Erin Kutz wrote:
As you may have noticed, we here at Xconomy look at startups’ financing as signs of what companies or industries are making a big impact on innovation in the region. Just last week we reported on the major equity investments in Northwest startups in December, tracked by our partner ChubbyBrain, a New York-based information services company tracking VC, angel, and other investments in private companies.
But there’s another subset of startup financings that didn’t make it into that list and are often too small to show up in the breaking news stories on venture funding we typically cover. They’re the under-the-radar deals, which range from $100,000 to $1 million and can include both equity and debt forms of funding.
In December, the Northwest pulled in 11 of these smaller deals, with six that included equity financing and five based in debt. All but one deal went to companies based in Washington, the exception being the $310,000 in debt financing raised by Portland, OR-based CafeGive, a shopping website that allows nonprofits to reap a percentage of online purchases.
While you most likely won’t see us reporting these types of deals right as companies announce them or file with the SEC, we look at the money as valuable sources of insight. Often they signal which new companies are gaining ground, or which industries and sectors angel investors are particularly fond of putting their cash into.
Here’s an example. ChubbyBrain noted the $1 million that Visible Technologies took home in debt-related funding in December, but that was only the beginning. The Bellevue, WA-based company, whose software aims to help companies track social media conversations about their brands, announced in January that they had raised a total of $22 million in Series C funding, a move we covered earlier this month.
As another signal of momentum, one company looks like it has raised more than originally expected. Billing software provider Nirvaha raised $225,000 of a $500,000 equity round, as tracked by ChubbyBrain. But the Seattle company amended its SEC filing earlier this month to show it had raised $570,000 and is targeting $650,000.
Some of the companies on the under-the-radar list are very familiar to us. ChubbyBrain tracked $600,000 that Seattle-based Zulily raised as part of a $4.6 million Series A round, which we reported when the online retailer announced it in December. (The company has officially launched its private-sale site today.)
Last March, we wrote about Bellevue, WA-based Blade Games World when it pulled in $4 million in a first round of venture funding. The electronic games animation company raised another $500,000 in debt financing in December.
Healthcare-IT companies took home a good chunk of the December startup deals in the Northwest. They include an online social media site for doctors, iMedExchange, as well as a medical practice data tracker, Clario Medical Imaging, and electronic medical records company Design Clinicals. Other Internet companies, including a few shopping websites, were also prominent on the list.
See the table below for the full breakdown of under-the-radar debt and equity financing in the Northwest in December:
| Visible Technologies |
Bellevue, WA |
Makers of an RSS feed-based application to help companies monitor social media conversations about their brand |
Debt |
$1,000,000 |
| Evo Landing |
Seattle, WA |
Providers of an online publishing platform for niche websites |
Equity |
$681,452 |
| Clario Medical |
Seattle, WA |
Makes of software that helps medical practices track performance, results, and peer review data |
Debt |
$614,582 |
| Zulily |
Seattle, WA |
Member-based online store with discounted products for moms and kids |
Equity |
$599,999 |
| Blade Games World |
Bellevue, WA |
Modeling, design, and animation firm serving interactive electronic game companies. |
Debt |
$500,000
|
| Design Clinicals |
Seattle, WA |
Healthcare IT company with software for electronic medical records and communication between doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. |
Equity |
$432,299 |
| CafeGive |
Portland, OR |
Website enabling portions of online purchases to go to user-selected charities |
Debt |
$310,000 |
| NexTune |
Redmond, WA |
Commercial music service with remote playlist creation and scheduling for businesses |
Debt |
$250,000 |
| Nirvaha |
Seattle, WA |
Creators of quote and billing software for sales and finance departments |
Equity |
$225,000 |
| Marketsync |
Kirkland, WA |
Developers of software to streamline salesforces’ communication with customers |
Equity |
$216,100 |
| iMedExchange |
Seattle, WA |
Social media website for doctors |
Equity |
$124,000 |
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