Seattle cloud services startup 2nd Watch raises $4.2 million

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Madrona Venture Group is finishing the year with a bang, bankrolling a series of startup companies.  The latest is 2nd Watch, an Amazon Web Services premier partner and cloud services startup that just pulled in $4.2 million in funding. The 2nd Watch technology allows companies to operate more efficiently in the cloud, helping customers like… Read More…

A familiar face at AdReady: Aaron Finn returns as CEO

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AdReady co-founder Aaron Finn stepped down from the online advertising rat race a few years ago to return to his home in Iowa. But now the former Classmates.com executive, who co-founded AdReady in 2006, is back at the helm of the Seattle startup. AdReady today is announcing that Finn has returned as CEO, taking over… Read More…

Stop slouching! Startup scores cash for high-tech posture-sensing waistband

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Now, here’s a product that just seems perfect for desk-bound, laptop-typing geeks like us. Meet the Lumo BodyTech, a device worn around the waist which vibrates when one slouches. Those vibrations are meant as a gentle reminder to sit up straight. (Now, I don’t have to hear it from my mom or wife). Seattle’s Madrona… Read More…

Tech Moves: aQuantive co-founder Galgon joins Real’s board; Madrona hires PR vet; Expedia changes; etc.

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Rob Glaser continues to overhaul the board of directors at RealNetworks, today announcing that aQuantive co-founder Mike Galgon has joined as a director. ”Mike is one of the more accomplished technology entrepreneurs in Seattle’s history,” said Glaser in a press release. “We look forward to tapping into his deep understanding of digital media, advertising, and e-commerce… Read More…

Employment matchmaker Jobaline hooks $1.5 million from Madrona and others

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A stealthy Seattle area startup by the name of Jobaline has reeled in $1.5 million in fresh funding, money that the company plans to use to continue development on a new service that matches hourly workers with employers. Former Facebook general counsel Rudy Gadre is leading the round, with Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group also participating… Read More…

Smartsheet raises $26 million, looks to help teams collaborate more effectively

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Everyone, it seems, is trying to create new ways for groups of people to work together, from tech titans like Microsoft and Google to up-and-comers like Jive and Box. Despite the heavy-duty competitive landscape, Smartsheet still feels as if there’s plenty of room to operate. And the six-year-old Bellevue company today is getting a ringing… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Greg Gottesman, Matt McIlwain lead the charge at Madrona

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At a time when many are proclaiming the death of the traditional venture capital firm, Madrona Venture Group seems to be hitting its stride. The Seattle firm, originally founded 17 years ago as a loose network of prominent angel investors, raised a $300 million fund in June. That marked the largest in Madrona’s history, and… Read More…

TechStars grad Bizible lands $1.7M to help businesses measure whether ads work

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The rub on the advertising has long been that companies couldn’t really tell what was working and what wasn’t, best symbolized by John Wanamaker’s famous quote: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Bizible, a Seattle startup that recently graduated from the TechStars incubator program, wants to… Read More…

Isilon vets land $24.5M series A for stealthy data storage startup Qumulo

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When we first stumbled on stealthy Qumulo a few months ago, the former Isilon engineers leading the charge at the data storage startup didn’t want to disclose what they were building. Well, fast forward seven months and the crew at Qumulo … still aren’t saying much. But they’ve already convinced some deep-pocketed folks of the… Read More…

Kinect-based medical software startup Jintronix raises cash from Madrona, plans move to Seattle

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Entrepreneur Justin Tan’s business idea was sparked by a very serious situation.  On a flight from New York to Paris, his father, a respected physician, suffered a stroke that paralyzed the right side of his body. Tan believed that technology could help in the rehabilitation efforts, and after researching the issue came up with the… Read More…