Facts
- HQ
- Seattle, Washington, US
- Sectors
- Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
- Founded
- 2016
- Employees
- 16
- Last fund
- Flying Fish Fund III, LP · $49.3M · 2024 SEC Form D
- Funds raised
- 3 funds SEC Form D filings
- Total capital
- $129.7M SEC Form D filings
Seattle Startup Groundlight Uses AI, Strobe Lights, and Radio to Stop Raccoons Invading Home via Cat Door
A Seattle AI startup called Groundlight helped solve a homeowner's raccoon problem using a system combining strobe lights, public radio, and AI to prevent raccoons from entering through a microchip-detecting cat door. The raccoons had learned to bypass the specialized cat door's intruder mode, but the AI-based solution effectively deterred them.
Picnic Raises $5M Led by Cercano Management with Investor Andy Liu Joining Board to Scale Pizza-Making Robot
Picnic, a food automation startup known for its pizza-making robots, raised $5 million in a new funding round led by Cercano Management, with investor Andy Liu joining the board. The funds will support scaling operations and meeting growing demand for Picnic's pizza-making technology used in high-volume venues.
Seattle Venture Capitalists Say Founder Support, Not Local Money, Is Key Missing Piece in Startup Ecosystem
Seattle's startup ecosystem is often criticized for a lack of local venture capital firms, but experts highlight that the true opportunity lies in fostering greater founder-to-founder investment and community support to strengthen the scene. Panelists at the Seattle AI Investor Summit emphasized that being a net importer of investment capital is positive, and more connectivity among founders could boost the city's startup success.
Pictory Wins Startup of the Year at 2024 GeekWire Awards in Seattle Featuring Live Music and Surprise Guests
The 2024 GeekWire Awards in Seattle celebrated Pacific Northwest tech with winners like Pictory, live music, and surprise guests, hosted at Showbox SoDo. The event featured sponsors such as Astound Business Solutions and included networking, entertainment, and a nostalgic tech theme.
Seattle VC Firm Ascend Raises $25M Second Fund to Boost AI Investments Amid Market Downturn
Seattle-based pre-seed venture capital firm Ascend, led by Kirby Winfield, raised a $25 million second fund focused on doubling down on artificial intelligence investments amid a challenging startup funding environment. Winfield, who has backed over 70 startups, predicts a further valuation correction but remains committed to early-stage investing.
Seattle Startup Groundlight Raises $10M Seed to Revolutionize Warehouse Monitoring with AI and Natural Language Computer Vision
Seattle startup Groundlight, co-founded by former Amazon and Picobrew execs Leo Dirac and Avi Geiger, emerged from stealth with a $10 million seed fund to simplify warehouse monitoring using AI-powered computer vision. Their platform enables businesses to query real-time video feeds through natural language prompts for instant, customizable insights.
Flying Fish Partners' Co‑founder Heather Redman Raises $70M Fund, Seeks Additional $7.5M to Back B2B and Industrial AI Startups
Heather Redman, co-founder and managing partner of Seattle-based Flying Fish Partners, is building her firm's long-term credibility after raising a $70 million fund last year and is now seeking an additional $7.5 million. The firm focuses on B2B and industrial AI-related startups amid a favorable local tech landscape.
Seattle Startup Veeve Raises $6.7M to Expand Smart Shopping Cart Technology Across U.S. Grocery Stores
Seattle-based startup Veeve raised $6.7 million to expand its smart shopping cart technology, which helps shoppers scan and pay without checkout lines, to more grocery stores. Founded by former Amazon managers in 2018, Veeve currently deploys smart carts at four U.S. retail chains and plans to release a lighter, larger-capacity cart as well as a Plug & Play device for traditional carts.
Boltive Leaders Dan Frechtling and Scott Moore Drive Online Privacy Tech Motivated by Personal Cancer Losses
Boltive CEO Dan Frechtling and CFO Scott Moore share a deep personal connection through their experiences with their wives' cancer treatments, motivating their work in online privacy compliance technology. Boltive, formerly Ad Lightning, is expanding its automated solutions to help brands comply with privacy laws and honor user choices.
Augment AI, Led by Napster Co-Founder Jordan Ritter, Launches Private Beta of AI-Powered Productivity Tools After $3.5M Seed Round
Seattle startup Augment AI, spun out of AI2 and led by Napster co-founder Jordan Ritter, has launched a private beta of its AI-powered productivity sidekick designed to take meeting notes and organize research. The company raised $3.5 million in seed funding and offers two apps, Meeting Augment and Memory Augment, to enhance workflow integration with tools like Zoom.
Seattle Startup Veeve Launches Attachment to Turn Regular Carts into Smart, Checkout-Free Carts
Seattle startup Veeve has developed a new attachment that converts regular shopping carts into smart carts with built-in sensors and displays, aiming to expand their checkout-free technology from grocery stores to big-box retailers. The device, announced at the Groceryshop conference, offers the same functionality as Veeve's original smart cart but without a scale, making it compatible with most carts.
Madrona Venture Group Raises $690M Across Two Funds to Support Startups in Seattle and Nationwide
Madrona Venture Group has raised $690 million across two funds, marking its largest ever, to back startups primarily in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide. The firm plans about 40 venture investments with increased capital per company amid a strong U.S. venture market.
