Category: Seattle

The Biotech IPO Scorecard: Who’s Up, Who’s Down in 2013

Remember Plexxikon? The Berkeley, CA-based company had a lot of talent for structural biology-based drug design, an impressive new treatment for melanoma, and a strong management team. Two years ago, nobody on Wall Street cared one whit. Plexxikon flirted with the idea of going public, found little interest, and sold itself off to Japan-based Daiichi … Continue reading “The Biotech IPO Scorecard: Who’s Up, Who’s Down in 2013”

With Big Bucks Chasing Big Data, Will Consumers Get a Cut?

As consumers, we’re often told a stampede of “big data” will soon make our lives better. Safer and cheaper healthcare, more effective government, lower prices at the corner store—it’s all possible when big companies start digging into the digital information produced by a constantly connected society. Today, the central bargain underwriting most of those lofty … Continue reading “With Big Bucks Chasing Big Data, Will Consumers Get a Cut?”

Solavei Garners $10,875,833 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=61bcc2ee-8034-4abf-a76c-c1bc08ab297b&Preview=1 Date 6/3/2013 Company Name Solavei Mailing Address 10500 NE 8th Street Bellevue, WA 98004 Company Description Solavei Mobile Service is built on the backbone of the superfast T-Mobile 4G network, ensuring you will get great coverage and the highest speeds around, wherever you live, work and play. Website http://www.solavei.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Solavei Garners $10,875,833 New Round”

Linea Obtains $4,000,000 Seed Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5be155a3-fbd0-4cb5-9fd9-73d039783f43&Preview=1 Date 6/1/2013 Company Name Linea Mailing Address 1914 N. 34th St Seattle, WA 98103 Company Description Linea makes it easy to browse and share photos while letting you choose who sees your Photo Lines. Just create a Line, upload your photos, and invite others to view and add photos too. Your … Continue reading “Linea Obtains $4,000,000 Seed Round”

11 Reasons Why Flickr, Not Facebook, Is the Place to Put Your Photos

What’s the best way to put your pictures on the Internet these days? There are at least two answers to that question. If you’re just asking which photo sharing service is the most popular, then Facebook is the hands-down winner. People upload roughly 350 million photos to the social network every day. Snapchat isn’t far … Continue reading “11 Reasons Why Flickr, Not Facebook, Is the Place to Put Your Photos”

Why Not Test a Supply Chain Model? What We’ve Got Isn’t Working

I find myself siding more with Flagship’s Noubar Afeyan than with Katrine Bosley in the intriguing conversation emerging in Xconomy in recent weeks over the supply chain model for early stage biotech. Today neither biotech nor pharma are producing a sufficient supply of new products. If we can’t figure out a way to profitably finance … Continue reading “Why Not Test a Supply Chain Model? What We’ve Got Isn’t Working”

Jobs for Non-Natives: Washington Tech Economy Fueled by “Imports”

[Updated 6/6/13, 3:05 p.m. See below.] Despite chronic underinvestment in education, Washington state’s innovation sector has held its own or even gained ground over the last decade—something business leaders did not predict. “When we started benchmarking in 2003, we felt sure that our state would not be able to sustain and grow our innovation economy … Continue reading “Jobs for Non-Natives: Washington Tech Economy Fueled by “Imports””

Nuance Bolsters Automotive Offering with $80M Tweddle Acquisition

Nuance Communications, the voice recognition technology company, is making its second major Seattle-area acquisition, spending $80 million in cash for Tweddle Connect, an in-car content delivery system developed by a unit of Detroit-based Tweddle Group. Burlington, MA-based Nuance—whose Dragon Drive software already powers most voice control systems in 20 million new cars a year—would bolster … Continue reading “Nuance Bolsters Automotive Offering with $80M Tweddle Acquisition”

Oncothyreon Nabs $10M, Pays $10M, For Array Biopharma Cancer Drug

[Updated: 6:35 am PT 5/31] Seattle-based Oncothyreon disappointed a lot of people last year who were betting that it had found a promising new immunotherapy for patients with lung cancer. But even when that drug failed in December, the company still had plenty of cash left, and it is using some of the money to obtain … Continue reading “Oncothyreon Nabs $10M, Pays $10M, For Array Biopharma Cancer Drug”

Top 20 Under-the-Radar Trends in Innovation

What’s the most important trend in innovation that nobody is talking about? We at Xconomy reached out across our national network of innovation leaders (the Xconomists) to get some answers to this question, and to spur some intercity discussion. What we got back was astounding for its diversity and depth. And while it’s no longer … Continue reading “Top 20 Under-the-Radar Trends in Innovation”

At a Startup, Does Being the Only Woman in the Room Matter?

