GeekWire
GeekWire provides technology news, analysis, and resources for tech professionals, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts. It covers developments in the technology industry, produces events and podcasts, and offers tools such as job boards and startup rankings to support the tech community. Its mission is to inform and connect people interested in technology and startups.
Facts
- HQ
- Seattle
- Sectors
- Online Audio and Video Media
- Founded
- 2011
- Type
- LLC Seattle business license
- Employees
- 26
- Registered name
- GeekWire LLC Seattle business license
- Founders
- John Cook, Todd Bishop
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Publication
- Last published Oct 15
Authors & Editors
Amazon launches $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund to invest in sustainable-tech startups, aims for net-zero by 2040
Amazon launched The Climate Pledge Fund, a $2 billion corporate venture program to invest in startups developing sustainable technologies across industries to accelerate reaching net-zero carbon. The move aligns with Amazon’s Climate Pledge to be net carbon neutral by 2040 and follows other commitments like running on 100% renewable energy by 2025.
Scout9 founder Patrick Opie builds ML-powered “Personal Pocket Scout” to guide new dog owners on feeding, training and product choices
Patrick Opie founded Seattle startup Scout9 after struggling to know what his new dog needed; the company offers a machine-learning driven "Personal Pocket Scout" that creates dynamic timelines and product guidance to help new dog owners navigate feeding, training and other milestones. Scout9 targets growing pet-industry demand following pandemic adoption surges and aims to provide an economical, intuitive alternative to time-consuming research and irrelevant purchases.
CleanTech Alliance and VertueLab announce 10 startups for 2020 Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator; 15-week program begins ahead of July 15 showcase
Seattle’s CleanTech Alliance and Portland’s VertueLab announced the 10 startups selected for the 15-week 2020 Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator, supporting early-stage companies working on energy efficiency, toxic chemical removal, biofuels, waste reduction and related green technologies. The cohort will present at the CleanTech Innovation Showcase on July 15 and conclude at Fuel 2020 in September.
Madrona hires ex-AWS product manager Anu Sharma as principal; Saykara and DomainTools add senior marketing and leadership hires
Madrona Venture Group hired Anu Sharma as a principal from AWS; Seattle startups and tech companies also announced hires and promotions, including Saykara naming Joy Efron VP of marketing and DomainTools adding four executives (CTO James Reynolds, CCO Jeff Day, VP of product Jackie Abrams, and VP of people Jill Boon).
AI2 spinout Lexion launches Slack chatbot to instantly locate legal contracts; raised $4.2M seed
Lexion, an AI2 spinout in Seattle, launched a Slack chatbot that instantly finds legal contracts based on team viewing permissions, aiming to save in-house legal teams hours—CEO Gaurav Oberoi said it's especially useful for remote work. The company raised a $4.2M seed round last year and was named to CB Insights' list of 100 promising AI startups.
Seattle Tech Leaders Lead Coalition Urging Mayor Durkan to Enact Police Reforms Recommended by Community Police Commission
Hundreds of Seattle-area tech and business leaders formed the Washington Coalition of Businesses for Racial Justice to urge Mayor Jenny Durkan to implement police reforms, including increased transparency and curbing police union power. The coalition, founded by Rubica CEO Frances Dewing, supports reforms proposed by the Community Police Commission as an alternative to defunding the police.
Outreach co-founders Wes Hather and Gordon Hempton leave to found stealth remote-work startup after Outreach raises $50M
Outreach co-founders Wes Hather and Gordon Hempton have left the Seattle sales-software unicorn and are collaborating on a stealthy remote-work startup; Hempton departed in October and Hather left earlier this year while Manny Medina remains CEO. Both founders are prototyping the new product and proving product-market fit, and Outreach recently raised $50 million.
Proprio raises $23M Series A led by DCVC to commercialize 3D "X‑ray‑like" surgical navigation system
Seattle startup Proprio raised $23 million in a Series A led by DCVC to develop a hardware‑software surgical navigation system that fuses real-time camera views with preoperative imaging to give surgeons a 3D “X‑ray‑like” view without radiation.
