Microsoft
Facts
- HQ
- NASDAQ:MSFT
- Sectors
- Technology, Workplace tools, Cloud
- Founded
- 1975
- Employees
- 221000
- Stage
- Public
Videon raises $7.3M Series A led by Voyager Capital, hires Rob Green as Seattle-based CEO and opens co-HQ
Videon raised $7.3 million in a Series A led by Seattle-based Voyager Capital, hired Seattle-based tech veteran Rob Green as CEO, and will shift part of its operations from State College, Pennsylvania to open a co-headquarters in Seattle. The 44-employee company provides edge video compute hardware and ultra-low-latency live-streaming solutions used across 19+ countries and plans to expand leadership, engineering, marketing, and sales with the new funding.
Todd Dunlap named OfferUp CEO as co-founder Nick Huzar becomes chief product officer and board chair
Todd Dunlap, a longtime Microsoft and Booking.com executive, is the incoming CEO of OfferUp as co-founder Nick Huzar moves to chief product officer and board chair; the decade-old marketplace has 56 million users, raised $120 million, acquired Letgo, and employs about 350 people. Dunlap cites the company's culture, product potential in local commerce, and growth opportunities as reasons for joining and plans further innovation.
Khosla Ventures-led Series A Gives Lexion $11 Million; Wilson Sonsini and Madrona Join Existing Investors
Lexion, a Seattle-based AI contract-management startup spun out of the Allen Institute for AI in 2019, raised $11 million in an oversubscribed Series A led by Khosla Ventures. Previous investors Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Madrona Venture Group, who backed its $4.2 million 2019 seed round, participated in the round.
OfferUp hires Booking.com veteran Todd Dunlap as CEO; starts in July as co-founder Nick Huzar becomes CPO
OfferUp hired former Booking.com U.S. and Canada managing director Todd Dunlap as CEO starting in July while co-founder Nick Huzar moves to chief product officer and retains president and board chair roles; the Seattle-based marketplace has 56 million users, $380M total funding, and raised $120M last year.
Khosla Ventures leads $11M Series A for Seattle AI contract startup Lexion as revenue quadruples
Seattle startup Lexion, which uses AI to parse contracts and create searchable repositories, has quadrupled revenue and added 50 customers in four months. The 30-person company raised an $11 million Series A led by Khosla Ventures to expand from reporting into workflow features and accelerate growth.
Super.AI raises $12M to expand AI-driven data process automation; total funding now $21.6M
Super.AI, a Berlin-based "data process automation" startup founded by MIT and Big Tech veterans, raised $12 million to expand its AI-driven platform that automates labeling and analysis of unstructured data for tasks like e-commerce quality control and video processing.
Flyhomes raises $150 million to scale cash-offer homebuying and mortgage services nationwide
Seattle startup Flyhomes raised $150 million to expand its cash-offer homebuying model and integrated mortgage and selling services nationwide, positioning itself against iBuyers and Zillow. CEO Tushar Garg said the funding supports building an end-to-end home-buying experience that gives clients a competitive edge in a chaotic market.
Nautilus Biotechnology (NAUT) goes public via SPAC, raises $345 million to commercialize proteome analysis
Nautilus Biotechnology, co-founded by Sujal Patel and Parag Mallick, is going public on Nasdaq as NAUT through a SPAC merger that raised $345 million to advance a new proteome analysis platform aimed at accelerating biomedical research and drug development. Institutional backers include Bezos Expeditions, Vulcan Capital and Madrona Venture Group, and the deal closes on the 25th anniversary of Patel’s arrival in Seattle.
YourBase raises $5M seed from Lightspeed to speed software testing with automated Code Dependency Graph
Seattle startup YourBase raised a $5 million seed round led by Lightspeed to sell tooling that shortens test times and release cycles by automating test selection using a Code Dependency Graph, claiming ~90 developer hours saved per month and more than a dozen private-beta customers.
