Seattle-based 'big data' shopping startup Decide.com today announced that it closed on an $8 million Series C funding round, led by Vulcan Capital. Also participating in the third round are current investors Maveron and Madrona Venture Group.

This brings Decide.com's total amount raised to $17 million and makes Decide.com the highest funded 'big data' shopping startup to-date. The company's technology uses 230 terabytes of data to show consumers the highest rated products on the market as well as the future price of 1.6 million products sold across every major retailer in the U.S. The investment will not only allow the company to expand to cover all e-commerce categories over the coming weeks, but also to hire additional technical talent and expand its data-driven product team.

Decide.com this month also grows its board of directors to include two new members: Steve Hall, from Vulcan Capital and Dawn Lepore, formerly CEO of Drugstore.com.

"In the increasingly complex world of shopping, Decide is becoming the one place consumers can trust for unbiased, data-driven advice about what to buy and when to buy it," said Decide.com CEO, Mike Fridgen. "We are thrilled to welcome Dawn Lepore and Steve Hall to our board of directors and team."

"Vulcan is excited to join Decide.com as an investor," said Steve Hall who heads early stage venture capital investing at Vulcan Capital. "We believe Decide.com's Big Data approach to monitoring and analyzing product price volatility is poised to disrupt the e-commerce market and deliver huge value to consumers."

Lepore is the former CEO of Drugstore.com, Inc. She was on the Board of Directors for eBay Inc., Walmart, and The New York Times Company, and she currently serves on the boards of AOL Inc, Coupons.com and Limos.com. Lepore ranked as one of Fortune Magazine's 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business four years in a row.

Hall and Lepore join the current roster of Seattle entrepreneurs on the Decide.com board, which includes Dan Levitan from Maveron, Greg Gottesman from Madrona Venture Group, Oren Etzioni, Computer Science Professor and co-founder of Decide.com, Mike Fridgen, CEO of Decide.com and Hugh Crean, former CEO of Farecast.

About Decide
Backed by early investors in Amazon, Google and eBay, Decide is a team of Seattle data scientists committed to helping consumers easily find the highest rated products and the best times to buy based on billions of data points from across the Web. Since launch in June 2011, Decide's price predictions have been 80 percent accurate and have helped uncover $200 million in savings.

The company was co-founded by Internet search pioneer Prof. Oren Etzioni, founder of Farecast, the travel price predictor, and Netbot, the web's first comparison-shopping engine. The Seattle-based company has raised $17M in venture capital.

About Vulcan Capital
Vulcan Capital is a leading private investment firm that creates long-term value by applying extensive industry knowledge, operational expertise and flexible financial resources to attractive investment opportunities.

The firm invests across all stages of corporate development through leveraged buyouts, growth capital, distressed/turnaround, and early-stage venture capital as well as public equity value investing. The firm's portfolio spans a range of industry sectors, including media and communications, energy and natural resources, financial and information services, technology, and life sciences.

Vulcan Capital was formed in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The firm serves as the investment arm of Vulcan Inc., founded by Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.