Microsoft
Facts
- Sectors
- Technology, Workplace tools, Cloud
- Founded
- 1975
- Employees
- 221000
- Stage
- Public
Auger founders Dave and Leigh Anne Clark relocate HQ to Dallas while retaining 115-person Bellevue engineering hub
Auger, a supply-chain technology startup founded in 2024 by former Amazon retail CEO Dave Clark and his wife Leigh Anne Clark, has moved its headquarters to Dallas while keeping a 115-person engineering hub in Bellevue and 15 staff at the Dallas HQ. The Clarks say the move was planned to access Dallas-area supply-chain talent and reflects personal ties to the region, not Washington tax policy.
Former Amazon Operations Chief Dave Clark Moves Auger HQ to North Dallas, Keeps 115-Person Bellevue Engineering Office
Auger, a supply-chain software startup co-founded by former Amazon operations chief Dave Clark, has relocated its headquarters from Bellevue to North Dallas while retaining a 115-person engineering office in Bellevue; the 2024-founded company has raised $150 million and counts Meta, Fanatics and Kimberly-Clark as customers. Clark says the move was driven by talent, family and proximity to customers rather than taxes, and he warned that Seattle’s dominance in tech hubs isn’t guaranteed.
Rick Turoczy’s Silicon Florist (Jul 31, 2026) Reviews Portland Startup News, Angel Oregon Finalists and LLM Insights
Rick Turoczy's July 31, 2026 Silicon Florist episode recaps a 'quiet-ish' week in Portland startup news, highlighting five Angel Oregon finalists, how LLMs discuss startups, community support tips, and local ecosystem critiques.
Seattle Tech Week 2026 Draws ~250 Events Over Five Days, Showcasing City’s Tech Talent and Innovation
Seattle Tech Week 2026 ran five days with roughly 250 events across diverse venues, celebrating Seattle’s dense tech talent and community connections while highlighting themes from founders, investors, and academics. Organizers view the event as a community-led showcase that reinforced Seattle’s historic and ongoing contributions to cloud, AI, and other innovations.
CoMotion: University of Washington founders linked to 143 startups, second to Microsoft’s 161 on Washington Tech Universe Map 2026
The Washington Tech Universe Map 2026 shows 625 Washington companies traced by founder lineage, with the University of Washington linked to 143 startups—second only to Microsoft’s 161—and together with Amazon and Google accounting for over half of the map. The visualization emphasizes founder mobility, collaborations (44% worked at two or more Washington organizations), and UW’s role in launching and supporting innovation through CoMotion.
GeekWire reports: Seattle Tech Week 2026 — AI dominates 250+ events as investors and job-seekers flock to Seattle
GeekWire's Todd Bishop reports from Seattle Tech Week 2026, where AI dominated conversations across more than 250 events and drew significant Bay Area investor interest and job-seeking attendees. Panels and speakers from OpenAI, Mistral AI, Ascend, Oumi and others highlighted debates about foundation models, enterprise data access, and the rush to build on third-party AI.
Wenxin Fang launches ZeroPivot Protractor on Kickstarter, raises $2,200+ after July 26 campaign to produce $19 anodized-aluminum tool
Seventeen-year-old Wenxin Fang of Redmond, Wash., designed the ZeroPivot Protractor — a precision-machined anodized-aluminum replacement for flimsy classroom protractors — and launched a Kickstarter on July 26 that reached its initial funding goal within 48 hours and has raised over $2,200. Priced at $19, the tool uses a guide-rail sliding mechanism and will be manufactured through HKAA Industrial in Shenzhen to cover tooling and production costs.
WTIA’s 2026 ‘Tech Universe Map’ shows Microsoft (161) and UW (143) produced most founders of 625 mapped Washington tech firms
The Washington Technology Industry Association's 2026 "Tech Universe Map" visualizes founder lineage for 625 Washington tech companies and finds Microsoft (161 companies) and the University of Washington (143) are the largest founder hubs, followed by Amazon (58) and Google (20). WTIA says the map highlights regional connectivity, is broader than the 2015 Seattle-focused version, and signals emerging hubs are often out-of-state companies with local engineering centers.
