Five Internet service providers in the Northwest have merged to become Verio Northwest.

The five are Computech in Spokane, Bellevue-based NorthWestNet, AccessOne of Kirkland, PacificRim Networks of Bellingham, and RAINet of Portland, Ore.

Verio Northwest will be a regional operating company of Verio Inc., a national Internet company. It will target small and mid-sized businesses.

Jeff Presley, acting general manager for Computech, said the merger will not bring any significant changes to the Spokane operation.

The company’s 16 employees will continue to focus on providing Internet services to area clients, he said. Those efforts have been enhanced by an alliance with Washington Water Power Co. and Packet Engines.

The newly formed company’s client base will include firms such as Microsoft, Boeing and Nike, stated an announcement Friday.

In other industry news, Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures, Northwest Ventures Associates and 12 other investors have funded a new Seattle software company focused on interactive broadcasting over the Internet.

Podion Corp.’s flagship product, netPodium, is a broadcasting server that handles creation, delivery and archiving of live, interactive communication over the World Wide Web.

Among the major investors in Podion are Northwest Venture Partners II, L.P., and Inland Northwest Investors, L.P., both partnerships based in Spokane.

Last month the partnerships, which are managed by Tom Simpson and Jean Balek-Miner, invested a total $500,000 in Podion, good for an 11.5 percent stake in the company.

Simpson also joined Podion’s board of directors.

, DataTimes