Category: Seattle

Gaming the Industry: Defining, Pitching, and Monetizing Casual Games at Casual Connect

What exactly is “casual” gaming? My impression was that it’s a term to describe short video games that are usually played online with a minimum of software downloads and time commitment—things like solitaire and various brainteaser games. As opposed to “core” gaming, which spans the role-playing, virtual-world, and shoot-em-up market segments, traditionally played on consoles. … Continue reading “Gaming the Industry: Defining, Pitching, and Monetizing Casual Games at Casual Connect”

Light Sciences Oncology, Led by CEO on the Go, Prepares for Its Big Day

Llew Keltner flies about 600,000 miles a year. The CEO of Light Sciences Oncology insists he can’t imagine doing his job any other way. There are doctors in about 30 countries testing his company’s experimental drug/device combo treatment in clinical trials of cancer patients. He meets the physicians in person, twice a year, to talk … Continue reading “Light Sciences Oncology, Led by CEO on the Go, Prepares for Its Big Day”

Cisco To Buy Pure Networks for $120 Million

Nobody’s going public these days, but the acquisitions market is certainly heating up. A day after Boeing announced its purchase of Bingen, WA-based Insitu, Cisco (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CSCO]]) is getting into the act. The San Jose, CA-based networking giant announced it is buying Pure Networks, a privately held company based in Seattle. The deal is worth … Continue reading “Cisco To Buy Pure Networks for $120 Million”

Genzyme Pursues Multiple Sclerosis Market, Biogen Reports Progress in Same, BG Medicine Swallows $40 Million Cash Bolus, & More Life Sciences News

Lots of news from the bigger players (think Genzyme and Biogen Idec) in the Boston-area life sciences arena last week, plus a peep here and there from the startups. —Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]), a developer of RNAi-based drugs in Cambridge, MA, extended its collaboration with pharma giant Novartis (NYSE: [[ticker:NVS]]) through October 2009; the deal … Continue reading “Genzyme Pursues Multiple Sclerosis Market, Biogen Reports Progress in Same, BG Medicine Swallows $40 Million Cash Bolus, & More Life Sciences News”

Dendreon Expects Interim Provenge Trial Results in October

Dendreon, the developer of treatments to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer, said today it expects interim results in October from a clinical trial of 500 men with terminal prostate cancer. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) said it hopes to use the data, which looks at whether Provenge can help men with the … Continue reading “Dendreon Expects Interim Provenge Trial Results in October”

Quick Hits with Venture Capitalist Bill Bryant, Partner at Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Bill Bryant is one of the best-known venture capitalists on the local scene. As a tech entrepreneur and angel investor, he’s been involved with startups in the Seattle area for 20 years. In the early 1990s, he was the founding vice president of sales and marketing for Visio, now part of Microsoft. Last October, he … Continue reading “Quick Hits with Venture Capitalist Bill Bryant, Partner at Draper Fisher Jurvetson”

From Garbage to Ethanol: InEnTec’s Method At Heart of $120 Million Refinery

Who needs corn to make ethanol, when we already have plenty of garbage? InEnTec, a small company created by scientists from MIT and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA, has taken that idea of creating ethanol from garbage and pushed it for 13 years, to the point where it is now at the … Continue reading “From Garbage to Ethanol: InEnTec’s Method At Heart of $120 Million Refinery”

Around the World with Nathan Myhrvold (and His Camera)

This week Nathan Myhrvold published some of the most stunning pictures I’ve seen in a long time. They’re compiled in a photo essay, entitled “Panoramas and Photo Technology from Iceland and Greenland,” on John Brockman’s Edge.org site. Besides the gorgeous scenery, what I found interesting was the technology behind creating these pictures, particularly the panoramic … Continue reading “Around the World with Nathan Myhrvold (and His Camera)”

Cisco Systems, Inc. Acquires Pure Networks, Inc. for $120,000,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ffbfd0eb-df01-425f-8e0b-22044c9a26b5&Preview=1 Date 7/23/2008 Company Name Pure Networks, Inc. Mailing Address 1201 3rd Avenue Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description Pure Networks, Inc. is the leading creator of home networking software and services. Website http://www.purenetworks.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount $120,000,000 Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco … Continue reading “Cisco Systems, Inc. Acquires Pure Networks, Inc. for $120,000,000”