AI House Co-founder Jacob Colker Delivers Rallying Cry for Seattle’s Tech Community at Showbox Market
AI House co-founder and managing director Jacob Colker delivered a passionate rallying speech at a Seattle Tech Week event, urging Seattle to reconnect around community and recognize its outsized impact on technology. He praised local institutions and companies like Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft and the University of Washington while warning that residents have grown numb to the city’s achievements.
ABC Fitness Acquires Seattle Gym AI Startup Replify, Co-Founded by Zillow Alum Spencer Rascoff
Seattle gym-AI startup Replify, co-founded in 2023 by Spencer Rascoff and Zillow veterans, was acquired by Sherwood, Arkansas–based ABC Fitness; financial terms were not disclosed.
Dopl Technologies raises $6.3M to commercialize remotely operated robotic ultrasound platform while pursuing FDA clearance
Seattle-area startup Dopl Technologies raised $6.3 million to advance a remotely operated robotic ultrasound system as it pursues FDA clearance, aiming to expand access to ultrasound exams in rural and underserved communities.
Dopl Technologies closes $6.3M seed round led by SpringTide Ventures, total funding tops $8M to push telerobotic ultrasound toward FDA clearance
Dopl Technologies closed a $6.3 million seed round led by SpringTide Ventures, bringing total funding to over $8 million to advance its proprietary telerobotic ultrasound toward FDA clearance, funding product development, clinical evaluation, and pilot deployments.
Dopl Technologies raises $6.3M seed from SpringTide Ventures to advance Traverse telerobotic ultrasound toward FDA 510(k) clearance
Dopl Technologies raised $6.3 million in seed funding led by SpringTide Ventures to advance its Traverse telerobotic ultrasound platform toward FDA 510(k) clearance, aiming to let sonographers remotely perform diagnostic exams in rural hospitals and reduce patient wait times. The company — founded in 2022 by a former Nvidia medical AI engineer and practicing cardiologists/radiologists — will use the funds for verification, validation, FDA submission, and pilot deployments while operating an interim traveling-sonographer service called CareBridge.
Dopl Technologies’ CEO Ryan James announces $6.3M seed to build Traverse remote robotic ultrasound, with plans to expand to minimally invasive robotics
Dopl Technologies, led by CEO Ryan James, is building Traverse, a remote robotic ultrasound platform to let sonographers perform imaging from afar, and plans to later pursue minimally invasive robotic applications; the startup recently closed a $6.3 million seed round.
Dopl Technologies raises $6.3M seed round led by SpringTide Ventures, total funding tops $8M to push robotic ultrasound toward FDA clearance
Dopl Technologies closed a $6.3 million seed round led by SpringTide Ventures, bringing total funding to over $8 million to advance its remote robotic ultrasound platform toward FDA clearance. The funds will support product development, clinical evaluation, regulatory submission, and initial pilot deployments of its Traverse, Dopl Connect, and SonoFlex offerings.
WTIA launches 2026 Washington Tech Universe Map detailing 625 companies and founder lineages — first update since 2015
The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) released the 2026 Washington Tech Universe Map on July 27, 2026 — the first update since 2015 — visualizing 625 notable Washington tech companies and the founder lineages linking Microsoft, Amazon, the University of Washington, and new hubs. The wall-sized map organizes companies by founder origin to highlight how major organizations act as launchpads for successive generations of local tech founders.
AIM Intelligent Machines retrofits bulldozers and excavators with AI to automate earthmoving from Redmond HQ
AIM Intelligent Machines is retrofitting existing bulldozers and excavators with an AI-driven platform that can take control for earthmoving operations, developing the technology at its Redmond, Washington headquarters. The startup focuses first on terrestrial construction and mining applications while keeping longer-term ambitions for lunar and Martian terraforming.