It’s hardly a secret that the male-dominated world of high-growth entrepreneurship doesn’t boast a treasure trove of women. Despite the fact that female-led start-ups have a track record of driving success, businesses founded by women account for less than 9 percent of venture funding. Considering that 50 percent of the people walking the earth are … Continue reading “At a Startup, Does Being the Only Woman in the Room Matter?”

Cadence Biomedical Nets $1M, Loads of Press, for Walk-Assist Device

Brian Glaister has had the kind of run over the past few weeks that entrepreneurs dream of. After years of toiling in obscurity, working just to develop a decent prototype, his startup, Seattle-based Cadence Biomedical, has suddenly grown into a media darling. It was featured in a pretty lengthy write-up in The Seattle Times. The … Continue reading “Cadence Biomedical Nets $1M, Loads of Press, for Walk-Assist Device”

Planetary Resources Launches Campaign to Launch Private Space Telescope

In its bid to reinvent the model for space exploration, Planetary Resources is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the world’s first private space telescope, which they say will underscore public support for going where no one has gone before. Since unveiling itself to the public at the Museum of Flight a little more than … Continue reading “Planetary Resources Launches Campaign to Launch Private Space Telescope”

Meeting the Wizard of Moz: Culture Breeds Community

You can pay lip-service to corporate culture, or you can build a culture so deep that employees think about it when disciplining their kids. SEOmoz, the Seattle Internet marketing software company, is today changing its name to just Moz. While the company is shortening its name, it’s broadening its offerings in a competitive and closely-watched … Continue reading “Meeting the Wizard of Moz: Culture Breeds Community”

Mirador Biomedical Study: Spend $35 on Our Device & Save $116

Seattle-based Mirador Biomedical is trying to sell hospitals a little digital device for about $35 apiece, in hopes of preventing a rare and disastrous thing from happening to patients. Now the company has gathered some data that it hopes will prove it’s worth the money. Mirador’s device is a digital pressure sensor that’s supposed to … Continue reading “Mirador Biomedical Study: Spend $35 on Our Device & Save $116”

Assigning Credit and Blame to Biopharma R&D Chiefs

There’s been an awful lot of turnover lately among Big Biopharma R&D chiefs, with departures from Merck, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Roche, and AbbVie. Their average tenure in this position was less than 7 years; the range was from less than 2 to 12. That’s similar to the average CEO tenure, which is only 8.4 … Continue reading “Assigning Credit and Blame to Biopharma R&D Chiefs”

9Slides Lands Seed Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8f15921c-d3de-467d-8a69-3c44e0b54a52&Preview=1 Date 5/29/2013 Company Name 9Slides Mailing Address 2711 152nd Ave NE Redmond, WA 98052 Company Description 9SLIDES is a powerful communication tool, which allows users to capture and share experience of “being there” in the presentation room with a remote audience, anytime, anywhere. Your audience can watch it on a PC, … Continue reading “9Slides Lands Seed Funding Round”

Solavei Lands $2,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7e85fdb9-9df3-4087-8fc5-9574455574cd&Preview=1 Date 5/29/2013 Company Name Solavei Mailing Address 10500 NE 8th Street Bellevue, WA 98004 Company Description Solavei Mobile Service is built on the backbone of the superfast T-Mobile 4G network, ensuring you will get great coverage and the highest speeds around, wherever you live, work and play. Website http://www.solavei.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Solavei Lands $2,000,000 New Round”

Microsoft’s GeoFlow Lets Spreadsheet Jockeys Tell Stories with Maps

When Curtis Wong was a kid growing up in Los Angeles, he knew that the Milky Way existed. But like most urban-dwellers, he’d never seen it. “It was just this mythical thing in books,” says Wong, who is now a principal researcher at Microsoft. “It wasn’t until after high school that some friends and I … Continue reading “Microsoft’s GeoFlow Lets Spreadsheet Jockeys Tell Stories with Maps”