WBBA Hires Two Executives To Nurture Biotech Startups

The Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association, the state’s biotech industry trade group, has hired Joe Sasenick and Dick Haiduck as part-time life sciences commercialization consultants to help nurture more startups in the state. Sasenick is a consultant that helps companies identify corporate board members, and Haiduck is currently “Partner to the CEO” of Cytopia and … Continue reading “WBBA Hires Two Executives To Nurture Biotech Startups”

Ballard Power, IdaTech Sign Supply Deal For Backup Power Systems

Ballard Power, a Burnaby, BC-based maker of hydrogen fuel cell products, said it has signed a three-year agreement to supply fuel cells to become part of Bend, OR-based IdaTech’s methanol-fuelled backup power system. The system, called ElectraGen, will offer 3 kilowatts or 5 kilowatts of power, enough for days of backup, instead of hours, to … Continue reading “Ballard Power, IdaTech Sign Supply Deal For Backup Power Systems”

thePlatform Partners with Time Warner Cable

Seattle-based thePlatform announced that it will manage and publish video content and advertising for Time Warner Cable’s Road Runner website, which offers programming from HBO, CNN, and other sources. Time Warner Cable, the second-largest cable operator in the U.S., also gets access to thePlatform’s media player tools. A subsidiary of Comcast, thePlatform handles the logistics … Continue reading “thePlatform Partners with Time Warner Cable”

Geospiza Gets University of Florida to Buy New Software

Geospiza, the Seattle-based maker of software to support biological research, said today the University of Florida’s Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research has bought GeoSpiza’s FinchLab to help sort through data from next-generation gene sequencing tools. The university is a longtime customer, and first started using Geospiza’s products eight years ago. The privately-held company has been … Continue reading “Geospiza Gets University of Florida to Buy New Software”

Google Forging Connections with University of Washington

Last week, the University of Washington’s Computer Science and Engineering department hosted a special workshop sponsored by Google and the National Science Foundation. The goal of the three-day program was to instruct professors on how to teach Google-style computing—which includes harnessing huge amounts of digital data and doing “cluster computing” over large-scale, networked servers. The … Continue reading “Google Forging Connections with University of Washington”

Northwest Biotech Startups Can Get Talent and Venture Bucks, But UW Could Use Some Culture Shock, CEOs Say

Tom Ranken is the first to admit he can get a bit ornery on the subject of venture capital in the Northwest. “It used to make me foam at the mouth when VCs would say there’s plenty of money out there and all the good ideas get funded,” he says. But now Ranken, the former … Continue reading “Northwest Biotech Startups Can Get Talent and Venture Bucks, But UW Could Use Some Culture Shock, CEOs Say”

Boeing Acquires Insitu, Inc. for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ad014968-7253-4ac8-968b-bfb1f7b2d349&Preview=1 Date 7/22/2008 Company Name Insitu, Inc. Mailing Address 118 East Columbia River Way Bingen, WA 98605 Company Description Insitu leads in the design, development and production of small autonomous aircraft for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), including advanced integrated command, control, and video tools for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR). Website http://www.insitu.com … Continue reading “Boeing Acquires Insitu, Inc. for Undisclosed Sum”

Cell Therapeutics Says It’s Running Low on Cash

Cell Therapeutics is running seriously low on fuel. The Seattle-based biotech company, which has run up an accumulated deficit of $1.2 billion in its 17-year history, said late Friday in a regulatory filing it doesn’t have enough cash to operate the next 30 days, and needs to raise new capital immediately. The company had cash … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Says It’s Running Low on Cash”

Venture Activity in Washington State Picks Up in Second Quarter, Surpasses 2007 Levels

Pacific Northwest venture deals are making a comeback of sorts. Second-quarter investment numbers for Washington are up compared with the same period last year, according to data released over the weekend by Dow Jones VentureSource. In the second quarter of 2008, there were 25 venture deals in Washington worth a total of $302 million—an 8.7 … Continue reading “Venture Activity in Washington State Picks Up in Second Quarter, Surpasses 2007 Levels”

U.S. Venture Financing Down Slightly in Second Quarter; Solar Energy is One Bright Spot

Reflecting the general economic slowdown, venture investment in U.S. companies decreased moderately in the second quarter of 2008, according to reports released over the weekend by Dow Jones VentureSource, a unit of the financial news giant’s enterprise media group, and by the MoneyTree division of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Total funds shelled out by venture firms in the … Continue reading “U.S. Venture Financing Down Slightly in Second Quarter; Solar Energy is One Bright Spot”

