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
Founders’ Co-op raises $50M fifth fund to back 20–25 Pacific Northwest early-stage startups
Seattle venture firm Founders’ Co-op raised a $50 million fifth fund, its largest to date, to invest in 20–25 early-stage startups across the Pacific Northwest. The larger fund reflects growing deal sizes and outside LP interest as the region sees record startup funding and more unicorns.
Former Amazon executive Jeff Blackburn joins Bessemer Venture Partners as partner, staying in Seattle
Longtime Amazon executive Jeff Blackburn left Amazon and has joined Bessemer Venture Partners as one of five new partners; he will focus on early- and late-stage customer-focused companies and remain based in Seattle. Bessemer also announced it raised $3.3 billion across two new funds and has a history of backing major startups.
Boundless lays off 4, asks 27 employees to relocate to Las Vegas after $7.5M raise and RapidVisa acquisition
Seattle-based immigration startup Boundless cut four jobs and asked 27 customer-support employees to relocate to Las Vegas after raising $7.5 million and acquiring RapidVisa, consolidating support to the acquired companys Las Vegas center as part of a restructuring.
SoundCommerce raises $15M Series A to centralize retailers' data into Snowflake or BigQuery
Seattle startup SoundCommerce raised $15 million in a Series A to help online retailers centralize commerce data into Snowflake or BigQuery warehouses and gain analytics for profitability, forecasting, logistics and inventory. CEO Eric Best says the product integrates with platforms like Amazon, Shopify and Magento to help brands scale back-office operations and "think and act like Amazon."
Wyze names former Nike exec Francis Lee as first CFO; OutSystems raises $150M at $9.5B valuation as CMO relocates to Seattle
Wyze Labs named longtime Nike executive Francis Lee as its first CFO as the Kirkland smart-home startup expands after a Series A; OutSystems closed a $150M funding round valuing it at $9.5B while moving CMO Robson Grieve to Seattle. Additional regional moves include Lisa Nelson joining Flying Fish Partners as a venture partner and Apptio naming Kevin Meeks chief customer officer.
Madison McIlwain, daughter of Madrona’s Matt McIlwain, becomes associate at Defy and pursues fashion, e-commerce investing
Madison McIlwain, daughter of Madrona Venture Group managing director Matt McIlwain, followed her father's path into venture capital and is now an associate at early-stage VC Defy, bringing interests in fashion, e-commerce and the consumer supply chain. The article profiles how growing up with dinner-table discussions about startups shaped her approach to investing and highlights Defy’s co-investments with Madrona in Seattle companies like Nautilus Biotechnology and WhyLabs.
Fourteen U.S. health systems form Seattle startup Truveta to pool de-identified data for AI-driven research
Fourteen U.S. health systems representing tens of millions of patients across 40 states formed Seattle startup Truveta to pool de-identified patient data and use AI to search for medical breakthroughs and detect healthcare inequities. Led by CEO Terry Myerson and governed by the participating systems, Truveta has 53 employees and says it will enable more statistically representative research populations while protecting patient privacy.
Fabric raises $43M Series A from Norwest to sell headless commerce platform to mid-market retailers
Seattle-area e-commerce startup Fabric raised $43 million in a Series A led by Norwest Venture Partners to help mid-market retailers build modular, headless commerce systems and compete with Amazon amid a pandemic-driven online shopping surge. Founded by Faisal Masud, Fabric offers commerce APIs used by brands like GNC and Juicy Couture and had raised $9.5 million in seed funding five months earlier.
Fabric announces $43 million Series A led by Norwest Venture Partners to scale its headless commerce platform
Fabric, a headless commerce platform, announced a $43 million Series A funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners on February 9, 2021 to scale its platform; the company is led by former Amazon, Google, eBay and Staples executives and counts brands like GNC, abc carpet & home and Juicy Couture as customers.
Porch airs surprise 30-second Super Bowl ad in Seattle area after 2020 SPAC IPO that raised $322M
Seattle-based home-services software company Porch aired a surprise 30-second Super Bowl ad in the extended Seattle area after going public via a SPAC in late 2020, having raised over $322 million and completed multiple acquisitions while reporting a 2020 net loss of $53–55 million.
Nautilus Biotechnology to go public via Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp III SPAC, raising $350M at $900M valuation
Nautilus Biotechnology, a Seattle proteomics startup led by Sujal Patel and Parag Mallick, will go public via a SPAC merger with Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp III, raising about $350 million and valuing the company at $900 million. The deal includes a $150 million SPAC component and a $200 million PIPE, expects to close in Q2, and the combined company will trade on Nasdaq as NAUT.
Advancing Women in Product partners with Madrona Venture Group to expand female founder training and access to capital
Advancing Women in Product (AWIP), a nonprofit with over 16,000 members, is partnering with Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group and Madrona Venture Labs to expand training, mentoring, networking and help women launch startups, join boards and secure VC. AWIP founder and CEO Nancy Wang and Madrona managing director Hope Cochran say the collaboration aims to increase female leadership and diversify Madrona's portfolio across its roughly 80 companies.
Pandion, led by Amazon Air founder Scott Ruffin, raises $4.9M seed to build ML-driven e-commerce delivery platform
Seattle startup Pandion, founded by former Amazon Air head Scott Ruffin, emerged from stealth and raised $4.9 million in seed funding to build an end-to-end, ML-driven delivery platform aimed at improving e-commerce parcel capacity and performance.
