allen company . for other companies see vulcan disambiguation . vulcan inc. formation 1986 ; 30 years ago 1986 1 founders paul allen jody allen type private purpose philanthropy education entertainment technology investments real estate spaceflight headquarters seattle washington united states area served worldwide owner paul allen key people paul allen founder chairman ceo jody allen co founder barbara bennett president and coo website vulcan.com vulcan inc. is a company founded in 1986 by investor and philanthropist paul allen . the company oversees various business and charitable projects including real estate holdings investments in companies including the seattle seahawks portland trail blazers and seattle sounders franchises first & goal inc. the seattle cinerama theatre emp museum the science fiction museum & hall of fame the allen institute for brain science the allen institute for cell science the allen institute for artificial intelligence and the paul g. allen family foundation . vulcan inc. is headquartered in seattle washington . the name is based on the roman god of fire and not the species from the fictional universe star trek . 2 contents 1 history 2 investments 2.1 vulcan real estate 2.2 vulcan capital 2.3 vulcan sports and entertainment 2.4 vulcan aerospace 3 research 4 museums 5 media and entertainment 6 global citizenship and philanthropy 7 technology ventures 7.1 wireless spectrum 7.2 vulcan flipstart 8 controversy 9 references 10 external links history edit vulcan inc. headquarters in 1986 vulcan northwest was formed to manage the business affairs investments as well as a wide range of corporate and philanthropic operations on behalf of paul allen . initially the company had a pacific northwest focus with headquarters in bellevue washington . 3 in 2001 the company changed its name to vulcan inc. to reflect the company s burgeoning global interests . the company s headquarters have since moved to seattle s international district . investments edit vulcan real estate edit vulcan s real estate division offers development and portfolio management services from site selection and urban planning to build to suit construction leasing and asset repositioning . vulcan has developed 6.6 million square feet of new residential office retail and biotechnology research space and has a total development capacity of 10 000 000 square feet 930 000 m2 . 4 vulcan real estate is known for the redevelopment of the south lake union neighborhood immediately north of downtown seattle and along the south shore of lake union . several innovative companies in technology life sciences global health and business are based in vulcan developed properties . 5 more than 5.7 billion has been invested in the neighborhood since 2002 for development projects and public infrastructure improvements . vulcan advocated for the seattle streetcar line known as south lake union streetcar which runs from seattle s westlake center to the south end of lake union . the streetcar is a public and private partnership created through a local improvement district lid supported by businesses and residents along the line ; the lid provided 50 % of the funding while the remainder came from federal and state sources with no city money used for its development costs . 6 the streetcar officially started operation on december 12 2007 . this development has been criticized as a city supported real estate investment for vulcan inc. 7 and concerns over the loss of low income housing have been expressed . in 2012 the wall street journal called allen s south lake union investment unexpectedly lucrative and one that led to his firm selling a 1 800 000 square feet 170 000 m2 office complex to amazon.com for us 1.16 billion one of the most expensive office deals ever in seattle . 8 it s exceeded my expectations mr. allen said of the south lake union development . in september 2014 vulcan made a commitment to invest 200 million at yesler terrace where it would purchase three land parcels from the seattle housing authority as part of an ambitious redevelopment plan for the 30 acre low income housing site located southeast of downtown seattle . 9 vulcan capital edit formed in 2003 vulcan capital is the multibillion dollar investment arm of vulcan and is headquartered in seattle with an additional office in palo alto . 10 vulcan capital invests in both private and public companies with a focus on making investments of 10 million to 100 million or more in companies mirroring the philanthropic approach of paul allen and vulcan inc. alibaba group charter communications dreamworks magic leap redfin and tri alpha energy inc. are just some of the companies vulcan capital has invested in . vulcan sports and entertainment edit vulcan sports and entertainment vse is responsible for all financial and business operations of allen s sports related properties including the portland trail blazers the seattle seahawks the seattle sounders and the moda center . in the fall of 2012 peter mcloughlin was named ceo of vulcan sports and entertainment after tod leiweke left the post to run the tampa bay lightning . the green sports alliance was conceived and founded by vulcan inc. and the natural resources defense council . inaugural members and partners of the alliance include the seattle seahawks portland trail blazers seattle sounders fc . green sports alliance members have made a commitment to improve their environmental performance ; reducing waste conserving energy and water and eliminating toxic chemicals among many other ongoing initiatives and accomplishments . 11 vulcan aerospace edit launched in 2015 vulcan aerospace was created to help achieve paul allen s desire to make commercial space travel more convenient and less expensive . 12 vulcan aerospace oversees the development of stratolaunch systems project an air launch system capable of transporting payloads to low earth orbit using a large carrier aircraft . 13 initial test flights are projected to take place as early as 2016 . 14 in september 2016 vulcan aerospace president chuck beames left his role and was replaced by an interim executive director jean floyd the ceo of vulcan s stratolaunch systems . 