Charlotte Schubert
Charlotte Schubert is a GeekWire contributing writer focused on biotech, healthcare, and life sciences; she is a Seattle native with a Ph.D. in developmental biology.
CBRE: U.S. life-sciences VC tops $30B; Seattle-area firms raise $898M amid scarce lab space
A CBRE report shows U.S. life sciences venture funding topped $30 billion for the 12 months ending September 2021, driving strong demand for lab space and record capital raises in Seattle-area companies that pulled in $898 million during that period. Washington state also saw rising life-science employment and multiple biotech IPOs in 2021, including large offerings from Sana Biotechnology, Absci and Icosavax.
Cyrus Biotechnology raises $18M and acquires Orthogonal Biologics, adding COVID-19 decoy therapeutic and deep mutational scanning platform
Seattle protein engineering company Cyrus Biotechnology raised $18 million and acquired Orthogonal Biologics, adding a deep mutational scanning platform and two protein therapeutics including a potential COVID-19 decoy. Cyrus leverages University of Washington IPD tools (Rosetta, RoseTTAfold) and has partnerships including a deal with Selecta Biosciences worth up to $1.5 billion.
Tune Therapeutics launches with $40M to commercialize TEMPO epigenomic platform for tuning gene activity
Tune Therapeutics, a biotech based in Seattle and Durham, N.C., launched with $40 million to develop TEMPO, an epigenomic platform that locates and fine-tunes gene activity to treat rare single-gene disorders and more common conditions. The leadership includes co‑founders Charles Gersbach, Akira Matsuno, and Fyodor Urnov and several veterans of Seattle cell therapy companies.
Upbound raises $60M Series B led by Altimeter; total funding $69M — Klue secures $62M
Seattle-based Upbound raised $60 million in a Series B led by Altimeter Capital to expand its Universal Cloud Platform and Crossplane open-source project for multi-cloud management, bringing total funding to $69 million. Vancouver-based competitive intelligence startup Klue also raised $62 million to aggregate competitor data for enterprise customers.
Madrona and Goldman Sachs Publish Inaugural IA40 of Top 40 Private AI Business-App Startups; Four Seattle Firms Included
Madrona Venture Group and Goldman Sachs released the inaugural Intelligent Applications Top 40 (IA40) list of private companies building business AI applications, based on votes from 40 venture firms plus Amazon and Microsoft and narrowed by 50 judges from over 220 nominees. Four Seattle-area companies — Amperity, OctoML, SeekOut, and one unnamed here — made the list; Amperity recently raised $100 million to reach unicorn status and OctoML raised $85 million.
BrainSpace wins $200,000 from Seattle Angel Conference to advance automated external ventricular drain
BrainSpace won $200,000 from the Seattle Angel Conference to develop an automated external ventricular drain that monitors intracranial pressure; the Bothell startup built a working model with $100,000 in self-funding. Four other finalists — Violett, PetHub, Curie and EarthUP — competed in the conference that trains new accredited angel investors and has invested $4.6 million in 39 startups over ten years.
Washington Dept. of Commerce and Find Ventures launch Equitable Innovations Accelerator offering up to $100,000 grants to 10 Washington startups
The Washington State Department of Commerce and Find Ventures are launching the Equitable Innovations Accelerator to provide up to $100,000 in philanthropic, non-dilutive grants, programming, and mentorship to ten Washington tech startups led by Black, women, refugee, or other historically marginalized founders. The program, supported by private donors and the Washington Technology Industry Association, aims to address disparities in early-stage funding highlighted by low VC investment rates for underrepresented founders.
UW Spinout Somalytics Launches Carbon-Nanotube Paper Sensors to Detect Eye, Hand and Body Movement
Somalytics, a University of Washington spinout, launched with ultrathin flexible sensors made from carbon nanotubes embedded in specialized paper that detect human gestures, eye movement and body signals from up to 20 cm away. Co-founded by UW researchers Jae-Hyun Chung, graduate students Zhongie Qian and Viggy Sak, and led by CEO Barbara Barclay, the company received undisclosed seed funding from IP Group and support from UW’s CoMotion.
Viome raises $54M to develop saliva-based cancer diagnostics and expand microbiome consumer business
Viome Life Sciences raised $54 million to advance cancer diagnostics and support its consumer microbiome testing and customized supplement business, bringing total funding to over $125 million while targeting $100M revenue and one million customers next year.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Pledges up to $90M to Fund Inventprise’s 25-Strain Pediatric Pneumococcal Vaccine Trials
Seattle-area biotech Inventprise will use up to $90 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance a 25-strain pediatric pneumococcal vaccine into phase 1 and 2 human trials, contingent on meeting development and manufacturing milestones.
Truveta launches early health-data platform, signs Ochsner, Saint Luke’s and UnityPoint; funding nears $200M
Seattle startup Truveta launched an early version of its health data platform, added three provider partners and now says it has raised nearly $200 million in funding to aggregate clinical data across systems.
WhyLabs, an AI2 spinout led by CEO Alessya Visnjic, raises $10M and launches AI Observatory to monitor live ML models
WhyLabs, a Seattle startup spun out of AI2 and led by CEO Alessya Visnjic, raised $10 million and launched AI Observatory, a tool to monitor and diagnose live machine-learning models for anomalies and "model meltdowns." The platform offers an open-source library and real-time alerts, positioning WhyLabs as a Datadog-like monitoring service focused on backend ML/AI, and saw adoption by over a dozen organizations in its first week.
