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
Boundless raises $7.5M to acquire RapidVisa, adds 45 employees and expands online immigration services
Seattle-based Boundless raised $7.5 million to fund the acquisition of rival RapidVisa and expand its online immigration tools, nearly doubling its team by adding 45 RapidVisa employees. CEO Xiao Wang says the funding and deal will strengthen the company’s infrastructure and market position ahead of an economic recovery.
Sensoria Health launches $69 Smart Band tracking SpO2, temperature and heart rate to spot COVID-19 warning signs
Sensoria Health launched a $69 Smart Band that measures body temperature, heart rate, blood oxygenation (SpO2), sleep quality and steps, aiming to help detect potential COVID-19 symptoms. The device will be available later this month in the U.S. and Europe, and CEO Davide Vigano highlighted monitoring SpO2 trends as important for early detection of COVID-19 pneumonia.
Former AWS, Dropbox, Facebook, Convoy Leaders — Linda Lian, Tom Kleinpeter, Francis Luu, Viraj Mody — Launch Stealth Seattle Startup to Build Digital Community Tools
Four former Seattle tech leaders — Linda Lian, Tom Kleinpeter, Francis Luu, and Viraj Mody — have quietly formed a new startup building tools to help users create digital communities, according to a recent tweet by Lian. The team brings experience from Amazon Web Services, Dropbox, Facebook, Convoy and Madrona Venture Group; Lian declined to provide further details.
Cloudshim, founded by ex-Microsoft and Amazon engineers Lokesh and Vishal Taneja, raises $120,000 from Black Lion Ventures
Seattle startup Cloudshim, founded by former Microsoft and Amazon engineers Lokesh and Vishal Taneja, raised $120,000 from Black Lion Ventures to grow its self‑serve cloud management platform that currently supports AWS and will add GCP and Azure.
Anu Sharma leaves AWS to join Madrona Venture Group as investor after eight years at Amazon
Anu Sharma left an eight-year product management role at Amazon/AWS to join Madrona Venture Group’s investment team, turning a long-standing personal interest in investing into a full-time career where she plans to apply engineering rigor to evaluating and growing startups.
Former Expedia CEO Mark Okerstrom named president and COO of Convoy as startup tops 1,000 employees
Former Expedia CEO Mark Okerstrom joins Seattle digital freight startup Convoy as president and COO to oversee finance, operations, marketing and marketplace growth as the company surpasses 1,000 employees and a $2.7B valuation.
Panda AI, spun out of AI2, raises $3.3M with AI2 as first investor from its new pre-seed fund
Panda AI, a stealth startup spun out of the Allen Institute for AI (AI2), raised $3.3 million in a round led by PSL Ventures with participation from AI2 and others; it is the first company to receive funding from AI2’s new pre-seed fund.
GeekWire: Pacific NW startups raise big rounds — Vacasa $108M, Remitly $85M, Auth0 $120M, OfferUp $120M, Outreach $50M; Qumulo hits $1B
Pacific Northwest privately-held tech startups raised large funding rounds and increased valuations during the 2020 economic crisis, with several firms hitting or exceeding $1 billion valuations and total H1 2020 investment of $2.3 billion across 135 deals.
Kymeta acquires Lepton Global Solutions to add 17-satellite service network, targets U.S. government and military contracts
Kymeta Corp., the Redmond-based satellite antenna company backed by Bill Gates, acquired Lepton Global Solutions to add satellite service capabilities and strengthen its position for U.S. government and military contracts. Lepton will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary in Tysons Corner with fewer than 15 employees, expanding Kymeta’s workforce to nearly 200; financial terms were not disclosed.
Former Intellectual Ventures EVP Maurizio Vecchione named CEO of Washington Global Health Alliance; Shujinko hires three executives after $7.5M raise
Maurizio Vecchione, former Intellectual Ventures EVP, was named president and CEO of Seattle-based Washington Global Health Alliance and K.R. Prabha named board chair; Seattle startup Shujinko added three senior hires after a $7.5M raise; Oracle appointed Clay Magouyrk EVP for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and UW named Dr. Ekin Yasin director of its Communication Leadership graduate program.
Atomo Coffee raises $9M to build 12,000 sq ft Seattle roastery for molecular coffee near Starbucks HQ
Seattle-based Atomo Coffee raised $9 million in a funding round led by Horizons Ventures and S2G Ventures to scale its molecular coffee made from upcycled plant materials and open a 12,000-square-foot roastery near Starbucks headquarters. The company plans regional product launches in 2021 for a molecular coffee concentrate and Atomo Grounds aimed at reducing coffee’s environmental impact and removing bitterness.
Xealth partners with Cerner as Cerner invests $6 million to scale digital health prescriptions amid COVID-19
Seattle startup Xealth announced a partnership with EHR vendor Cerner and received a $6 million investment from Cerner (with participation from LRVHealth) to help hospitals rapidly adopt digital health tools accelerated by COVID-19.
Adam Schoenfeld’s Seattle Startup Hiring Tracker: 67% of 348 Seattle tech firms have openings, 2,620 roles; 42% grew headcount
A new Seattle Startup Hiring Tracker from entrepreneur Adam Schoenfeld shows 67% of 348 tracked Seattle tech companies have open roles (2,620 total), with 42% growing headcount month-over-month, 35% stable and 23% shrinking despite the pandemic.