Flying Fish Launches Alberta Office with Tiffany Linke-Boyko, Secures $7.5M from Alberta Enterprise; Panopto Names Tobias Hartmann CEO
Flying Fish appointed Tiffany Linke-Boyko as principal to lead its new Alberta office, its first outside Seattle, backed by a $7.5 million investment from Alberta Enterprise Corporation within a $70 million fund. Additionally, Panopto hired Tobias Hartmann as CEO to lead its enterprise video platform company based in Seattle.
Unlock Venture Partners raises $60M second fund to back Seattle and L.A. startups, bringing total raised to $85M
Unlock Venture Partners, a seed-stage firm focused on Seattle and Los Angeles startups, raised a $60 million second fund and has now raised more than $85 million total to back early-stage companies including gaming, Web3 and metaverse plays.
Seattle VC Fuse announces $170 million inaugural fund, backing 17 Pacific Northwest B2B startups
Seattle-based early-stage VC firm Fuse disclosed its inaugural fund is $170 million, which has backed 17 Pacific Northwest B2B software startups and plans 25–30 total investments.
Ethos acquires Seattle digital-wills startup Tomorrow; 600,000 users and 20 employees join insurer
Seattle startup Tomorrow, which offers iOS and web apps for creating legal wills, trusts, and other estate documents and has helped over 600,000 users, has been acquired by life insurer Ethos. Tomorrow’s 20 employees will join Ethos’s 250-person team, and the Tomorrow apps will continue operating under the Tomorrow brand for now.
Kirby Winfield, ex-founder and exec, raises $15M for Ascend.vc to back Pacific Northwest early-stage startups
Kirby Winfield, a longtime Seattle startup leader who experienced burnout after multiple exits, founded Ascend.vc to invest in early-stage Pacific Northwest tech companies and raised a $15 million first fund after recovering his health and shifting from founder roles to venture investing.
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.
Zulily co-founders Darrell Cavens and Mark Vadon back Seattle ID-verification startup Vouched with $4.5M investment
Seattle startup Vouched raised $4.5 million in a round led by Zulily co-founder Darrell Cavens and investor Mark Vadon to expand its AI-based identity verification software used by over 150 companies for real-time fraud detection across industries.
Seattle startups raise record $3.1B in H1 2021, producing 12 local unicorns as Auth0 exits for $6.5B
Seattle-area startups raised a record $3.1 billion across 205 deals in H1 2021, driven by mega-rounds that produced at least 12 local unicorns and broader Pacific Northwest tech funding topping $5 billion. National VC activity and IPO/M&A dollar volumes are also surpassing prior records, with major exits like Auth0’s $6.5 billion acquisition by Okta highlighting regional maturation.
Phaidra raises $4M led by Flying Fish with Mark Cuban among investors to scale AI for industrial automation
Phaidra, a 15-person startup founded in 2019 that builds AI agents to analyze sensor data and optimize industrial facilities, raised $4 million led by Flying Fish with participation from Section 32, Character, Starshot Capital and Mark Cuban. The company — led by ex-DeepMind engineers Jim Gao and Vedavyas Panneershelvam and industry veteran Katherine Hoffman — will use the funding to expand in process heating/cooling, chemical manufacturing and paper and pulp.
Picnic raises $16.3M Series A to scale pizza-making robot as pandemic fuels demand for food automation
Seattle food-automation startup Picnic raised $16.3 million in Series A financing to scale its Picnic Pizza System, a pizza-assembly device that enables a single employee to produce up to 100 customized 12-inch pizzas per hour. The company says pandemic-driven demand for delivery, carry-out and high-volume food prep has accelerated interest in automation and it recently redesigned the system with improved interface, safety and food-handling features.
Venture Out launches $1,499 Moonlighter Lab to help full-time workers validate startups while keeping day jobs
Seattle nonprofit Venture Out launched Moonlighter Lab, an 8-week program that charges $1,499 to help full-time workers validate startup ideas while keeping their day jobs; some participants from the January cohort later quit to pursue startups. Venture Out, co-founded by Sean Sternbach and Ken Horenstein, previously ran a 12-week Venture Lab exchanging 4% equity and raised $700,000 last year led by M12.
Coinbase IPO Soars to $85 Billion, Nets Windfalls for Early Backers Including Version One Ventures
Coinbase’s IPO pushed its valuation to $85 billion and delivered major returns to early investors like Version One Ventures, which made a highly profitable bet years ago. The article examines how Seattle and Pacific Northwest investors view crypto and blockchain as the region seeks to grow its fintech presence amid emerging local startups and initiatives.
Remitly partners with Included as DEI tech market triples to $313M, helping scale diversity work with ML-driven analytics
Companies like Remitly are adopting DEI technology platforms (such as Included) that automate demographic data collection, analytics, and program tracking to scale diversity, equity, and inclusion work amid pandemic-driven remote work and heightened public scrutiny.
Fund History
People
See all 4-
Heather Redman Founder, Co-Founder and Managing Partner
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Frank Chang Managing Director, Flying Fish Partners
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Geoff Harris Partner
