Category: Seattle

Seattle Roundup: Kymeta, Tableau, Avalara, Syntonic, Cleantech

[Corrected, 8/21/15, 1:53 p.m. See below.] The week began with an acquisition deal for Zulily, the flash sale retailer for moms. Zulily rode the IPO roller coaster and ended up selling to QVC for $2.4 billion in cash and stock. Also, food tech startup Peach raised $8 million to expand to Boston and Washington, D.C. … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Kymeta, Tableau, Avalara, Syntonic, Cleantech”

Navigating Cancer Garners $6,605,573 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=23139c9c-bd53-49e7-9d6a-34de1468b835 Date 8/21/2015 Company Name Navigating Cancer Mailing Address 1200 Post Alley Seattle, WA 98101 USA Company Description We understand how overwhelming a cancer diagnosis can be. Navigating Cancer will help you take control of your journey by bringing together powerful tools, relevant cancer resources, and a supportive community — all free … Continue reading “Navigating Cancer Garners $6,605,573 New Financing Round”

West Coast Biotech Roundup: Adaptive, Synthorx, USC v. UCSD, 23andMe

The West Coast, according to the self-aggrandizing myth, is a place of re-invention, non-conformism, un-convention. You see this box, man? Our brains are over here, thinking outside of it. It’s all good. Just ask Don Draper. Sometimes it just leads to a new Coke commercial, at least in Mad Men’s retelling of the tale, but … Continue reading “West Coast Biotech Roundup: Adaptive, Synthorx, USC v. UCSD, 23andMe”

With New Tools, Adaptive Bio Ready To Bolt Together A Drug Business

Like countless biotech companies with platform technologies that have preceded it, Seattle’s Adaptive Biotechnologies aims to be a drug company. Adaptive has made a name for itself by sequencing the cells of the human immune system. That’s no easy feat, because unlike other cells in the body, certain immune cells shuffle their DNA to help … Continue reading “With New Tools, Adaptive Bio Ready To Bolt Together A Drug Business”

Sound Pharmaceuticals Obtains $300,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=322425f9-0313-4ccd-96a0-556c328ecbe4 Date 8/20/2015 Company Name Sound Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 4010 Stone Way N Seattle, WA 98103 USA Company Description Sound Pharmaceuticals (SPI) is a privately held biopharmaceutical company in Seattle, WA. Our goal is to develop prescription drugs that will enable doctors and patients to prevent and treat hearing loss, a disease … Continue reading “Sound Pharmaceuticals Obtains $300,000 New Funding”

Stylyze Garners $890,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=870224d3-f155-4ebc-ae9d-02ccae2d81f8 Date 8/19/2015 Company Name Stylyze Mailing Address 169 East LK Sammamish Parkway SE Sammamish, WA 98074 USA Company Description Are you a home decor retailer looking for creative ways to cross-sell your products, increase cart size and emotionally connect your customer to products that perfectly match their design aesthetic? Website http://www.stylyze.com … Continue reading “Stylyze Garners $890,000 New Financing”

Immusoft Obtains $375,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fa032841-e931-41df-9658-073315037a0b Date 8/19/2015 Company Name Immusoft Mailing Address 454 N 34th St. Seattle, WA 98103 USA Company Description Our Immune System Programming (ISP) technology turns a patient’s own B cells into miniature drug factories. Immusoft’s mission is to develop a completely new platform for delivering medicines – programming a patient’s own cells … Continue reading “Immusoft Obtains $375,000 New Funding Round”

100 Years But Only One Drug: Sickle Cell Patients Wait For Help

Last week, 100,000 Americans with sickle cell disease and millions more around the world got encouraging news. Investors gave a vote of confidence, in the form of a $120 million IPO, to Global Blood Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GBT]]), a four-year-old biotech working on a pill that could become the biggest medical advance ever for the disease. … Continue reading “100 Years But Only One Drug: Sickle Cell Patients Wait For Help”

Coalfire’s Larry Jones Talks Future Cyber Threats and Taking Charge

Waiting for the next big data breach to hit is probably not the best way to test how protected a company’s information is. With more businesses storing and using sensitive data, security is a top concern—especially when the government establishes rules on the matter that businesses must adhere to. Financial institutions, companies that handle medical … Continue reading “Coalfire’s Larry Jones Talks Future Cyber Threats and Taking Charge”

