacific Northwest chapter of the Clean Tech Open, a nonprofit organization, announced 12 semifinalists in its business plan competition at an event at Puget Sound Energy in Bellevue, WA, last week. The companies will compete for regional prizes of up to $50,000, and a national prize of up to $250,000. The semifinalists are Clarian … Continue reading “Clean Tech Open Picks 12 Semifinalists”

Amazon Pulls the Plug on Rhode Island Affiliates

Seattle’s mighty Amazon isn’t feeling too friendly toward the Ocean State. This morning, the online retail giant sent out a terse notice to its Rhode Island affiliates, informing them that their accounts were closed effective June 29th, due to impending changes to the state’s tax laws that apply to certain online purchases. This echoes a … Continue reading “Amazon Pulls the Plug on Rhode Island Affiliates”

With Cash from Siemens and ArcelorMittal, Powerit Looks to Expand, Tap the Smart Grid

In the world of cleantech, there’s a lot of focus on alternative energy sources and power generation. But for Seattle’s Powerit Solutions, the name of the game is energy efficiency. Powerit is the North American division of the company, which also has a European division in Sweden (where the company started). It is a leader … Continue reading “With Cash from Siemens and ArcelorMittal, Powerit Looks to Expand, Tap the Smart Grid”

Washington Technology Industry Association Golf Open

The Washington Technology Industry Association is hosting its 14th annual golf open.  According to the event website, “This scramble style golf tournament is a fun opportunity to “get away” and make your way around the world in 18 holes while networking and promoting your business. This is an exclusive tournament that brings together executives from … Continue reading “Washington Technology Industry Association Golf Open”

PhysioSonics, Looking at Blood in the Brain, Aims to Monitor Effects of Drugs

Walk into a hospital with the telltale symptoms of a stroke, and chances are you’ll get something called a transcranial Doppler ultrasound test. This tool uses ultrasound waves to look inside the brain, noninvasively, to see how fast blood is flowing. What’s important about that? It’s a useful technique to see whether a clot or … Continue reading “PhysioSonics, Looking at Blood in the Brain, Aims to Monitor Effects of Drugs”

The Greater Vancouver Gaming Cluster

When people think of game companies in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle-area giants like Microsoft, Nintendo America, and RealNetworks tend to dominate—not to mention successful startups like Big Fish Games, PopCap, and WildTangent. But just 120 miles to the north lies another haven for makers of video games. Vancouver, BC, is noted for being like a … Continue reading “The Greater Vancouver Gaming Cluster”

Xconomy HQ is Bursting at the Seams; Xconomy’s Pages Won’t Be Quite as Full as Usual

I’m extremely pleased to report that Xconomy’s headquarters in Cambridge are jam packed this week, since everybody flew in from our Seattle and San Diego offices for the inaugural XSITE—Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship—yesterday at Boston University. It’s a rare treat to have everybody together and, fortuitously, we’re also coming up on the … Continue reading “Xconomy HQ is Bursting at the Seams; Xconomy’s Pages Won’t Be Quite as Full as Usual”

Xconomy Summit Hits Boston: Lessons on Innovation, Plans for Recovery from Dean Kamen, Juan Enriquez, and a Host of Other Leaders

Boston-area entrepreneurs unveiled their inventions for optimizing decision-making, delivering drugs to the bladder, and providing a “check-engine light” for the human body. Investors shrugged off the bitter economy and talked about their future plans to create new tech companies. Inventor and educator Dean Kamen delivered an inspirational speech on ways to train the coming generation … Continue reading “Xconomy Summit Hits Boston: Lessons on Innovation, Plans for Recovery from Dean Kamen, Juan Enriquez, and a Host of Other Leaders”

$2M More for Yapta from Voyager, Others

Seattle-based Yapta, an online travel site that tracks airfare and hotel prices, announced it has closed a $2 million Series B funding round led by Voyager Capital. The round also included Northwest investors Swiftsure Capital and W Media Ventures, and San Francisco-area firms Bay Partners and First Round Capital. Yapta was founded in 2006 and … Continue reading “$2M More for Yapta from Voyager, Others”

Cell Therapeutics Ships App to FDA, Targeted Genetics Cuts Again, Sanofi CEO Looks to Biotech & More Seattle Area Life Sciences News

