There is magic in the air after this past weekend’s NFC Championship game, in which the Seahawks took us from the lowest lows to the highest highs in the course of about five minutes of game time. Meanwhile, some significant funding deals went down. Porch continued on its fundraising tear. Avalara brought in late-stage investor … Continue reading “Seattle Funding Roundup: Porch, Avalara, Alliance of Angels, & More”
Category: Seattle
Avalara Obtains $6,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f0e03d05-2ba2-4c8b-9389-66e1f868f378 Date 1/20/2015 Company Name Avalara Mailing Address 100 Ravine Lane NE Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 USA Company Description Avalara was founded by a team of tax and software industry veterans to fulfill a vision of delivering an affordable, scalable sales tax solution. Thus making what was not economically feasible in the … Continue reading “Avalara Obtains $6,000,000 New Round”
Porch Obtains $65,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=071aa8db-8deb-43ad-80cd-ed9c3db0d18b Date 1/20/2015 Company Name Porch Mailing Address 1551 Eastlake Ave E Seattle, WA 98102 USA Company Description Porch connects homeowners and home professionals, making it easy to discover inspiring home projects, learn what any project costs, and decide on the best service professional based on who neighbors and friends have used … Continue reading “Porch Obtains $65,000,000 New Round”
The Lion’s Den Entertains, But Will It Engage New Investors?
I laughed. I cried. I sat on the edge of my seat as two investors with divergent views of capitalism battled for the favor of an aspiring entrepreneur with a great idea. There was popcorn. The initial running of Tom Douglas’ The Lion’s Den, an effort to broaden the pool of wealthy Seattleites investing in … Continue reading “The Lion’s Den Entertains, But Will It Engage New Investors?”
J.P. Morgan 2015: Notes, Thoughts, And Conversations From the Vortex
The word “story” gets ill treatment at events like the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. It often means an elevator pitch from a harried CEO to a distracted investor, or a few observations a journalist strings together with a headline, or Twitter snark trying to pass for insight. But we heard a real story on Sunday … Continue reading “J.P. Morgan 2015: Notes, Thoughts, And Conversations From the Vortex”
Dan Shapiro Needs Help Building a Replicator at Seattle Startup Glowforge
Dan Shapiro and his team of serial entrepreneurs are making something to help other people make things. It might be a Star Trek-like replicator—or at least a very early prototype of one. They have a milling machine as big as an elephant in their facility in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood, more than $1 million in angel … Continue reading “Dan Shapiro Needs Help Building a Replicator at Seattle Startup Glowforge”
It Had to be You: Why Roche Was The Lone Suitor For Foundation
The buzz from day one of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco earlier this week was the announcement on Sunday night by Roche that it was acquiring a majority interest in Foundation Medicine (NASDAQ: [[ticker:FMI]]) for a bit more than $1 billion in cash, which translates into $50 a share. Those were just … Continue reading “It Had to be You: Why Roche Was The Lone Suitor For Foundation”
West Coast Biotech Roundup: Tobira, Novartis, NantCell, & More
Whew. J.P. Morgan is almost over. (The healthcare conference, that is, not the investment bank.) Opening the week’s proceedings at the Biotech Showcase, a satellite conference that features small, private, often European companies that would get trampled at the main event, Sangamo Biosciences CEO Ed Lanphier greeted the early crowd: “Welcome to Hell Week.” We’ll … Continue reading “West Coast Biotech Roundup: Tobira, Novartis, NantCell, & More”
MIT MBA Students Tour Silicon Valley As Tech Campuses Expand
It’s easy to catch the technology bug. After all, tech companies are pretty much everywhere. I became hooked when I worked as an IT consultant at Accenture after college, and plan to work at a technology company after I finish my MBA. So when I had the opportunity to participate in a Technology Trek at … Continue reading “MIT MBA Students Tour Silicon Valley As Tech Campuses Expand”
Ideas for Diversity, Education, and Computer Science
On December 24 2009, Xconomy published a column in which I reflected on the preceding decade and predicted for the coming one. I still quote that column in talks, because it’s the one time I can remember when I was actually right: I said that this would be the decade in which computer scientists put … Continue reading “Ideas for Diversity, Education, and Computer Science”
Uber-Size Deals Dominate Mega Year in U.S. Venture Activity