Food Tech Peach Raises $8M as First Course, Plans Entrée in Boston

After expanding to San Diego in May, Seattle-based Peach says it has raised $8 million in venture funding to bring its lunch ordering technology to Boston this October, and to Washington D.C. by early next year. In a statement today, Peach says Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group led the current Series A financing round, which was … Continue reading “Food Tech Peach Raises $8M as First Course, Plans Entrée in Boston”

Pacific Ag Secures $7,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ac55818a-2dbc-4958-aeb6-dcf4b8826a2d Date 8/18/2015 Company Name Pacific Ag Mailing Address 1000 S. Highway 395 South Hermiston, OR 97838 USA Company Description Since 1998, Pacific Ag has been helping growers across the country to reduce costs, improve crop emergence and yield, and increase revenue by practicing our trademarked Balanced Residue Management program. Website http://www.pacificag.com … Continue reading “Pacific Ag Secures $7,000,000 New Financing”

Wayfair Learning E-Commerce Lessons From Amazon, Zulily

With a couple of online retail giants making headlines this week—and not in a good way—it’s time to check in on a local e-commerce star, Wayfair. The Boston home-goods seller (NYSE: [[ticker:W]]) has surged on the stock market the past few days, following its announcement of better-than-expected financials in the second quarter. Wayfair reported $491.8 … Continue reading “Wayfair Learning E-Commerce Lessons From Amazon, Zulily”

Seattle E-Retailer Zulily Sells to QVC In Deal Worth $2.4 Billion

After a meteoric rise and a similar decline, at least in terms of its stock, Seattle-based flash sale site Zulily is selling to retailer QVC in a deal valued at about $2.4 billion in cash and stock. The site, which targets young moms and their kids with daily deals, is selling for $18.75 per share—about … Continue reading “Seattle E-Retailer Zulily Sells to QVC In Deal Worth $2.4 Billion”

Reframing the Conversation About Technology and Government

When the conversation turns to government and technology, all too frequently the narrative becomes one of hopelessness. Healthcare.gov, the ancient computer sitting on the desk at the DMV, and the recent attacks by hackers on various government departments all help to reinforce this story of futility. And, inevitably, the questions get framed as, “Why can’t … Continue reading “Reframing the Conversation About Technology and Government”

NVoicePay Lands $1,835,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bd712b96-7adc-449d-9f4f-80a20ac1fecf Date 8/17/2015 Company Name NVoicePay Mailing Address 8905 SW Nimbus Ave. Beaverton, OR 97008 USA Company Description NVoicePay is streamlining accounts payable, dramatically reducing costs and generating new revenue for customers. We are a financial services firm specializing in electronic payments for accounts payable invoices. Our simple, secure, and efficient e-payables … Continue reading “NVoicePay Lands $1,835,000 New Funding”

Pavia Systems Receives $3,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=224bae75-121d-49d7-8615-8a4ad327b04e Date 8/17/2015 Company Name Pavia Systems Mailing Address 1725 Westlake Avenue N Seattle, WA 98109 USA Company Description At Pavia we believe that transportation is fundamental to the quality of our way of life. It’s something that touches everyone’s lives every day. It impacts our ability to visit our families, our … Continue reading “Pavia Systems Receives $3,000,000 New Financing”

Seattle Roundup: Spoken Communications, Unify Square, & More

Investors backed Seattle-area companies making software as a service for contact centers and Microsoft online communications technologies. Two local efforts to prevent sports head injuries gained funding. And Spaceflight Networks inked another partnership. Read on for details. —Spoken Communications, which makes cloud based software to help companies run contact centers, has raised $28.8 million in … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Spoken Communications, Unify Square, & More”

EnergySavvy Lands $3,600,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=096720bf-d23e-4287-b760-05812a9ee3f9 Date 8/14/2015 Company Name EnergySavvy Mailing Address 159 Jackson St. Seattle, WA 98104 USA Company Description The company operates a one stop shop web application that helps homeowners become more energy efficient. Website http://www.energysavvy.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $3,600,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC … Continue reading “EnergySavvy Lands $3,600,000 New Funding”

