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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

Charlotte Schubert / GeekWire

Madrona and Goldman Sachs Publish Inaugural IA40 of Top 40 Private AI Business-App Startups; Four Seattle Firms Included

Madrona Venture Group and Goldman Sachs released the inaugural Intelligent Applications Top 40 (IA40) list of private companies building business AI applications, based on votes from 40 venture firms plus Amazon and Microsoft and narrowed by 50 judges from over 220 nominees. Four Seattle-area companies — Amperity, OctoML, SeekOut, and one unnamed here — made the list; Amperity recently raised $100 million to reach unicorn status and OctoML raised $85 million.

Charlotte Schubert / GeekWire

BrainSpace wins $200,000 from Seattle Angel Conference to advance automated external ventricular drain

BrainSpace won $200,000 from the Seattle Angel Conference to develop an automated external ventricular drain that monitors intracranial pressure; the Bothell startup built a working model with $100,000 in self-funding. Four other finalists — Violett, PetHub, Curie and EarthUP — competed in the conference that trains new accredited angel investors and has invested $4.6 million in 39 startups over ten years.

Taylor Soper / GeekWire

Seattle appraisal startup Aloft raises $20M Series A led by Fifth Wall, bringing total funding to $25M

Seattle startup Aloft raised $20 million in a Series A led by Fifth Wall to expand its appraisal software that delivers quotes in two minutes and facilitates inspections; the company has annualized revenue in the millions, works with dozens of national and regional lenders, and has raised $25 million total. Founded less than a year ago by CEO Travis Soukup and co‑founder Yongxing Deng, Aloft operates in Seattle and Portland and plans further expansion.

Henry Wilhelm / GeekWire

Deloitte’s 2021 Fast 500 Includes 26 Washington Firms; Coinme Tops Seattle Growth at 2,198% (Rank 78)

Deloitte’s 2021 North American Technology Fast 500 ranks the fastest-growing tech companies by revenue growth from 2017–2020; 26 Washington-based firms made the list, with 24 from the greater Seattle area and strong representation from Bellevue and software/SaaS companies. Coinme led local growth with 2,198% growth (ranked 78th), and Washington firms comprised about 5% of the full Fast 500.

Charlotte Schubert / GeekWire

Washington Dept. of Commerce and Find Ventures launch Equitable Innovations Accelerator offering up to $100,000 grants to 10 Washington startups

The Washington State Department of Commerce and Find Ventures are launching the Equitable Innovations Accelerator to provide up to $100,000 in philanthropic, non-dilutive grants, programming, and mentorship to ten Washington tech startups led by Black, women, refugee, or other historically marginalized founders. The program, supported by private donors and the Washington Technology Industry Association, aims to address disparities in early-stage funding highlighted by low VC investment rates for underrepresented founders.

Todd Bishop / GeekWire

Place raises $100M Series A led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management at $1B+ valuation

Place, a real estate technology and services company founded in 2019, raised a $100 million Series A led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management at a valuation above $1 billion; the Bellingham-based firm reported $85M revenue and $11.3M profit in 2020 and projects $150M revenue this year. Place provides an end-to-end suite of software and business services to agents and brokers while allowing them to remain with their existing brokerages.

Taylor Soper / GeekWire

Andreessen Horowitz hires Seattle gaming vet James Gwertzman as first Seattle-based general partner

Andreessen Horowitz has hired Seattle gaming veteran James Gwertzman as its first general partner based in the Seattle region to join the firm’s consumer investing team focused on gaming. Gwertzman, who sold PlayFab to Microsoft in 2018 and will leave Microsoft later this month, joins a16z as it doubles down on gaming alongside hires like Riot’s Jon Lai and investments such as a $5 million round in Seattle-based Irreverent Labs.

Kurt Schlosser / GeekWire

HaptX alleges Meta’s Reality Labs haptic glove is “substantively identical” to its patented microfluidic technology

Seattle startup HaptX says Meta’s new haptic glove prototype uses microfluidic feedback technology that is "substantively identical" to HaptX’s patented design, and HaptX’s CEO Jake Rubin says the company has not heard from Meta but seeks a fair, equitable arrangement. Meta announced microfluidic advances in its Reality Labs Research blog, and declined to respond to HaptX’s assertions when contacted by GeekWire.

Charlotte Schubert / GeekWire

UW Spinout Somalytics Launches Carbon-Nanotube Paper Sensors to Detect Eye, Hand and Body Movement

Somalytics, a University of Washington spinout, launched with ultrathin flexible sensors made from carbon nanotubes embedded in specialized paper that detect human gestures, eye movement and body signals from up to 20 cm away. Co-founded by UW researchers Jae-Hyun Chung, graduate students Zhongie Qian and Viggy Sak, and led by CEO Barbara Barclay, the company received undisclosed seed funding from IP Group and support from UW’s CoMotion.

