Isilon
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Bain Capital and Crosspoint Capital to buy Seattle cybersecurity firm ExtraHop for $900 million; founders stay
Private equity firms Bain Capital and Crosspoint Capital will acquire Seattle cybersecurity startup ExtraHop for $900 million; the 14-year-old company, with about 1,000 customers and 500+ employees, reported $100 million ARR and expects 40% growth this year. Founders and current leaders will remain, the deal aims to accelerate growth and is expected to close this summer.
Creative Destruction Lab to launch nine-month, equity-free Seattle accelerator with Microsoft and UW for 20–25 computational health startups this November
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is launching a Seattle hub this November at the University of Washington to run a nine-month, equity-free accelerator for 20–25 computational health startups in partnership with Microsoft and UW’s business, engineering, and computer science schools; UW students can shadow the program. The program is funded by founding members, enforces objective milestones with the possibility of booting nonperforming companies, and stems from UW’s Innovation Roundtable efforts led by Emer Dooley and others.
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.
RipeLocker raises $5M to commercialize patented low‑atmosphere containers as USDA begins trials
RipeLocker, a Bainbridge Island ag‑tech startup, raised $5 million to sell patented low‑atmosphere containers that extend storage life for recently harvested flowers and produce, and the USDA has begun trials to see if the tech can reduce storage chemicals. The company is building 500 units—half for commercial customers in flowers, hops and berries and half for trials—with first sales starting this summer and total funding now at $12 million.
Isilon co-founder Paul Mikesell’s Carbon Robotics unveils Autonomous Weeder that zaps 100,000 weeds/hour with AI-guided lasers
Carbon Robotics, founded by Isilon co‑founder Paul Mikesell, unveiled a self-driving Autonomous Weeder that uses AI vision and laser thermal bursts to identify and kill weeds in vegetable fields. The tractor-sized robot can cover up to 16 acres per day and zap as many as 100,000 weeds per hour, aiming to lower the cost of growing organic produce.
Rad Power Bikes co-founder Ty Collins steps down to advisory role; WRF CEO Ron Howell to retire end of April
Rad Power Bikes co-founder and former CMO Ty Collins has stepped down and moved into an advisory role while remaining involved; the company is profitable and raised $150 million earlier this year. Washington Research Foundation CEO Ron Howell will retire at the end of April after 29 years, with CFO Jeff Eby serving as acting CEO.
SPACs Let Founders Reach Public Markets Faster and Keep Larger Equity Stakes, Say Startup Observers
The article explains how SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies) let founders and early employees reach liquidity faster and often retain larger ownership stakes than through later-stage VC or private equity rounds. Using examples like Sana Biotechnology and Seattle entrepreneur Sujal Patel, it argues SPACs can preserve founders' equity by bypassing dilutive funding rounds.
Nautilus Biotechnology to go public via Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp III SPAC, raising $350M at $900M valuation
Nautilus Biotechnology, a Seattle proteomics startup led by Sujal Patel and Parag Mallick, will go public via a SPAC merger with Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp III, raising about $350 million and valuing the company at $900 million. The deal includes a $150 million SPAC component and a $200 million PIPE, expects to close in Q2, and the combined company will trade on Nasdaq as NAUT.
Nautilus Biotechnology hires ex-Smartsheet, Isilon and GenapSys leaders as it scales proteome platform after $76M Series B
Nautilus Biotechnology, a stealthy startup co-founded by Sujal Patel and Parag Mallick, has hired three senior executives — Chris Blessington, Anna Mowry, and Subra Sankar — to expand its team and accelerate development of a platform to quantify the human proteome after a $76 million Series B.
Rubrik acquires technology and IP assets from Seattle startup Igneous after layoffs
Rubrik, a Palo Alto cloud data management company valued at about $3.3 billion, has acquired technology and IP assets from Seattle startup Igneous after Igneous cut staff and fell below 40 employees; Rubrik said the acquisition enhances its unstructured data management capabilities.
Seattle Reaches 10 Unicorns Worth $1B+, Mostly Enterprise Software Firms with Microsoft Links
Seattle now has 10 unicorn startups valued at $1 billion or more, many concentrated in enterprise software/cloud computing and driven by rapid digital transformation and strong revenue run rates. Most have immigrant founders and Microsoft ties, but none have female co-founders or CEOs.
Igneous lays off staff amid ‘difficult economic environment’; CEO role held by Dean Darwin
Seattle-based unstructured data management startup Igneous has conducted a reduction in force amid a difficult economic environment; the company declined to disclose the number of layoffs and lists 69 employees on LinkedIn. Founded in 2013, Igneous raised $25 million in a 2019 Series C (bringing total funding to $70M) and recently replaced co-founder Kiran Bhageshpur with Dean Darwin as CEO.
Matt McIlwain (Madrona) on lessons from 20 years of VC investing, traits of top entrepreneurs, and building a bigger pie
20 years as a VC at Madrona. Headline IPOs like Accolade, Smartsheet, Apptio, Isilon. Invested in cloud before it was cool. 3x Midas list. 3x CB's top 100 VC list. Matt goes behind the scenes on his lessons (from the highs and lows), Madrona's philosophy, and how the best leaders work.
Progress to Buy Seattle Automation Firm Chef for $220M in Cash; Chef Reports $72M TTM Revenue
Progress, the Bedford, Mass.–based business application platform, will acquire Seattle automation company Chef for $220 million in cash; Chef reported over $72 million in trailing 12-month revenue with more than 95% recurring revenue and about 270 employees. Chef CEO Barry Crist said the deal provides scale to advance Chef’s platform after the company became cash-flow positive and neared full-year profitability.
Qumulo raises $125M, valued at more than $1.2B to join Seattle’s unicorns
Qumulo raised $125 million in funding, pushing its valuation to over $1.2 billion and making it a Seattle-area unicorn; the data-storage company serves customers across healthcare, media, research and the public sector and has seen increased demand during the pandemic.
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.
Nautilus Biotechnology raises $76M Series B led by Vulcan Capital; Bezos Expeditions among investors, total funding tops $100M
Nautilus Biotechnology, co-founded by Stanford scientist Parag Mallick and Isilon co-founder Sujal Patel, revealed a platform to study the human proteome and announced a $76 million Series B led by Vulcan Capital with participation from Bezos Expeditions, Perceptive Advisors and others. The round brings total funding above $100 million for the 50-person startup as it exits stealth to accelerate proteomics-driven therapeutics development.
People
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Paul Mikesell Founder, Co-founder
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Sujal Patel Founder, Co-founder, Former CEO