NVCA: Venture Capital Finally Returned More Than It Took in 2012

It’s no secret that venture capital has struggled since the dot-com implosion. The latest dispatch from the industry’s U.S. trade group, however, says there might be some promising signs of better performance. In a new report wrapping up the 2012 performance for VCs, the National Venture Capital Association says the broad industry finally returned to the … Continue reading “NVCA: Venture Capital Finally Returned More Than It Took in 2012”

Applying “Innovation Arbitrage” to Develop Novel Medicines in China

[Editor’s Note: This post was co-authored by Jessica Yingling of Little Dog Communications.] Loosely defined, arbitrage is striking a combination of matching deals that capitalize upon an imbalance. Profit is gained from the difference between the market prices. With the Chinese government focusing on innovation through forward-looking national agendas for economic development, the opportunity to … Continue reading “Applying “Innovation Arbitrage” to Develop Novel Medicines in China”

VentriPoint Diagnostics Receives $748,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=420954ea-ea5e-4bea-a8ae-14d387f78feb&Preview=1 Date 5/28/2013 Company Name VentriPoint Diagnostics Mailing Address 100 W. Harrison St North Tower Seattle, WA 98119 Company Description VentriPoint is dedicated to “connecting all the dots”, to improving the diagnosis of heart disease by increasing the accuracy, speed and ease of measuring heart functions using traditional ultrasound and MRI imaging. … Continue reading “VentriPoint Diagnostics Receives $748,000 New Financing”

Ekos, Maker of Ultrasound Blood Clot Dissolver, Bought for $180M

Ekos has been around a long time in the business of making ultrasound devices to improve the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Now it’s getting some rewards for that investment of time and money. The Bothell, WA-based company agreed to be acquired by U.K.-based BTG for $180 million upfront, and another potential $40 million in payouts … Continue reading “Ekos, Maker of Ultrasound Blood Clot Dissolver, Bought for $180M”

Do You Have A Story to Tell? Here Are the Digital Tools You’ll Need

Back in January I got an invitation out of the blue to give a 1-hour talk at the Palo Alto Research Center—the Xerox-owned lab better known as PARC. The invitation was completely open-ended. The full extent of PARC’s guidance was “we think you would have a lot of interesting things to share.” If you’re a … Continue reading “Do You Have A Story to Tell? Here Are the Digital Tools You’ll Need”

Remote Medical International Garners $8,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f4c13d33-c191-4f97-b0c0-57c17f688450&Preview=1 Date 5/24/2013 Company Name Remote Medical International Mailing Address 4259 23rd Ave W Seattle, WA 98199 Company Description Remote Medical International was founded in 2003 by Andrew Cull, a college student and remote area paramedic. In a living room full of medical equipment and training supplies, Andrew laid the groundwork for … Continue reading “Remote Medical International Garners $8,000,000 New Funding Round”

Mayer’s Challenge: Merging the Cultures of Yahoo and Tumblr

Yahoo + Tumblr is a good match because Tumblr has the huge and vibrant social network, but no revenues, while Yahoo lacks social, but knows how to earn money on ads. Yahoo + Tumblr are a bad match, because Yahoo is a company with 14,000 employees in a corporate organizational culture needing change, while Tumblr … Continue reading “Mayer’s Challenge: Merging the Cultures of Yahoo and Tumblr”

Cardeas Pharma Secures $34,000,000 Series B Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a0230868-49b2-44cb-a0e1-564866a064c0&Preview=1 Date 5/23/2013 Company Name Cardeas Pharma Mailing Address 2025 First Avenue Seattle, WA 98121 Company Description Cardeas Pharma is developing a novel antibiotic formulation of two drugs with synergistic activity against all relevant, highly resistant Gram-negative bacilli, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Website http://www.cardeaspharma.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Cardeas Pharma Secures $34,000,000 Series B Funding Round”

Valant Medical Solutions Secures $783,869 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1abd8b2c-1416-4af5-8179-b099c95e2ed2&Preview=1 Date 5/23/2013 Company Name Valant Medical Solutions Mailing Address 1200 5th Ave Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description Valant takes care of your practice, so you can take care of your patients. Website http://www.valant.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $783,869 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC … Continue reading “Valant Medical Solutions Secures $783,869 New Funding Round”

