Ignition backs Adam Bosworth's stealthy health startup: Keas |
Register here for our next TechFlash Live networking event, March 23, featuring an expert panel discussing the future of online advertising.
Ignition backs Adam Bosworth's stealthy health startup: Keas
Brad Silverberg and Adam Bosworth have known one another for a long, long time, stretching back to the days of Borland Software in the mid-1980s. Now, more than two decades later, the two technology executives are working closely together on a stealthy consumer health startup called Keas, Inc.
Ignition Partners -- the Bellevue venture capital firm that Silverberg co-founded after leaving Microsoft -- invested an undisclosed amount in the San Francisco startup along with Atlas Venture last year. You wouldn't know it from Ignition's Web site, which makes no mention of Keas.
I only discovered the information after a tiny nugget appeared in a blog on The Wall Street Journal.
In an email to TechFlash, Silverberg confirmed the investment and his role on the board. But he declined to offer any more details on the startup, which was formed after Bosworth left his executive post at Google nearly two years ago.
At the time of Bosworth's departure, I wondered if he might be jumping back into the startup game. (He previously co-founded Redmond-based Crossgain, which is best known as the company that Microsoft tried to torpedo when it accused several of the employees of violating their non-compete agreements at the software giant.)
After some legal wrangling, Crossgain was sold to BEA in 2001. He later took a job leading Google's online health efforts.
When Bosworth left that job to pursue "new opportunities," I noted that Silverberg would be a natural partner.
"I think the world of Adam," Silverberg told me at the time.
There are some other big names helping out Keas, namely Salesforce.com Marc Benioff and journalist Esther Dyson who are serving as advisors.
So, what's Keas all about?
Bosworth's most recent blog post offers some clues.
About John Cook
John Cook is co-founder and executive editor of TechFlash. He has been covering the technology beat for nearly a decade, writing about startups, entrepreneurs and venture capital, most recently serving as a reporter/blogger at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
READ FULL BIOGRAPHYRecent Sponsor Posts
Seattle University Software Engineering
Chinwe Okeke (MSE’08) pursued her graduate degree while working as a developer and technical analyst for the Boeing Company. She picked the SU-MSE program for small class sizes and real world learning opportunities offered through the academic service-learning and capstone projects.
The MSE program at Seattle University is geared for working professionals with classes offered in the evenings. The program builds upon the computing experience of its students and offers courses in a variety of technical and management areas of software engineering, with an emphasis on teamwork and a disciplined approach to problem solving.
Marchex is one of Seattle’s largest ad technology companies with 300+ employees providing call and click based performance marketing products, and managing over $100m in ad budget for tens of thousands of advertisers. Our customers range from local businesses to the Fortune 500.
Our talented and creative product engineering group is hiring.
If you are an innovative software design engineer interested in solving difficult problems at scale, across a wide array of technologies from Lucene to Hadoop to Asterisk and SIP then we’d love to hear from you!
Apply now.
Technology Tax Planning – Did You Take The Deduction?
Technology companies require professional advisors who can assist in all aspects of the business. The BDO Technology Practice provides a full range of services tailored to help address the changing needs of domestic and international companies. In addition to core audit and tax services, BDO professionals can assist technology companies with:
· Revenue recognition
· Business combination accounting
· R&D tax credits
· Compensation and benefits
· Business valuations
Backed by 38 national offices and an international network in 110 countries, we have the domestic and global footprint to serve growing technology companies. Contact sphilpott@bdo.com (audit partner), mreeves@bdo.com (audit partner), psmith@bdo.com (tax partner), tzambito@bdovaluation.us.com (valuation), tfiscus@bdo.com, Director, 206.624.2020
Job Listings
- LEAD SDET, Mobile Device Strategy and Commercialization - 705105
- Microsoft Corporation
- Sr. SDE - 712257
- Microsoft Corporation
- Principal SDE - Software Development Engineer - External - 704722
- Microsoft Corporation
- Software Development Engineer - Display Advertising
- Business Services Company
- Principal IT / OPS Program Mgr - 711209
- Microsoft Corporation
