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
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.
Melissa Widner
Melissa Widner is the CEO of Lighter Capital, the pioneer and leader in revenue-based financing for tech startups and scales-ups. Prior to Lighter Capital, Melissa was the Managing Director of NAB Ventures, the VC arm of the National Australia Bank and a General Partner at Seattle based SeaPoint Ventures. She was also the founder and CEO of 7Software, and the CEO of Northwest Industrial Supply, where under her leadership, both companies generated over a 10X return to investors. Melissa is also the co-founder and Chairperson of Sydney based Heads Over Heels, an organization that supports women entrepreneurs running companies with…
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.
NFTs, Metaverse, Web3, and new realities of startup investing, with Founders Co-op’s Aviel Ginzburg
So much of what happens in the startup world comes from serendipitous moments, random interactions that lead to fresh insights and new collaborations. And so much of that has traditionally happened at events, meetups, coffee meetings, and other in-person gatherings. Two years into the pandemic and remote work, what are the implications? That's our first topic on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, with entrepreneur, software engineer and investor Aviel Ginzburg, general partner at Seattle-based seed-stage venture fund Founders Co-op. The former Techstars Managing Director for Amazon's Alexa Accelerator, Ginzburg was co-founder of social analytics platform Simply Measured, acquired by…
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.
Curi Bio raises $10M to advance iPSC-based 3D tissue drug-discovery platforms including Mantarray
Seattle-based Curi Bio raised $10 million in Series A financing to advance its human iPSC-based drug discovery platforms, including 3D engineered tissue products like Mantarray and Cytostretcher. The company provides customized assay and screening services for cardiac, musculoskeletal and neuromuscular models and has prior funding including $6M this spring and over $6M in NIH grants.
Seattle’s Tasso Raises $100M Series B to Scale Self‑Administered Blood‑Collection Devices
Seattle startup Tasso raised $100 million in a Series B round to advance its self‑administered blood‑collection devices used for remote patient monitoring, decentralized clinical trials and mailed liquid or dried samples. The funding brings total capital to $131 million, building on prior grants and a $17 million raise in July 2020.
Amazon’s $2B Climate Pledge Fund Invests in Hippo Harvest and Amogy to Cut Grocery and Shipping Emissions
Amazon’s $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund has invested in two climate tech startups — Hippo Harvest, which develops closed-loop greenhouse systems using robotics and ML to cut water use and emissions, and Amogy, which converts ammonia into power for heavy transport — part of Amazon’s push to reach net zero by 2040. The moves aim to reduce emissions across Amazon’s grocery stores and shipping operations amid rising company emissions.
T-Mobile equips University of Washington’s CoMotion Labs with 5G; becomes Pacific Northwest’s first 5G hardware incubator
T-Mobile installed a 5G network at the University of Washington’s CoMotion Labs, making it the Pacific Northwest’s first 5G-equipped hardware incubator and adding the 5G Open Innovation Lab as a member to give its startups campus access.
Cyrus Biotechnology raises $18M and acquires Orthogonal Biologics, adding COVID-19 decoy therapeutic and deep mutational scanning platform
Seattle protein engineering company Cyrus Biotechnology raised $18 million and acquired Orthogonal Biologics, adding a deep mutational scanning platform and two protein therapeutics including a potential COVID-19 decoy. Cyrus leverages University of Washington IPD tools (Rosetta, RoseTTAfold) and has partnerships including a deal with Selecta Biosciences worth up to $1.5 billion.
Seattle NFT Museum to Open Jan. 14 in Belltown, Founded by Jennifer Wong and Peter Hamilton
The Seattle NFT Museum, founded by entrepreneurs Jennifer Wong and Peter Hamilton, opens Jan. 14 in Belltown as the Pacific Northwest's first museum devoted to NFTs, aiming to showcase digital artists and educate the public about the medium.
BattGenie selected for Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL, awarded $250,000 non-dilutive funding
BattGenie, a University of Washington spinoff, won $250,000 in non-dilutive funding and access to R&D resources after being selected for the Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL; the company develops software to improve fast charging and extend life of lithium batteries for EVs, consumer electronics and battery manufacturers.
Deal mania reshuffles GeekWire 200: M&A, IPOs and SPACs push top firms out while Blue Origin stays No. 1
A surge of M&A, IPO and SPAC activity — labeled 'deal mania' — reshuffled the GeekWire 200 rankings, removing several top-10 companies that went public or were acquired and creating openings for new entrants; Blue Origin remains No. 1 while more deal-making and rule changes about private equity-owned companies promise further shake-ups.
Madrona and Goldman Sachs Publish Inaugural IA40 of Top 40 Private AI Business-App Startups; Four Seattle Firms Included
Madrona Venture Group and Goldman Sachs released the inaugural Intelligent Applications Top 40 (IA40) list of private companies building business AI applications, based on votes from 40 venture firms plus Amazon and Microsoft and narrowed by 50 judges from over 220 nominees. Four Seattle-area companies — Amperity, OctoML, SeekOut, and one unnamed here — made the list; Amperity recently raised $100 million to reach unicorn status and OctoML raised $85 million.
UW Spinout Somalytics Launches Carbon-Nanotube Paper Sensors to Detect Eye, Hand and Body Movement
Somalytics, a University of Washington spinout, launched with ultrathin flexible sensors made from carbon nanotubes embedded in specialized paper that detect human gestures, eye movement and body signals from up to 20 cm away. Co-founded by UW researchers Jae-Hyun Chung, graduate students Zhongie Qian and Viggy Sak, and led by CEO Barbara Barclay, the company received undisclosed seed funding from IP Group and support from UW’s CoMotion.
Viome raises $54M to develop saliva-based cancer diagnostics and expand microbiome consumer business
Viome Life Sciences raised $54 million to advance cancer diagnostics and support its consumer microbiome testing and customized supplement business, bringing total funding to over $125 million while targeting $100M revenue and one million customers next year.
Helion Raises $500M — Potential $1.7B More — to Build Polaris Fusion Generator, Aiming for 2024 Demonstration in Everett, Wash.
Helion Energy raised $500 million (with up to $1.7 billion more contingent on milestones) to build its Polaris fusion generator and finish a demonstration facility in Everett, Wash., aiming to operate in 2024 and move toward commercializing fusion power.
OctoML Raises $85M Series C Led by Tiger Global to Expand ML Partnerships and Engineering Team
OctoML, a University of Washington spinout specializing in machine learning optimization, raised $85 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total to $132 million. The company plans to expand its partnerships with hardware and cloud vendors while nearly tripling its engineering team.
People
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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
