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
DevHub acquires Brickwork to add online-to-store booking and RSVP features for multi-location brands
Seattle SaaS company DevHub has acquired New York-based retail tech startup Brickwork to add local online-to-store features like appointment booking and event RSVPs, strengthening its Data Experience Platform for multi-location brands; terms were not disclosed.
Rainway CEO Andrew Sampson says Rainway tech powers PC and iOS web versions of Microsoft’s Project xCloud and will pivot to virtualized browser apps
Seattle startup Rainway, co-founded by CEO Andrew Sampson, powers the PC and iOS web versions of Microsoft’s Project xCloud and is pivoting from gaming to a virtualized app platform for running powerful desktop applications in browsers. The 15-person company remains independent, has turned down acquisition offers, and aims to compete with Google’s web app offerings.
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.
Twilio acquires Seattle business-texting startup Zipwhip for $850M in cash-and-stock deal
Twilio is acquiring Seattle business-texting startup Zipwhip for about $850 million in a cash-and-stock deal, a transaction that closed on July 14. Zipwhip, founded in 2007, pivoted to enable businesses to send and receive texts from landlines and toll-free numbers, and Twilio says the acquisition advances their shared vision for business messaging.
Melinda French Gates positions Pivotal Ventures to expand women- and family-focused VC and philanthropy after divorce
Melinda French Gates founded Pivotal Ventures in January 2015 as a vehicle to pursue initiatives outside the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and following her divorce from Bill Gates she is poised to expand Pivotal’s influence on empowering women and families. Observers say her resources and focus could shift venture capital dynamics for female founders and have “transformational potential.”
Charna Parkey, PhD and former Textio applied scientist, joins Seattle startup Kaskada as data science lead
Charna Parkey, a PhD in signal processing and former Textio applied scientist, is now data science lead at Seattle startup Kaskada, where she focuses on building product-centric tools to help data scientists and data engineers collaborate on enterprise ML applications.
Sally Jewell named Edward V. Fritzky chair at UW Foster; Riveter CEO Amy Nelson relocates to Columbus; other exec moves
A roundup of leadership moves: former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will be the Edward V. Fritzky endowed chair at UW Foster School for 2021–22; Riveter CEO Amy Nelson is relocating to Columbus but will remain with the company; and several other executives (including Jeff Blackburn, Randy Tinseth, and Vinayak Hegde) are taking new roles or joining boards.
Bean Box raises $2.4M Series A as pandemic drives specialty coffee demand to homes, CEO says growth near 200%
Seattle startup Bean Box raised $2.4 million in a Series A round as pandemic-driven home coffee demand sharply increased; the 2014-founded company reports ~200% year-over-year growth, over 40% gross margin, doubled subscribers, and expansion beyond the Pacific Northwest.
Absolute Software to acquire Seattle-based NetMotion for $340 million; deal expected to close in June
Absolute Software will acquire Seattle-based NetMotion for $340 million; NetMotion reported $60 million revenue and $18 million adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months ending March 31, and the combined company is expected to have about $176 million in annual revenue with the deal closing in June.
Healionics raises $4.7M led by Keiretsu Capital to commercialize STARgraft artificial blood vessel, aims for early‑next‑year launch
Seattle medical device company Healionics raised $4.7 million led by Keiretsu Capital to commercialize STARgraft, a synthetic vascular graft designed to resist occlusion for dialysis patients, and plans a commercial launch early next year. The funding will finance a second human study and FDA clearance efforts; the company also converted $5.2 million of notes and interest into equity.
Genba, a PSL–Fortive spinout, raises seed funding (amount undisclosed) for voice-first industrial maintenance app
Genba, a five-person spinout from Pioneer Square Labs and Fortive, emerged from stealth with a voice-first mobile app that helps industrial maintenance teams capture work and knowledge using company-trained voice recognition; Fortive invested in an undisclosed seed round and the startup already counts large customers like GE Power.
Recurrent wins $256,000 NSF Phase 1 SBIR grant to expand battery-data platform, eligible for $1.5M follow-on
Recurrent, a Seattle startup that provides third-party battery health and range reports for used electric vehicles, received a $256,000 NSF Phase 1 SBIR grant and could compete for an additional $1.5 million; the company launched in September, has 11 employees, raised a $3.5M seed round, and is building a large real-world EV range database.
Amplitude acquires Seattle analytics startup Iteratively, founded 2019; Iteratively to operate as unit within Amplitude
San Francisco product intelligence firm Amplitude has acquired Seattle-based customer data analytics startup Iteratively, which was founded in 2019 and raised $5.4 million earlier this year; Iteratively will operate as a unit within Amplitude and already shares most of its customers with the acquirer.