West Coast Biotech Roundup: Global Blood, Invitae, GeneWEAVE, Adynxx

Before the arrival of the summer doldrums, Global Blood Therapeutics managed to go public, although “managed” probably isn’t the right word for a debut that beat pre-IPO targets and then doubled its price the first day on the Nasdaq. It’s a big vote of confidence in the South San Francisco, CA-based company, whose lead drug … Continue reading “West Coast Biotech Roundup: Global Blood, Invitae, GeneWEAVE, Adynxx”

Seattle 2035: AI, Space, Wellness, and the City of the Future

It’s no secret: Seattle—capital of cloud computing, e-commerce epicenter, Jet City, tech metropolis—is booming. But what comes next? How do we maintain and expand this region’s role on the global innovation stage through the next economic cycle and the decades to come? You can find out at Xconomy’s Seattle 2035 conference, part of our national … Continue reading “Seattle 2035: AI, Space, Wellness, and the City of the Future”

G5 Receives $76,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=31462914-fa47-45fe-aa5e-db6e2f557c75 Date 8/13/2015 Company Name G5 Mailing Address 550 NW Franklin St. Bend, OR 97701 USA Company Description The G5 Marketing Cloud delivers best-in-class experiences across search, sites, and social, as well as tools that measure and optimize results. This enables owners and operators of Multifamily, Self Storage, Senior Living, and Student … Continue reading “G5 Receives $76,000,000 New Round”

Seattle 2035

What, and who, will be the drivers of Seattles’s innovation future? This unique conference will look out 20 years and beyond to explore the long-term prospects of the local high-tech economy—and what can be done to not only preserve, but enhance, Seattle’s role as a city of the future. #2035seattle For full information, check out www.seattle2035.com.

Microsoft Accelerator Alum Openhour Makes Work Time Personal

New York-based Openhour is banking on the notion that people who feel swamped with work want to find more efficient ways to spend their days at the office. The startup will soon roll out data-capture software that lets folks assess for themselves where and how their time is eaten up—such as being caught in too … Continue reading “Microsoft Accelerator Alum Openhour Makes Work Time Personal”

Optimum Energy Secures $10,151,136 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8c019d7f-97a3-4cf9-aa52-9066c39114c4 Date 8/12/2015 Company Name Optimum Energy Mailing Address 411 First Avenue South Seattle, WA 98104 USA Company Description Optimum Energy develops networked building control applications and products to reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings. Our groundbreaking integrated solutions reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases while increasing operating efficiencies in HVAC plants … Continue reading “Optimum Energy Secures $10,151,136 New Financing Round”

Life Sciences Fund Recast to Support Commercialization Ecosystem

With the $2 million it has remaining, Washington state’s Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) is planning grants to support organizations that help entrepreneurs bring ideas and innovations to market. Earlier this summer, the state Legislature defunded the LSDF, which had helped support early stage life sciences research and commercialization efforts for the last decade. After … Continue reading “Life Sciences Fund Recast to Support Commercialization Ecosystem”

Vicis Lands $1,500,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e9b73f34-c8ac-4c4b-ba4e-52d2b3aedfb7 Date 8/11/2015 Company Name Vicis Mailing Address 4111 E. Madison Street Seattle, WA 98112 USA Company Description We are a University of Washington spinout developing a revolutionary new football helmet that mitigates the forces likely to cause concussion. Website http://www.vicis.co Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,500,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds … Continue reading “Vicis Lands $1,500,000 New Round”

Spoken Communications Secures $28,800,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=840b056f-7515-4907-a485-e4fd905de913 Date 8/11/2015 Company Name Spoken Communications Mailing Address 10900 NE 8th St. Bellevue, WA 98004 USA Company Description Spoken Communications, founded in 2005 and incorporated as Intellisist, Inc., is a provider of a leading enterprise cloud platform for contact centers. The Spoken platform supports cost productivity, enables big data streams and … Continue reading “Spoken Communications Secures $28,800,000 New Financing Round”

Flush With Cash, Adaptive Biotech Hires Former Zillow CFO

Three months after raising $195 million, Seattle’s Adaptive Biotechnologies has a new chief financial officer to manage all that cash. The company said Monday it has hired Chad Cohen, the former CFO of real estate information firm Zillow Group, also based in Seattle. Cohen joined Adaptive’s board in March. Adaptive specializes in sequencing the cells … Continue reading “Flush With Cash, Adaptive Biotech Hires Former Zillow CFO”

