Amazon
Facts
- HQ
- SEATTLE
- Sectors
- E-commerce, Cloud computing, Aerospace/Satellites, Media/Streaming, Advertising, Consumer devices
- Founded
- 1994
- Type
- Corporation Seattle business license
- Employees
- 1600000
- Registered name
- Amazon.Com Inc Seattle business license
- Stage
- Public
Tech pay, cloud trends, Kraken, and self-driving cars with Qumulo CEO Bill Richter
Everyone is closely monitoring the implications of remote work as we emerge from the pandemic, so it's no surprise that one of the most widely read stories on GeekWire this week — right behind the Titanic's disappearing bathtub and Facebook's potential name change — was a story on trends in tech salaries. Two big trends stood out in the report from jobs site Hired: Average tech salaries in Seattle are up 4.6% from last year, to $158,000, second only to the Bay Area, which saw its average dip slightly to $165,000. Nationwide, the average U.S. tech salary fell 1.1% to…
Convoy appoints John Morrow as general counsel effective Nov. 1; ex-AWS VP Steven Shure joins Neeva as chief business officer
Convoy named John Morrow as general counsel effective Nov. 1, following multiple legal leadership departures in 2021; Morrow previously served at Apptio and Paymentus. Separately, former AWS VP Steven Shure joined ad-free search startup Neeva as chief business officer and will remain based in Seattle.
Seattle Average Tech Salary Rises 4.6% to $158,000, Second-Highest U.S. Behind Bay Area
Hired data shows average Seattle tech salaries rose 4.6% year-over-year to $158,000, the second-highest U.S. average behind the Bay Area. The report notes continued strong hiring from Amazon, Microsoft and other firms, high open roles at startups, remote-work-driven shifts in pay, and broad worker interest in new opportunities.
Dance Church raises $4.7M seed to scale Dance Church Go subscription platform, led by MaC Ventures
Seattle-based Dance Church raised $4.7 million in seed funding to expand its Dance Church Go online subscription platform, which offers on-demand classes for $19/month or $199/year and a pay-as-you-go live option. The company, founded by Kate Wallich and recently hiring CEO Clara Siegel, plans to scale after growing to 144,000 online streamers with backing led by MaC Ventures and participation from several Pacific Northwest investors.
Karat raises $110M Series C at $1.1B valuation to scale remote technical interviewing
Karat, a Seattle startup that runs technical interviews through a vetted network of interviewers, raised $110 million in a Series C at a $1.1 billion valuation while more than doubling revenue and customers year-over-year.
Gopuff adds Sanjay Shah, Dan Beranek and Komal Kashiramka to Seattle leadership as company valued at $15B after $1B funding
Gopuff expanded its Seattle leadership team by hiring three executives — Sanjay Shah (SVP North America fulfillment), Dan Beranek (VP product for fresh food) and Komal Kashiramka (director of engineering for Gopuff Kitchen) — after a $1 billion funding round that valued the company at $15 billion. Other regional moves include Vinayak Hegde promoted to president of Wheels Up and FlavorCloud hiring Telved Devlet as VP of customer success and operations.
Game Jolt co-founders Yaprak and David DeCarmine raise $2.6M seed round led by Acequia Capital
Seattle-based Game Jolt, founded by husband-and-wife Yaprak and David DeCarmine, raised a $2.6 million seed round led by Acequia Capital to grow its social platform for Gen Z and Gen Alpha gamers. The platform hosts over 40,000 communities—some with more than 500,000 active members—where users share fan art, gameplay recordings, guides, and reviews.
Esper raises $60M Series C from Insight Partners to scale DevOps platform for company-owned Android device fleets
Seattle-area DevOps startup Esper raised a $60 million Series C led by Insight Partners to grow its platform for managing fleets of company-owned Android devices across retail, healthcare, education and other industries; the company has 200+ customers, raised $30M in May, expects 2021 revenue to quadruple and is not yet profitable.
