06/28/11

Zapd Attracts $3.5M

Zapd, a service that lets you design a webpage from your smartphone, has attracted a nearly $3.5 million Series B round for parent company PressPlane. The investment was led by Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group and includes RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser, who is joining the company’s board. PressPlane previously rolled out Inkd, an online marketplace for graphic design services. In this blog post announcing the financing round, Zapd founder and CEO Kelly Smith (of incubator/investment firm Curious Office) gets into some interesting culture and technology analysis, writing about how Zapd intends to thrive in a world where websites are “impulsive, alive, social and easy.” Smith also says he’s been devoting most of his time to Zapd over the past several months, with the Inkd folks operating more and more on their own.

06/27/11

Atossa Nabs $6.6M

Seattle-based Atossa Genetics, the developer of a new diagnostic test for breast cancer, said today it has raised $6.6 million in a private financing. The company, led by former Nastech Pharmaceuticals CEO Steven Quay, said it plans to use the money to introduce its new product in the Northwest, hire a sales force, and develop a next-generation form of the technology. Atossa, which was profiled here a year ago, at one point sought to raise $15 million through an initial public offering.

06/24/11

StorSimple Scores $10.5M Led by Ignition

Santa Clara, CA-based StorSimple announced it has closed a $10.5 million Series C financing round led by Ignition Partners, based in the Seattle area. The company’s other previous investors, including Index Ventures, Mayfield Fund, and Redpoint Ventures, also participated in the round. StorSimple, which has raised a total of $31.5 million to date, focuses on cloud-based data storage software for big companies using Microsoft Windows and VMware systems. The startup began in 2009 and is led by co-founder and CEO Ursheet Parikh, a veteran of Cisco.

Impel Snags $750K Grant

Seattle-based Impel Neurpharma, the developer of technology to deliver drugs to the brain, said today it has secured a two-year, $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. The company, a University of Washington spinout, previously got a $500,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to support its method for delivering drugs through the upper nasal cavity, bypassing the blood-brain barrier, which limits the effectiveness of many neurological drugs. For more on Impel and its technology, check this profile from August 2008, when the company was getting going.

06/23/11

Hark’s New “Curated Collection”

Seattle’s Hark, an entertainment website that lets users search, play and share audio snippets from movies, TV shows and other pop culture sources, is showing off a new design for its top-tier content. The new approach includes an upgraded display with an easier way to sift through quotes from a particular source, and more prominent buttons for using social channels like Twitter and Google +1.
The look is somewhat similar to YouTube’s, with options for additional plays in a ribbon across the bottom of the screen. Hark CEO David Aronchick says the new “Curated Collection” is in a beta mode right now, testing with the classic film version of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” before rolling out to other offerings.
As we detailed last month, Hark is among the Seattle startups that are trying to build bridges to the entertainment industry, capitalizing on the Seattle area’s strengths to help Hollywood embrace the digital age.

06/22/11

Glympse Raises $7.5M

Social GPS startup Glympse has raised $7.5 million in a Series B round led by Menlo Ventures and Ignition Partners. The Redmond, WA-based company’s application allows users to show other people where they are in real time, showing up as an icon tracing its path around city streets, for instance. Glympse says it’s useful for things like alerting colleagues where you are if you’re late to a meeting, or finding friends for social meetups. Pravin Vazirani from Menlo Ventures and Michelle Goldberg from Ignition Partners are joining the startup’s board as part of the financing deal announced Wednesday. Existing board members include Seattle’s Tom Huseby, of SeaPoint Ventures, and Greg Tarr of the Bay Area’s Rogers Ventures. The company’s co-founders are former Microsofties: CEO Bryan Trussel and Chief Architect Steve Miller.

06/21/11

Giant Thinkwell Gets $600K Seed

Seattle social-gaming startup Giant Thinkwell, which just unveiled its first official celebrity endorsed game with Seattle hip-hop legend Sir Mix-A-Lot, is also announcing that it’s landed a $600,000 seed investment round. The investment was led by Madrona Venture Group, with Founder’s Co-op and unnamed angels also participating.
Giant Thinkwell, part of the first Seattle TechStars class, was co-founded by former Microsoftie Kevin Leneway, artist and designer Kyle Kesterson, and Cranium veteran Adam Tratt. Their goal is to help celebrities—and eventually even regular Joes—connect with fans and friends through Facebook-based games like Mix-N-Match, the new offering with Sir Mix-A-Lot.

