Image via Shutterstock
Image via Shutterstock

Juno Therapeutics stunned the startup community earlier this week when it announced $134 million in venture funding, bringing total financing in the Seattle cancer research startup to $310 million. Amazingly, it raised all of that cash in less than 10 months.

That got us wondering if Juno is the most heavily-funded startup in the Pacific Northwest, at least in recent history.

Turns out it, Juno is by far the leader over the past nine years, well ahead of second place finisher, Portland-based SoloPower, which raised $196 million.

What’s most interesting about the chart below is the dominant position of biotechnology and life sciences, an industry which has struggled to take root in the Pacific Northwest and received a blow last week when Amgen announced its plans to close R&D and manufacturing facilities in the Seattle area.

Half of the top 10 companies in the list are in the biotech or medical device field, according to data compiled by PitchBook on behalf of GeekWire. Of course, life sciences is known for its huge upfront investments, with drug development sometimes taking a decade or more.

It’s high-risk, high-reward to the nth degree. But this chart indicates that some in the region are still willing to place the bet. In fact, Seattle area companies Immune Design — $189 million market value — and Alder BioPharma — $472 million market value — have completed IPOs this year.

Only one software company makes the list: Bellevue-based Apptio. One e-commerce player is on the list: Zulily. And one telecom company makes the cut: Telecom Transport Management.

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In addition to most funding in aggregate, the PitchBook data also looks at the largest individual rounds. And in this category, Juno also takes the crown. It’s $176 million series A, which closed earlier this year, was the top deal over the past 10 years.

That was followed by Telecom Transport Management’s $120 million round; Imperium Renewables’ $117 million round; Adaptive Technologies $105 million round; Zulily’s $85 million round; and Big Fish Games’ $83 million round.

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