Why San Diego Is Better than Silicon Valley for AI Startups

Xconomy recently gathered some of the region’s leading minds in brain research and artificial intelligence for a discussion about research on the brain, and emerging areas of neurotechnology innovation . It was a mix of investors, academics, and entrepreneurs. Leading our discussion was UC San Diego Professor Ralph Greenspan, who helped advise President Obama to … Continue reading “Why San Diego Is Better than Silicon Valley for AI Startups”

CRISPR Race Heats Up As Gates, Crossovers Put $120M Into Editas

To this point, the technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 has been a science project, a research tool with enormous potential—and significant questions to answer—on which venture capitalists have placed bets by forming a group of startups. The jackpot: CRISPR-Cas9, a method of performing precise genetic surgery, might yield treatments for a wide array of previously intractable … Continue reading “CRISPR Race Heats Up As Gates, Crossovers Put $120M Into Editas”

Record360 Secures $1,500,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=78b78680-c888-479a-9147-3b53c72fbde8 Date 8/10/2015 Company Name Record360 Mailing Address 1126 34th Avenue Seattle, WA 98122 USA Company Description Record360 is the property inspection and asset condition reporting app. For renting, loaning, sharing or simply documenting, Record360 provides high-quality, time-stamped, geo-tagged records of property at time of exchange. Record360 is the essential tool of … Continue reading “Record360 Secures $1,500,000 New Funding”

Cloudability Receives $5,968,383 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bbc93192-64a7-47c1-8e51-9d75c7b08872 Date 8/10/2015 Company Name Cloudability Mailing Address 718 SW Alder St. Portland, OR 97205 USA Company Description Cloudability is based in cloudy Portland, Oregon and was recently selected by GigaOM as one of the most promising cloud companies of 2011. Our flagship product aggregates our customers’ cloud costs into accessible and … Continue reading “Cloudability Receives $5,968,383 New Funding Round”

Cloudability Garners $750,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2de44201-ee83-49a4-8151-d3e38ac86a25 Date 8/10/2015 Company Name Cloudability Mailing Address 718 SW Alder St. Portland, OR 97205 USA Company Description Cloudability is based in cloudy Portland, Oregon and was recently selected by GigaOM as one of the most promising cloud companies of 2011. Our flagship product aggregates our customers’ cloud costs into accessible and … Continue reading “Cloudability Garners $750,000 New Round”

Patent Navigation Secures $2,000,000 Seed Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=de6c3374-d604-478d-bf08-20f04849ff15 Date 8/6/2015 Company Name Patent Navigation Mailing Address 105 S Main St. Seattle, WA 98104 USA Company Description TurboPatent, the first, fully automated patent application production and prosecution solution, is reducing Patent Attorneys’ time and cost filing and prosecuting patent applications, while improving the legal and technical quality of the required … Continue reading “Patent Navigation Secures $2,000,000 Seed Funding Round”

Intellisist Obtains $28,796,636 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3ea34e25-a00c-425b-bd3b-2d419ae586d7 Date 8/6/2015 Company Name Intellisist Mailing Address 701 Pike St. Seattle, WA 98101 USA Company Description The company provides customer care and call center agent solutions. Website http://www.spoken.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $28,796,636 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. Contact technology company … Continue reading “Intellisist Obtains $28,796,636 New Funding”

Simply Hired Ranks Top Tech Regions In Mid-Summer Jobs Report Card

Simply Hired, an international job search engine based in Sunnyvale, CA, put out some sunny news for U.S. job hunters today—especially if you’re a tech-savvy worker. Positions for technology workers made up almost 10 percent of the millions of U.S. job listings tracked by the company in July. Nationwide, openings in all sectors rose for … Continue reading “Simply Hired Ranks Top Tech Regions In Mid-Summer Jobs Report Card”

FDA Taps DNAnexus to Build Platform for Crowdsourcing Diagnostics

There is an FDA project underway that could help change the way molecular diagnostics are developed, evaluated, and regulated in the U.S. one day, should things go the way the agency intends. And Mountain View, CA-based DNAnexus is getting the first crack at building the platform at the plan’s heart. DNAnexus, the genomics analytics startup … Continue reading “FDA Taps DNAnexus to Build Platform for Crowdsourcing Diagnostics”