Pathway Wins FDA Approval To Sell Blocked-Artery Buster

Christmas has come in July for Pathway Medical Technologies. The privately-held maker of medical devices in Kirkland, WA, has won FDA approval to market its first product in the U.S., a drill that cuts and vacuums out blockages in leg arteries. CEO Tom Clement had an antsy look on his face last Wednesday, like a … Continue reading “Pathway Wins FDA Approval To Sell Blocked-Artery Buster”

DepotPoint Lands $7,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a3736878-a55b-40a0-bcbe-3074c83fed2a&Preview=1 Date 7/21/2008 Company Name DepotPoint Mailing Address 1406 140th Place NE Bellevue, WA 98007 Company Description DepotPoint’s vision is to be the leading provider of technologies that optimize the tracking, recording, and management of property related data. The company utilizes its centralized workflow and tracking technology to create solutions for participants … Continue reading “DepotPoint Lands $7,000,000 New Financing”

HaloSource, Inc. Receives $11,500,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5f61227b-5f39-4038-967e-e9da95b1931f&Preview=1 Date 7/21/2008 Company Name HaloSource, Inc. Mailing Address 1631 220th Street SE Bothell, WA 98021 Company Description HaloSource health science technologies focus on antimicrobial and disease prevention solutions that reliably and effectively kill germs. For partners that want competitive differentiation through unique proprietary technologies, HaloSource provides reliable, tested and proven solutions … Continue reading “HaloSource, Inc. Receives $11,500,000 New Round”

WTIA’s Summer Social: Busy Times, Hating Starbucks, and an Offer I Can’t Refuse

“The only tall blonde women in Seattle are recruiters.” This and other astute observations from Aviel Ginzburg—by day, a mild-mannered developer at Seattle-based Appature, and by night, head of the underground startup Timelope. Looking around at the tech-networking crowd, I had to say he was right so far. While Luke was hobnobbing at the WBBA … Continue reading “WTIA’s Summer Social: Busy Times, Hating Starbucks, and an Offer I Can’t Refuse”

It’s Easy Being Green: Seattle Is Greenest City, Oregon Is Greenest State; Massachusetts and Washington #2 and #4

In terms of eco-friendliness, the Pacific Northwest and New England—Xconomy’s two homes—are both sitting pretty. In terms of education, however, one of them is not. That’s according to the 2008 Business Facilities rankings report, released this week. The annual survey, which compares different business environments around the country, ranks cities and states based on everything … Continue reading “It’s Easy Being Green: Seattle Is Greenest City, Oregon Is Greenest State; Massachusetts and Washington #2 and #4”

Halosource Raises $11.5 Million for Water Purification Technology

Halosource, the Bothell, WA-based maker of water purification technology for the developing world, has raised $11.5 million in venture financing. The investors include Origo Sino India, Unilever Technology Ventures and others. The company has gained some serious momentum in the last year in India, as we wrote about earlier this month. It has now established … Continue reading “Halosource Raises $11.5 Million for Water Purification Technology”

Socializing at WBBA: Tom Ranken’s Surprise, Insilicos Goes In Vivo, and Cleantechs to Watch in the Tri-Cities

Last night I rode my bike down from our First Hill office to Lake Union Park to mingle with some biotechies. This year, the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association’s annual Summer Social was tucked inside the Naval Reserve Building, although the way the West-facing windows let in so much early evening sunlight, it was almost … Continue reading “Socializing at WBBA: Tom Ranken’s Surprise, Insilicos Goes In Vivo, and Cleantechs to Watch in the Tri-Cities”

Elemental Technologies Inc. Obtains $7,100,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3f80f5f5-9932-47bf-b655-35893293db7b&Preview=1 Date 7/18/2008 Company Name Elemental Technologies Inc. Mailing Address 421 SW Hall St. Portland, OR 97201 Company Description Elemental Technologies, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is the leading provider of massively parallel processing (MPP) solutions, initially targeting video applications. Utilizing general purpose, programmable “off the shelf” graphics processing units (GPUs), the RapiHD™ … Continue reading “Elemental Technologies Inc. Obtains $7,100,000 Series A Financing Round”

Sonus Pharmaceuticals Holds On To Nasdaq Listing

Sonus Pharmaceuticals, a Bothell, WA-based cancer drug developer, said today that a stock exchange hearings panel has allowed the company to hold onto its listing (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNUS]]), as long as it meets certain conditions by Aug. 29. The company is implementing a reverse stock split, and is merging with Vancouver, BC-based Oncogenex Technologies. Sonus has … Continue reading “Sonus Pharmaceuticals Holds On To Nasdaq Listing”