Venture capital firms invested more than $47.3 billion in U.S. startups in 2014, marking the highest funding level of VC funding since 2001, according to data being released today by CB Insights, the New York-based venture capital database. The $47.3 billion was 62 percent more than the $29.2 billion that venture firms invested in 2013. … Continue reading “Uber-Size Deals Dominate Mega Year in U.S. Venture Activity”
Tom Douglas Serving Local, Sustainable Startups to Would-be Investors
Tom Douglas, builder of food empires, is putting his imprimatur on a new Seattle startup event meant to bring together wealthy, connected professionals and entrepreneurs in what organizers bill as “Shark Tank with a soul.” Some 300 people—mainly accredited investors—are expected to fill Douglas’ Palace Ballroom on Thursday night, paying $15 a pop to hear … Continue reading “Tom Douglas Serving Local, Sustainable Startups to Would-be Investors”
Houston, Austin, Raleigh, Denver Tops in U.S. for STEM Workers
All metro areas are not created equal. If you’re looking at job markets in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)—a major indicator of economic growth and innovation—the U.S. is a study in contrasts. That’s according to a survey by WalletHub, a financial information site based in Washington, DC. The analysis looked at metrics such as … Continue reading “Houston, Austin, Raleigh, Denver Tops in U.S. for STEM Workers”
Colleges Must Mix Entrepreneurial Skills, Traditional Liberal Arts
The great challenge facing higher education is to prepare students to navigate a world of accelerating uncertainty and faster churn. Training students to re-invent themselves every few years, as is already required in the world today, is an objective that legacy approaches to higher education is not optimized for. I’m convinced, however, that the University … Continue reading “Colleges Must Mix Entrepreneurial Skills, Traditional Liberal Arts”
In Search of a Better Approach to Breast Cancer Screening
As a venture investor in the healthcare sector, I see a lot of new medical technologies that promise improvement over the current standard of care. Opportunities that represent truly transformational change in medicine are rare, and those that address a major clinical challenge affecting tens of millions of lives are rarer still. Breast cancer screening … Continue reading “In Search of a Better Approach to Breast Cancer Screening”
WISErg Secures $675,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d354976a-1087-47bf-96de-6e79f492a71c Date 1/14/2015 Company Name WISErg Mailing Address 1775 12th Avenue NW Issaquah, WA 98027 USA Company Description WISErg Corporation is a Pacific Northwest bio resource company based in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 2010, WISErg’s primary focus is on deriving valuable renewable resources from compostable feedstock. Website http://www.wiserg.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “WISErg Secures $675,000 New Round”
Musk Wants More Seattleites to Build Satellites for SpaceX
[Updated, 1/13/15 at 11:38 am. See below.] Elon Musk, CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), says the company’s Seattle office could eventually employ “several hundred people, maybe a thousand people,” in what would be a major boost to Washington state’s commercial space industry. Musk made the comments in an interview with Bloomberg News posted … Continue reading “Musk Wants More Seattleites to Build Satellites for SpaceX”
Schools Should Nurture Kids’ Natural Knack for Entrepreneurship
I think the most important change we could make in education would be to put more emphasis on exposing kids to entrepreneurship, starting very early on. I’ve found that kids have a natural inclination towards entrepreneurship—we just need to give them the opportunity to learn and practice the skills they need to act on their … Continue reading “Schools Should Nurture Kids’ Natural Knack for Entrepreneurship”
Seven Surprises About Convertible Notes That Founders Should Know
Over the past two years, there has been an explosion of the use of convertible notes for seed rounds. It used to be these debt instruments that convert to equity later at a discount to the price of the next round were only for small initial financings of, say, $250,000 for a company to get … Continue reading “Seven Surprises About Convertible Notes That Founders Should Know”
Comr.se Garners $300,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0cb161dd-6fac-4ad5-90af-68e6b5afed62 Date 1/12/2015 Company Name Comr.se Mailing Address 206 1st Ave South Seattle, WA 98104 USA Company Description Our goal is to help brands extend the right products to the right consumers at the right times, lowering friction for shoppers and driving new revenue for brands. Comr.se is unlocking true omni-commerce. Website … Continue reading “Comr.se Garners $300,000 New Round”
MIT Enterprise Forum NW: How Much is Your Startup Worth?
