Three Pacific Northwest companies secure venture capital

Bellevue-based HouseValues plans to announce today that it has secured $14.4 million in venture capital.

It is one of three local companies that recently raised millions more in subsequent rounds of funding.

By Tricia Duryee
Times Eastside business reporter

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001933711_venture20.html

Seattle-based kitchen-store chain Sur la Table raised $9 million, company officials said yesterday. Bellevue-based Intelligent Results, which analyzes large amounts of data to help businesses predict customer behavior in such areas as debt collection, raised $8 million, the company said yesterday.

HouseValues helps real-estate agents connect with people who are selling or buying homes by providing relationship-management software, lead-generation services, coaching and training.

William Blair Capital Partners VII made the most recent investment in HouseValues. The company was previously funded in part by a group of investors called Second Avenue Partners in Seattle.

"There’s been a lot of investor interest for a couple years now," Chief Executive Ian Morris said. "We’ve had no issues with people looking at HouseValues. They’ve always wanted to be a part of it."

Morris declined to say how much the company had raised in the past or what the money would be used for, but he said the company was seeing tremendous growth.

Last year, the company had $25 million in revenue, and it could hit $45 million this year, Morris said. The number of subscribers is growing, too. Last year, it had 4,000. This year, it has 10,000.

"We all feel very good about the state of the business," Morris said.

The company employs 180 and could grow to 200 by the end of the year.

Bob Blank, managing director of William Blair Capital Partners, will join the board.

Sur la Table says the $9 million, all from previous investors, will help the company expand into new markets. It has 39 U.S. stores and plans to open 14 more this year.

Intelligent Results raised the $8 million in its second round of funding. Previous investors Menlo Ventures, Ignition Partners and OVP Venture Partners all participated. It has raised a total of $22 million.

Part of the money will be used to hire sales, marketing and product-development employees to help meet increasing demand for the company’s products. It has 40 employees.

Tricia Duryee: 206-464-3283 or [email protected]

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