Vieu launches Business Graph to map real executive relationships for sales, recruiting and AI
Vieu launched the Business Graph, a relationship-mapping platform that uses observed signals (shared work history, co-authored research, joint ventures, board affiliations and ongoing collaboration) to map real business interactions for sales, marketing, recruiting, fundraising and partnerships. The Seattle-based product is designed for both people and AI systems to reveal active executive ties that traditional social/professional networks miss.
TerraByte AI launches TerraByte News map and adds SkyFi high-resolution imagery partnership, images from $15
TerraByte AI expanded its Earth Search Engine with a TerraByte News interactive map that links to news, social posts and satellite imagery, and added high-resolution images via a partnership with SkyFi offering images from 300+ sources starting at $15. Founded by Rishi Madhok and Fuxun Yu after Microsoft geospatial work, the startup recently grew its team and aims to make Earth intelligence as easy as a web search.
Nscale Raises $2B at $14.6B Valuation, Opens Bellevue Engineering Hub and Hires Ex‑Microsoft AI Lead
British startup Nscale opened a 24,000 sq ft engineering hub in Bellevue, Washington, hiring AI infrastructure president Nidhi Chappell as it expands GPU cloud services after raising $2 billion at a $14.6 billion valuation; the company faces industry-wide power constraints that are forcing reliance on on-site generation. The Bellevue office, opening January 2027 and planned to house 250 staff, strengthens ties with Microsoft as Nscale deploys NVIDIA Vera Rubin GPUs across Europe.
Nscale opens 24,000-ft² Bellevue U.S. engineering HQ, backing expansion after $2B raise and $900M credit line
London-based data center startup Nscale, fresh off a $2 billion fundraising and a $900 million credit line, is opening a 24,000-square-foot U.S. engineering headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, slated for January 2027 and able to house up to 250 employees. The company hired former Microsoft VP Nidhi Chappell as president of AI infrastructure to lead global engineering and data center operations as it expands amid demand for AI computing infrastructure.
Seattle Sounders honor S. ‘Soma’ Somasegar, Madrona VC and former Microsoft exec, with pregame tribute after his May death at 59
The Seattle Sounders honored late Microsoft executive and Madrona venture capitalist S. “Soma” Somasegar, a minority owner who died in May at 59, with a pregame tribute and moment of silence recognizing his impact on Seattle’s tech and sports communities. Somasegar, who joined the Sounders ownership group in 2019, was remembered for his leadership at Microsoft, mentorship of startups, and efforts to bring people together through sports.
General Fusion’s GFUZ Debuts on Nasdaq as Fusion Private Funding Hits $4.5B in 12 Months
General Fusion became the first fusion energy company to list on a major exchange when GFUZ debuted on Nasdaq, sending its stock higher. The Fusion Industry Association report said private funding for fusion companies reached $4.5 billion in the past 12 months and $13.3 billion over five years, driven partly by demand from AI data centers and large rounds like Helion Energy’s $465 million raise.
Curinos Names 2026 FinTech Incubator Cohort, Adds Mentorship and Technical Partnerships
Curinos announced its 2026 FinTech Incubator cohort, selecting four early-stage startups focused on AI-driven knowledge, embedded lending, community savings, and personalized financial guidance. The program also expanded its mentorship team and technical partnerships to support these innovative startups.
Seattle Startups Raise $2.7B in H1 2026 — Down 40% Year‑Over‑Year While U.S. VC Hits Record $412.7B
Seattle-area startups raised $2.7 billion across 163 deals in H1 2026, a roughly 40% drop from $4.5 billion a year earlier, as national venture funding surged to a record $412.7 billion driven largely by AI mega-rounds that Seattle’s pure-play AI companies did not capture.
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Ali Farhadi Executive, Former Allen Institute for AI CEO
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Bill Gates Executive, Former CEO, Co-founder
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Dan Lewis Executive, Corporate Vice President