We had a smorgasbord of life sciences news this week, featuring updates on Northwest companies developing drugs, devices, vaccines, and scientific instruments. —Cell Therapeutics has bet the company on pixantrone for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and this week it hit one of its key goals for the year, by turning in its new drug application to the … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Ships App to FDA, Targeted Genetics Cuts Again, Sanofi CEO Looks to Biotech & More Seattle Area Life Sciences News”

Yapta, Inc. Garners $2,000,000 Series B Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7270b917-6951-49fa-aad5-d0f10732c6e8&Preview=1 Date 6/25/2009 Company Name Yapta, Inc. Mailing Address 315 1st Avenue S Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description Our purpose is to make it easy for you to secure the best airfare deals available on the Web. We do this by giving you a tool to “tag” the trips you like while … Continue reading “Yapta, Inc. Garners $2,000,000 Series B Funding”

PhysioSonics, Inc Receives $2,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a3c6c7fe-a4a8-4c67-b538-813ff9790448&Preview=1 Date 6/25/2009 Company Name PhysioSonics, Inc Mailing Address Undisclosed Undisclosed, WA 98100 Company Description PhysioSonics, formerly known as Allez PhysiOnix, is a privately held company, founded in 2000 with technology developed at the University of Washington. The company has developed and patented a number of new technologies including an ultrasound-based technology … Continue reading “PhysioSonics, Inc Receives $2,000,000 New Financing Round”

Save Energy with MS Hohm

Microsoft today announced the launch of its new energy management application, Hohm.  Hohm, using licensed technology from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, calculates energy usage in a home and gives recommendations on how consumers can cut their energy and save money.  The Redmond, WA-based software company said in the … Continue reading “Save Energy with MS Hohm”

Cell Therapeutics Files Cancer Drug Application, In Nick of Time

Cell Therapeutics has bet the company on an experimental drug for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and today it hit a critical deadline in the nick of time. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) said today it turned in its application to the FDA for clearance to start marketing the drug in the U.S., meeting its goal of … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Files Cancer Drug Application, In Nick of Time”

Amnis Rolls Out Souped Up Scientific Tool, Just as Customers Start Feeling Flush

Seattle-based Amnis spun out of the University of Washington a decade ago, fired up about developing a new type of sophisticated imaging instrument with potential to enable all kinds of cool experiments in the lab. Yet it never really caught on in a big way, and nobody has yet published a groundbreaking paper in Nature … Continue reading “Amnis Rolls Out Souped Up Scientific Tool, Just as Customers Start Feeling Flush”

RealNetworks Rolls Out Novel Media Player, Moves Deeper into Mobile and Social Space

Seattle-based RealNetworks (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RNWK]]) announced today the first new version of its RealPlayer media software since May 2007. This beta version of RealPlayer SP lets you download video in any format and quickly put it on your mobile phone or portable media player—whether you have an iPhone, iPod, BlackBerry Storm, Palm Pre, or any of … Continue reading “RealNetworks Rolls Out Novel Media Player, Moves Deeper into Mobile and Social Space”

Escapia, Inc. Receives $1,600,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2cf2e9e6-8bd9-4338-b401-947c84ef4805&Preview=1 Date 6/24/2009 Company Name Escapia, Inc. Mailing Address 2101 4th Ave. Seattle, WA 98121 Company Description EscapiaONE and the Escapia vacation rental software suite, will enable you to save time, cut costs, and participate in a greater percentage of your guests’ vacation budgets through integrated multi-ledger trust accounting, fantastic installation and … Continue reading “Escapia, Inc. Receives $1,600,000 New Funding Round”

Microsoft Hires Three New Internet Execs

Redmond-WA-based Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) is not letting the economy slow it down, hiring three new executives focused on Web search and Internet from Sunnyvale, CA-based Yahoo (NASDAQ: [[ticker:YHOO]]), according to a report in TechFlash and confirmed by Microsoft.  Kevin Timmons has joined the data center group of Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services, according to a blog … Continue reading “Microsoft Hires Three New Internet Execs”

Amazon Buys SnapTell, Madrona Backs Animoto, MDRNA Works Out Tech License, & More Seattle-Area Deals News