Zenoti raises $80M extension from TPG Capital, total funding $330M and valuation near $1.5B after December Series D
Zenoti raised an $80 million extension to its December Series D led by TPG Capital, bringing total funding to $330 million and valuing the company near $1.5 billion; the enterprise software serves over 12,000 spas, salons and wellness businesses across 50 countries. The company, founded by Sudheer and Dheeraj Koneru, charges per-store subscriptions, has a growing payments arm, saw revenue double in 2020, expects 120% growth in 2021, and plans expansion into pet grooming and fitness.
MetaVC Partners raises debut fund to back metamaterials startups with investments from Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold
MetaVC Partners, a San Francisco venture fund founded by physicists Chris Alliegro and Conrad Burke, is raising its first fund to back early-stage metamaterials startups, with investors including Bill Gates and Intellectual Ventures founder Nathan Myhrvold.
Factal raises $3.3M Series A after doubling 2020 revenue to expand AI-and-journalist breaking-news alerts for corporate risk
Seattle startup Factal, which uses AI and journalists to monitor and verify breaking-news threats for corporate clients, raised $3.3 million in a Series A after doubling revenue in 2020. Its tools provide verification, proximity mapping, customized alerts and real-time collaboration for functions like security, risk intelligence and supply-chain continuity.
Icertis names ex‑SAP marketer Gretchen Eischen as CMO amid $2.8B valuation; Apollo partner David Sambur exits Expedia board
Icertis hired former SAP marketing executive Gretchen Eischen as CMO while moving Seth Nesbitt to a newly created culture role; Icertis was valued at $2.8B after an $80M round. Apollo partner David Sambur resigned from Expedia Group’s board after a $1B investment, and Remitly named Vishal Ghotge EVP of North America.
GeekWire names winners at 2021 Awards; SeekOut wins Startup of the Year after $65M raise
The 2021 GeekWire Awards returned as a virtual event honoring over 60 finalists across 14 categories from the Pacific Northwest tech community, featuring celebrity cameos and performances. Winners included SeekOut as Startup of the Year, and among 16 winners eight were women and five were people of color and/or immigrant entrepreneurs.
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.
Esper raises $30M Series B led by Scale Venture Partners to expand DevOps platform for Android IoT fleets
Seattle-based Esper raised $30 million in a Series B led by Scale Venture Partners to expand its DevOps platform for managing fleets of company-owned Android IoT devices; the 100-person startup says revenue, customers and device installs surged in 2020. Total funding to date is $40.6 million and Esper targets industries using point-of-sale tablets, connected fitness gear and kiosks.
Educative raises $12M Series A to expand coding-learning platform, plans to grow headcount to 300 by end of 2021
Seattle-based coding education startup Educative raised a $12 million Series A to expand its interactive platform used by more than 550,000 developers and enterprise customers like LinkedIn, Samsung and Ford, bringing total funding to $14.6 million.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
Modica converts shipping containers into software-driven microfactories to deploy automated factories globally
Seattle startup Modica converts shipping containers into modular, software-driven microfactories that enable small-to-medium scale automated manufacturing anywhere in the world. Founded in 2018 by Will (William) Gibbs, the company applies systems integration, modular construction and generative design to speed factory build-out and avoid supply shortages.
BitTitan to Acquire Perspectium, Adding 75 Employees and Expanding ServiceNow Data Management
BitTitan announced it will acquire Perspectium, a 75-person company that helps manage data on ServiceNow, in a deal that expands BitTitan’s IT service management offerings and raises headcount to over 250; financial terms were not disclosed. Perspectium CEO David Loo will join BitTitan as chief product officer.
FlavorCloud raises $6.3M Series A led by Mucker Capital as profitable international-shipping startup hits rapid growth
Seattle-based FlavorCloud, which simplifies cross-border e-commerce shipping by handling customs rules and product codes, raised $6.3 million in a Series A led by Mucker Capital. The profitable, four-year-old startup — founded by CEO Rathna Sharad and CTO Sherwyn Soff in 2017 — has grown rapidly during the pandemic and has deals including a partnership with Chinese payments firm LianLian Pay; total funding is $8.6 million.
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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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Gaurav Sareen Executive, Chief Technology Officer - CAP
