BeatBio gets $2.5M for new ‘super fuel’ that boosts pumping power of heart muscles

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BeatBio, a Seattle life sciences startup led by former Vulcan Capital managing director Michael Kranda and former VieVax CTO Gregory Mahairas, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding from CET Capital Partners, the W Fund and others. The new funds will be used to move the company’s gene therapy product into clinical trials, an experimental… Read More…

Hey, NYC: Thanks for finally recognizing Seattle but your infographic stinks

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The Big Apple versus The Emerald City. Could this be an epic showdown over data geeks? That’s the discussion in a story by New York Times reporter Claire Cain Miller who writes that New York and Seattle are “already sparring over which will be the next hotbed, beyond Silicon Valley, for educating these analysts of the… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Healthentic looks to reduce health care costs using ‘big data’

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Can we make the world healthier with big data? Healthentic thinks so, and the Seattle startup is hoping to reduce health care costs along the way by helping big corporations better analyze health care data of employees. The company’s Wellness Decision Engine allows benefits managers to better analyze insurance claims, and then used that data to create… Read More…

AudienceScience scores cash, names former PopCap exec as CFO

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AudienceScience has raised additional capital and named former PopCap Games executive Bob Chamberlain to the role of chief financial officer. The marketing services company declined to comment on how much cash it raised in the most recent round, but a SEC filing indicates that it has reeled in $9.2 million of a $15 million round…. Read More…

IPO drought continues with 8 venture-backed deals in Q1

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It’s a tough time to take your company public. Just eight venture-backed companies completed IPOs during the first quarter of the year, on par with the previous quarter and down from the double digit numbers of the previous four quarters, according to a report out today by the National Venture Capital Association. Meanwhile, exit value… Read More…

Wal-Mart may reward in-store shoppers for delivering packages to online customers

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Could the Wal-Mart shopper become the next-generation UPS guy or gal? The giant retailer, looking to compete more aggressively with Amazon.com in online retail, is considering a plan in which in-store shoppers could pick up online orders and then deliver them to the nearby homes of those customers who purchased online. The concept, first reported… Read More…

From one teen mogul to another: Advice for Nick D’Aloisio, the 17-year-old kid who just sold his startup to Yahoo

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The tech industry was buzzing this week after Yahoo announced its acquisition of Summly. It wasn’t so much the acquisition itself, but the entrepreneur behind the idea. You see, Summly was founded by 17-year-old British whiz kid Nick D’Aloisio. We liked The New York Times headline the best: “He Has Millions and a New Job… Read More…

Wal-Mart to test new in-store locker service, following in Amazon’s footsteps

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Wal-Mart is looking to turn its huge brick-and-mortar retail footprint into a beneficial asset as it continues to battle against Amazon.com. And it’s latest effort to do so is an area where Amazon has already innovated: physical lockers. Wal-Mart announced at an event in San Bruno, California today that it plans to begin testing a… Read More…

Yes, it really is harder to land that series A round from VCs

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A lot has been made about the so-called “series A crunch” — the idea that it is increasingly challenging for early-stage companies to continue to raise financing as they move beyond the idea stage. That’s always been the case in the startup arena with more carnage in the earliest of stages of development. But a… Read More…

No more coupon clipping: This startup wants to transform how we shop for groceries

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For years, savvy shoppers have turned to the newspaper to find the best deals at the local grocery store. But new technologies are taking a bite out of the printed coupons, and a Kirkland company by the name of Visible Brands wants to accelerate that trend. The company is developing a new digital coupon system,… Read More…