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
Is this your organization? Claim it
Publication
- Last published Oct 15
Authors & Editors
OctoML Raises $85M Series C Led by Tiger Global to Expand ML Partnerships and Engineering Team
OctoML, a University of Washington spinout specializing in machine learning optimization, raised $85 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total to $132 million. The company plans to expand its partnerships with hardware and cloud vendors while nearly tripling its engineering team.
Sarah Bird departs Moz after 14 years and seven-plus years as CEO following June acquisition by iContact (J2 Global)
Sarah Bird is leaving Moz after 14 years at the Seattle SEO software startup, including more than seven years as CEO; Moz was acquired by iContact (a J2 Global subsidiary) this past June and Bird transitioned to EVP and chief revenue officer of the Moz Group before announcing her departure. She plans to take the winter off to rest and has no firm next steps yet.
GeekWire: Pacific Northwest records 55 exits and 282 VC deals this year, including Rad Power Bikes’ $154M round
GeekWire reports a surge in deal activity across the Pacific Northwest this year, tracking 55 acquisitions, SPACs, IPOs and private equity buyouts and 282 venture financings (nearly one per day). Notable transactions include Nintendo’s Jan. 5 acquisition of Next Level Games, BitTitan’s sale to Idera, and Rad Power Bikes’ $154 million funding round.
Rad Power Bikes raises $154M after $150M earlier in 2021 to expand retail, service network and operations
Rad Power Bikes raised $154 million in a new financing round after a $150 million infusion in February to expand its e-bike business, grow retail/service locations, and scale operations amid rising demand. The Seattle-based company, with more than 350,000 riders and 625 employees, plans to triple physical locations and speed deliveries to one-week fulfillment in North America.
Bellevue’s tech boom draws Amazon, Apptio and major firms as city positions itself as Seattle alternative
Bellevue has become a major tech hub attracting companies like Amazon, Apptio, T-Mobile, Smartsheet, OfferUp and Icertis thanks to its downtown, livability, low crime and business-friendly policies, with major expansions including Amazon’s plan to employ 25,000 there.
Assembly acquires bootstrapped Seattle ad-tech startup Pacvue in reported nine-figure deal
Pacvue, a four-year-old Seattle e-commerce software startup that was bootstrapped without VC funding, was acquired by Los Angeles-based Assembly in a deal reported at nine figures; Pacvue provided advertising and sales tools for marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart and had tripled revenue yearly with about 150 employees.
Alexandria Executive Chairman Joel Marcus Says Pandemic Is Shifting Biotech Toward Hubs Like Seattle as Investment Surges
Alexandria Real Estate Equities chairman Joel Marcus says the pandemic is accelerating biotech investment and changing industry geography, reinforcing hubs like Seattle where his company has extensive lab real estate, tenants, and venture investments.
GeekWire Podcast: Qumulo CEO Bill Richter on Remote Work, Seattle Tech Pay Rise to $158K, and Qumulo’s $1.2B Valuation
GeekWire’s podcast interviews Qumulo CEO Bill Richter about post-pandemic remote work, trends in tech salaries (Seattle up 4.6% to $158,000; U.S. average down 1.1% to $152,000), and implications for hiring, cloud storage, and self-driving cars. Richter discusses Qumulo’s remote-work approach, decentralized decision-making by functional leaders, and the company’s $1.2 billion valuation from its latest funding round.
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.
Convoy appoints John Morrow as general counsel effective Nov. 1; ex-AWS VP Steven Shure joins Neeva as chief business officer
Convoy named John Morrow as general counsel effective Nov. 1, following multiple legal leadership departures in 2021; Morrow previously served at Apptio and Paymentus. Separately, former AWS VP Steven Shure joined ad-free search startup Neeva as chief business officer and will remain based in Seattle.
Seattle Average Tech Salary Rises 4.6% to $158,000, Second-Highest U.S. Behind Bay Area
Hired data shows average Seattle tech salaries rose 4.6% year-over-year to $158,000, the second-highest U.S. average behind the Bay Area. The report notes continued strong hiring from Amazon, Microsoft and other firms, high open roles at startups, remote-work-driven shifts in pay, and broad worker interest in new opportunities.
Life Science Washington CEO Leslie Alexandre to retire after leading state’s biotech resurgence as 2021 IPOs raise hundreds of millions
Leslie Alexandre, president and CEO of Life Science Washington, is retiring after five years leading the group during a period of strong growth in Washington state's biotech sector that recovered from a 2016 slump. The region has seen several major biotech IPOs in 2021 (including Sana Biotechnology's $587M, Absci's $200M, and Icosavax's $180M+), growing research strength and recognition as an emerging biotech market.
The Dyrt raises $11M Series B led by Realization Capital Partners, total funding $23M
Portland camping app The Dyrt raised $11 million in a Series B led by Realization Capital Partners, bringing total funding to $23 million as the app expands its community-driven listings across 44,000 U.S. camping spots.
