Facts
- HQ
- Los Angeles
- Sectors
- Technology, Social Media, Consumer Internet
- Founded
- 2000
- Stage
- Public
AI demand-forecasting and dynamic-pricing tools help supermarkets cut food waste by up to ~38%, shrinking donations to food banks
Groceries are using AI-driven demand forecasting and dynamic pricing tools to cut food waste—some vendors report waste reductions over 20–38%—but food banks say donations are falling as a result, forcing them to buy more food even as demand from struggling Americans rises.
Whatnot raises $545 million Series G at $20 billion valuation, plans to triple Seattle staff and expand South Lake Union office
Live-commerce company Whatnot raised $545 million in a Series G round that values it at $20 billion and plans to triple its Seattle workforce, seeking a larger South Lake Union office to accommodate growth.
Fizz App Reaches 3.5 Million Monthly Users on 300+ College Campuses Since 2020 Launch
Fizz, an anonymous social app for verified college students, has grown to 3.5 million monthly users across 300+ North American campuses since its 2020 launch. Founded by two Stanford graduates, it fosters local campus communities but faces moderation challenges and is now expanding internationally with investor support.
Devplan Raises $2.5M Seed Round Led by AI2 Incubator for AI-Native Product Development
Devplan, a Seattle-based AI-native product development intelligence platform, emerged from stealth announcing a $2.5 million seed funding round led by AI2 Incubator with participation from Acequia Capital, Mighty Capital, Grand Ventures, and eLab Ventures.
Washington’s Grassley-Durbin James T. Woods Act Gives Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai Special Regulatory Exemptions
Washington's special regulatory rules reportedly provide Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai with exemptions. The bipartisan Grassley-Durbin James T. Woods Act plays a key role in this outcome.
Roth Capital's Kulkarni Maintains Neutral Rating and $7 Target on Snap Amid Launch of Premium AR Glasses
Roth Capital Partners analyst Rohit Kulkarni maintained a Neutral rating and $7 price target on Snap, stating its new augmented reality glasses are impressive but unlikely to boost near-term earnings due to their premium price and limited early-adopter audience.
Seattle’s Rec Room Social Gaming Platform Shuts Down June 1, 2026 After $294M Funding and $3.5B Valuation
Seattle-based social gaming platform Rec Room, which attracted 150 million players and reached a $3.5 billion valuation in 2021, is shutting down on June 1, 2026 due to unviable business economics. Founded in 2016 by former Microsoft engineers, Rec Room built a decade-long virtual community but ultimately could not sustain its operations.
Rec Room shutdown, robot umps, FedEx meets Amazon, and OpenAI's odd media buy
This week: Rec Room, the Seattle-based social gaming platform once valued at $3.5 billion, is shutting down — and Snap is picking up some of the pieces. Todd talks about what it was like fielding calls from distraught users on the night of the announcement. John offers his thoughts on what the shutdown says about the VR hype cycle, and whether everyone betting on the AI boom should take notes. Plus: Major League Baseball's new automated ball-strike system is already exposing umpires and creating a whole new kind of showboating — including one player who was so confident the robot…
Seattle-Based Gaming Platform Rec Room to Shut Down June 1, Assets Acquired by Snap
Rec Room, a popular Seattle-based social gaming platform valued at $3.5 billion, announced it will shut down on June 1, with some assets acquired by Snap, leaving its 150 million players and community in shock. Fans expressed disbelief and sadness on Discord and Reddit, questioning what happened and where they will find similar entertainment now.
Snap Acquires Assets from Rec Room Ahead of June 1 Shutdown; Employees Join Specs Inc. for AR Hardware Work
Snap Inc. has acquired select assets from Rec Room Inc., a social gaming platform shutting down on June 1, with some Rec Room employees joining Snap’s Specs Inc. to support its augmented reality glasses initiatives. Despite Rec Room's 150 million players, it failed to achieve sustainable profitability, leading to its closure.
OpenAI Expands Bellevue Office to 296,000 Sq Ft, Strengthening Seattle-Area Presence Near Microsoft and Amazon
OpenAI has signed a large lease to expand its Bellevue office to nearly 300,000 square feet, allowing space for over 1,000 employees as it strengthens ties with Microsoft and Amazon in the Seattle region. The expansion follows recent investments and partnerships, including a $38 billion cloud deal with Amazon and a $1 billion acquisition of Seattle startup Statsig.
Live-Shopping Startup Whatnot Secures $225M and Plans to Triple Seattle Headcount Amid $11.5B Valuation
Whatnot, a live-shopping startup valued at $11.5 billion, plans to triple its Seattle workforce by adding over 75 employees after raising $225 million. The company specializes in e-commerce combined with livestream entertainment and competes with TikTok and Amazon in the live commerce space.