It has been a fairly busy start to the summer in the Northwest. In the past week, we’ve seen a number of deals in software, Internet, displays, biotech, and energy. —Portland, OR-based Reductive Labs raised a $2 million Series A round led by True Ventures in Palo Alto, CA. Reductive, whose founders are in Salt … Continue reading “Amazon Buys SnapTell, Madrona Backs Animoto, MDRNA Works Out Tech License, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”

Reductive Labs, Moving to Portland, Raises $2M for Open Source IT Automation

Portland, OR, is gaining an interesting new software company—and this one comes with its own venture funding. Reductive Labs, an open-source startup that helps companies automate their IT management, announced today it has raised $2 million in Series A financing led by True Ventures in Palo Alto, CA. True Ventures put in $1.75 million, and … Continue reading “Reductive Labs, Moving to Portland, Raises $2M for Open Source IT Automation”

Reductive Labs Obtains $2,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=09422e71-94e1-4431-8044-d0e5d008be17&Preview=1 Date 6/23/2009 Company Name Reductive Labs Mailing Address Undisclosed Portland, OR 97201 Company Description Reductive Labs provides next-gen IT automation, enabling IT organizations to manage infrastructure as code so they can provide higher service levels with less staff. Reductive Lab’s flagship offering, Puppet, significantly improves the automation and management of IT … Continue reading “Reductive Labs Obtains $2,000,000 Series A Financing”

Xiant, a New Paul Allen Startup, Rolls Out E-Mail Organizer Tool

Paul Allen has still got it. The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist announced today the launch of a new Seattle company, Xiant, and the public beta version of its software tools for organizing your e-mail inbox. Xiant (pronounced “Zi-ant,” which rhymes with “giant”) is being run in-house at Vulcan Technologies, the company that handles all of … Continue reading “Xiant, a New Paul Allen Startup, Rolls Out E-Mail Organizer Tool”

Successful Startups Put Some Distance Between Their HQ and Their VCs

The conventional wisdom used to be that technology startups should be located as close to their venture investors’ main offices as possible. That way, it’s easier to call on your venture partners’ experience and networks, get them to attend your board meetings, and so forth. But the conventional wisdom may be dead wrong. Private equity … Continue reading “Successful Startups Put Some Distance Between Their HQ and Their VCs”

AdReady Powers Yahoo Display Ads

Seattle-based AdReady has teamed up with Yahoo (NASDAQ: [[ticker:YHOO]]) to deliver self-serve display advertising for the Sunnyvale, CA-based Internet giant. Financial terms of the partnership were not announced. The pilot program is designed to help small and medium-sized businesses reach their audiences on Yahoo (and its partner sites), which has 165 million users in the … Continue reading “AdReady Powers Yahoo Display Ads”

Microvision Gets $15M Investment

Redmond, WA-based Microvision (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MVIS]]), a display technology company, announced today it has received a $15 million investment from Taipei-based Walsin Lihwa, a wire and cable manufacturer. The deal comes in the form of a sale of common stock to Walsin Lihwa’s subsidiary, Max Display Enterprises Limited, as well as a warrant to purchase more … Continue reading “Microvision Gets $15M Investment”

Oncothyreon Drug Enters Pivotal Trial

Oncothyreon, the Seattle-based developer of cancer drugs, said today that its partner, Germany-based Merck KGaA, has started a pivotal clinical trial of the Stimuvax immunotherapy for breast cancer. The study will seek to enroll 900 patients in 30 countries, who are randomly assigned to get Stimuvax or a placebo. Oncothyreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONTY]]) has shifted most … Continue reading “Oncothyreon Drug Enters Pivotal Trial”

AVI Developing Swine Flu Drugs

AVI Biopharma, a Portland, OR-based developer of RNA-based drugs, said today it has secured a contract with the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency to develop drugs for H1N1, or swine flu. Under the contract, worth as much as $5.1 million, AVI will analyze the H1N1 sequence, determine appropriate targets and identify lead and back-up candidate … Continue reading “AVI Developing Swine Flu Drugs”

Targeted Genetics Cuts Workforce in Half in Bid to Survive Into August

Targeted Genetics, the Seattle-based developer of gene therapies, said today it is cutting more than half of its workforce in a bid to make its dwindling cash reserves last into August. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TGEN]]) said it will cut its staff down to just 10 to 15 employees by the end of the July, compared … Continue reading “Targeted Genetics Cuts Workforce in Half in Bid to Survive Into August”