Elementary, My Dear Video: Elemental Technologies Raises $7.1 Million, Goes After Media Conversion Market

Everyone knows that Internet video is taking off. With the popularity of YouTube, online TV shows, and other video sites, the market seems to be ready. But now there are plenty of new problems to be solved on the technology and business side, from content delivery and coding to search and advertising. And the companies … Continue reading “Elementary, My Dear Video: Elemental Technologies Raises $7.1 Million, Goes After Media Conversion Market”

Bluefin Sells Sub to Horizon Marine, Competes with iRobot for Big Navy Contract

Greg told you last month about Bedford, MA-based iRobot’s collaboration with the University of Washington to turn its Seaglider undersea robot into a commercial product. Not to be outdone, Cambridge, MA-based Bluefin Robotics announced this week that it has received its first commercial contract for a similar autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), the Spray Glider. And … Continue reading “Bluefin Sells Sub to Horizon Marine, Competes with iRobot for Big Navy Contract”

Allen Institute Releases First Data for Spinal Cord Researchers, Unveils New Financing Model

Paul Allen gave researchers a map of the mouse brain first, and now comes the spinal cord. The Allen Institute for Brain Science, a Seattle-based nonprofit backed by the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, said today it is releasing a cellular map on its website that shows 2,000 genes at work in the mouse spinal cord … Continue reading “Allen Institute Releases First Data for Spinal Cord Researchers, Unveils New Financing Model”

Light Sciences Oncology Obtains $40,100,000 Series C Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9e984961-e3d2-4d09-b77d-43261546d71e&Preview=1 Date 7/17/2008 Company Name Light Sciences Oncology Mailing Address 15405 SE 37th Street Bellevue, WA 98006 Company Description Light Sciences Oncology is developing Light Infusion Therapy (Litx™), an innovative light-activated treatment for solid tumors. LSO is currently developing Litx™ for the treatment of patients with cancers such as hepatoma, metastatic colorectal … Continue reading “Light Sciences Oncology Obtains $40,100,000 Series C Financing Round”

UW Foster School of Business, Evening MBA Session

All applicants are encouraged to visit campus. We conduct information sessions on Thursdays at 4:00 p.m. for the Full-Time MBA Program and on the first Thursday of every month at 5:00 p.m. for the Evening MBA Program. Come to Mackenzie Hall 110 to be directed to the location. No RSVP required. For more information, contact … Continue reading “UW Foster School of Business, Evening MBA Session”

NWEN August Venture Breakfast: Angel Financing Demystified

You’ve got a stellar initial team, a great value proposition, and-best of all-traction with early customers. You’ve bootstrapped to get this far, but now you need a larger infusion of capital to pull it all together. The process, however, feels daunting-and you wish you could be a fly on the wall watching somebody else go … Continue reading “NWEN August Venture Breakfast: Angel Financing Demystified”

Alliance of Angels Pitch Clinic

Since 1999, the Program Managers at the Alliance of Angels have been coaching early-stage companies and bringing the best deals to angel investor members. Having collectively interviewed hundreds of companies, we have developed a set of best practices regarding the presentations that resonate with the angel investment community. In the 10-Minute Pitch Clinic, we share … Continue reading “Alliance of Angels Pitch Clinic”

Networking at nPost: The Seattle Freeze, the Google Divide, and a House to Rival Bill Gates’s

Last night I took the bus down to South Seattle for nPost’s networking event at the Columbia City Theater (not to be confused with the Columbia City Cinema just up the street). It was hosted by nPost founder Nathan Kaiser, whose resource site for tech entrepreneurs is getting ready to launch a biotech job site … Continue reading “Networking at nPost: The Seattle Freeze, the Google Divide, and a House to Rival Bill Gates’s”

Dendreon Starts Trial of Patients With Localized Prostate Cancer

Dendreon, the Seattle-based maker of immune-boosting therapies for cancer, said today it has started a mid-stage clinical trial of Provenge for patients with localized prostate cancer who are about to have their prostates surgically removed. The trial, called NeoACT, will enroll about 40 patients at the University of California San Francisco. That study will be … Continue reading “Dendreon Starts Trial of Patients With Localized Prostate Cancer”

Get Off the Couch, Build a Startup, and Control Your Own Destiny, Says Founder of TeachStreet

I had a good chat yesterday with Dave Schappell, the founder and CEO of Seattle-based TeachStreet. I’ve been hearing more and more about his website, which launched in April as an online community of teachers and students. The basic idea is if you want to learn any skill, from boxing to basket weaving, the site … Continue reading “Get Off the Couch, Build a Startup, and Control Your Own Destiny, Says Founder of TeachStreet”