Ex-Amazon designers Herman Chan and Thomas Duester launch Juno and sell $148 cardboard pop-up bassinet
Two former Amazon industrial designers, Herman Chan and Thomas Duester, launched Juno, a Seattle startup selling a $148 sustainable, cardboard pop-up bassinet for newborns aimed at parents seeking affordable, eco-friendly sleep solutions.
Archera raises $7M Series A to automate AWS and Azure cost optimization, bringing total funding to $10.3M
Seattle startup Archera (formerly Reserved.ai) raised $7 million in a Series A to help AWS, Azure and other cloud customers automate resource management and purchasing; the company reports 150% revenue growth this year and counts customers like Fortive and Guardant Health.
Remitly IPO Marks End of 10-Year Journey for Seed Investor Who Led Early Round and Served on Board
Investor and VC recounts Remitly’s IPO, celebrating the Seattle fintech’s public debut after a decade since he led its Seed round and served on the board, praising the founders’ methodical approach and noting the milestone’s importance to his investing career.
Ed Petersen
Ed Petersen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Wrench, Inc. The company was started with the mission to remove the hassle of vehicle ownership through trust, transparency, and convenience. Wrench operates throughout all 50 states and British Columbia and Ontario, Canada providing maintenance and repair to consumers and enterprises and vehicle inspection services. Ed is a serial entrepreneur, having founded multiple companies, including Intelius, Talentwise, Union-Street.com, LocalMobile, and Pantheon. These companies have provided approximately $1 billion in exits to their collective shareholders. While leading Wrench, he was a 2020 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, and in 2021…
Mystery pivots from surprise dates to ‘morale as a service,’ selling virtual team events to Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks and more
Mystery, a Seattle startup that began by organizing surprise date nights, pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic to virtual events and now markets a B2B employee-engagement product it calls “morale as a service,” attracting clients like Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Apple and Zillow. The company offers six categories of virtual experiences tailored to team types and says it has codified its event design into a tech-centric platform to deliver surprise-driven morale-boosting events.
Former Maveron Investor Jason Stoffer Says He Was Wrong to Pass on Remitly as Company Nears $6.5B IPO
Maveron investor Jason Stoffer passed on investing in Seattle remittance startup Remitly in 2012 due to regulatory and market concerns but now says the company proved him wrong as it prepares a $6.5 billion IPO. Stoffer discusses his analysis of Remitly’s S-1, investing lessons, and related topics on the GeekWire Podcast.
'They proved me wrong.' Investor who passed on Seattle startup analyzes its IPO
Jason Stoffer was still early in his career at venture capital firm Maveron in 2012 when he declined an opportunity to invest in Remitly, then a fledgling Seattle startup with ambitions to challenge Western Union by bringing a tech mindset to the business of international money transfers. He was impressed by Remitly co-founders Matt Oppenheimer and Josh Hug but knew they faced a huge challenge in getting the state-by-state regulatory approval required to make monetary remittances to what was then their initial international market, the Philippines. "It felt like the end vision was powerful — if they can get there,"…
Four High School Interns Analyze GeekWire 200 Rankings with UW Bothell Dean via SparkSIP
Four high school students worked with UW Bothell Business Dean Sandeep Krishnamurthy through the SparkSIP program to analyze the GeekWire 200 startup rankings over a summer, using the April update, past lists and public data. They aimed to apply data analysis to understand factors behind successful Pacific Northwest startups and gain entrepreneurial and regional startup insights.
Remitly Global files for IPO to raise up to $294 million by selling 7 million shares at $42, ticker RELY
Seattle-based Remitly Global filed to go public aiming to raise up to $294 million by selling 7 million shares at up to $42 each, with its board and management planning to sell an additional 5,162,777 shares; the fintech serves predominantly immigrant customers sending money from several developed countries to over 115 destinations.
