Facts
- HQ
- Seattle
- Sectors
- Software Development
- Founded
- 2015
- Employees
- 33
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.
Yousuf Khan and Palvi Mehta Address Cloud Cost Overspending Challenges in Growing IT Environments
The article by Yousuf Khan and Palvi Mehta discusses the challenges CIOs face in predicting cloud resource costs as workloads move to the cloud, emphasizing the need for long-term cost prediction and management strategies. It highlights the growing complexity and unpredictability of cloud spending and the emergence of startups offering solutions to address these issues.
Read, founded by ex-Placed team members David Shim, Elliott Waldron and Rob Williams, raises $10M seed to analyze faces and voices on video calls
Seattle startup Read — founded by David Shim, Elliott Waldron, and Rob Williams — raised $10 million in seed funding for software that uses AI to analyze participants' facial expressions and voice during video calls to measure engagement and sentiment in real time.
Archera raises $7M Series A to automate AWS and Azure cost optimization, bringing total funding to $10.3M
Seattle startup Archera (formerly Reserved.ai) raised $7 million in a Series A to help AWS, Azure and other cloud customers automate resource management and purchasing; the company reports 150% revenue growth this year and counts customers like Fortive and Guardant Health.
Starfish Space Raises $7M to Develop Otter Space Tug for Satellite Servicing and Disposal
Starfish Space, founded by ex-Blue Origin veterans, raised $7 million in seed funding to develop the Otter space tug for moving and safely disposing of satellites in orbit. Their technology aims to extend satellite lifespans and address space debris challenges with novel hardware and software currently undergoing on-orbit tests.
Aseem Datar leaves Microsoft to join Madrona Venture Group as partner; Madrona promotes Chris Picardo and hires Birkan Uzun; Jaime Teevan promoted to Microsoft CVP
Microsoft Azure GM and COO Aseem Datar is leaving Microsoft to join Madrona Venture Group as a partner later this month, while Madrona also promoted Chris Picardo to partner and hired Birkan Uzun as an investor; separately, Microsoft promoted Chief Scientist Jaime Teevan to corporate vice president. The article notes Datar’s 17+ years at Microsoft and prior roles, Picardo’s and Uzun’s backgrounds, and Teevan’s reaction to her promotion.
How SPACs are shaking up Seattle's startup scene
An online marketplace that helps to facilitate trade between marijuana sellers and buyers will soon see its own stock traded on the Nasdaq. Another that connects pet owners with walkers, boarders and other caregivers just posted its first earnings as a publicly traded company. And a 3-year-old Redmond-based biotech company with a mere 25 employees just raised $80 million its stock market debut. SPACs are shaking up Seattle's startup scene. On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we examine how special purpose acquisition companies are turning startups into publicly traded stocks at a rapid clip. The SPAC phenomenon is giving…
Seattle startups raise record $3.1B in H1 2021, producing 12 local unicorns as Auth0 exits for $6.5B
Seattle-area startups raised a record $3.1 billion across 205 deals in H1 2021, driven by mega-rounds that produced at least 12 local unicorns and broader Pacific Northwest tech funding topping $5 billion. National VC activity and IPO/M&A dollar volumes are also surpassing prior records, with major exits like Auth0’s $6.5 billion acquisition by Okta highlighting regional maturation.
Pioneer Square Labs alum Boundless hires Ohio tech veteran Alan Gilbert as VP of Engineering after recommendation from PSL co-founder Ben Gilbert
Seattle VC Ben Gilbert helped his father Alan Gilbert land a remote VP of engineering role at Boundless, a Pioneer Square Labs spinoff, highlighting how COVID-19 has broadened companies' acceptance of remote hires and kept tech ties strong across distance.