06/20/11

VentriPoint Nabs $1.2M

Seattle-based VentriPoint Diagnostics, a company seeking to develop fast, accurate ways to diagnose heart problems, has raised $1.2 million out of a financing round that could be worth as much as $3 million, according to a regulatory filing. The company, led by CEO George Adams, is using ultrasound and MRI instruments to construct 3-D images of the heart, particularly in newborns with congenital heart defects, according to a technology description on the company’s website.

Decide Opens Shopping Site

Decide.com, a gadget-shopping site co-founded by University of Washington professor Oren Etzioni, is opening its doors to the public. Decide’s consumer pitch is taking the regret out of buying expensive electronics by trying to predict whether new models are coming out, or if prices might change in the near future—it’s no coincidence that Etzioni was founder of Farecast, an airfare prediction site that Microsoft bought for $115 million. Etzioni’s also a venture partner at Madrona Venture Group, which is among Decide’s investors. Other financial backers are Maveron and angel investors. Decide has raised some $8.5 million to date. Decide’s CEO is Mike Fridgen. Comparison shopping for consumer electronics is a pretty active area for entrepreneurs right now—Seattle’s Dan Shapiro recently sold his gadget-buying site Sparkbuy to Google, and sites like Shopobot and Retrevo are also based around helping consumers find the right prices for electronics.

Alder Gets $15M From Bristol

Alder Biopharmaceuticals, the Bothell, WA-based developer of antibody drugs, said today it will receive a $15 million milestone payment from its partner, Bristol-Myers Squibb. Alder got the milestone for initiating a Phase 2b clinical trial of its rheumatoid arthritis drug, ALD518, in a trial that compares it against a blockbuster drug in the category—Abbott Laboratories’ adalimumab (Humira). Alder struck its partnership with Bristol-Myers to develop ALD518 (aka BMS-945429) back in November 2009.

06/17/11

SeaGen Promotes Dobmeier

Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: SGEN), the Bothell, WA-based developer of targeted cancer drugs, said today that Eric Dobmeier has been promoted from chief business officer to chief operating officer. Dobmeier, who joined the company in 2002, has overseen the company’s efforts to license out its technology for linking antibodies to toxins that make them more potent against cancer. The biggest deal on his watch has been the alliance with Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, in which the companies divvied up commercial rights to brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris), as a new treatment for rare lymphomas.

06/13/11

EquaShip Raises $900K

EquaShip, a startup that aims to save small- and medium-sized businesses money on shipping costs by going head-to-head with UPS and FedEx, is announcing a $900,000 investment round today. The company, headed by serial entrepreneur Ron Wiener, said the money was raised from various angel investors from Seattle and the Bay Area—but didn’t name names.
Named as a strategic investor was Newell Rubbermaid, the company that owns a wide range of consumer and business brands including Dymo, which provides shipping and mailing technology through its Endicia brand. EquaShip said Newell Ventures director Scott Galovan would join the startup’s board. EquaShip, which is hiring for a half-dozen positions, plans to use the money to add to its operations, namely a customer care center.

06/10/11

Zillow Updates S1

Zillow has updated its paperwork for a possible IPO for the second time. The online real-estate company added some traffic numbers for May—as Brier Dudley at The Seattle Times points out, it’s monthly growth of about 10 percent, to 22 million unique visitors for its website and mobile apps. Zillow notes that’s about 102 percent year-over-year. Zillow also has granted more stock options. Its new filing lists 630,912 options of Class A common stock granted May 23, at an exercise price of $1.87, based on a new valuation performed May 20. May 23 was also the date of the company’s first amended version of its IPO paperwork, but these options weren’t listed in that version.

06/08/11

Stratos Genomics Raises $2.1M

Seattle-based Stratos Genomics, developer of low-cost gene sequencing technology, says it has added $2.1 million in financing from existing investors, tied to last year’s $4 million Series A round. In a press release, CEO Allan Stephan said shareholders “don’t want our validation pace interrupted by external fundraising activities.” Stratos Genomics was founded in 2007 as a spinoff from Stratos Group, the parent company of Seattle’s Stratos Product Development.