Xplore opens 22,000‑sq ft satellite manufacturing facility in Redmond, to start production in June
Xplore has leased a 22,000-square-foot satellite manufacturing facility in Redmond, Washington, in the former Planetary Resources complex and will begin moving in June to produce ESPA-class XCraft and LightCraft spacecraft. The company plans to build up to 20 spacecraft per year for commercial customers and U.S. agencies including NASA, NOAA, the Space Force and Air Force.
UW spinout Jeeva unveils Parsair chip claiming 100× lower power than Bluetooth for decades‑long sensor streaming
Jeeva, a Seattle startup spun out of the University of Washington, introduced the Parsair chip, which it says is the world’s lowest-power wireless chip for streaming real-time sensor data and consumes 100× less power than typical Bluetooth. The chip reflects nearby radio signals to communicate—enabling decades-long battery life—and is being pilot-tested with undisclosed global brands for supply chain, asset tracking, and product monitoring use cases.
Remitly buys IP from Seattle startup Jargon; co-founders Milkana Brace and Jonathan Burstein join Remitly
Remitly has acquired intellectual property from Seattle startup Jargon and will hire Jargon co-founders Milkana Brace and Jonathan Burstein plus three staffers, while Jargon winds down operations; Remitly plans to use the technology to improve customer experience.
Madrona Venture Labs raises $8M and turns investors like Spencer Rascoff into co‑founders of spinouts
Madrona Venture Labs has raised $8 million for its fourth fund and introduced a model that makes investors — including Spencer Rascoff, Julie Larson-Green and Elena Donio — co-founders, board members, and advisors of its spinouts to attract talent and accelerate startup formation. Founded in 2014, the Seattle-based studio has spun out more than a dozen companies, including recent spinouts Zeitworks, Simplata, and Stratify.
Orbite launches three-day astronaut orientation sessions Aug. 23 in France, November–December in Orlando with zero‑G and high‑G flights
Seattle startup Orbite will offer three-day "try before you buy" astronaut orientation sessions starting Aug. 23 in France and later in Orlando, featuring VR, zero-G and high-G flights, space-food classes and stargazing for up to 10 participants per session.
Seattle startup Plunk raises $6.5M seed from Unlock Ventures to recommend remodels that boost home value
Seattle startup Plunk raised a $6.5 million seed round led by Unlock Ventures to expand its app that uses image processing, AI and machine learning to recommend remodels that raise home value. The free app has analyzed over 1 million homes in Seattle, identifying about $400 billion in combined potential "Plunk Value," while the company focuses on establishing credible analytics before announcing monetization plans.
Remitly hires banks to prepare IPO at about $5B valuation, up from $1.5B in July
Seattle remittance startup Remitly has hired banks to prepare an IPO that Reuters says would value the company at about $5 billion, up from a $1.5 billion valuation in July; the company declined to comment.
GeekWire Awards finalists highlighted as voting closes; virtual winners announced May 20
GeekWire's annual Awards event will be held virtually on May 20 after nearly 200 community nominations and over 6,000 reader votes; finalists are being highlighted for their rising positions on the GeekWire 200 ranking of Pacific Northwest private tech companies. Several finalists have 'exited' the ranking through IPOs or acquisitions, including Auth0, Accolade, Rover, and Sana Biotechnology, while others are not yet ranked.
Pacific Northwest Software Founders Launch Ag‑Tech Startups — TerraClear, Carbon Robotics, Pollen Systems Draw Major VC Interest
Successful Pacific Northwest software founders are applying their startup experience to ag tech, drawing significant venture capital into farm-focused startups and developing robotics and marketplaces for agriculture. Examples include Brent Frei's rock-picking robots at TerraClear, Paul Mikesell's weed-zapping Carbon Robotics, and Keith McCall's Pollen Systems and Everyvine relaunch.
TwinStrand Biosciences, led by Jesse Salk, raises $50M Series B from Section 32 to scale ultra-accurate gene-sequencing
TwinStrand Biosciences, co-founded and led by Jesse Salk, raised $50 million in a Series B led by Section 32 to expand its high-accuracy gene-sequencing technology for detecting rare mutations with applications in cancer detection, therapy monitoring, and safety testing.
RealSelf acquires YNS Group (Multiestetica) to expand into Europe and Latin America, targeting 100M annual users
Seattle-based RealSelf has acquired YNS Group, owner of Multiestetica, expanding its cosmetic treatment marketplace into Europe and Latin America and boosting reach to an expected 100 million annual consumers while planning to add 150 employees.
Seattle gallerist Kirsten Anderson and tech veteran Art Min launch Phosphene, a curated NFT portal for vetted artists and collectors
Seattle gallery owner Kirsten Anderson is launching Phosphene, a curated NFT portal, partnering with tech veteran and investor Art Min to connect vetted artists with serious collectors and simplify entry into NFTs.
People
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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