Absci opens 77,400 sq ft HQ in Vancouver, Wash., three months after IPO valued company near $2 billion
Absci opened a 77,400 sq ft headquarters with a 9,150 sq ft courtyard in Vancouver, Wash., three months after its IPO that valued the company at nearly $2 billion; Gov. Jay Inslee attended the ribbon-cutting. The 200-employee biotech — founded in 2011 by CEO Sean McClain — provides drug discovery services using in silico models, synthetic biology and recent acquisitions Totient and Denovium to support its platform.
OctoML Raises $85M Series C Led by Tiger Global to Expand ML Partnerships and Engineering Team
OctoML, a University of Washington spinout specializing in machine learning optimization, raised $85 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total to $132 million. The company plans to expand its partnerships with hardware and cloud vendors while nearly tripling its engineering team.
Alexandria Executive Chairman Joel Marcus Says Pandemic Is Shifting Biotech Toward Hubs Like Seattle as Investment Surges
Alexandria Real Estate Equities chairman Joel Marcus says the pandemic is accelerating biotech investment and changing industry geography, reinforcing hubs like Seattle where his company has extensive lab real estate, tenants, and venture investments.
Life Science Washington CEO Leslie Alexandre to retire after leading state’s biotech resurgence as 2021 IPOs raise hundreds of millions
Leslie Alexandre, president and CEO of Life Science Washington, is retiring after five years leading the group during a period of strong growth in Washington state's biotech sector that recovered from a 2016 slump. The region has seen several major biotech IPOs in 2021 (including Sana Biotechnology's $587M, Absci's $200M, and Icosavax's $180M+), growing research strength and recognition as an emerging biotech market.
Immusoft and Takeda partner on B‑cell protein therapies for CNS disorders in deal potentially worth over $900M
Seattle cell therapy startup Immusoft struck a collaboration with Takeda to develop B‑cell–based protein therapies for central nervous system disorders in a deal that could be worth over $900 million. Immusoft will get research funding, an undisclosed upfront payment and option/milestone fees, while Takeda can license preclinical programs and advance products to clinic and commercialization.
Microsoft invests in Seattle startup Truveta and partners to run health-data analyses on Azure
Seattle health-data startup Truveta will use Microsoft Azure under a new partnership and received an undisclosed Microsoft investment; the company aggregates de-identified data from 17 health systems representing about 15% of U.S. patients. Truveta, led by former Microsoft exec Terry Myerson, previously raised $95 million from healthcare partners including Providence and says the data will support research and care decisions, not targeted patient advertising.
Xealth, a Providence Spinout, Raises $24M to Expand Digital Health Platform and Workforce
Seattle-based Xealth, a Providence spinout that helps more than 20 hospital systems prescribe and monitor digital health tools, raised $24 million in new funding to expand its platform and double its 55-person workforce. The company integrates with major electronic health records, licenses its platform to hospital systems, and has onboarded services from over 50 digital health vendors.
Concreit launches app enabling $1 real-estate investments after $6M seed round led by Matrix Partners
Seattle-based Concreit launched a mobile app this week that lets users invest in its real estate fund from as little as $1, backed by a $6 million seed funding round. The fund, co-founded by CEO Sean Hsieh, has an annualized return of 5.47% (July 1, 2020–July 1, 2021) and offers weekly payouts or on-demand withdrawals.
Alpine Immune Sciences raises $91M in private placement led by Frazier to fund ALPN-303 phase 1 and ALPN-202 cancer trials
Alpine Immune Sciences raised about $91 million via a private placement led by Frazier Healthcare Partners to advance ALPN-303 into a phase 1 study for lupus and other inflammatory diseases and to support ongoing cancer trials of ALPN-202, including a combination study with Merck's Keytruda.
Bridgestone leads investment in Wrench, to integrate mobile mechanic platform with 2,200+ Bridgestone Americas stores
Bridgestone led a new investment round in Seattle-based mobile car service Wrench and will partner to integrate Wrench’s mobile mechanics platform with Bridgestone Americas’ network of over 2,200 service stores. Wrench, which operates in 40 metro areas with about 285 employees and has grown through acquisitions like Lemon Squad, Fiix and Octobots, declined to disclose the amount raised.
Edifecs acquires NLP startup Talix to expand value-based care and risk-adjustment capabilities
Bellevue-based health software firm Edifecs has acquired San Francisco startup Talix, which uses natural language processing to mine health data for billing, risk adjustment and care management; terms were not disclosed. The deal expands Edifecs’ value-based care offerings and aims to provide end-to-end risk adjustment from insight to submission.
Seattle-area CaaMTech Raises $22M to Develop Novel Tryptamines, Aiming for Human Testing
Seattle-area startup CaaMTech raised $22 million to develop synthesized tryptamine compounds similar to those in psilocybin and LSD, aiming to create defined formulations that maximize desired psychedelic effects and minimize side effects. The company says many of its novel agents are unscheduled in the U.S., and it plans to advance toward human testing amid growing investment and interest in psychedelics for mental-health treatments.
RareCyte raises $24M to commercialize Orion 21-channel high-speed cell imaging platform
Seattle startup RareCyte raised $24 million to commercialize and expand its Orion high-speed, 21-channel fluorescent cell imaging and analysis platform and other automated biopsy products for researchers and biopharma.
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