Bobber Interactive raises cash to help young adults manage money via Facebook

The Bobber Interactive team in Seattle

Bobber Interactive, a Seattle startup that uses motivational psychology and game-based mechanics to help young adults manage their money, has raised $1.4 million from PEAK 6 Investments and Dove Capital Partners. A filing with the SEC earlier this year indicated that the company had raised $1.1 million of a $2 million round, and we’re following up… Read More…

Seattle geek’s frustrating quest for family health coverage sparks PickHealthInsurance

Adam Doppelt

Like most entrepreneurs, Adam Doppelt recently faced the mind-numbing task of trying to track down a health care plan that would cover him and his family. “Things crystallized for me when I almost bought a plan that claimed to cover maternity, only to discover late in the game that it had a separate $20,000 maternity deductible. What a… Read More…

Amazon testing tablet-friendly redesign of its flagship site

amznscreens

Amazon.com confirmed to the Wall Street Journal over the weekend that it’s testing a redesign of its website, with a cleaner look, a larger search box, more white space and a new emphasis on digital content. Yes, it’s hard to view this as anything but preparation for the forthcoming launch of Amazon’s Kindle tablet —… Read More…

City of Seattle’s site named ‘Best of the Web’ for U.S. cities

seattlegovs

The city of Seattle’s overhauled website, seattle.gov, was named the top city government web portal in the country today in the Center for Digital Government’s annual Best of the Web awards. Previous versions of Seattle’s site won the award in 2000 and 2006. Seattle’s data portal, data.seattle.gov, separately won a Digital Government Achievement Award from the… Read More…

Ex-Jobster staffers bake new startup: MyFaveRecipes.com

anderson-christian1

We must really like to eat in Seattle. Over the years, I’ve chronicled a number of online recipe and food sites that got their start here, from AllRecipes.com to BigOven to Foodista to RecipeZaar. So, it shouldn’t surprise that yet another upstart rooted right here in the Pacific Northwest is looking to take a bite… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Infactio.us spreads Web content like a virus

infactious

Infactio.us founders Loyd Zhao and Shek Ho want to turn digital content into a virus of sorts, helping to spread it from person to person in a quick and seamless manner. “Content discovery is an old problem, but we feel that current solutions are inefficient, and share some fundamental flaws,” explain the founders. We chatted with… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Earn rewards for exercising with Earndit

Anders Moran

Sometimes it can be a little tough to motivate yourself to go for a jog, paddle or bike ride. That’s where Earndit steps in. The 16-month-old startup, led by Harry Kautzman II and Andres Moran, integrates with exercising applications and creates an award system for users. Just this month, the startup rolled out a new feature… Read More…

Gilt City arrives in Seattle, offers deals on spas, meals and movies

giltcity1

Get ready shoppers. Gilt Groupe today is launching its Gilt City private sale service in Seattle, one of four new cities that the luxury online retailer is setting up in the U.S. With the launch, Gilt City is now available in 10 cities including Atlanta, New York, San Francisco and L.A. Gilt City is starting… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Livemocha lands $5 million, tops 10 million members

schutzler2

Livemocha’s online community of language learners continues to spread worldwide. And now the four-year-old company — founded by former Microsoftie Shirish Nadkarni and led by CEO Michael Schutzler — has received some additional rocket fuel to propel the rival to Rosetta Stone forward. LiveMocha has landed an additional $5 million, money which comes on top… Read More…

As Spotify plots U.S. invasion, Rhapsody fires some shots of its own and touts growth

spotify11

It seems like years since Spotify first discussed plans to come to the U.S. Now, word is that the highly-touted European music subscription service is set to arrive on American shores some time this week. But Rhapsody doesn’t want you to forget a home-grown service that’s been kicking it in the U.S. for more than… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: KickoffLabs adds accelerant to entrepreneurial ventures

Josh Ledgard

Sometimes it is just a little tough to make the entrepreneurial leap. KickoffLabs wants to helps those dabbling on the edge take the full plunge. “Our goal is to make it easier for individuals to take those first steps towards independence by validating their ideas and making those first customer connections,” says co-founder Josh Ledgard,… Read More…

PayScale lands $7 million for online salary service

payscale111

PayScale, the Seattle online salary comparison site, has scored an additional $7 million in venture capital financing in a deal led by SAP Ventures. Past backers of the company — including Fluke Venture Partners, Madrona Venture Group, Montlake Capital and Trinity Ventures — also participated. The new capital infusion will go to sales and marketing efforts… Read More…

Bellevue high school grads raise $25 million for online slideshow maker Animoto

animoto-cash

Animoto may be based in New York. But the startup, which is announcing $25 million in venture capital today, certainly has roots in the Pacific Northwest. The company’s four co-founders, Brad Jefferson, Jason Hsiao, Stevie Clifton and Tom Clifton, graduated from Bellevue High School in the 1990s. And its early investors include Madrona Venture Group and… Read More…

Startup unveils PlayLater, a DVR for Netflix, YouTube and other online video

playlater2

MediaMall Technologies has begun testing a new service called PlayLater, which it is touting as the world’s first digital video recorder for online video. The company, with offices in Seattle and New York, says that the service is designed to allow users to record TV shows, movies and sporting events from various online channels such… Read More…

Ex-Google engineer’s epiphany: A digital Bible for the Facebook generation

oobible11

The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. But it hasn’t changed much since the advent of the printing press. Colin Wong is hoping to change that with the introduction of ooBible, a new digital Bible website designed to transform the reading of the scripture into a new type of social media experience. ooBible is… Read More…

Hark brings images to famous movie quotes, continues to build audio clip library

hark

Hark, the Seattle startup formerly known as Entertonement, is expanding its library of audio clips to incorporate images from famous movie clips. The company also is rolling out a new way for users to quickly browse through special collections from one movie, say for example favorite lines from Glengarry Glen Ross. Dubbed Hark Curated Collections,… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: MangoSpring looks to undercut Yammer, alter social networking for businesses

anup1

You may have heard of Yammer, which allows co-workers to share documents, instant message and manage tasks in a protected online environment. Now, Bellevue’s MangoSpring is looking to take a bite out of its San Francisco rival with a new release this week of its social collaboration service which it says is cheaper and more… Read More…

Cheezburger tops startup list as fast-climber ClassifiedAds debuts at No. 5

cheezburger

Cheezburger remains the top dog (or should we say cat) on top of the Seattle Startup Index, the monthly ranking of the biggest Internet startups in the Seattle area based on Web traffic. But there are some new companies emerging on the scene, including Zulily and ClassifiedAds.com. Here’s a look at the top 25 in… Read More…

Votocracy looks to shake-up 2012 presidential race, recruits Average Joes to campaign online

votocracy22

Think you’re better equipped to run for president than Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney or Barack Obama? If so, Votocracy wants to give you a shot at the White House. The Seattle startup, led by former Microsoft vice president Bryan Lee and former HomeGrocer.com CEO Terry Drayton, has developed a new social media platform where any… Read More…

Report: Americans now spend an average of 6.3 hours per month on Facebook

timespent

The way people spend their time online is changing with the rise of social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. That’s the latest from comScore, which just released a report indicating that Americans are spending more of their time on social networking sites. In 2007, comScore found that social networking — whether… Read More…