Craig McCaw’s Holicity to Merge with Astra in $2.1 Billion SPAC Deal That Could Raise $500 Million
Craig McCaw’s Holicity SPAC is merging with launch startup Astra in a deal that values Astra at $2.1 billion and would yield up to $500 million in cash proceeds, aiming to fund daily low-Earth-orbit access despite Astra not yet having achieved routine orbit success.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Footprint Coalition Ventures backs Seattle’s Cloud Paper as it launches two sustainability-focused funds
Actor Robert Downey Jr. launched two venture funds under Footprint Coalition Ventures focused on sustainable technology and is backing Seattle startup Cloud Paper, a tree-free toilet paper maker. The funds, led by Jonathan Schulhof and Steve Levin, will invest in early- and late-stage companies across sustainability, food and agtech, materials, energy, transportation, education, media and environmental solutions.
Brightly founders Laura Alexander Wittig and Liza Moiseeva raise $1M to scale eco-focused content, community and e-commerce
Seattle startup Brightly, founded by Laura Alexander Wittig and Liza Moiseeva, raised $1 million to expand its eco-focused content, community and upcoming e-commerce platform after growing from a popular 2019 podcast into a social-media-driven brand reaching over 250,000 women daily. The founders leveraged accelerators (Snapchat Yellow, Female Founders Alliance), a 10,000+ ambassador program, and brand partnerships to monetize recommendations and will expand the five-person team later this year.
U.S. Venture Capital Tops $150B in 2020; Pacific Northwest Raises $4.4B as VC Appetite for Disruption Persists
Despite the pandemic and economic recession, U.S. venture capital investment hit a record above $150 billion in 2020, with the Pacific Northwest raising $4.4 billion (up 15% year-over-year). GeekWire’s John Cook interviews Seattle tech veteran Mike Davidson, who characterizes venture capital as attracted to disruption and offers analysis on why investment climbed.
Gates-led Breakthrough Energy Ventures raises second $1B fund to back 40–50 hard-to-abate climate tech startups
Breakthrough Energy Ventures, led by Bill Gates, has raised a second $1 billion fund to invest in 40–50 startups developing hard-to-abate climate technologies like low-emission steel and cement, carbon capture, and long-haul transportation, using a 20-year "patient capital" approach focused on large CO₂ reductions.
Shuffl founders Matthew Lee and Chris Watts launch Slack and Teams app to match coworkers; ~1,000 teams installed
Shuffl is a startup launched in 2019 by CEO Matthew Lee and CTO Chris Watts that creates randomized or intentional introductions for coworkers through Slack and Microsoft Teams to encourage workplace connection. The app automatically creates channels, schedules one-on-one or group meetups, provides video links and icebreakers, and has been installed by about 1,000 teams.
3X4 Genetics CEOs Jason Haddock and Yael Joffe Put Seattle Move on Hold After COVID-19 and Trump Employment Visa Ban
3X4 Genetics, a South African at-home genetic testing startup led by CEO Jason Haddock and co‑founder Yael Joffe, planned to relocate to Seattle after securing investment and U.S. go‑to‑market plans, but COVID‑19 and a Trump administration visa ban on employment-based nonimmigrant visas left their move and business rollout in limbo. The company focuses on nutrigenomics tests prescribed through healthcare practitioners to guide nutrition-based interventions and physician-patient conversations.
Seattle’s Worksphere launches platform to manage COVID-era office returns, raises $550,000 pre-seed
Seattle startup Worksphere, launched in September by Aakhil Fardeen and co-founders, offers a software platform to help companies manage office returns during COVID-19 by automating scheduling, capacity limits, wellness surveys and contact tracing; the company raised $550,000 in pre-seed funding led by Ascend.vc.
U.S. Startups Raised Record $156.2B in 2020; Pacific Northwest Logged $946M in Q4 Across 54 Deals
U.S. startups set a new annual VC funding record in 2020 with $156.2 billion raised, driven by digital acceleration during the pandemic and a surge in mega-deals; Q4 saw $946 million invested across 54 Pacific Northwest deals. VC fundraises also hit records and IPO activity boosted exit values, suggesting continued momentum into 2021 as investors hold dry powder.
Mailchimp acquires Chatitive; CEO Andy Hollenbeck to lead conversational SMS at Mailchimp
Mailchimp has acquired Seattle SMS-marketing startup Chatitive, a Madrona Venture Labs spinout, integrating its team (fewer than 10 employees) and naming CEO Andy Hollenbeck head of conversational SMS; terms were not disclosed.
Former Zulily Execs Jason LeeKeenan and Kevin Saliba Raise $150M to Buy and Scale E‑Commerce Brands
Two former Zulily executives, Jason LeeKeenan and Kevin Saliba, raised over $150 million to launch Cap Hill Brands, a firm that buys and operationally scales profitable e-commerce businesses and has acquired 10 companies since last summer.
Pioneer Square Labs spins out 25 startups in five years; six launched during pandemic surge
Seattle startup studio Pioneer Square Labs (PSL) spun out 25 startups in five years — six during a six-month pandemic stretch — by rapidly testing ideas, though it has yet to produce a breakout unicorn and faces criticism over founder dilution.
People
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Jamie Siminoff Executive, Vice President
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Steve Rabuchin Executive, Vice President of Project Kuiper (Amazon Leo)
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Ben Wild Co-founder of Hubble Network, Former Amazon Product Lead
