Flying Fish Partners

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.

Seattle VCs Report 28% Women in Senior Roles, Nearly Double U.S. Average of 14.2%

Seattle-area venture capital firms have nearly double the national share of women in senior roles (28% vs. 14.2%), with 25 women among 88 partners across 21 Washington firms, though overall parity remains distant and 61% of U.S. VC firms still have no women in key decision-making roles.

Heather Redman (Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Flying Fish) on the psychology of investing, the power of community, and lessons in diversity, equity, and inclusion

Flying Fish Partners is a venture firm focused on AI, machine learning, and robotics. Heather Reman is an operator turned investor who co-founded Flying Fish. Her mantra is about community. And she applies this across domains - from startup investing to non-profits, education, politics, and leadership. She goes behind the scenes on the psychology of investing, the power of community, and her lessons on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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 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.

TiE Seattle VC Panel: 2020 Ended with Record Startup Funding and SPAC Surge, Investors Expect Strong 2021

A TiE Seattle panel of four Seattle-area VCs said despite early pandemic layoffs and valuation fears, 2020 ended with record startup funding, VC capital raises, and strong exits, and they expect continued momentum in 2021 driven by SPAC activity and pandemic-driven innovation. Panelists highlighted increased founding activity, higher valuations, and pandemic-forced business improvements creating investor opportunities.

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.

The Venture Capitalist with Heather Redman

After a successful career as a lawyer, Heather slowed down somewhat, played more tennis, and began thinking she was a bit over the hill. Until one day her teenage daughter asked her what all the other moms really do, and she realized she wasn't done yet. Heather came back to work stronger, with more purpose, and with a dual goal to build community in Seattle and to garner more respect for women in tech. Today, Heather is the Founder and General Partner of the Flying Fish Ventures Fund in Seattle.

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.

Madrona Venture Group Raises $345M for 8th Fund and $161M for 2nd Later-Stage Fund in Largest Ever $500M Capital Raise

Madrona Venture Group raised over $500 million for its largest fundraise ever, including $345 million for an eighth early-stage fund targeting 35-40 Pacific Northwest startups and $161 million for a second later-stage Acceleration Fund. The firm continues to focus on supporting the Pacific Northwest tech ecosystem while also backing later-stage companies across North America.

GeekWire Podcast: Seattle now home to 10 unicorns — most are enterprise/cloud firms, six have immigrant founders, none have female co-founders or CEOs

Seattle’s tech scene now includes 10 privately held unicorns, with most focused on enterprise software/cloud, six having immigrant founders and six having active co-founders with Microsoft ties; none have female co-founders or CEOs. The GeekWire Podcast discusses these patterns, the region’s tech-community challenges (including tensions with city leadership), and features guest commentator Heather Redman of Flying Fish Partners.

Stalking Seattle's unicorns

Seattle's tech community just reached a new milestone: 10 unicorns, privately held companies valued at more than $1 billion. Their characteristics say a lot about the direction and state of the tech industry in the region, both positive and negative. Read more: Seattle area boasts 10 fast-growing unicorns: Can you name the billion-dollar startups? Joining us as a guest commentator this week: Heather Redman, co-founder and managing partner of Flying Fish Partners, a Seattle-based venture capital firm that focuses its investments on machine learning and artificial intelligence. Also up for discussion: the challenges of running a big tech hub like…

Symbl raises $4.7M led by Crosscut Ventures with Amazon Alexa Fund to expand conversational AI for enterprise

Seattle startup Symbl raised $4.7 million in a round led by Crosscut Ventures with participation from Amazon’s Alexa Fund and several other investors to expand its conversational AI API that transcribes real-time conversations and extracts insights for meetings, customer care, and sales. Founded in 2018 by Surbhi Rathore and Toshish Jawale, the 30-person company says pandemic-driven digital communication growth has increased demand for its services.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s First Term Tried to Reconcile Tech Firms and Critics but Left Her Politically Isolated

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan tried to bridge tech companies and their critics during her first term by courting firms like Amazon, Expedia, and Apple, but her efforts pleased neither business leaders nor progressive activists, leaving her politically isolated and prompting her decision not to seek a second term.

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.

2048 Ventures Hires Seattle Investor Minda Brusse to Lead Pre-Seed Sourcing in Seattle and Portland

NYC-based 2048 Ventures has hired Seattle investor Minda Brusse as a venture partner to source pre-seed investments in Seattle and Portland while she remains at First Row Partners; 2048 launched last year with a $27 million fund and has backed 29 companies.

Ignite's Meet the Investor: Flying Fish Partners with Heather Redman

Picnic raises $3M from existing investors to commercialize pizza-making robot producing 300 12-inch pizzas/hour

Seattle startup Picnic raised $3 million from existing investors to accelerate commercial rollout of its pizza-making robot capable of producing up to 300 12-inch customized pizzas per hour, citing increased pandemic-driven demand and plans to use funds for development, hires, and marketing.

Seattle VC Flying Fish files to raise $75M 'Flying Fish Fund II' after $80M debut fund

Seattle venture capital firm Flying Fish, founded in 2018, is raising a second fund called Flying Fish Fund II with an SEC filing showing a $75 million offering; the firm previously raised an $80 million first fund and focuses on AI/ML startups in the Pacific Northwest.

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.

Joe Coffee raises $1.3M in second seed round led by Craft Ventures as mobile orders surge 20x

Seattle startup Joe Coffee raised $1.3 million in a second seed round led by Craft Ventures to expand its mobile order-and-pay and rewards platform, which now serves over 1,000 independent coffee shops and has seen sales grow 20x since March during the pandemic.