Metacrine Raises $36M in VC Funding, Focuses on Metabolic Diseases

Metacrine, a new San Diego biotech, says today it has raised $36 million in Series A financing to advance two new classes of drugs that could be used to help control chronic liver disease and related metabolic diseases and disorders. Metacrine was founded with technology licensed from the Salk Institute, where discoveries by Ron Evans, … Continue reading “Metacrine Raises $36M in VC Funding, Focuses on Metabolic Diseases”

Renewable Energy Group Acquires Imperium Renewables for $42,000,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5bc98723-129b-482f-a0ea-cf2cd5d60aa8 Date 8/5/2015 Company Name Imperium Renewables Mailing Address 568 First Avenue South Seattle, WA 98104 USA Company Description Imperium Renewables Inc. (IRI) is a national leader in next generation biodiesel refining and manufacturing technology. IRI is a technology driven producer and provider of biodiesel. Website http://www.imperiumrenewables.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Renewable Energy Group Acquires Imperium Renewables for $42,000,000”

Urology Diagnostics Garners Seed Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2aa3a78e-56f1-4a9a-9a2e-161d459620e5 Date 8/5/2015 Company Name Urology Diagnostics Mailing Address Undisclosed Portland, OR 97204 USA Company Description Urology Diagnostics is an early stage genomic diagnostics company developing novel methods of non-invasive cancer detection and recurrence monitoring. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Accelerator Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Seed Proceeds Purposes The company will use … Continue reading “Urology Diagnostics Garners Seed Funding”

As White House Hosts Demo Day, Techstars and Others Push Diversity

It’s no secret that the tech industry has diversity problems. Xconomy has covered the topic extensively, highlighting various allegations of misogyny, sexism, and harassment that occur at startups, as well as folks who are trying to change it for the better. That includes individuals like Robin Hauser Reynolds, who described the work of her documentary, … Continue reading “As White House Hosts Demo Day, Techstars and Others Push Diversity”

In Tough Diagnostics World, Will Ruling Out Cancer Be Good Business?

The high cost of cancer treatments is a huge topic of conversation these days. One way to trim those costs is to not give treatments to people who don’t need them. That sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s a knotty problem, and it’s at the heart of the current debate over the nationwide practice of … Continue reading “In Tough Diagnostics World, Will Ruling Out Cancer Be Good Business?”

Mobilewalla Obtains $2,262,914 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=17dde77d-37ba-42ad-882c-e00f1136fb54 Date 8/4/2015 Company Name Mobilewalla Mailing Address 219 1st Ave. S. Seattle, WA 98104 USA Company Description Mobilewalla is the neutral data destination for consumers and the mobile industry insiders seeking insights into the app market.For consumers, Mobilewalla independently rates and ranks applications for the Android, Apple iOS, Blackberry and Windows … Continue reading “Mobilewalla Obtains $2,262,914 New Financing Round”

Microsoft Buys Austin-Based FantasySalesTeam

Austin, TX, is known for semiconductors and startups, for breakfast tacos and music festivals. It may also now be a hub for the gamification of business. Microsoft said Monday it is buying Austin-based Incent Games, a company that sells a fantasy sports-style tool called FantasySalesTeam that aims to help customers boost sales by treating its salespeople like fantasy … Continue reading “Microsoft Buys Austin-Based FantasySalesTeam”

Taking the Social Media Plunge at the C-Level

“You’ve got to play to win.” “With great risk, comes great reward.” Both of those popular phrases address the same concept – that in order for a company to grow, the leaders must be invested in every aspect of the business and willing to embrace technology, communication, and social changes. That idea is especially important … Continue reading “Taking the Social Media Plunge at the C-Level”

Debugging the Gender Gap: Filmmaker Warns of Economic Crisis in Tech

As a former stockbroker, Robin Hauser Reynolds knows what it’s like to be a woman in a field dominated by men. Over the past couple of years, the San Francisco Bay Area film director and self-described feminist has immersed herself in another industry that has become notorious for its gender gap: tech. Poor gender diversity … Continue reading “Debugging the Gender Gap: Filmmaker Warns of Economic Crisis in Tech”

Drug Discovery in Seattle 2015: An Updated History

The drug discovery and development process is a difficult one that takes considerable expertise in both the research and business realms. Seattle (and the rest of Washington state) currently has approximately 112 drug-focused biotechnology companies, 17 of which are publicly traded either in the U.S. or Japan. The area also has a number of non-profit … Continue reading “Drug Discovery in Seattle 2015: An Updated History”