Should You Sign Up for Google Voice? Xconomy Readers Share Their Beta Experiences

Back in March, I wrote a column about Google Voice, the reincarnated version of a voicemail unification service that Google acquired from Grand Central back in 2007. The free service gives you a single phone number for life that isn’t tied to any particular land line or cellular device—instead, calls ring through to whichever phones … Continue reading “Should You Sign Up for Google Voice? Xconomy Readers Share Their Beta Experiences”

Mirabilis Medica Aims to Help Women Avoid the Dreaded Hysterectomy

It only takes about 30 minutes from downtown Seattle to get to what some people like to call the “Silicon Valley of Ultrasound,” in Bothell, WA. So when I heard about another ultrasound startup company, one with a name that comes from the Latin word for “miraculous,” I figured it was worth checking out. There’s … Continue reading “Mirabilis Medica Aims to Help Women Avoid the Dreaded Hysterectomy”

Doyenz Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fcc45a57-95af-48d0-8aae-6df26d9716ca&Preview=1 Date 6/21/2009 Company Name Doyenz Mailing Address 15395 SE 30th Place Bellevue, WA 98007 Company Description Doyenz is the first to deliver Automated Virtual IT Out-of-the-box, a ground-breaking end-to-end virtual appliance lifecycle management solution, for the SMB market. Automated Virtual IT empowers VARs and IT consultants to deliver high quality and … Continue reading “Doyenz Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding”

$1M Angel Funding for LiquidPlanner

Bellevue, WA-based LiquidPlanner, a collaborative software and project management startup, has raised $1 million from angel investors. The money includes the first investment from Seattle-based Alliance of Angels’ new seed fund it announced last month. The news was first reported by TechFlash, and was confirmed by Greg Huey from Alliance of Angels and investor Geoff … Continue reading “$1M Angel Funding for LiquidPlanner”

Cell Therapeutics Dumps $52.9M Debt

Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]), the Seattle-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has gotten rid of $52.9 million worth of debt, or about 44 percent of its total debtload. The company had sought to unload all of its $118.9 million in debt, but ended up paying out $7.1 million in cash and 24.2 million … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Dumps $52.9M Debt”

Innovation Insights, and How Microsoft Enabled the Internet, From Technologist Dan Rosen

Ask Dan Rosen to define innovation, and he’ll say it’s “a breakthrough in technology that leads to a business breakthrough.” It’s a concept that Rosen is well acquainted with, having been a founding partner of Seattle-based Frazier Technology Ventures, a prominent venture capital firm, and the CEO and president of his own investment and advisory … Continue reading “Innovation Insights, and How Microsoft Enabled the Internet, From Technologist Dan Rosen”

Smartly Leveraging Social Media for Your Business

The Washington Technology Industry Association is hosting an event where people can hear experts discuss how social media relates to business.  According to the event website: “Social media is rapidly changing the way companies do business.  Companies that have social media strategies are finding them to be a valuable tool for driving customer engagement and … Continue reading “Smartly Leveraging Social Media for Your Business”

MDRNA Gains Full Rights to Drug Technology

MDRNA, the Bothell, WA-based developer of RNA interference drug technology, said today it has renegotiated a key technology license so that it has full control and no longer needs to make future payments for it. MDRNA (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MRNA]]) bought the rights in October to unlocked nucleobase analog technology from Denmark-based RiboTask, which has been studying … Continue reading “MDRNA Gains Full Rights to Drug Technology”

SolarCasters, a One-Man Startup, Seeks Funding for Solar Power Forecasts

Steve Ihnen knows to the minute when the clouds will arrive. From the Redmond, WA, office of his company, SolarCasters, he keeps an eye on weather conditions around the world with satellite data. Then, using complex mathematical modeling software, he collates cloud-cover, humidity, and other factors to calculate how much sunlight will reach the ground … Continue reading “SolarCasters, a One-Man Startup, Seeks Funding for Solar Power Forecasts”

Sanofi CEO Bets Outside U.S., Gears Up for Flu Pandemic, and Seeks To Learn From Biotech