Zipwhip extends work-from-home through July 2021 after moving into 75,000 sq ft Seattle office in Oct 2019
Seattle startup Zipwhip, which moved into a 75,000-square-foot office in October 2019, is extending its coronavirus-induced work-from-home policy through July 2021 while nearly all of its 250+ employees work remotely. The company provided $500 per employee for home-office setups, keeps the office open for up to 25 people with special needs, and found 80% of employees prefer hybrid schedules.
Ignition Partners investors spin out Fuse Venture Partners led by Kellan Carter, Cameron Borumand and Seahawks star Bobby Wagner
A group of investors from Seattle VC firm Ignition Partners, including managing partner John Connors, have launched a spinoff called Fuse Venture Partners led by general partners Kellan Carter and Cameron Borumand and featuring Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner as a venture partner. Ignite will sunset its brand while Fuse focuses on doubling down in Seattle and managing new investments, with Wagner committing to active involvement.
GeekWire Awards 2020 Goes Virtual; Ally Wins Startup of the Year as Bill Gates and Celebrities Celebrate
GeekWire held a virtual GeekWire Awards livestream honoring top Pacific Northwest tech companies and leaders across 12 categories, with winners accepting via Zoom and special video messages from figures like Bill Gates. Seattle startup Ally won Startup of the Year, and the event included entertainment such as The Drunken Tenorperforming an "Opera di Zoom."
iObeya announces Seattle-area dual headquarters in Kirkland/Bellevue after $17M round led by Red River West
French visual collaboration startup iObeya announced a Seattle-area office in Kirkland/Bellevue that will be a dual headquarters with Massy, France, after a $17 million funding round led by Red River West; the company plans to hire about 20 people this year and serve as a North America sales and marketing hub.
Convoy VP Kristen Forecki — former Amazon and Rover executive — helped scale Convoy from employee No. 11 to a company valued at $2.7 billion
Kristen Forecki, vice president of supply at Convoy, attributes her career success to a mix of preparation, networking and passion, moving from Amazon to early roles at Rover and joining Convoy as employee No. 11; Convoy has grown to about 1,000 employees and was valued at $2.7 billion in November.
Amazon launches Dash Cart, putting it in direct competition with Veeve co-founded by ex-Amazon engineers Shariq Siddiqui and Umer Sadiq
Amazon announced a Dash Cart that directly competes with Veeve, the Seattle-area smart shopping cart startup founded by former Amazon employees Shariq Siddiqui and Umer Sadiq, but the announcement has also driven increased interest in Veeve from regional and national retailers. Veeve’s cart uses QR logins, sensors and cameras to identify items and enable checkout-free shopping, a market validated further by pandemic-driven demand for contactless experiences.
Scener—RealNetworks spinoff—grows 70x since March and will be Comic-Con@Home's exclusive watch party affiliate
Scener, a RealNetworks spinoff, has grown rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic—over 70x since March—and will be the exclusive watch party affiliate for Comic-Con@Home, hosting virtual film, show and anime screenings. Its free Chrome-based Watch Party Platform supports multiple streaming services with up to 10 co-hosts and up to 1 million viewers, and Scener signed a deal with Funimation to power Comic-Con@Home's anime track.
Seattle tech CFO survey: 37 respondents say three-quarters expect full COVID-19 recovery; nearly half raise 2020 spending forecasts
A survey of 37 Seattle-based tech CFOs finds the local tech industry remains resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, with three-quarters expecting full recovery and nearly half raising 2020 spending forecasts versus early March. Many CFOs report higher Q2 bookings expectations and over 40% say their companies are increasing headcount despite widespread industry layoffs elsewhere.
Tagboard CEO Josh Decker ends Redmond office lease and shifts 29-person startup to fully remote amid COVID-19
Seattle-area startup Tagboard decided to end its office lease and go fully remote amid the COVID-19 pandemic, citing economic uncertainty and effective work-from-home operations. The 29-person company gave employees office furniture, cut overhead to fund tech/internet stipends and future in-person activities, and relies on tools like Slack and Zoom.
Pioneer Square Labs and Fortive launch TeamSense, a COVID-19 symptom‑tracking SaaS that reached paying customers in six weeks
Pioneer Square Labs and Fortive launched their first spinout, TeamSense, a SaaS platform that lets employers screen and communicate with hourly workers about COVID-19 symptoms via quick daily texts or emails. TeamSense moved from initial funding to paying customers in six weeks and provides dashboards, rosters, and 1-on-1 chat to support workplace health, planning and compliance.
Nori CEO Paul Gambill Raises $1.3M Pre-Seed, Poised to Scale Carbon-Removal Marketplace
Nori, a Seattle carbon-removal marketplace founded by Paul Gambill, raised $1.3 million in a pre-seed round and is nearing its next funding target as it prepares to scale and hire. Gambill, a former engineer and entrepreneur, aims to grow the team after years of early-stage bootstrapping and Techstars Sustainability Accelerator support.
Madrona leads $27M round in Fauna; Bob Muglia named executive chairman, Eric Berg becomes CEO
Madrona Venture Group led a $27 million investment in Fauna, the San Francisco-based database startup founded by two former Twitter engineers, bringing total funding to $57 million and appointing Bob Muglia as executive chairman and Eric Berg as CEO. Fauna focuses on cloud-native, serverless-accessible databases (FaunaDB) and will add Madrona’s S. Somasegar to its board.
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