It’s a good question. The MIT Enterprise Forum Northwest has recruited Troy Hartzell of Evolution Capital Advisors, Yi-Jian Ngo of the Alliance of Angels, R. Branden Harper of Lighter Capital, and Brent Barton of River Rock Endeavors to answer it. More information and registration can be found here. This event costs $25.
WTIA Tech in Focus: Machine Learning
The Washington Technology Industry Association continues its Tech in Focus series with a look at the hot area of machine learning. A panel including Ian Dempster of Optimum Energy, Andrew Musselman of Accenture, Dipankar Ray of Microsoft, and Benjamin Skrainka of Context Relevant will share insights. Find more information and registration details here.
Plan for New $100M UW Computer Science Building Gains Steam
Plans for a new University of Washington computer science building gained momentum in recent weeks with a $40 million line-item in the governor’s proposed capital budget, a major private gift, and, Thursday, approval by UW regents of an architectural firm for pre-design work. The UW Board of Regents authorized negotiation of a contract with LMN … Continue reading “Plan for New $100M UW Computer Science Building Gains Steam”
Seattle Roundup: Cray, Blue Box, BigDoor, Late ’14 Deals, & More
Happy 2015! There’s lots to catch up on in Northwest tech news after a long holiday break, including the prospect of better U.S. weather forecasts powered by Cray supercomputers. Also, funding news for Blue Box, Glassdoor, Front Desk, TINYpulse, Elemental Technologies, and the sale of BigDoor Media. Read on for details. —Seattle supercomputer maker Cray … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Cray, Blue Box, BigDoor, Late ’14 Deals, & More”
Box Steps Back Onto IPO Runway
Web-based data storage provider Box, which retreated from plans to go public last spring, is now preparing to make another run at an initial public offering. In an amended filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today, Los Altos, CA-based Box says it seeks to raise as much as $162.5 million from an offering of … Continue reading “Box Steps Back Onto IPO Runway”
Milestones of Innovation 1: Hamilton’s 1790 Report on the Public Credit
Today is the 225th anniversary of a milestone in the history of American innovation. On January 9, 1790, the 35-year-old secretary of the Treasury of the United States sent the House of Representatives a 40,000-word blueprint for the new nation’s financial system. The report was produced just four months after Congress commissioned it. Proposing the … Continue reading “Milestones of Innovation 1: Hamilton’s 1790 Report on the Public Credit”
Privateer Holdings Receives New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=159b6594-7391-4d12-abdc-28f673d40434 Date 1/9/2015 Company Name Privateer Holdings Mailing Address Undisclosed Saeattle, WA 98105 USA Company Description Privateer Holdings uses strategic investments in the cannabis industry to acquire and create mainstream brands, professionalizing the cannabis business landscape through the power of private enterprise. Website http://www.privateerholdings.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction … Continue reading “Privateer Holdings Receives New Round”
West Coast Biotech Roundup: Hep C, 23andMe, Kite, Cash, Isis & More
What a week for life sciences news, and it’s not even over. Perhaps we’ll get a slight break as the healthcare and biopharma worlds get on airplanes and descend upon San Francisco starting in 3…2…1…. Two requests from this veteran attendee: Leave your colds and flu at home, and wear bright colors if the weather’s … Continue reading “West Coast Biotech Roundup: Hep C, 23andMe, Kite, Cash, Isis & More”
One Week Into The New Year, Five Biotechs Reel in $220M Venture Cash
Is everyone in biotech putting out news this week so they won’t be distracted from their partying next week at the J.P. Morgan healthcare conference in San Francisco? That’s a joke, of course, but the news flow of the new year is serious enough to merit an extra round-up from us. We’ll still have our … Continue reading “One Week Into The New Year, Five Biotechs Reel in $220M Venture Cash”
Dato, Formerly GraphLab, Raises $18.5M for Intelligent Apps
[Corrected 1/9/15, 2:43 pm. See below.] Seattle startup Dato, formerly known as GraphLab, has raised an $18.5 million Series B round to continue building tools that allow companies to make predictive applications that use machine learning to parse enormous databases. The funding comes from new investors Vulcan Capital, which led the round, and Opus Capital … Continue reading “Dato, Formerly GraphLab, Raises $18.5M for Intelligent Apps”