Not long ago, drug companies would break out quarterly income streams from the U.S., Europe, Japan, and something called ROW, as in rest-of-world. Investors usually didn’t care about the last numbers, because they were little more than a rounding error. That’s not the case anymore, as these countries are often called “emerging markets.” They’ve grown … Continue reading “Sanofi CEO Bets Outside U.S., Gears Up for Flu Pandemic, and Seeks To Learn From Biotech”

Boston’s Digital Entertainment Economy Begins to Sense Its Own Strength

Let’s say you live in Boston and you’ve just hit on a great concept for a cross-media property, with all the attendant merchandising tie-ins: a special-effects-laden movie, a console video game, a comic, a kids’ cartoon, action figures, a novelization, a persistent online world—in other words, the next Matrix or Transformers or Harry Potter. To … Continue reading “Boston’s Digital Entertainment Economy Begins to Sense Its Own Strength”

LiquidPlanner, Inc. Garners $1,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=88b16f0f-5ef2-49eb-9bd3-a5c9b7a60be2&Preview=1 Date 6/19/2009 Company Name LiquidPlanner, Inc. Mailing Address 13162 SE 32nd Street Bellevue, WA 98005 Company Description LiquidPlanner is online project management software built on an innovative probabilistic scheduling system (patents pending). It takes a new approach to frictionless collaboration and is designed to be flexible, intuitive, and smart enough to … Continue reading “LiquidPlanner, Inc. Garners $1,000,000 New Funding”

Stealthy 5to1 Receives $4.5M

Seattle-based stealth startup 5to1.com received all of a $4.5 million offering, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. The investors were not disclosed, but included on the form as directors were Jim Heckman, the former CEO of Rivals.com, and Michael Barrett, former chief revenue officer of Fox Interactive. According to a story published in TechFlash, 5to1 … Continue reading “Stealthy 5to1 Receives $4.5M”

TB Isn’t Going Away, and Pharma Isn’t Ignoring It

Many people thought tuberculosis had gone away. Unfortunately, it has not. Indeed, it is coming back strongly, and in a multidrug resistant form. This has occurred at a time of a vacuum in drug discovery and development for tuberculosis. Fortunately, government institutions like the National Institutes of Health, non-governmental agencies like the Seattle Biomedical Research … Continue reading “TB Isn’t Going Away, and Pharma Isn’t Ignoring It”

Global Health Funding Booms, But Not Just From Gates, UW-Harvard Study Finds

[Updated: 7:05 pm Eastern] Wealthy donors like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have helped spark a movement that has almost quadrupled financial support for global health in the past two decades, yet much of the world’s financial support is being spread unevenly, and isn’t always getting to the poorest people in the neediest countries, … Continue reading “Global Health Funding Booms, But Not Just From Gates, UW-Harvard Study Finds”

Todd Dean of Keiretsu Forum on Northwest Angel Investing Strategy

The Keiretsu Forum is the world’s largest angel community, with 750-plus accredited members across 18 chapters from Barcelona to Bellevue. Since 2000, its members have invested more than $180 million in 200 companies spanning technology, healthcare, consumer products, real estate, and other sectors. So it’s high time I caught up with Todd Dean, the president … Continue reading “Todd Dean of Keiretsu Forum on Northwest Angel Investing Strategy”

HIV’s “Tireless Warrior,” Anthony Fauci, Calls for Transformation of TB Research

Anthony Fauci is known around the world as a leading scientist and advocate, starting in the early 1980s, for research to fight HIV. The Voice of America once called him a “tireless warrior” for the cause. Now, Fauci says, biologists need to channel their creative energy to fight another deadly bug that has been around … Continue reading “HIV’s “Tireless Warrior,” Anthony Fauci, Calls for Transformation of TB Research”

UW Stem Cell Startup is Born, Global Health’s “Davos” Arrives, MDRNA Unloads Debt, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

Center stage in Seattle life sciences moved to the waterfront this week, as 250 global movers and shakers in science, global health, and the pharmaceutical business gathered for the Pacific Health Summit. —The Pacific Health Summit, an invitation-only event of global health stars, in its fifth year, focused this year on multidrug resistant tuberculosis, as … Continue reading “UW Stem Cell Startup is Born, Global Health’s “Davos” Arrives, MDRNA Unloads Debt, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”