Cardeas Pharma Snags $34M For Antibiotic Against Hospital Infections

Seattle-based Cardeas Pharma just raised a lot more cash to fight a big problem that hospitals wrestle with every day, and which they’d rather not say much about publicly. Cardeas, the startup led by prolific drug developer Bruce Montgomery, has raised the healthy sum of $34 million in its Series B venture financing, Xconomy has … Continue reading “Cardeas Pharma Snags $34M For Antibiotic Against Hospital Infections”

Orchestrate.io Garners $3,000,000 Seed Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9c354ab7-b90d-46d3-998d-998219e13241&Preview=1 Date 5/22/2013 Company Name Orchestrate.io Mailing Address Undisclosed Portland, OR 97204 Company Description Orchestrate, Inc was founded in 2013 by a team that has built, and helped others build, large scale web and mobile apps. We have worked with enterprises and startups alike and watched them struggle to solve the same … Continue reading “Orchestrate.io Garners $3,000,000 Seed Financing”

HasOffers Lands $9,400,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=31860dd0-bd53-47f8-9f05-e9028c5c7282&Preview=1 Date 5/22/2013 Company Name HasOffers Mailing Address 2220 Western Ave Seattle, WA 98121 Company Description HasOffers is a software as a service company, providing the industry’s leading solution for tracking performance advertising. The products we provide are simple, scalable, and open for development. Website http://www.hasoffers.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “HasOffers Lands $9,400,000 New Financing”

Roundup: HasOffers Raises $9.4M, UW Bothell Chancellor, & More

This week’s Seattle tech news roundup features a hefty venture round for mobile ad tracking startup HasOffers, the new STEM-focused chancellor of University of Washington Bothell, an Avanade study of social collaboration tools use in the enterprise, and a Seattle AWS Direct Connect service from Equinix: —HasOffers, a Seattle startup tracking and managing mobile advertising … Continue reading “Roundup: HasOffers Raises $9.4M, UW Bothell Chancellor, & More”

Kineta, Scouring the World for Cash, Finds Oil Money

Seattle-based Kineta has found some more support for its drug development work from an unlikely source—a group of oil traders. The company said today it has raised an undisclosed amount of cash from Hydra, a group made up of 13 recently retired oil traders with Glencore Ltd. Although the amount is secret, Kineta now says … Continue reading “Kineta, Scouring the World for Cash, Finds Oil Money”

The Star Thrower, or How Healthcare Looks to Consumers

It is always interesting how events find ways of connecting themselves together even when they seem so unrelated. I was at my sister Alexis’ graduation from law school on Friday, where I had gone directly from leaving a several day event organized by Health Evolution Partners. At the event I had occasion to meet with … Continue reading “The Star Thrower, or How Healthcare Looks to Consumers”

Juan Enriquez on the Forces Shaping Innovation: A Napa Summit Preview

What are the most powerful forces affecting innovation and the economy? That is one of the key questions facing the nation as we inch our way out of the economic mire. Juan Enriquez may not have all the answers, but he has some deep insights into the path forward, and a way of framing the … Continue reading “Juan Enriquez on the Forces Shaping Innovation: A Napa Summit Preview”

Venture Debt as Growth Capital? You Bet.

It’s easy to understand why most discussions about the state of venture capital investing paint a pessimistic view. Access to institutional equity dollars is increasingly limited for new entrepreneurs and early stage companies, and an anemic fundraising environment for VC firms is contributing to the long-anticipated “VC shakeout.” We’re also at a cyclical low in … Continue reading “Venture Debt as Growth Capital? You Bet.”