Ben Gilbert of PSL and 'Acquired' on the red-hot market for IPOs, VC and acquisitions
Another day, another deal. Keeping up with the flurry of acquisitions, IPOs, SPACs and venture capital these days is no easy task. In fact, IPO dollar volume for 2021 has already reached $171 billion, surpassing the record totals of last year. Same goes for mergers and acquisitions, with record levels of deal activity tracked for 2021. The money is certainly flowing. Washington state now boasts 11 "unicorns" — privately held companies boasting valuations of $1 billion or more. Many of them — such as Highspot, Zenoti and Outreach — have raised venture capital rounds of $150 million or more in…
Pioneer Square Labs spins out Dance Church Go with Dance Church; membership platform launches at $19/month or $199/year
Pioneer Square Labs is partnering with Seattle’s Dance Church to launch Dance Church Go, a dance-on-demand membership platform priced at $19/month or $199/year, after the company expanded into livestreaming during the pandemic and hired Clara Siegel as CEO.
Arrived Homes raises $10M equity and $27M debt as Bezos and Benioff VC arms back $100-share rental investing
Seattle startup Arrived Homes raised $10 million in equity and $27 million in debt to scale a platform that lets retail investors buy shares of single-family rental homes for as little as $100, with backers including Bezos Expeditions and Time Ventures. The company sources, manages and sells properties while charging commissions and management fees, has over 30 properties in three states and caps individual investments at $20,000 per house.
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.
Shipium raises $8M to help retailers optimize fulfillment and compete with Amazon
Seattle startup Shipium raised $8 million to provide API-driven fulfillment software that helps online retailers optimize shipping decisions and compete with Amazon amid a pandemic-driven e-commerce surge.
Pioneer Square Labs
This week our partners chat with Greg Gottesman, Managing Director & Co-Founder at Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio and venture capital fund based in Seattle, WA.
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.
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.
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.
Boundless raises $25M to expand immigration software services; aims to triple staff after RapidVisa deal
Seattle-based immigration software startup Boundless raised $25 million to expand services that help people connect with lawyers and file spousal-visa and citizenship applications, having supported over 70,000 families since spinning out of Pioneer Square Labs in 2017. The company, led by CEO Xiao Wang, plans to grow headcount from 130 with hopes tied to a 'pro-immigrant' Biden administration after recent restructuring and the acquisition of RapidVisa.
Jeff Bezos’s Bezos Expeditions joins Drake, Alexis Ohanian and NBA stars in $80M investment in Overtime as it launches paid high-school basketball league
Jeff Bezos joined an $80 million funding round for Overtime, a Brooklyn-based sports media company planning a paid high-school basketball league, alongside investors including Drake, Alexis Ohanian and current and former NBA players.
GeekWire opens community voting for UX Design of the Year finalists — Boundless, Joon, Qumulo Core, Tagboard Producer, Voodle — voting closes April 30
GeekWire’s UX Design of the Year recognizes startups for meaningful, usable product experiences; five finalists — Boundless, Joon, Qumulo Core, Tagboard Producer, and Voodle — are open for community voting through April 30 with winners announced May 20 at the virtual GeekWire Awards.
Coinbase IPO Soars to $85 Billion, Nets Windfalls for Early Backers Including Version One Ventures
Coinbase’s IPO pushed its valuation to $85 billion and delivered major returns to early investors like Version One Ventures, which made a highly profitable bet years ago. The article examines how Seattle and Pacific Northwest investors view crypto and blockchain as the region seeks to grow its fintech presence amid emerging local startups and initiatives.
Libsyn Acquires Seattle Podcast Monetization Startup Glow for $1.2M; Integrates Subscription Billing for 75,000+ Shows
Seattle startup Glow, spun out of Pioneer Square Labs and founded by Amira Valliani, built podcast subscription tools and has been acquired by podcast host Libsyn; Libsyn will integrate Glow’s private feed distribution and subscription billing for its 75,000+ podcasts. Glow had raised $2.3 million, and an SEC filing shows Libsyn agreed to pay $1.2 million ($800k upfront, up to $400k earnout); other deal terms were not disclosed.
People
See all 11-
Geoff Entress Founder, Co-founder and Venture Partner
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Greg Gottesman Founder, Managing Director, Co-Founder
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Julie Sandler Founder, Co-founder & General Partner, PSL Ventures, Former Managing Director , Venture Partner (upcoming), Venture Partner, Managing Director, PSL