Outreach raises $50M Series F led by Sands Capital, valuing Seattle startup at $1.33B
Seattle sales-engagement startup Outreach raised a $50 million Series F led by Sands Capital, bringing its valuation to $1.33 billion and total funding to $289 million while holding more than $100 million in cash. The company says the funding bolsters its position amid COVID-19 as remote selling increases and over 4,000 customers use its platform.
University of Washington-Patented Electrostatic Foam Filter Halves Energy Use, Agentis Air to Commercialize Device
The University of Washington received a U.S. patent for an electrostatic air filtration technology that uses disposable foam cartridges to capture airborne pollutants, including viruses, while halving energy use and lowering maintenance. Agentis Air, a UW spinoff in Columbia, Md., is commercializing the system for homes and businesses and is working with testing labs to quantify pathogen removal.
optimize.health (formerly Pillsy) raises $3.5M bridge round to expand remote patient monitoring beyond smart pill bottles
Pillsy, now operating as optimize.health, expanded from a smart pill bottle to remote patient monitoring software that integrates home health devices; the startup raised a $3.5 million bridge round this year from Bonfire Ventures and others to scale into the broader RPM market.
Seattle Tech Firms Shift Perks to Remote Support: Accolade Hosts Virtual Commencement; OfferUp Adds Summer Fridays
With employees working from home during the pandemic and amid racial justice protests, Seattle-area tech companies are replacing traditional office perks with remote-focused benefits—virtual events, expanded leave and care packages—to support staff wellbeing and culture. Examples include Accolade's virtual commencement for employees' children and OfferUp's 'Summer Fridays' schedule.
Panda AI launches inside AI2 in Seattle, led by CEO Aaron Goldfeder and CTO Yue Ning in stealth mode
Panda AI is a stealth B2B startup launched inside the Allen Institute for AI (AI2) in Seattle, led by CEO Aaron Goldfeder and CTO Yue Ning, both former AI2 entrepreneurs-in-residence. The company — currently two employees with early access interest and Smartsheet co-founder Eric Browne as product advisor — aims to build next-generation tools for knowledge workers using recent AI breakthroughs.
Daniel Kihanya launches Founders Unfound podcast to spotlight underrepresented founders and counter racial bias
Seattle entrepreneur Daniel Kihanya hosts the Founders Unfound podcast to showcase personal stories of underrepresented founders—especially Black entrepreneurs—to counteract racial bias in startup funding and hiring. By highlighting founders’ backgrounds and character, the biweekly interviews aim to replace surface credibility shortcuts with richer evidence of track records and potential.
WiBotic raises $5.7M Series A to scale wireless charging and fleet power software for robots and drones
Seattle-based WiBotic raised $5.7 million in Series A funding to accelerate development of its near-field wireless charging stations and fleet power-management software for robots and drones, bringing total funding to nearly $9 million. The company, spun out of the University of Washington five years ago, says its technology enables scalable, contactless charging useful for automated deployments and COVID-19–era social distancing.
Madrona-led $4.5M seed funds Zeitworks, a Seattle ML startup co-founded by Ben Elowitz and CEO Ryan Windham
Seattle startup Zeitworks raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Madrona Venture Group with participation from JAZZ Venture Partners and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff; the company uses machine learning to analyze and recommend improvements to repetitive business processes without back-end integrations. Zeitworks spun out of Madrona Venture Labs, is led by CEO Ryan Windham with co-founder Ben Elowitz, and plans to hire for several roles.
Uplevel launches remote-work analytics to track engineers' 'always on' hours, isolation, and throughput
Seattle startup Uplevel, which emerged from stealth earlier this year, added new analytics features to measure developer productivity and wellbeing in remote work settings, tracking metrics like messaging hours, meeting attendance, and engineering throughput. The tools aim to help managers detect overwork, isolation, and workflow bottlenecks caused by increased digital interruptions and home distractions.