15 research edit allen brain atlas both the allen institute for brain science and the allen institute for artificial intelligence were incubated at vulcan inc. started at vulcan inc. in 2001 the allen brain atlas project sought to understand the connections between genes and brain functioning . from the project s research paul allen created the allen institute for brain science in 2003 with a 100 million donation . project halo came next . the project ran from 2002 to 2013 with the goal of creating a digital aristotle that can correctly answer queries about scientific information using artificial intelligence . the project led to a number of spinoff technologies including the wiki software bundle smw the semantic inferencing on large knowledge silk project 16 and the automated user centered reasoning and acquisition system aura . 17 from project halo s results the allen institute for artificial intelligence was created . 18 museums edit experience music project and science fiction museum and hall of fame flying heritage collection in everett washington living computer museum media and entertainment edit seattle cinerama 19 a downtown seattle theater with all the big screen bells and whistles . remodeled inside and out in 2014 to include digital laser projection and dolby atmos surround sound 3d high frame rate compatibility and the ability to show 35mm and 70mm films . the hospital club in 2002 paul allen reopened the doors of the old st. paul s hospital in london s covent garden neighborhood revealing a new 60 000 square foot creative hub providing a professional and social hub to those working in the film television music advertising contemporary art and design publishing and journalism interactive media theatre and fashion industries . 20 vulcan productions vulcan productions produces films digital programs and outreach initiatives designed to explore critical issues and inspire people to take action . its programs have won numerous awards including the george foster peabody award the emmy award the grammy award and the wildscreen panda award . films and series from the documentary group include racing extinction 2015 ; we the economy 2014 ; years of living dangerously 2014 ; girl rising 2013 ; this emotional life 2010 ; judgment day intelligent design on trial 2007 ; rx for survival a global health challenge 2005 ; no direction home bob dylan 2005 ; strange days on planet earth 2005 ; black sky the race for space and black sky winning the x prize 2004 ; lightning in a bottle 2004 ; the blues 2003 and evolution 2001 . 21 global citizenship and philanthropy edit great elephant census the great elephant census is designed to provide accurate and up to date data about the number and distribution of african elephants by using standardized aerial surveys of thousands of square miles . dozens of researchers flying in small planes will capture comprehensive observational data of elephants and elephant carcasses . in many countries surveys have not been flown in as many as 10 years and without this data it is challenging to assess the current state of elephant populations . additionally the existing data isn t well organized . the resulting database will provide valuable information to governments scientists and ngos so they can make smart decisions on how to manage elephant populations . 22 technology ventures edit vulcan inc. has also directly led some technology projects including the following wireless spectrum edit vulcan spectrum a branch of vulcan inc. participated in the united states 2008 wireless spectrum auction paying 69 million for a block spectrum in the seattle tacoma bremerton area and 43.6 million for a block spectrum in portland salem . 23 vulcan flipstart edit in 2003 vulcan began developing the vulcan flipstart a subnotebook with a 5.6 inch screen . the company began to manufacture and sell the flipstart in march 2007 and ceased production in may 2008 . 24 controversy edit in april 2015 united launch alliance ula named their new launch vehicle vulcan and vulcan aerospace president chuck beames immediately informed ula of vulcan s trademark rights . 25 needs update references edit about vulcan . vulcan.com . retrieved 23 september 2016 . the vulcan story vulcan . vulcan.com . retrieved 23 september 2016 . business paul allen to move headquarters of vulcan northwest downtown seattle times newspaper . nwsource.com . retrieved 23 september 2016 . ifthen.com . about us vulcan real estate . vulcan.com . retrieved 23 september 2016 . nick timiraos . a look at six u.s. cities pioneering new economic zones . wsj . amazon plan adds more streetcar trips . the seattle times . venture capital airplanes ... to antibodies . seattlepi.com . amazon to pay vulcan 1.16 b for headquarters campus in south lake union puget sound business journal . puget sound business journal . 5 october 2012 . vulcan to buy three blocks in yesler terrace . seattle post intelligencer . paul allen s vulcan capital expanding to silicon valley . geekwire.com . 1 april 2013 . retrieved 23 september 2016 . about . greensportsalliance.org . paul allen launches vulcan aerospace to boost private space travel . space.com . retrieved 23 september 2016 . johnsson julie 13 april 2015 . paul allen wants path to space to start on world s biggest plane . retrieved 23 september 2016 via www.bloomberg.com . vulcan aerospace . stratolaunch.com . retrieved 23 september 2016 . internal email paul allen s top space exec chuck beames leaving vulcan aerospace . geekwire.com . 23 september 2016 . retrieved 23 september 2016 . the silk project semantic inferencing on large knowledge . semwebcentral.org . automated user centered reasoning and acquisition system . artificial intelligence center . sri international . retrieved 2013 06 13 . brandom russell 24 october 2013 . paul allen and the machines teaching the next generation of artificial intelligence . theverge.com . retrieved 23 september 2016 . if the new cinerama can t save movie theaters nothing can . the stranger . the hospital