Congress Overrides Bush Veto on Medicare Bill, Cell Therapeutics’ Zevalin Reimbursement Survives

Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics won a victory yesterday in the standoff between Congress and President Bush over a new Medicare bill. Congress voted to overrule Bush’s veto, which would have killed a provision that extended the current reimbursement rate for doctors who prescribe Zevalin, the company’s sole marketed product for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As we wrote about … Continue reading “Congress Overrides Bush Veto on Medicare Bill, Cell Therapeutics’ Zevalin Reimbursement Survives”

Collegium Collects $20 Million in Venture Round, Led by Frazier

Collegium Pharmaceutical just got some capital that may make it more difficult for people to abuse narcotic pain medicines. The specialty drugmaker based in Cumberland, RI, said today it raised $20 million in a fourth-round venture financing. Seattle-based Frazier Healthcare Ventures led the investment, which included previous investors Boston Millennia Partners and Westfield Capital Management. … Continue reading “Collegium Collects $20 Million in Venture Round, Led by Frazier”

Light Sciences Oncology Raises $40 Million for Cancer Trials

The show must go on at Light Sciences Oncology, with or without public investors. The privately-held company in Bellevue, WA, raised $40.1 million in a third-round financing to continue running a pair of final-stage clinical trials of its experimental cancer treatment, which uses a drug activated by light. The company has now raised $137 million … Continue reading “Light Sciences Oncology Raises $40 Million for Cancer Trials”

Tips for Getting Acquired (and Acquiring Others), from Eddie Pasatiempo of The Clarion Group

Getting bought out. It’s the exit strategy of choice these days. With the IPO market drying up, venture-backed companies need to get acquired to provide a payout for early investors. Whether it’s Microsoft buying San Francisco-based Powerset or CafePress acquiring Seattle’s Imagekind, there is an art to doing these deals, and startups and big companies … Continue reading “Tips for Getting Acquired (and Acquiring Others), from Eddie Pasatiempo of The Clarion Group”

MediQuest Vying to Get First Drug Across FDA Goal Line, Put Raynaud’s in Your Vocabulary

Punch “Raynaud’s disease” into a simple Google search, and the first site you get is one from the Mayo Clinic that says it’s a condition of limited blood circulation that causes numbness in the fingers and toes in cold temperatures. “For most people, Raynaud’s disease is more a nuisance than a disability,” according to the … Continue reading “MediQuest Vying to Get First Drug Across FDA Goal Line, Put Raynaud’s in Your Vocabulary”

Jeff Bezos and Amazon Are Banking on the Games People Play (on Social Networks)

iPhone, schmy-Phone. While games and other applications developed for Apple’s iPhone have been all the rage for the last few days, there’s another sector worth keeping an eye on: social-network gaming, or games made for online platforms like Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo, which typically need to be played on a desktop or laptop. VentureBeat is … Continue reading “Jeff Bezos and Amazon Are Banking on the Games People Play (on Social Networks)”

Sound Pharmaceuticals Applies to Test Drug Against Chemo-Induced Hearing Loss

Sound Pharmaceuticals said today it has filed an application to run a clinical trial of an experimental drug for hearing loss caused by cancer chemotherapy. The privately held Seattle biotech company said it plans to test the compound, ebselen, in patients with advanced lung cancer and head and neck tumors who received platinum-based chemotherapy. It … Continue reading “Sound Pharmaceuticals Applies to Test Drug Against Chemo-Induced Hearing Loss”

Lee Hood’s Proteges Strike Again: Nanostring Ships Its First Commercial Cell Analyzer

[Updated July 23, 2008, see editor’s note below.] Nanostring Technologies, a company born in the lab of biotech pioneer Leroy Hood, has grown up and is starting to sell a product in the real world. The privately-held maker of gene-analysis tools in Seattle has booked the first sale of its commercial product, and is planning … Continue reading “Lee Hood’s Proteges Strike Again: Nanostring Ships Its First Commercial Cell Analyzer”

Avvo Expands to Three More East Coast States

Seattle-based Avvo, which runs a website to help people find and rate lawyers, announced it has expanded its service to Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland. Avvo’s attorney profiles are now available in 18 states, including Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon, as well as Washington DC. That covers 80 percent of the practicing attorneys in the … Continue reading “Avvo Expands to Three More East Coast States”