KeeperHR — Dean Graziano and Vishal Ahluwalia launch imagery-based hiring tool, raises $750,000 with Vodafone and Ogilvy as early clients
KeeperHR, a Seattle startup founded by Dean Graziano and co-led by CEO Vishal Ahluwalia, uses GIFs and short clips to help job candidates and employees express soft skills and personality; the company has raised about $750,000, has six employees, and counts Vodafone and Ogilvy as early clients.
Maveron leads $30M Series B in Wave with Scooter Braun and Alex Rodriguez to scale virtual concert platform
Los Angeles-based virtual entertainment startup Wave raised $30 million in a Series B led by Seattle VC Maveron, with participation from Griffin Gaming Partners, Scooter Braun, and Alex Rodriguez to expand its live virtual concert platform. Wave will use the funding to build new in-stream experiences, expand into markets including Japan and China, and has hosted over 50 events with up to 400,000 attendees.
Feastfox launches in Seattle as free-to-Aug.31 subscription to recommend independent restaurants without paid placements
Feastfox, a Seattle startup founded by Daniel Petz, Stuart Murless and Endre Varga, launched a smart restaurant recommendation engine to help diners find local restaurants tailored to personal preferences. The paid subscription service is free through Aug. 31, integrates review-site data, does not accept payment from restaurants, and aims to boost independent eateries as King County reopens amid COVID-19.
Manny Vellon, Princeton‑trained engineer and Seattle startup CTO, dies at 60 after four-decade tech career
Manny Vellon, a Princeton-trained software engineer and longtime Seattle startup founder and CTO, was remembered for solving complex technical problems simply and for his calm, integrity-driven leadership. Colleagues praised his four-decade career from early Microsoft work to IoT, and his supportive, nonprescriptive mentorship at companies including Likewise Software and Level 11.
Seattle’s Persona pivots to AI-powered video chat highlights, turning Zoom calls into digital keepsakes
Seattle startup Persona pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic from a family-memory social platform to focus on video chat, recording conversations and using AI to identify highlights and create digital keepsakes. Co-founder Chad Wittman says Persona gamifies calls with prompts to spark meaningful conversations and preserve moments across generations.
Observa raises $725,000 from Paul Mikesell, Bill Bryant and Drew Bradley to scale AI retail-audit platform
Seattle startup Observa, which uses AI and crowd-sourced retail audits to track product displays and link them to in-store sales, closed a $725,000 financing round from notable investors and reported four-fold revenue growth and 23% average customer sales gains. The five-year-old company has 20 employees, has raised over $2 million to date, and counts investors including Paul Mikesell, Bill Bryant and Drew Bradley.
Nomad Go launches HealthySpaces to monitor occupancy, mask use and distancing; raised $2.7M
Seattle startup Nomad Go launched HealthySpaces, a computer-vision product that provides real-time occupancy, density counts, and mask and social-distancing compliance for retailers, running models locally to preserve privacy. The four-year-old company has deployments in over 100 locations and raised $2.7 million in September from Flying Fish Partners, Fitz Gate Ventures and Vulcan Capital.
Seattle technologists and restaurateur launch Off Their Plate and FoodPair to route meals from struggling restaurants to healthcare workers and vulnerable residents
During the COVID-19 pandemic Seattle technologists and restaurant owners launched donation-driven projects to connect struggling restaurants with people in need, including healthcare workers, low-income children, seniors and people experiencing homelessness. Initiatives include Off Their Plate, which provided over 8,600 meals to local healthcare workers, and FoodPair, a new startup from Expedia Group's Katherine Cheng and co-founder Marie Gill to match donors, restaurants and recipients.
People
See all 5-
John Cook Founder, Co-founder and Publisher, GeekWire
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Jonathan Sposato Founder, Chairman & co-founder
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Todd Bishop Founder, Co-Founder
