University of Washington
Facts
- HQ
- University of Washington
- Sectors
- Higher Education, Research, Healthcare, Arts
- Founded
- 1861
- Registered name
- University of Washington Seattle business license
- Stage
- Public
University of Washington Spinout Aquagga Develops Technology to Destroy PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' with No Toxic Byproducts
Aquagga, a Seattle-based cleantech startup founded by University of Washington and Alaska researchers, develops a high-temperature, high-pressure system to completely destroy PFAS 'forever chemicals' in water and soil with no toxic byproducts. The company aims to address EPA concerns about PFAS contamination by providing scalable destruction technology for environmental remediation.
Seattle's Zap Energy Raises $160M Led by Bill Gates and Creates Plasma in Fusion Prototype
Seattle startup Zap Energy announced a breakthrough in fusion power by creating plasma in its latest prototype and raising $160 million in funding led by Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The company aims to achieve fusion breakeven by increasing current in its innovative Z-pinch device.
Techstars CEO Maelle Gavet Highlights Economic Downturn Challenges and Startup Support Role Amid $2.5B Raised by Accelerated Firms
Maelle Gavet, CEO of Techstars, warns of a significant market reset in the tech industry due to an economic downturn but highlights Techstars’ role in helping startups build resilient businesses and secure funding. Since launching in 2006, Techstars has accelerated nearly 3,000 startups, with its Seattle program producing over 130 companies that have raised $2.5 billion collectively.
Snorkel CEO Alex Ratner on data-centric AI, programmatic labeling and $135M raised to scale Snorkel Flow
Snorkel AI CEO Alex Ratner discusses data-centric AI, programmatic data labeling, and Snorkel's Snorkel Flow platform, which aims to speed up and automate data labeling for enterprise ML. The company spun out in 2019 and has raised $135 million to expand its data-centric programmatic workflow and tackle barriers to AI adoption caused by manual labeling.
Seattle Rises to No. 9 Globally in Startup Genome Rankings with $8.5B VC Investment in 2021
Seattle ranked ninth globally and second in North America in Startup Genome's 2021 global startup ecosystem rankings, highlighted for strengths in AI, big data, and life sciences. The region saw $8.5 billion invested in 549 venture capital deals in 2021, with an estimated ecosystem value of approximately $109 billion.
Pacific Northwest Life Sciences Update: Talus Bioscience Raises $9.75M, Kineta Merges with Yumanity, UW’s David Baker Launches Charm Therapeutics
Recent Pacific Northwest life sciences news includes Talus Bioscience raising $9.75 million, Kineta going public via merger with Yumanity, and UW's David Baker launching Charm Therapeutics. Key partnerships involve TwinStrand and Singular Genomics developing rare gene variant tests, and Umoja Biopharma partnering with TreeFrog Therapeutics for stem cell therapies.
David Baker Launches London Biotech Charm Therapeutics with $50M Series A to Advance Deep Learning Drug Discovery
David Baker, leader of the University of Washington Institute for Protein Design, co-founded London-based Charm Therapeutics, which uses deep learning to discover new small molecule therapeutics, and recently secured $50 million in Series A funding. The company's DragonFold platform predicts protein-small molecule interactions to aid drug discovery in cancer and other diseases.
Tacoma Venture Fund, led by Dennis Joyce, is investing a $12.3M first fund to back nearly 20 early-stage startups in Tacoma area
Tacoma Venture Fund, founded two years ago, is investing a $12.3 million first fund to back nearly 20 early-stage startups—with a focus on the Tacoma, Washington area south of Seattle—to address a capital shortage in the local startup ecosystem.
Asha AI Launches Voice-Enabled Elder Care Management App, Showcased at Life Science Innovation Northwest 2022
Asha AI, a Redmond-based startup founded by Rashmi Joshi, has launched an iOS app to help elderly users manage healthcare tasks through a voice-enabled interface. The app was showcased at the Life Science Innovation Northwest 2022 event and aims to support independence and caregiver communication.
Group14 Technologies Secures $400M Series C Led by Porsche to Scale Advanced Silicon-Carbon Battery Anode
Group14 Technologies raised $400 million in Series C funding led by Porsche AG to commercialize its silicon-carbon composite battery anode technology, which improves lithium-ion battery performance by 50%. The company plans to quickly scale production to meet demand from automotive, aviation, and consumer electronics sectors.
University of Washington’s Team Melodic Advances to Microsoft Imagine Cup Finals with $100K Prize in May Competition
University of Washington's Team Melodic advanced to the finals of Microsoft’s 2022 Imagine Cup, competing for a $100,000 grand prize with technology aiding prelingual deaf children’s speech therapy. The team leverages Azure cloud technology for real-time analysis and customized therapy solutions.
Five Finalists for 2022 GeekWire Health Innovation of the Year Include A-Alpha Bio and UW Institute for Protein Design
The 2022 GeekWire Health Innovation of the Year finalists include A-Alpha Bio, Parse Biosciences, Tasso, Truveta, and the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design, highlighting advances in computational health approaches. Winners will be announced on May 12 at the GeekWire Awards, with community voting open until April 22.
Icosavax COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Shows Weaker Immune Response Than Expected, Stocks Fall Over 60%
Icosavax reported interim phase 1/2 trial results for its COVID-19 vaccine showing immune responses below expectations, causing its stock to drop over 60%. The company plans to investigate causes for the underwhelming data while remaining committed to its VLP vaccine platform.