Chainguard raises $280M from General Catalyst, bringing total funding to $892M and keeping $3.5B valuation
Kirkland cybersecurity startup Chainguard raised $280 million from General Catalyst, bringing its total capital to $892 million since 2021 and maintaining a $3.5 billion valuation; the company plans to expand its workforce (now >500) while remaining fully remote and serving clients such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Snap.
Tiger Global Leads $146M Funding Round for Temporal, Raising Valuation to $1.72B
Temporal, a Seattle startup that offers an open-source microservices orchestration platform, raised $146 million in a funding round led by Tiger Global, boosting its valuation to $1.72 billion. The company serves major clients like Snap and Netflix, with a reported 4.4X revenue growth in 18 months.
Seattle Startup Read AI Launches AI-Powered Search Copilot to Transform Enterprise Data Discovery, Raises $81M Total Funding
Seattle startup Read AI launched Search Copilot, an AI-powered enterprise search tool that helps users find and analyze internal data across multiple platforms, offering free access with limits. The company has grown rapidly with 40,000 new accounts daily, 5X revenue growth last year, and $81 million funding to date.
Seattle Startup Read AI Raises $50M Series B to Accelerate Growth of AI-Powered Enterprise Productivity Tools
Seattle startup Read AI, selling generative AI-powered enterprise productivity tools, has raised $50 million in a Series B round to accelerate growth, boasting 75% of the Fortune 500 as users and adding 100,000 new accounts weekly without marketing spend. The company aims to expand its 'copilot everywhere' vision by integrating AI across communication platforms like email, messaging, and video calls, with plans to add predictive analytics and automation.
Six Former Amazon Execs Including Flexport CEO Dave Clark Depart $8 Billion Logistics Startup
Flexport saw the departure of six former Amazon executives, including CEO Dave Clark and president Teresa Carlson, highlighting recent executive turnover at the $8 billion-valued logistics company. Several of these leaders had long Amazon tenures before joining Flexport, which offers cloud-based freight forwarding and saw $3.3 billion in revenue in 2021.
Temporal raises $103M Series B at $1.5B valuation as 55-person startup reaches unicorn status
Temporal, a 55-person Seattle startup that provides an open-source microservices orchestration platform, raised $103 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, becoming a unicorn three years after launch with total funding over $120 million. The company—founded by former Uber engineers Maxim Fateev (CEO) and Samar Abbas (CTO)—says adoption is growing 25–50% month-over-month and counts customers like Snap, Netflix, Instacart, and Qualtrics.
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.
Foursquare CEO David Shim to Resign; Gary Little Named CEO in 2021; Other Tech Leadership Moves Reported
Foursquare CEO David Shim, founder of Placed, is resigning and will be succeeded by board member Gary Little in 2021 after a transition; Shim plans to return to entrepreneurship. Other moves: investor Karan Mehandru left Trinity Ventures to join Steadfast Financial while remaining on several boards, 343 Industries’ Chris Lee stepped down from Halo Infinite project direction, and WTIA hired Molly Jones as VP of government affairs.
Temporal raises $20M Series A led by Sequoia to commercialize open-source microservices orchestration
Temporal, a Seattle startup founded by former Uber engineers and cloud veterans, raised $20 million in a Series A led by Sequoia to commercialize its open-source microservices orchestration platform that improves developer productivity and reliability. Major customers include Snap, Box, Checkr, HashiCorp, and Coinbase, and investors include Madrona, Addition, Amplify and Snowflake ex-CEO Bob Muglia.
Foursquare and Factual merge under Foursquare brand with David Shim named CEO; Sue Desmond-Hellmann joins Pfizer board
Foursquare and Factual are merging under the Foursquare brand with Placed founder David Shim as CEO; Sue Desmond-Hellmann joined Pfizer’s board after leaving the Gates Foundation, and other executive moves include Microsoft hiring Rubén Caballero and leadership change at Egencia.
Affable raises seed round led by Snap investor Decacorn Capital with SGInnovate participation
Singapore-based influencer marketing startup Affable raised a seed funding round led by Decacorn Capital, an investor in Snap Inc., with participation from SGInnovate. The investment makes Affable the first company funded under SGInnovate's Startup SG Equity scheme.
Can BMW beat Uber? Testing ReachNow's new ride sharing service
BMW car-sharing service Reach Now launched a new service this week: Ride, a ride-sharing service that's taking on Uber and Lyft. We tried it out and tell you all the juicy details on this episode of the Week In Geek. We also explain why Snapchat's parent company paid $200 million for a Seattle startup and why new engineering centers mean Seattle continues to reign supreme in cloud technology. On the Random Channel: Scathing reviews of some hot new tech ventures. Follow all our coverage and read the stories we talked about this week at GeekWire.com Thank you to this week’s…
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Nick Fajt Director, Product Management