Taylor Soper / GeekWire

HelloPrenup founders get $150,000 from Nextdoor founder Nirav Tolia on Shark Tank for 30% equity

HelloPrenup founders Sarabeth Jaffe and Julia Rodgers appeared on Shark Tank Season 13, Episode 6, and secured a $150,000 investment from guest Shark Nirav Tolia (Nextdoor founder) for 30% equity despite having only $20,000 in lifetime sales. The software platform offers a faster, cheaper way for couples to create prenuptial agreements and drew concerns from other Sharks about high customer acquisition costs and being too early.

Cara Kuhlman / GeekWire

OfferUp appoints Melinda Starbird as first chief people and diversity officer; Steve Hobbs named Washington secretary of state; Convoy engineering VP Tim Prouty moves to Headway

OfferUp named Melinda Starbird as its first chief people and diversity officer; she previously held senior HR roles at Auth0, Avanade, Whitepages and Hiya. The brief also reports Washington Gov. Inslee appointed State Senator Steve Hobbs as secretary of state effective Nov. 22, and Convoy VP of engineering Tim Prouty left to become VP of engineering at mental-health platform Headway.

Kurt Schlosser / GeekWire

Tred raises $25M Series B to expand online used-car marketplace, totaling $37M in funding

Tred, an online peer-to-peer used-car marketplace, raised $25 million in a Series B to expand its platform, products, locations and engineering team, bringing total funding to $37 million. The company offers end-to-end services—test drives, delivery, financing, protection and fraud checks—and has grown from a 2012 Techstars Seattle startup to operations in multiple U.S. markets.

Taylor Soper / GeekWire

DreamBox Learning sells majority stake to Evergreen Coast Capital as annual revenue tops $100M

Seattle-area K–12 edtech company DreamBox Learning sold a majority stake to Evergreen Coast Capital (an Elliott affiliate) as its annual revenue surpasses $100 million; terms were not disclosed. The 400-person company supports 6 million students and 400,000 educators, retains TPG’s The Rise Fund as a significant minority investor, and recently acquired Reading Plus and Squiggle Park.

Todd Bishop / GeekWire

Jane Park’s Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp. Raises $230M in IPO; All-Female SPAC Begins Consumer M&A Search

Jane Park, CEO of newly public Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp., led the all-female SPAC that raised $230 million in an IPO and rang the NYSE opening bell as the team begins searching for a consumer company to acquire. A former Starbucks executive and founder of Julep Beauty and Tokki, Park — believed to be the first Korean-American woman to take a company public on the NYSE — discusses SPAC strategy, consumer brands in the Amazon era, and her immigrant family background on the GeekWire Podcast.

Charlotte Schubert / GeekWire

WhyLabs, an AI2 spinout led by CEO Alessya Visnjic, raises $10M and launches AI Observatory to monitor live ML models

WhyLabs, a Seattle startup spun out of AI2 and led by CEO Alessya Visnjic, raised $10 million and launched AI Observatory, a tool to monitor and diagnose live machine-learning models for anomalies and "model meltdowns." The platform offers an open-source library and real-time alerts, positioning WhyLabs as a Datadog-like monitoring service focused on backend ML/AI, and saw adoption by over a dozen organizations in its first week.

Lisa Stiffler / GeekWire

NODE and Green Canopy merge to form Green Canopy NODE, raise $10M; Bec Chapin and Aaron Fairchild named co-CEOs

Seattle-based NODE and Green Canopy have merged to form Green Canopy NODE, a modular, energy-efficient construction and eco-focused real estate venture that has raised $10 million and employs 31 people with plans to double staffing in a year. Bec Chapin and Aaron Fairchild will serve as co-CEOs, split between Seattle and Portland offices, with Don Bunnell moving to the board.

Taylor Soper / GeekWire

Allbirds IPO Raises $300M, Valuing Shoe Brand Near $3B as Shares Surge 60% on Nasdaq Debut

Allbirds, backed early by Maveron, debuted on the Nasdaq after raising $300 million in an IPO that valued the company at about $3 billion; shares jumped 60% on the first trading day. Maveron led a $7.25 million Series A in 2016 and its stake was worth roughly $400 million at the opening price, with the company reporting $219.3 million in 2020 revenue and over eight million pairs sold since launch.

Charlotte Schubert / GeekWire

Absci opens 77,400 sq ft HQ in Vancouver, Wash., three months after IPO valued company near $2 billion

Absci opened a 77,400 sq ft headquarters with a 9,150 sq ft courtyard in Vancouver, Wash., three months after its IPO that valued the company at nearly $2 billion; Gov. Jay Inslee attended the ribbon-cutting. The 200-employee biotech — founded in 2011 by CEO Sean McClain — provides drug discovery services using in silico models, synthetic biology and recent acquisitions Totient and Denovium to support its platform.

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