12/01/08

Entellium, Intuit in Reported Deal

Intuit, a financial software firm based in Mountain View, CA, has made an offer to buy the assets of Seattle startup Entellium, according to TechFlash. The report cites an interview with Entellium spokesperson Diane Carlini, as well as an anonymous source who puts the purchase price at about $8 million. Entellium, which was backed by Ignition Partners, Intel Capital, and other venture firms, has been rocked in the past two months by the arrests of two of its top executives on wire fraud charges.

Clearwire Finally Inks WiMax Deal

Since May, Kirkland, WA-based Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWRD) and Overland Park, KS-based Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) have been working to combine their next-generation wireless Internet access businesses, and the two companies finally completed the deal on Friday. Using a $3.2 billion venture investment from Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable, Google and Bright House Networks, the new company, to retain the name Clearwire, plans to upgrade the 46 markets where Clearwire already offers wireless data services to WiMax-based systems under the “Clear” brand, replacing the “XOHM” brand Sprint Nextel has been using in Baltimore and other test locations.

DotNetNuke Nets Series A

Seattle-based DotNetNuke, an open-source Web applications company, announced it has raised a Series A financing round from Silicon Valley venture firms August Capital and Sierra Ventures. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. DotNetNuke provides a software framework for creating and managing interactive Web and intranet sites using Microsoft’s technology platform.

Zevalin Gets 6-Month FDA Review

Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics said its drug for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is getting a faster-than-usual regulatory review of an application that could broaden its usage. The FDA is giving a six-month review, instead of the usual 10-month examination, to ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin) for newly diagnosed patients with Hodgkin’s disease. That means the agency has a deadline of April 2 to decide whether to approve marketing of the drug for the new use. The treatment is currently cleared for sale among relapsed patients, but the new application could open usage of the treatment for an additional 18,000 patients a year, the company said.

11/26/08

Cell Therapeutics, Spectrum Form Joint Venture

Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics announced it has teamed up with Spectrum Pharmaceuticals of Irvine, CA, to create a 50-50 joint venture, RIT Oncology, to commercialize and develop the cancer drug Zevalin. The drug for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which Xconomy has written about extensively, will be marketed in the U.S.

Big Fish Releases Biggest, Most Ambitious Game

Seattle-based Big Fish Games announced it has released Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst. It’s the fifth game in the hidden-object adventure series, which is one of the biggest in the casual game industry. The latest title is the largest and most ambitious project to come out of Big Fish’s studios, and CEO Jeremy Lewis says it’s the biggest improvement in the Mystery Case Files franchise since the beginning.

11/25/08

Gates Foundation Pares Back Grants for 2009, Still Plans 10 Percent Spending Boost

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is planning to dole out less grant money in 2009 than anticipated, in response to the global financial crisis. The Seattle-based foundation, the world’s largest philanthropy devoted to global health, is still planning to spend 10 percent more on grants next year than in 2008, although that’s less than what it had previously budgeted, said CEO Jeff Raikes, in a letter on the foundation’s web site dated Nov. 21. The foundation’s grantmaking has been growing rapidly since 2006, when it received the first annual installment of stock donations from investor Warren Buffett. The donations were worth $1.6 billion in 2006, $1.76 billion the following year, and $1.8 billion this past July, according to the foundation’s web site.

Light Sciences Oncology Finishes Enrollment in Pivotal Clinical Trial

Light Sciences Oncology, a Bellevue, WA-based developer of cancer drugs, said it has completed enrollment of 200 patients with liver tumors in a clinical trial. The goal of the study is to see whether patients live longer after they get LitX. The company’s treatment is designed to use a light-emitting diode, threaded inside a tumor, to activate a drug to kill tumors within its wavelength. If the trial reaches it goal, the company plans to ask regulators in the U.S. and Europe for marketing approval in 2009.

Mobui Behind TiVo Mobile Application

Mobui, a Redmond, WA-based mobile applications firm, and TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO), headquartered in Alvisto, CA, have announced that the two firms developed a new Web site that enables TiVo subscribers to use their mobile phones to schedule recordings on their TiVo boxes. This follows news last week about Mobui’s partnership with VH1 to develop an application that enables people to use their AT&T mobile phones to instant-message their friends while watching VH1 programs.

