Facts
- HQ
- Seattle
- Sectors
- IT Services and IT Consulting
- Founded
- 2013
- Employees
- 350
- Status
- Acquired
- Stage
- Public
- Total raised
- $322.8M SEC Form D filings Total of this company's SEC Form D filings
- Last round
- $120.5M · Jun 2020 SEC Form D
GeekWire Awards finalists highlighted as voting closes; virtual winners announced May 20
GeekWire's annual Awards event will be held virtually on May 20 after nearly 200 community nominations and over 6,000 reader votes; finalists are being highlighted for their rising positions on the GeekWire 200 ranking of Pacific Northwest private tech companies. Several finalists have 'exited' the ranking through IPOs or acquisitions, including Auth0, Accolade, Rover, and Sana Biotechnology, while others are not yet ranked.
Mastercard to Buy Seattle Identity Startup Ekata for $850M; Deal to Close Within Six Months
Mastercard will acquire Seattle identity-verification startup Ekata for $850 million; Ekata, spun out of Whitepages in 2019 with about 200 employees, serves over 2,000 customers and its tech will be integrated into Mastercard's real-time identity services. The deal is expected to close within six months amid rising demand for digital identity solutions.
GeekWire Opens Voting for 13th Annual Awards; Deal of the Year Finalists Include $6.5B Auth0 Acquisition and Multi‑Hundred‑Million Funding Rounds
GeekWire has opened community voting for its 13th annual GeekWire Awards, highlighting Deal of the Year finalists across Fundings and IPOs/Acquisitions from Pacific Northwest tech companies. Voting runs through April 30, winners announced May 20 at the virtual awards presented by Wave Business.
GeekWire 200: Auth0, Rover Among Top 10 but Set to ‘Graduate’ as Tanium and Outreach Climb
GeekWire’s monthly GeekWire 200 ranking shows established Pacific Northwest startups like Auth0 and Rover among the top 10 but poised to “graduate” after Okta’s acquisition and Rover’s SPAC IPO, while companies such as OfferUp, Moz, PayScale, Puppet and Clio are positioned to move up. The list highlights movers like Tanium and Outreach and notes recent major funding and leadership news across the region’s startups.
Madrona partner Daniel Li leaves to co-found Plus with Chloe Qi; Plus raises $5.5M seed led by Madrona
Daniel Li is leaving Madrona Venture Group to co-found Plus with Chloe Qi; the startup raised a $5.5 million seed round led by Madrona to build a no-code/low-code, multiplayer productivity product for sharing live data.
Founders’ Co-op’s Chris DeVore skips Auth0 seed due to competing investment, joins 2015 Series A and profits from Okta’s $6.5B acquisition
Seattle VC Chris DeVore of Founders’ Co-op missed Auth0’s 2014 seed because the firm already backed competitor Meldium, which was acquired in 2014 for $15 million; after that exit he joined Auth0’s $6.9M Series A in 2015 and saw the company acquired by Okta for $6.5B. DeVore says avoiding portfolio overlap is key and expresses gratitude to Auth0’s founders for allowing Founders’ Co-op to participate.
Pioneer Square Labs raises $100M Fund II to back 30+ Pacific Northwest startups with $1–3M initial checks
Seattle-based Pioneer Square Labs raised $100 million for its second venture fund, exceeding its $80 million target due to strong institutional demand, and will invest across more than 30 early-stage Pacific Northwest companies with initial checks of $1–3 million. The firm operates a startup studio (raised $29 million) and a venture fund model that splits capital roughly half to studio spinouts and half to external startups.
Founders’ Co-op closes $50M Fund V to back pre-seed and seed Pacific Northwest startups
Founders’ Co-op announced the close of its fifth fund, a $50M largest-to-date vehicle focused on pre-seed and seed investments in Pacific Northwest technical founding teams, highlighting the region's growth since 2008 and the firm's track record with over 200 portfolio companies.
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.
Fusebit, founded by Microsoft, Apple and Auth0 veterans, raises $3.3M seed to provide integration APIs
Seattle startup Fusebit, founded in 2019 by veterans of Microsoft, Apple and Auth0, raised a $3.3 million seed round to offer hosted and private-cloud APIs that help SaaS vendors add and monitor integrations at scale. The three-person company — led by CEO Tomasz Janczuk — plans to hire remotely and lists customers including Factory Four, Hyperproof and Leasera.