Tableau on the Run: IPO Underscores Seattle Big Data Leadership

Tableau Software continued producing visually stunning stock charts during its second day of trading, shining a favorable light on both the Seattle tech industry, and on big data companies. Shares of the company (NYSE: [[ticker:DATA]]) were nearing $60 at one point in Monday afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, up more than 90 … Continue reading “Tableau on the Run: IPO Underscores Seattle Big Data Leadership”

NanoString Technologies Maneuvers In Line for $86M IPO

NanoString Technologies just started selling its first diagnostic test after 10 years in business, and now it’s getting ready for another milestone—an initial public offering. The Seattle-based company said today that it is seeking to raise as much as $86.3 million in an IPO, according to a prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. … Continue reading “NanoString Technologies Maneuvers In Line for $86M IPO”

The Top Five Traits to Look For in Prospective Startup Employees

Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you that the fastest way to kill a startup is to hire the wrong people. It’s true. As someone who has helped build multiple startups, I cannot overstate the importance of assembling a stellar core team. They are the ones who will transform your ideas into reality, and help you … Continue reading “The Top Five Traits to Look For in Prospective Startup Employees”

Zillions of Biotech Conferences Want You. Which Should You Attend?

Biotech industry conferences are happening, somewhere on this green Earth, every day. If you’ve been around a while, and you’ve attended a few, chances are you get invitations, or marketing pitches, that ask you to attend a different meeting every day. If you’re new to the business, you may not be on all the lists. … Continue reading “Zillions of Biotech Conferences Want You. Which Should You Attend?”

Tableau Shares Jump More Than 50% in IPO

No question, traders in the stock market knew there was going to be an appetite for shares of data visualization provider Tableau Software. But that hunger for business-tech IPO stocks is even deeper than Tableau guessed. Shares of the Seattle-based company (NYSE: [[ticker:DATA]]) were up more than 50 percent in midday trading after its initial public … Continue reading “Tableau Shares Jump More Than 50% in IPO”

Nine Lessons for Innovators from a Nobel Prize-Winning Psychologist

I was pretty slow about getting around to reading Thinking, Fast and Slow. The career-capping book by Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman, one of the founders of behavioral economics, spent months on all the bestseller lists back in 2011. I finally picked up a paperback copy a couple of weeks ago. The book is mainly about … Continue reading “Nine Lessons for Innovators from a Nobel Prize-Winning Psychologist”

Tableau Software to Reap $155M from IPO at $31 per Share

Wall Street’s hunger for business-tech companies is on display again with the initial public offering of Seattle-based Tableau Software. Tableau, a provider of data-visualization software, begins trading today (NYSE: [[ticker:DATA]]) at $31 per share. That’s a higher price than Tableau had projected for its shares, even after revising the target twice—a signal of strong demand … Continue reading “Tableau Software to Reap $155M from IPO at $31 per Share”

Check KUOW’s “Weekday” for Science News

Science news often falls into the trap of becoming “infotainment” designed to generate ratings, and little else. As one essayist in The Guardian recently put it, “freaky copulation techniques in the animal kingdom,” heart-warming tales of miracle cures for kids, or creepy sci-fi robots are often what pass for science news when so many media … Continue reading “Check KUOW’s “Weekday” for Science News”

Apptio Receives $45,000,000 Series E Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ff9e1cea-6be2-490a-bbce-976ee072a1b4&Preview=1 Date 5/17/2013 Company Name Apptio Mailing Address 225 108th Ave. NE. 2nd floor Bellevue, WA 98004 Company Description Apptio is an early stage software-as-a-service (SaaS) company focused on enabling IT organizations to optimize their services and operations. Website http://www.apptio.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $45,000,000 Transaction Round Series E Proceeds … Continue reading “Apptio Receives $45,000,000 Series E Funding Round”

The Daily Grommet Leads Wave of “Anti-Amazon” E-Commerce in Boston

First of all, the company is no longer called the Daily Grommet. Now it’s just The Grommet. “We still execute daily,” says CEO Jules Pieri, “but we dropped the word because it seemed to be superfluous.” She adds, “We love what ‘grommet’ represents, a humble piece of hardware that makes things better.” The company’s mission? … Continue reading “The Daily Grommet Leads Wave of “Anti-Amazon” E-Commerce in Boston”

Matterport Isn’t Playing Games with Kinect-Style 3D Camera

When Tel Aviv, Israel-based PrimeSense came out with its first depth-sensitive, near-infrared camera-on-a-chip in 2010, nobody could have predicted how many uses hardware makers would dream up for the technology within a few short years. The first and most famous was Microsoft’s Kinect sensor, which lets gamers move their bodies to interact with video games. … Continue reading “Matterport Isn’t Playing Games with Kinect-Style 3D Camera”