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Alliance of Angels Names Pacific Bioscience Laboratories As 2006 “Startup of the Year”
SEATTLE, WA – May 15, 2006 — The Alliance of Angels (AoA), the Northwest’s premier angel investment organization, today presented its 2006 “Startup of the Year award to Bellevue, Wash.-based Pacific Bioscience Laboratories, developer of the CLARISONIC™ Skin Care Brush.
The award honors and encourages the entrepreneurial spirit of new businesses in the Pacific Northwest and was presented at the Technology Alliance’s annual State of Technology luncheon.
Pacific Biosciences Laboratories was selected from among six Washington-based finalists including Escapia, provider of Web-based vacation rental management and marketing software; OnRequest Images, which delivers custom stock photography and image management solutions; Redfin, the industry's first online real estate brokerage; ScaleOut Software, developer of scalable data storage software for server farms; and SNAPin, developer of self service customer care software for mobile devices.
“Vision, innovation, and passion are paramount to a startup company’s success and we are proud to have been part of Pacific Bioscience Laboratories’ success,” said Dan Rosen, chairman of the Alliance of Angels and CEO of Dan Rosen & Associates. “This year’s competition was particularly intense, with many exciting and successful startups. Pacific Bioscience Laboratories’ commitment to offering its customers the finest products that incorporated advanced technologies was the edge it needed to win this competitive award.”
To be selected as a finalist, a company had to have presented its business plan to the AoA membership within the last three years, received angel or venture capital funding, made significant and notable high-growth progress based on that funding, and made a positive impact upon the technology economy. The companies chosen as finalists for this year’s award collectively employ more than 150 people in the Northwest, nearly all of them in Washington.
Pacific Bioscience Laboratories was established in 2001 by core team members, managers and a founder of Optiva Corporation, responsible for the Sonicare toothbrush, one of the best selling sonic-based consumer products of all time. The company’s mission is to develop and market technically advanced and clinically proven products that make a clear difference in skin care.
About the Alliance of Angels and the Technology Alliance
The Alliance of Angels is a group of private investors who invest in early-stage technology companies that are based in Washington state or the vicinity. The organization represents the Northwest’s most experienced and best-networked private investors, with expertise in software, hardware, telecommunications, Internet infrastructure, e-commerce, finance and biotech.
The Alliance of Angels is a program of the Technology Alliance, a statewide non-profit organization of leaders from Washington’s diverse technology and related businesses and research institutions dedicated to building and sustaining a vibrant technology-based economy in our state. AoA helps support a vibrant entrepreneurial climate and the growth of new technology companies in our region by facilitating more efficient access to capital, providing web-based resources and producing educational events for investors and entrepreneurs. More information can be found at www.allianceofangels.com and www.technology-alliance.com.