11/24/08

Zumobi Floats App on iPhone

Mobile-media startup Zumobi, based in Seattle, has announced the availability of its iPhone application, called Ziibii. The free software lets you interact with information from other users and social networks, such as photos, videos, and blogs, in the form of “rafts” floating by on the screen (see video). Zumobi is a Microsoft Research spinoff founded in 2006.

11/21/08

Yieldex Wins $100K Amazon Startup Challenge

Last night, Amazon Web Services announced the winner of its second annual AWS Startup Challenge: Yieldex, based in Colorado, California, and New York, helps advertisers and publishers manage their inventory by predicting how ads will perform on different websites. The company receives $100,000 in cash and Web services credits, plus a potential investment offer. Yieldex was one of seven finalists invited to pitch their startups at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters.

11/20/08

Bsquare Buys TestQuest for $2.2M

Bellevue, WA-based Bsquare (NASDAQ: BSQR) announced today it has acquired the assets of TestQuest, a mobile test automation and management company based in Minneapolis, MN. The purchase price is about $2.2 million. The acquisition helps Bsquare, which makes software for smart devices, add new customers in the U.S., Asia, and Europe.

Geospiza to Acquire VizX Labs’ Genesifter Technology For Genomic Data

Geospiza, a Seattle-based maker of software to help researchers keep track of massive amounts of genomic data, said today it has acquired the Genesifter technology created by Seattle-based VizX Labs. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. Geospiza president Rob Arnold said in a statement that the acquisition will enable his company to speed up expansion of its data analysis capabilities.

Immune Design Obtains Vaccine Booster From IDRI

Immune Design, the Seattle-based vaccine development company, has obtained a worldwide exclusive license to develop a vaccine-boosting compound invented at the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI). The technology, a glycopyranosyl lipid adjuvant, may be used to enhance the effectiveness of vaccines. The nonprofit IDRI will receive an upfront payment, milestone payments on success in testing, and royalties from sales if it ever turns into a product, as well as shares in Immune Design, a startup that raised $18 million in a Series A venture round in June.

11/19/08

Ambric Closes Down, Goes on Sale

Ambric, a Beaverton, OR-based semiconductor company, has announced it is shutting down and looking for a corporate buyer. The firm has suspended all operations not having to do with its sale or existing customer agreements. Ambric has developed software-programmable parallel processor chips that are used in video coding, wireless base stations, and medical and military imaging. It has been funded by the likes of OVP Venture Partners and Northwest Technology Ventures.

TeachStreet Expands to Bay Area

Seattle-based TeachStreet announced today it has moved into the San Francisco Bay Area in a major expansion of its service, which helps local teachers and students connect with one another online. The company’s initial Bay Area site has more than 65,000 listings of classes, teachers, and experts in everything from aikido to yoga. TeachStreet, which was founded in June 2007 and is backed by Madrona Venture Group, now serves the Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco metro areas.

Biotech Analyst Runs For City Council

David Miller, the co-founder and CEO of Biotech Stock Research, an independent stock research firm in Seattle, has filed paperwork to run for the Seattle City Council. Miller plans to continue operating his stock newsletter throughout the campaign which ends in November 2009, and plans to keep the company operating if he wins, he and partner Alan Leong said today in a letter to subscribers. Miller has been volunteering in recent years, and “believes the best way to make a difference” in his hometown is to join the council, he said in the note.

11/18/08

Mobui, VH1 Do Mobile Chat on AT&T

Redmond, WA-based Mobui, a mobile applications firm, announced today it has partnered with VH1 (a division of Viacom’s MTV Networks) to deliver a live-chat service that is available from the AT&T Media Mall. The mobile application, which lets you instant-message your friends while watching VH1 programs, is currently supported on 37 AT&T phones and is slated to become available on 107 phones, including the iPhone, in the coming year.

Geospiza Sells Genetics Software To Harvard Medical, Children’s Hospital Boston

Geospiza, a Seattle-based maker of software to help researchers analyze reams of genomic data, said today it has sold its FinchLab product to the Molecular Genetics Core Facility shared by Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed, although Geospiza president Rob Arnold said it June that it typically charges $30,000 for software, or about $2,500 a month.

11/17/08

Talisma Bought by Campus Management

Bellevue, WA-based Talisma announced today its customer relationship management business has been acquired by Boca Raton, FL-based Campus Management, which makes a software platform for e-learning. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Talisma, which was founded in 1999, was bought by Austin, TX-based nGenera last May.