Surface Oncology Raises $35M to Develop Cancer Immunotherapies
Surface Oncology of Cambridge, MA, announced today a $35 million Series A round led by Atlas Venture, Fidelity Biosciences, New Enterprise Associates, and Lilly Ventures. Surface wants to develop cancer immunotherapies, but acting CEO Dave Grayzel (pictured) says it’s got different ideas than Juno Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:JUNO]]), Novartis (NYSE: [[ticker:NVS]]), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]), Amgen … Continue reading “Surface Oncology Raises $35M to Develop Cancer Immunotherapies”
Dato Garners $18,500,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d05216d8-91a2-4f5c-b33c-dca05718aac9 Date 1/8/2015 Company Name Dato Mailing Address 936 N 34th St. Seattle, WA 98103 USA Company Description Dato is building the fastest machine learning analytics engine for graph datasets. Started in 2009 as an open source project by Carlos Guestrin, the software is used daily for millions of recommendations in popular … Continue reading “Dato Garners $18,500,000 Series B Financing Round”
With $21M, Retooled Blend Whips up Mini-Smart Bombs For Cancer
Sometimes in biotech, you go in with one plan, and an unexpected discovery changes everything. That’s the case with Blend Therapeutics, which has morphed into a company trying to use nanotechnology to create a new type of cancer therapy. Watertown, MA-based Blend is announcing today that it has raised $21 million in new equity and … Continue reading “With $21M, Retooled Blend Whips up Mini-Smart Bombs For Cancer”
CART + CRISPR = 1st-Of-Its-Kind Biotech Deal From Novartis, Intellia
Novartis has already invested in Intellia Therapeutics. Now it wants to use Intellia’s cutting-edge gene-editing tools on one of the world’s most promising new kinds of medicine. In a deal that brings together two of the highest-profile fields in biotech, healthcare giant Novartis (NYSE: [[ticker:NVS]]) has negotiated with tiny Intellia for exclusive rights to the … Continue reading “CART + CRISPR = 1st-Of-Its-Kind Biotech Deal From Novartis, Intellia”
Even When Money is Easy, Rules of Biotech Finance Still Apply
Last month Juno Therapeutics closed a $250 million IPO, bringing the total raised since it was founded in Seattle in 2013 to close to $600 million. The money is earmarked to support more than ten clinical trials over the next 12 months. Last year, 133 biotech companies around the world raised $11 billion in initial … Continue reading “Even When Money is Easy, Rules of Biotech Finance Still Apply”
Mobile Survey: Startups Leading the Way as New Devices Gain Steam
Now that the old standby debates in mobile have been largely sorted out—iOS vs. Android, apps vs. the Web—it’s time to find new areas for rapid growth and change in this era’s dominant computing story. A fresh survey of mobile-industry insiders shows that leaders in the sector are looking at new kinds of devices and … Continue reading “Mobile Survey: Startups Leading the Way as New Devices Gain Steam”
Don’t Get Comfortable: 5 Biopharma Flashpoints to Consider in 2015
The annual J.P. Morgan healthcare conference starts this weekend in San Francisco. Pundits are predicting a much higher tally of shoulder injuries than usual. You know, from all the people patting themselves on the back. After a year filled with medical promise and cash raining down from everywhere, the self-congratulation could be thicker than the … Continue reading “Don’t Get Comfortable: 5 Biopharma Flashpoints to Consider in 2015”
Need for New Approaches to Encourage Women to Join, and Stay in, Tech
The ongoing paucity of women in the technology world has led to various efforts to tackle this imbalance—but so far the results of such campaigns have been debatable. Now many voices are rising to share their thoughts on what more needs to be done. Despite the emergence across the country of advocacy organizations such as … Continue reading “Need for New Approaches to Encourage Women to Join, and Stay in, Tech”
Technology Upgrades: Welcome to My Nightmare (Yours Too?)
I was having coffee with a friend recently and the subject of word processing software came up. My friend related how he was happily using WordStar. WordStar? I hadn’t thought about it in years, but it was the first computer program I ever used, way back in 1984. I was surprised to find that not … Continue reading “Technology Upgrades: Welcome to My Nightmare (Yours Too?)”
