Seattle biotech startup led by Fred Hutch, Adaptive vets raises $16M for rapid drug development tech

Lumen Chief Science Officer Jim Roberts (left) and CEO Brian Finrow. (Lumen Photo)

Lumen Bioscience today announced a $16 million Series B round to help support its novel approach to rapid and low-cost drug development.

The company has come up with a way to produce orally-delivered antibodies and other biologics by using a bioengineered bright green algae called Spirulina. It has three clinical programs to treat gastrointestinal diseases including C. difficile, norovirus, and traveler’s diarrhea.

Lumen CEO Brian Finrow said the company’s technology lowers the cost of biologic drugs by a factor of 1,000 or more.

“With traditional technologies there’s nowhere near enough manufacturing capacity in the world to treat and prevent these diseases in this way, but Lumen’s technology makes it feasible,” he said.

Lumen is led by Finrow, a former senior vice president at Adaptive Biotechnologies, and Chief Science Officer Jim Roberts, the former head of basic sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute. They co-founded the startup in 2017.

The 50-person company has several collaborations with organizations such as the Gates Foundation, NIH, NIAID, Fred Hutch, and others. It is currently working with the Gates Foundation to develop infectious disease drugs alongside fellow Seattle startup A-Alpha Bio.

WestRiver Management and Bioeconomy Capital led the round. Avista Development, Columbia Pacific, and local angels also participated, along with the co-founders. Total funding to date is $68 million.

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Halo Infinite delayed to 2021 due to development challenges

Halo fans will have to wait until next year to play the latest installment in the storied franchise.

Halo Infinite will be delayed until 2021, Microsoft-owned developer 343 Industries announced today, citing development challenges including COVID-related impacts.

“I want to acknowledge the hard work from our team at 343 Industries, who have remained committed to making a great game and finding solutions to development challenges,” Chris Lee, studio head for Halo Infinite, said in a statement. “However, it is not sustainable for the well-being of our team or the overall success of the game to ship it this holiday.”

Halo Infinite Development Update pic.twitter.com/TFZvXhRN9f

— Halo (@Halo) August 11, 2020

Halo Infinite was one the high-profile titles set to launch with Microsoft’s new console, the Xbox Series X, which is still on schedule to debut in November, The Verge reported.

Microsoft showed off the game last month in a preview. Developers described Infinite as not simply a sequel, but as a “spiritual reboot” to the series, and a platform that 343 can use to keep building on the Halo universe.

Halo has been a tentpole franchise for the Xbox line of consoles for almost 20 years, dating back to the original game in 2001. Originally developed by the Bellevue, Wash.-based studio Bungie, Halo was regarded as the “killer app” for the original Xbox, and the games in the franchise are a significant driver of the Xbox’s overall success as a platform.

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Bungie vets raise $9M for VR game studio Polyarc to pursue augmented reality development

Polyarc co-founders, from left to right: Tam Armstrong, Danny Bulla, and Chris Alderson. (Polyarc Photo)

Virtual and augmented reality have yet to catch on with mainstream consumers, but investors are still betting on the immersive technology.

Seattle startup Polyarc raised a $9 million Series B round led by Hiro Capital, with participation from Vulcan Capital and Galaxy Interactive.

Founded in 2015 by veterans of Bungie, Polyarc is the developer behind Moss, a popular virtual reality game that debuted two years ago.

Now Polyarc plans to add augmented reality as a core competency within its studio.

“The pillars of Polyarc’s development in VR are physical interaction, emotional feedback, and suspension of disbelief through immersion,” said Tam Armstrong, co-founder and CEO. “We anticipate that our pillars of AR development will be physical interaction, emotional feedback, and suspension of disbelief through object persistence. Experiencing the feeling that a character is a living being in our own world — not just in another world somewhere else — will be a powerful experience for players.”

Various startups in the mixed reality industry have struggled in recent years as the technology has yet to catch on as many anticipated. Fellow Seattle-area companies including Vreal and Pixvana have either shut down or pivoted over the past year.

Armstrong is still bullish about VR and AR, citing advances in hardware development such as untethered devices. He said the hype was warranted but the rate of adoption got a bit ahead of itself.

“We are collectively contributing to a new form of computing, and it takes time to build a full stack that results in a good user experience,” Armstrong said. “As the industry grows, we scope our projects and grow the company carefully in step.”

He said AR will draw in even more users because it superimposes interactions on the real world and opens up opportunities for other applications outside of games.

Polyarc is focused on using the “fully-tracked” medium to create new ways for gamers to connect with characters.

“We are a step closer to seeing games that make real the dreams we had playing with toys as kids,” Armstrong said.

One trend going in Polyarc’s favor is the increase in video game engagement amid the pandemic, which is driving gaming adoption in the U.S.

Armstrong spent more than six years at Bungie, where he led an animation engineering team that developed the hugely-popular Destiny game. He also worked on the engineering team that developed Halo: Reach.

Armstrong founded Polyarc with Danny Bulla and Chris Alderson. Bulla is another Bungie veteran, spending nearly four years as a senior gameplay designer on Destiny. He previously worked at Rockstar Games and Midway. Bulla and Armstrong also both spent two months as prototype consultants for Oculus. Alderson spent seven years at Bungie from 2008 to 2015 as a character art lead, working on both Destiny and Halo titles.