Buuteeq Brings In $3.5M for Hotel Marketing

Seattle-based Buuteeq, a startup focused on digital marketing software for independent hotels, said today it has raised $3.5 million in Series A financing. The round was led by aQuantive co-founder Mike Galgon and angel investor Geoff Entress, with participation from Benaroya Capital and others. Buuteeq (no, that’s not a misprint) makes cloud-based software that helps small hotels and inns produce marketing materials that work across Web, mobile, and social networks. The company was co-founded in early 2010 by former Microsofties Forest Key and Adam Brownstein and has raised a total of $5 million to date.

06/06/11

PATH Partners With GSK on Malaria Vaccine

PATH, the Seattle-based global health nonprofit, said it has formed a collaboration with Netherlands-based Crucell and London-based GlaxoSmithKline to develop a next-generation malaria vaccine. The effort will bring together two vaccine approaches in an attempt to improve upon Glaxo’s RTS,S, a vaccine that has shown an ability to protect about half of people who get immunized against malaria. The collaboration will focus on using a single dose of a Crucell vaccine candidate, followed by two doses of RTS,S, in what is known as the “prime-boost” strategy to trigger immune defenses. Terms of the partnership weren’t disclosed.

06/02/11

Clearwire Unloads Call Centers

Continuing its strategy to cut costs, Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) today said that about 700 customer service workers in Las Vegas and Milton, FL, will now be employed by TeleTech, which already had been performing some work for Clearwire. Some 180 workers in both cities will remain on the Clearwire payroll.
The Pensacola News Journal reports that about 370 of Clearwire’s roughly 500 workers in the Florida office will now work for TeleTech, with the balance remaining Clearwire employees. That also means the company is repaying some $2 million in incentive payments from the governor’s office, which the News Journal says Clearwire “received in anticipation of an expansion that will not happen.”
This follows the Kirkland, WA-based wireless network operator’s recent announcement that it would hand over day-to-day network operations to Ericsson, which performs the same function for majority shareholder Sprint (NASDAQ: S). (h/t Geekwire.)

06/01/11

ValueAppeal Adds $1.6M

Seattle-based ValueAppeal, an online service that helps homeowners challenge their property tax bills, has added $1.6 million in financing. The startup had raised two rounds totaling about $1.5 million last year, mostly from angel investors.
ValueAppeal says the new money is mostly from existing investors, but they weren’t named. Founder and CEO Charlie Walsh says the fresh capital will be used for hiring, technology, and moving to a larger office.
ValueAppeal charges homeowners a flat $99 to use the service, and says it refunds the fee if a home-value appeal is unsuccessful. ValueAppeal says its figures show that about a quarter of U.S. homes are assessed at too high a value each year. That sales pitch is probably music to the ears of homeowners who have survived the worst housing market in decades.

05/31/11

Micron, IV Strike Deal

Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue, WA-based patent firm started by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, is announcing a new two-way intellectual property deal with Boise, ID-based semiconductor maker Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU).
Like many licensing deals we see from Intellectual Ventures, this one gives Micron access to IV’s portfolio of “more than 30,000″ patents. The second element of the deal is an ongoing arrangement for the firms to buy patents from each other.
In a joint release, the companies said their deal “helps Micron protect its core business so it can focus on innovation.” Financial terms were not disclosed.

05/27/11

Report: Polaris Closes Seattle Office

A report by VentureWire this afternoon (although oddly post-dated to May 31) says Waltham, MA-based Polaris Venture Partners has closed its Seattle office. I’ve reached out to Polaris officials for comment but haven’t heard back as of this posting. According to Polaris’ website, the Seattle office was home base for co-founder and venture partner Steve Arnold. The website notes that Arnold, a former Microsoftie, had board seats with Redmond, WA-based Noetix and Seattle-based Impinj, which recently filed for an IPO. Polaris was among the investors in Seattle’s Free & Clear, a phone-based health coaching service that was acquired by Inverness Medical Innovations in 2009.