WASHINGTON STATE

The company’s Cosmopolis pulp mill is scheduled to close some time in 2006, displacing 245 workers. Gov. Christine Gregoire, legislators and local leaders are trying to find a buyer.

"It’s a testament that there’s better entrepreneurs and better companies and better angels more willing to make investments."

Total financing in the privately held company now stands at more than $70 million. Investors include Mayfield, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Integral Capital Partners, Second Avenue Partners and others.

Instead of manually scanning barcodes, as retailers do today, the technology allows a pallet of boxes bearing RFID chips to pass through a warehouse reader to instantly reveal content information.

The bet is paying off.

Light Sciences Oncology will use the money to initiate Phase III clinical trials for brain cancer and colorectal cancer that spreads to the liver.

Big Fish was the second-fastest-growing online gaming site in the United States in October, and its 2.4 million unique visitors for the month put it in the top 10 of all gaming sites, according to ComScore Media Metrix.

The company, based near Spokane, is building systems that help phone and cable carriers upgrade their copper-based telecommunications networks to ones that use fiber optics and Ethernet software.

"As an ex dot com entrepreneur, I wonder if the Internet world will ever get away from catchy labels and buzzwords. I cringe at Web 2.0 as it brings back the bad memories of the dot com era."

That lesson and an invitation from Buffett to attend Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting in Omaha, Neb., have stayed with the two and underscores their new venture: creating interactive shopping-mall kiosks.

The latest buzzword in the technology industry can be a little tough to define. Interactive Web sites that tap the knowledge of users? Collaborative technologies for small teams? Software delivered over the Internet as a service?