NFL quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith are re-upping their investment in Vicis. The Seattle-based high-tech helmet maker expanded its Series B investment round by $1.5 million thanks to more cash from Rodgers and Smith. Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers star, already invested in the round this past November via his venture capital fund Rx3 Ventures. Smith, now with the Washington Redskins, backed the company in 2017. Total funding in Vicis is now more than $85 million. The company, which spun out of the University of Washington in 2014, is known for its $950 ZERO1 football helmet, used by players on nearly all… Read More
At least Russell Wilson can joke about it. With the Super Bowl just a couple days away, the sting for many fans is that their team isn’t playing for the NFL’s biggest prize. For Seahawks fans, the fact that the New England Patriots are there again only adds insult to the 2015 injury, when Wilson and his team came up just short against Tom Brady and company, and were denied a repeat championship. Via videos on his social media accounts, Wilson is pitching an Uber Rewards promotion this week in which members of the ride-hailing service’s loyalty program can get… Read More
Jeff Tran, a former director of sports marketing at Microsoft, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and attempting to steal more than $1.5 million from his former employer using stolen Super Bowl tickets and fake invoices. As part of his job, Tran was in charge of distributing Super Bowl tickets to Microsoft employees. Tran acquired and sold 63 game tickets and 93 tailgate tickets for a $208,200 profit, according to the guilty plea. In one transaction, he pocketed $12,400 after convincing a Microsoft colleague to buy tickets paid for by the company. According to court records, Tran issued two fake invoices worth… Read More
The Seattle Reign FC, the professional women’s soccer club that has played for five seasons at Memorial Stadium, is dropping Seattle from its name and heading south to Tacoma, the team announced Wednesday. The move is turning one Seattle venture capitalist into a minority owner. An open letter to fans and supporters, signed by team owners Bill and Teresa Predmore, said that it is with “great sadness” that the team’s time at the facility at Seattle Center has come to an end and that home matches for the 2019 NWSL season will be played about 35 miles away at Cheney Stadium.… Read More
Brooks Running CEO Jim Weber is reconsidering the company’s presence in China amid an ongoing tariff dispute between the U.S. and China. In an interview with Fox Business News, Weber lamented that “the size of the tariffs in our category are tremendous.” The proposed 25 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of goods from China would bring the total tariff on Brooks Running shoes to 45 percent, Weber said. The Seattle-based company stands to pay tens of millions of dollars if the tariffs are permanently enacted, Weber said. Brooks also manufactures shoes in Taiwan and El Salvador and sells its… Read More