Discovery Health Grew from 8 to 300 Employees Under CEO Ann Jarris by Leading COVID-19 Testing and Vaccinations in Pacific Northwest Maritime Industry
Discovery Health, led by CEO Ann Jarris, experienced significant growth during the COVID-19 pandemic by overseeing testing and vaccinations for maritime, agriculture, and airport workers in the Pacific Northwest. Starting with just eight employees and limited resources, the Seattle-based health startup expanded to a team of nearly 300, becoming a key partner in pandemic response efforts.
DoD awards $1.1M to Seattle’s A-Alpha Bio to hunt antibodies for COVID-19 variants with LLNL collaboration
Seattle biotech A-Alpha Bio received a $1.1 million DoD sub-contract to collaborate with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, using its AlphaSeq platform and machine learning to identify high-affinity antibodies against current and future COVID-19 variants.
Andreessen Horowitz, Madrona and other tech VCs ramp up bets on AI-driven biotech startups as founders from software enter life sciences
Tech venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group are increasingly investing in life-science startups that use AI, machine learning and data science to speed drug discovery and development. Investors are following founders who transitioned from software to biotech—such as Sujal Patel of Nautilus and Terry Myerson of Truveta—seeing reduced perceived risk and new opportunity at this intersection.
Britt Provost leaves Accolade to become Siteimprove’s first CHRO; Membrion adds Joe Zuback to advisory board
Seattle HR executive Britt Provost left Accolade to become Siteimprove's first chief human resources officer, remaining based in Seattle; Membrion added Joe Zuback to its advisory board and Seattle search firm Herd Freed Hartz promoted three partners.
Parse Biosciences raises $41.5M to scale Evercode single-cell RNA sequencing kits that profile up to 1M cells
Parse Biosciences, a Seattle startup co-founded by CEO Alex Rosenberg and CTO Charles Roco, raised $41.5 million to expand its single-cell RNA sequencing kits and software, which scale to profile up to one million cells using standard lab equipment. The company, launched from University of Washington research, now has more than 300 customers and emphasizes ease of use versus competitors requiring specialized hardware.
Seattle Startup Wavely Diagnostics Raises $2.2M to Launch App Detecting Ear Infections via Acoustic Signals
Seattle startup Wavely Diagnostics raised $2.2 million to launch a smartphone app that detects ear infections using acoustic signals, enabling virtual care and treatment. The company is led by CEO Arna Ionescu Stoll and founded by experts including a pediatric ENT physician and a computer science professor.
Cloud Paper Raises $5M for Bamboo, Tree-Free Toilet Paper Backed by Bezos Expeditions, TIME Ventures and Celebrity Investors
Seattle startup Cloud Paper, which makes tree-free bamboo toilet paper and paper towels to reduce deforestation, raised $5 million from investors including Bezos Expeditions, TIME Ventures, Jeff Wilke, Ashton Kutcher and other high-profile backers.
Pack Ventures launches Seattle syndicate to back UW-linked startups, pledges 10% of future profits to University of Washington
Pack Ventures, a new early-stage Seattle VC, will invest $100K–$200K checks in startups tied to the University of Washington and has already backed five companies including Jeeva Wireless, Talus.bio and Monod Bio; the firm will return 10% of individual future profits to UW. The syndicate includes more than 35 founding investors from the Seattle VC and entrepreneur community and will target AI, robotics, computational biology, enterprise software and other high-growth areas.
GeekWire surveys Seattle-area VCs to name Pacific Northwest startups they predict will become unicorns in 2022
GeekWire surveyed more than a dozen Seattle-area venture capitalists for their picks of Pacific Northwest startups likely to reach unicorn status this year, compiling a list of candidate companies with reasons for each selection. The piece notes rising valuations nationwide and excludes VCs' own portfolio companies to reduce bias.
Seattle tech — including Amazon, Microsoft and startups like Convoy — poised to profit as pandemic-driven supply chain chaos accelerates digital logistics transformation
Persistent COVID-19–related supply chain disruptions have created demand for digital tools, presenting an opportunity for Seattle-area tech firms and startups—alongside Amazon and Microsoft—to provide IoT, cloud, and machine-learning solutions for trucking and logistics. Industry leaders say the pandemic accelerated digital transformation in trucking and may push broader adoption of sensors, edge devices and analytics to reduce delays and visibility gaps.
Seashell raises $6M seed; Khosla, Kindred, Mark Cuban, Vlad Tenev and Coinbase Ventures back Seattle fintech offering up to 10% yields
Seashell, a 15-person Seattle fintech founded by Daryl Hok, raised $6 million in a seed round led by Khosla Ventures and Kindred Ventures with investors including Mark Cuban, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and Coinbase Ventures; the startup offers up to 10% interest by investing user cash in gold and dollar-pegged digital assets but is not FDIC-insured and carries loss risk.
ZeroAvia opens R&D center at Everett’s Paine Field; $5.5M refit and $350K Washington grant support hydrogen-electric powertrain work
ZeroAvia is opening an R&D center at Everett’s Paine Field near Seattle to develop hydrogen-electric aircraft powertrains, with plans to begin customer rollouts in 2024 and potentially build a North American manufacturing hub there. The Paine Field site converts warehouse space into offices and labs, received a $350,000 Washington grant, and will employ 20–30 people initially while ZeroAvia pursues larger-scale manufacturing and powertrains for bigger aircraft.
People
See all 28-
Oren Etzioni Executive, Former CEO, Founder and Emeritus Professor, Former Professor, Former Leader of TrueMedia
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Avi Geiger Lecturer, Affiliate Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Babak Parviz Professor