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.
Immusoft and Takeda partner on B‑cell protein therapies for CNS disorders in deal potentially worth over $900M
Seattle cell therapy startup Immusoft struck a collaboration with Takeda to develop B‑cell–based protein therapies for central nervous system disorders in a deal that could be worth over $900 million. Immusoft will get research funding, an undisclosed upfront payment and option/milestone fees, while Takeda can license preclinical programs and advance products to clinic and commercialization.
Graham & Walker (formerly Female Founders Alliance) raises $10M fund to back female-led startups
Seattle-based Female Founders Alliance rebranded as Graham & Walker and launched a $10 million venture fund to invest in female-led early-stage tech startups, led by founder and managing director Leslie Feinzaig. The fund raised capital from 105 backers (two-thirds women, 40% first-time fund investors) and has already made 11 investments with average checks of $25,000–$400,000.
Spice AI raises $1M pre-seed led by Madrona; Nat Friedman and Mark Russinovich invest
Spice AI, a Seattle startup founded by former Microsoft Azure engineers Luke Kim and Phillip LeBlanc, launched an open-source project to help developers build real-time learning AI apps and raised a $1 million pre-seed led by Madrona with investments from GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Microsoft Azure CTO Mark Russinovich. The company has no paying customers yet but is backed by several VCs and positions itself to simplify creating intelligent applications.
Dutchie raises $350M Series D, valuation doubles to $3.75B after seven months
Cannabis e-commerce and point-of-sale startup Dutchie raised $350 million in a Series D, doubling its valuation to $3.75 billion just seven months after a $200 million round and bringing total funding to $603 million.
Karat raises $110M Series C at $1.1B valuation to scale remote technical interviewing
Karat, a Seattle startup that runs technical interviews through a vetted network of interviewers, raised $110 million in a Series C at a $1.1 billion valuation while more than doubling revenue and customers year-over-year.
Outreach acquires Indianapolis revenue-intelligence startup Canopy to launch Outreach Commit; Canopy’s nine employees join
Seattle sales automation company Outreach acquired Indianapolis revenue-intelligence startup Canopy and will use the team and technology to launch a new forecasting product called Outreach Commit; terms were not disclosed and Canopy’s nine employees will join Outreach.
Gopuff adds Sanjay Shah, Dan Beranek and Komal Kashiramka to Seattle leadership as company valued at $15B after $1B funding
Gopuff expanded its Seattle leadership team by hiring three executives — Sanjay Shah (SVP North America fulfillment), Dan Beranek (VP product for fresh food) and Komal Kashiramka (director of engineering for Gopuff Kitchen) — after a $1 billion funding round that valued the company at $15 billion. Other regional moves include Vinayak Hegde promoted to president of Wheels Up and FlavorCloud hiring Telved Devlet as VP of customer success and operations.
FruitScout raises $4M to commercialize AI smartphone app for crop-yield optimization; Bowery Capital, TFX back expansion
Yakima startup FruitScout raised $4 million to build an AI-powered app that uses smartphone images to measure tree trunk size, analyze buds/fruit, and predict optimal crop yields and pruning needs; investors include Bowery Capital and TFX Capital. FruitScout began focused on Washington apple growers and is expanding to agave in Mexico after earlier raising a $350,000 angel round.
Oscilla Power and C-Power Begin First Commercial-Scale Wave Energy Tests in Hawaii as DOE Pours $27M into PacWave South
Two Pacific Northwest companies, Oscilla Power (Seattle) and C-Power (Oregon State University spinout), are beginning commercial-scale tests of wave-energy systems this fall at the U.S. Navy Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii, while the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $27 million for wave energy R&D at PacWave South off Newport, Oregon. Researchers say wave power has been challenging but may be reaching a proving stage after years of lagging behind solar and land-based wind.
Former Kymeta CEO Nathan Kundtz raises $6M seed for Rendered.ai to build customizable synthetic datasets for AI
Nathan Kundtz, former Kymeta CEO, launched Seattle-area startup Rendered.ai to produce customizable synthetic datasets and infrastructure for training AI on visual and sensor data, and the company raised $6 million in a seed round. Rendered.ai focuses on treating dataset generation as an engineering platform to improve AI training efficiency and reduce bias and data-collection costs.
Chronosphere raises $200M Series C led by General Atlantic, valuation tops $1B
Chronosphere, founded in 2019 by former Microsoft and Uber engineers Martin Mao and Rob Skillington, raised $200 million in a Series C led by General Atlantic, valuing the company above $1 billion. The cloud-native data observability startup has grown ARR 9x in 2021, has 80 employees (plans to add 35), and has raised $255 million total.
People
See all 5-
John Cook Founder, Co-founder and Publisher, GeekWire
-
Jonathan Sposato Founder, Chairman & co-founder
-
Todd Bishop Founder, Co-Founder