Chloe Harford Joins Roofstock Board as Kymeta Names Walter Berger and Doug Hutcheson Co-CEOs
Chloe Harford, a former Zillow and OfferUp executive, joined Roofstock's board as the fintech firm continues to expand after acquiring Great Jones and raising $133 million; Kymeta named Walter Berger and Doug Hutcheson co-CEOs and partnered with OneWeb to test mobile satellite broadband. Seattle startups Optimize Health and CityBldr announced leadership moves: Todd Haedrich became Optimize Health CEO, and Convoy CEO Dan Lewis joined CityBldr’s advisory board.
Study Finds Seattle Startup Tasso’s Tasso‑SST Self‑Collection Device Matches Venous COVID‑19 Antibody Results
A study led by Seattle researchers found the Tasso-SST self-administered upper-arm blood collection device produced antibody results nearly identical to venous draws and worked for a high proportion of users, even after simulated 48-hour shipping. The device, made by Seattle startup Tasso, could replace some clinic blood draws for COVID-19 antibody testing.
Cascadia Capital Raises $150M SPAC and Eyes Pittsburgh Tech Acquisition, CEO Calls City 'Seattle 10–15 Years Ago'
Seattle investment bank Cascadia Capital raised $150 million for a SPAC, Cascadia Acquisition Corp., and is targeting a Pittsburgh tech company—citing local strengths in AI, robotics, automation and research from Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh. CEO Michael Butler, who has spent more time in Pittsburgh recently, said the city resembles Seattle 10–15 years ago and is poised for a tech boom.
Opendoor acquires Seattle’s Pro.com and San Francisco’s Skylight, will shut both platforms
Opendoor acquired Seattle-based Pro.com and San Francisco-based Skylight, will discontinue both companies' consumer platforms and integrate their teams and technology into Opendoor’s roadmap; deal terms were not disclosed. The moves give Opendoor a Seattle presence and add home-improvement talent as the iBuyer expands amid increased digital homebuying adoption.
Kymeta and OneWeb Successfully Test u8 Antenna-Based Mobile Satellite Broadband at 200 Mbps Using OneWeb’s LEO Constellation
Kymeta Corp. partnered with OneWeb to test satellite broadband services using Kymeta's u8 flat-panel antenna, achieving promising results for mobile connectivity with OneWeb's LEO satellite network. The tests in Toulouse demonstrated about 200 Mbps reception, targeting first responders, government, military, and enterprise markets.
Pebblebee CEO Daniel Daoura Perseveres After Co-Founder Nick Pearson-Franks Dies in June 2020 ATV Accident
Daniel Daoura, CEO of Pebblebee, continues to push forward at the startup more than a year after the tragic death of his co-founder and close friend Nick Pearson-Franks, who died in an ATV accident in June 2020. Despite the personal and professional challenges, Daoura remains committed to honoring their shared vision and has sought therapy to cope with the loss while relentlessly advancing the company.
Startup secrets; Windows 11 launch; In defense of the Blue Yeti
A global pandemic might seem like the wrong time to pursue a new startup idea, given all the uncertainties, but in many ways, the timing couldn't be better. That's one of the insights from our GeekWire Podcast conversation this week with Seattle-area entrepreneur and investor Shirish Nadkarni, author of the book From Startup to Exit: An Insider’s Guide to Launching and Scaling your Tech Business. The changes in user behavior and tech platform shifts caused by the pandemic dovetail with one of the lessons Nadkarni is hoping to get across to entrepreneurs. "Look for opportunities where there is either some…
Stoke Space builds Moses Lake test site, completes full-scale second-stage demo and hot-fire 'three-pack' in six months
Stoke Space Technologies rapidly built a 2.3-acre liquid-hydrogen/liquid-oxygen test facility in Moses Lake, Washington, and completed a full-scale manufacturing demonstration and hot-fire tests of a second-stage engine ‘three-pack’ in six months. CEO Andy Lapsa says the two-year-old startup is pursuing full second-stage reusability to lower launch costs, taking a different technical approach than SpaceX and Blue Origin.
People
See all 13-
Jamie Siminoff Executive, Vice President
-
Steve Rabuchin Executive, Vice President of Project Kuiper (Amazon Leo)
-
Ben Wild Co-founder of Hubble Network, Former Amazon Product Lead