Seattle Reaches 10 Unicorns Worth $1B+, Mostly Enterprise Software Firms with Microsoft Links
Seattle now has 10 unicorn startups valued at $1 billion or more, many concentrated in enterprise software/cloud computing and driven by rapid digital transformation and strong revenue run rates. Most have immigrant founders and Microsoft ties, but none have female co-founders or CEOs.
Zenoti raises $160M Series D, reaches $1B valuation to expand enterprise software for 12,000+ salons, spas and wellness businesses
Bellevue-based Zenoti raised $160 million in a Series D that values the company at $1 billion; its enterprise software serves over 12,000 spas, salons and wellness businesses and has doubled revenue this year.
Vouched raises $3M to expand AI ID-verification as COVID-19 drives demand; will expand to Europe
Seattle startup Vouched raised $3 million to expand AI-powered ID verification services as COVID-19 boosts demand for remote identity checks; the company has 80+ customers and has verified over 850,000 people across 50 countries.
Pandemic Accelerates Adoption of Enterprise Software in Seattle, Boosting Cloud and Cybersecurity Startups
The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating adoption of enterprise software in the Seattle and Pacific Northwest tech scene, highlighting startups in cloud computing and cybersecurity that dominate the GeekWire 200. Analysts say enterprise cloud firms appear relatively resilient to recessionary pressures compared with consumer-facing startups, though risks remain if businesses cut spending.
Foursquare CEO David Shim to Resign; Gary Little Named CEO in 2021; Other Tech Leadership Moves Reported
Foursquare CEO David Shim, founder of Placed, is resigning and will be succeeded by board member Gary Little in 2021 after a transition; Shim plans to return to entrepreneurship. Other moves: investor Karan Mehandru left Trinity Ventures to join Steadfast Financial while remaining on several boards, 343 Industries’ Chris Lee stepped down from Halo Infinite project direction, and WTIA hired Molly Jones as VP of government affairs.
Amazon names Anne Toth director of Alexa Trust; Zillow adds Claire Cormier Thielke to board; Lockstep exits stealth
Amazon hired Anne Toth as director of Alexa Trust to lead privacy, security, accessibility and ethics efforts for Alexa; Zillow added Claire Cormier Thielke to its board and Lockstep, a Seattle accounting-software startup founded in 2019, emerged from stealth with a founding team drawn from Avalara, Globys, e2b Teknologies and Winshuttle.
98point6 Raises $118M Series E Led by L Catterton and Activant After 274% Membership Surge
Seattle telemedicine startup 98point6 raised $118 million in a Series E led by L Catterton and Activant Capital after membership grew 274% this year; the company offers AI-supported virtual primary care to over 3 million patients and serves employers and health plans. The round follows a $43 million Series D in April and comes amid a surge in digital health funding during the pandemic.
PNW Startups Raised $1.1B in Q3 2020 Across 65 Deals as Investors Keep Funding Amid Pandemic
Pacific Northwest startups raised $1.1 billion across 65 deals in Q3 2020, with funding in July and August exceeding last year’s levels as investors continue backing tech despite the pandemic.
GeekWire 200 CEO Survey: Most Seattle-Area Startups Report Little or No Pandemic Impact and Plan Hiring
A GeekWire 200 CEO survey of nearly 50 Pacific Northwest startup leaders found most report little or no negative impact from the pandemic, many plan to hire, and significant optimism about the regional economy over the next 18 months.
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.
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.
Remitly raises $85M, reaches $1.5B valuation as digital remittance demand spikes during COVID-19
Remitly, a Seattle-based digital remittance platform, raised $85 million in new funding, valuing the company at $1.5 billion as customer growth surged amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qumulo raises $125M, valued at more than $1.2B to join Seattle’s unicorns
Qumulo raised $125 million in funding, pushing its valuation to over $1.2 billion and making it a Seattle-area unicorn; the data-storage company serves customers across healthcare, media, research and the public sector and has seen increased demand during the pandemic.
Seattle rises three spots to crack Startup Genome’s global top 10, backed by $3.59B in 2019 VC funding
Seattle climbed three places into Startup Genome’s global top 10 startup ecosystems, driven by strengths in AI, big data, analytics, life sciences and a strong startup genealogy from Microsoft, Amazon and the University of Washington. Venture funding reached a Seattle-area record of $3.59 billion in 2019, and the city ranks highly on performance, funding, market reach, talent, connectedness, knowledge and infrastructure.