Cedexis Garners $750,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e5833bf3-5a81-4276-8dbc-4521aeb76441 Date 1/6/2015 Company Name Cedexis Mailing Address 317 SW Alder St Portland, OR 97204 USA Company Description Founded in 2009, Cedexis is an international startup delivering Cloud Performance as a Service. Website http://www.cedexis.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $750,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory … Continue reading “Cedexis Garners $750,000 New Financing”
Blue Box Garners $14,000,000 Series B Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b8f22ef3-40c2-4008-8c3a-95b31abac9ca Date 1/6/2015 Company Name Blue Box Mailing Address 119 Pine Street Seattle, WA 98101 USA Company Description Founded in 2003, we focus on the needs of our customers instead of the whims of the market. We are immersed in the operations and systems world and focus on running the most streamlined … Continue reading “Blue Box Garners $14,000,000 Series B Funding”
Larry Corey, Cofounder of 2014 Top Biotech Juno: “It’s No Outlier”
Xconomy doesn’t have annual awards (the X-ies, anyone?), but I don’t have any hesitation naming Juno Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:JUNO]]) the biotech company of the year for 2014. This is neither a prediction of future success nor an endorsement. Rather, it’s an acknowledgment that hands-down, Juno was the most atypical biotech I’ve seen in years, perhaps … Continue reading “Larry Corey, Cofounder of 2014 Top Biotech Juno: “It’s No Outlier””
Implications of the Oil Price Collapse
Instead of developing a warmed over list of “Top 10 Predictions for 2015,” over the past few months I have been most interested in the implications from the collapse of oil prices around the world. We will see the obvious and direct benefit to the U.S. consumer (November retail sales were up a surprising 0.7 … Continue reading “Implications of the Oil Price Collapse”
How Should the Innovation Community Solve Its Gender and Diversity Problems?
It’s been one of the hottest-button topics of the past year—and it’s not going away anytime soon. The under-representation of women and minorities in technology and innovation jobs is a real issue, particularly at the highest levels of organizations. The question, as I see it, is what to do about it. But not everyone sees … Continue reading “How Should the Innovation Community Solve Its Gender and Diversity Problems?”
So You Want to Be an Early Stage Investor?
I absolutely love what I do—running a seed-stage venture fund (Founders’ Co-op) and startup accelerator (Techstars Seattle)—but neither is a job with a well-defined career path. Unlike later-stage or public market investing, where finance and quantitative analysis is a big part of the job, effective early-stage investing requires a combination of human, strategic, and operational … Continue reading “So You Want to Be an Early Stage Investor?”
Teach More Business in School
Science, medicine and information technology have become intimately entangled with business on all levels. Whether in academic settings or business settings, success in these areas increasingly requires involvement with basic business concepts and principles that aren’t taught in college. Undergraduates in science and engineering disciplines graduate from universities and enter positions in biotechnology and technology … Continue reading “Teach More Business in School”
Dallas Entrepreneur Center Aims to Bridge Tech’s Diversity Divide
The issue of gender and diversity is not a new challenge but one that has recently come to the forefront in a lot of our communities. There seems to be an awareness of the issues and an inherent need to address, but many are still conflicted how to best move forward. I think the best … Continue reading “Dallas Entrepreneur Center Aims to Bridge Tech’s Diversity Divide”
Hepatitis C Commercial Game Theory
Anyone either celebrating or fearing the start of a Hepatitis C drug price war should take a break from the excitement to consider that a far more nuanced and profound game is at hand, one where the rules of tacit collusion (the legal kind) constrain price erosion—and each new entrant with a “good enough” drug … Continue reading “Hepatitis C Commercial Game Theory”
Knowing When to Hold ‘Em: The Story of Poachable
Tom Leung and Ian Shafer had already reinvented their Seattle startup once when they glimpsed the end of the runway last summer. Their take on a localized version of Reddit’s ask-me-anything interview format was interesting, and it was doing better than their original idea—a community question-and-answer service centered on shopping—but growth had already plateaued. “We … Continue reading “Knowing When to Hold ‘Em: The Story of Poachable”
The Small Business Revolution Will Be Measured
In 2015 I predict we will see a rise in the number of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that collect and analyze data for improving operational efficiencies, reducing risk, and better meeting customer needs. People tend to think of big data and business intelligence as living mostly in the realm of the big enterprise. Large … Continue reading “The Small Business Revolution Will Be Measured”