The funding will allow Polyarc to work on multiple projects at once, Armstrong said, including additional VR titles. The 27-person company last raised cash in 2016.

Ian Livingstone, a founding partner of Hiro Capital, will join the Polyarc board as a result of the fresh funding.

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Bungie vets raise $9M for VR game studio Polyarc to pursue augmented reality development

Polyarc co-founders, from left to right: Tam Armstrong, Danny Bulla, and Chris Alderson. (Polyarc Photo)

Virtual and augmented reality have yet to catch on with mainstream consumers, but investors are still betting on the immersive technology.

Seattle startup Polyarc raised a $9 million Series B round led by Hiro Capital, with participation from Vulcan Capital and Galaxy Interactive.

Founded in 2015 by veterans of Bungie, Polyarc is the developer behind Moss, a popular virtual reality game that debuted two years ago.

Now Polyarc plans to add augmented reality as a core competency within its studio.

“The pillars of Polyarc’s development in VR are physical interaction, emotional feedback, and suspension of disbelief through immersion,” said Tam Armstrong, co-founder and CEO. “We anticipate that our pillars of AR development will be physical interaction, emotional feedback, and suspension of disbelief through object persistence. Experiencing the feeling that a character is a living being in our own world — not just in another world somewhere else — will be a powerful experience for players.”

Various startups in the mixed reality industry have struggled in recent years as the technology has yet to catch on as many anticipated. Fellow Seattle-area companies including Vreal and Pixvana have either shut down or pivoted over the past year.

Armstrong is still bullish about VR and AR, citing advances in hardware development such as untethered devices. He said the hype was warranted but the rate of adoption got a bit ahead of itself.

“We are collectively contributing to a new form of computing, and it takes time to build a full stack that results in a good user experience,” Armstrong said. “As the industry grows, we scope our projects and grow the company carefully in step.”

He said AR will draw in even more users because it superimposes interactions on the real world and opens up opportunities for other applications outside of games.

Polyarc is focused on using the “fully-tracked” medium to create new ways for gamers to connect with characters.

“We are a step closer to seeing games that make real the dreams we had playing with toys as kids,” Armstrong said.

One trend going in Polyarc’s favor is the increase in video game engagement amid the pandemic, which is driving gaming adoption in the U.S.

Armstrong spent more than six years at Bungie, where he led an animation engineering team that developed the hugely-popular Destiny game. He also worked on the engineering team that developed Halo: Reach.

Armstrong founded Polyarc with Danny Bulla and Chris Alderson. Bulla is another Bungie veteran, spending nearly four years as a senior gameplay designer on Destiny. He previously worked at Rockstar Games and Midway. Bulla and Armstrong also both spent two months as prototype consultants for Oculus. Alderson spent seven years at Bungie from 2008 to 2015 as a character art lead, working on both Destiny and Halo titles.

The funding will allow Polyarc to work on multiple projects at once, Armstrong said, including additional VR titles. The 27-person company last raised cash in 2016.

Ian Livingstone, a founding partner of Hiro Capital, will join the Polyarc board as a result of the fresh funding.

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Amazon rolls out new Alexa development features to expand capabilities of voice tech interactions

(GeekWire File Photo)

Amazon announced 31 new features for its Alexa voice platform, aiming to help developers increase usage and engagement of their voice-enabled apps and experiences.

The new capabilities, unveiled Wednesday at Amazon’s Alexa Live event, come as Alexa usage has spiked during the pandemic with people spending more time at home. Engagement with Alexa skills has nearly doubled over the last year.

“With these new features, you can create natural and conversational experiences that allow customers to interact with your skill in an unconstrained way, while freeing you to focus on the highest value parts of your experience,” Amazon wrote in a blog post.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the Alexa Skills Kit features:

Amazon says it is adopting deep neural networks to improve Alexa’s natural language understanding of individual words and sentences. It is applying deep learning for Alexa Conversations, a new dialogue manager that aims to make it easier for developers to design voice apps without worrying about specific command phrases or the order.APL for Audio offers a faster way to mix speech, sound effects, music, and other audio.Web API for Games helps developers build voice-controlled gaming experiences for the Echo Show and some Fire TV devices.Skill Resumption lets customers return to a skill after doing another task or a long pause. It enables Uber’s voice app, for example, to let a user know their car has arrived after booking a ride.Alexa for Apps makes it easier for developers to “deep link” mobile customers via an app or website. For example, customers can soon ask, “Alexa, ask TikTok to start my recording,” or, “Alexa, ask Twitter to search for #AlexaLive,” and the content will show up on their phone.Discoverability can be a roadblock for voice developers, so Amazon is rolling out Quick Links for Alexa, which adds a link from a mobile app, website, or online ad that launches a voice skill. Amazon also added the name-free interactions toolkit, which lets developers add five suggested launch phrases or “signals” that can surface a given skill.

Amazon still leads the voice industry but Google and Sonos are cutting into its market share, according to January data from Voicebot.

Amazon earlier this month added hands-free activation to its Alexa apps for iOS and Android, giving users the option to say “Alexa” aloud rather than pressing the button inside the app before giving the voice assistant a command or asking a question.

Check out more info on Amazon’s developer site.

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