Facts
- Sectors
- Venture Capital, Early-stage Investing, B2B, Technology
- Founded
- 1999
- Last fund
- Voyager Capital Fund VI, L.P. · 2023 SEC Form D
- Funds raised
- 4 funds SEC Form D filings
- Total capital
- $69.4M SEC Form D filings
Silicon Valley Bank Urges Customers to Return Deposits After Collapse, Backed by U.S. Government
Silicon Valley Bank, now backed by the U.S. government, is urging customers to return their deposits after its recent collapse, assuring them of full protections. The newly formed Silicon Valley Bridge Bank is operational, making new loans, honoring credit facilities, and seeing some customers already returning funds.
Carbon Robotics unveils 2022 LaserWeeder with 30 CO2 lasers; sold out after orders, taking 2023 pre-orders
Seattle startup Carbon Robotics unveiled the 2022 LaserWeeder, a tractor-pulled AI and computer-vision system using 30 CO2 lasers to kill weeds, can cover ~2 acres/hour, has sold out and is taking 2023 pre-orders. Carbon, founded in 2018 by Paul Mikesell, has raised $36 million to date and employs 35 people; a Voyager Capital partner called it the fastest-growing company hes seen in 23 years.
Videon raises $9M from Seattle investors Voyager Capital, Cercano Management and Forston VC after $7.3M July round
Videon, a live-streaming video infrastructure startup led by CEO Tricia Iboshi, raised $9 million in new funding from Seattle investors including Voyager Capital, Cercano Management, and Forston VC, following a separate $7.3 million round in July; the company serves customers in 19 countries from its State College, Pa. base.
CODA Farm Technologies raises $2.2M seed led by Lowercarbon to commercialize IoT traveling-sprinkler controllers
CODA Farm Technologies, founded by brothers from Wallace Farms, raised $2.2 million in seed funding led by Lowercarbon Capital to commercialize an IoT irrigation control platform for traveling sprinklers. The startup has sold 120 devices to 20 farms across eight U.S. states and Canadian provinces despite supply-chain challenges that forced hardware redesigns.
Pictory raises $2.1M seed from FUSE to automate short-form video production for 5,000+ customers
Seattle startup Pictory raised a $2.1 million seed round to scale its AI software that converts long-form videos and text into short-form clips, serving over 5,000 customers. The company, founded in 2019 by Vikram Chalana, Abid Mohammed, and Vishal Chalana, is led by CEO Vikram Chalana and backed by FUSE, Voyager Capital and several Seattle angel investors.
Kirby Winfield, ex-founder and exec, raises $15M for Ascend.vc to back Pacific Northwest early-stage startups
Kirby Winfield, a longtime Seattle startup leader who experienced burnout after multiple exits, founded Ascend.vc to invest in early-stage Pacific Northwest tech companies and raised a $15 million first fund after recovering his health and shifting from founder roles to venture investing.
Syndio raises $50M Series C led by Emerson Collective and Bessemer to expand pay-equity platform
Seattle-based pay-equity startup Syndio raised $50 million in a Series C led by Emerson Collective and Bessemer Venture Partners, bringing total funding to $83 million as it expands customers and product use to analyze gender and race pay gaps.
Carbon Robotics raises $27M to scale AI laser weed-zapping robots as farmers report pesticide-free savings
Seattle startup Carbon Robotics raised $27 million to scale its AI-powered, laser-based autonomous weed-removal robots, which farmers say cut pesticide use, save time, and improve soil health while the company has sold out 2021–2022 models and reported over $20 million in bookings.
Hiya Adds Salesforce President and CMO Sarah Franklin to Board as User Base Hits 180M
Seattle spam-call blocker Hiya added Salesforce President and CMO Sarah Franklin to its board as it scales enterprise growth, after adding 50 million monthly active users in the past year and serving 180 million users worldwide. The company also appointed Bill McAleer as a board advisor and highlighted more than 115% growth in global enterprise customers.
Lighter Capital raises more than $100M (mostly debt) to expand revenue-based financing for startups
Lighter Capital has raised over $100 million (mostly debt) to expand its revenue-based financing program that lets startups get $50,000–$3 million without giving up equity. The Seattle firm, which has invested $200M in 400+ companies, is now profitable with 36 employees after prior layoffs and recently named Melissa Widner CEO.
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.
WellSaid Labs raises $10M Series A led by Fuse to expand AI text-to-speech platform
Seattle-based WellSaid Labs raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Fuse to expand its AI-driven text-to-speech platform, building on a $2 million 2019 seed and backing from investors including Voyager Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and Good Friends. The funding will support research, product hires and sales expansion to scale the startup’s natural-sounding synthetic voice offerings.
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.
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.
Twilio acquires Seattle business-texting startup Zipwhip for $850M in cash-and-stock deal
Twilio is acquiring Seattle business-texting startup Zipwhip for about $850 million in a cash-and-stock deal, a transaction that closed on July 14. Zipwhip, founded in 2007, pivoted to enable businesses to send and receive texts from landlines and toll-free numbers, and Twilio says the acquisition advances their shared vision for business messaging.
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.
Seattle VCs Report 28% Women in Senior Roles, Nearly Double U.S. Average of 14.2%
Seattle-area venture capital firms have nearly double the national share of women in senior roles (28% vs. 14.2%), with 25 women among 88 partners across 21 Washington firms, though overall parity remains distant and 61% of U.S. VC firms still have no women in key decision-making roles.
Founders’ Co-op raises $50M fifth fund to back 20–25 Pacific Northwest early-stage startups
Seattle venture firm Founders’ Co-op raised a $50 million fifth fund, its largest to date, to invest in 20–25 early-stage startups across the Pacific Northwest. The larger fund reflects growing deal sizes and outside LP interest as the region sees record startup funding and more unicorns.
SoundCommerce raises $15M Series A to centralize retailers' data into Snowflake or BigQuery
Seattle startup SoundCommerce raised $15 million in a Series A to help online retailers centralize commerce data into Snowflake or BigQuery warehouses and gain analytics for profitability, forecasting, logistics and inventory. CEO Eric Best says the product integrates with platforms like Amazon, Shopify and Magento to help brands scale back-office operations and "think and act like Amazon."
Syndio raises $17.1M led by Bessemer to expand PayEQ pay‑equity analytics after surge in 2020 demand
Seattle-based Syndio raised $17.1 million in a new funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners to accelerate development of its PayEQ pay‑equity analytics software amid rising demand in 2020. The company says PayEQ is used by more than 100 firms across 2.3 million employees and that ARR nearly tripled during 2020.
Ignition Partners investors spin out Fuse Venture Partners led by Kellan Carter, Cameron Borumand and Seahawks star Bobby Wagner
A group of investors from Seattle VC firm Ignition Partners, including managing partner John Connors, have launched a spinoff called Fuse Venture Partners led by general partners Kellan Carter and Cameron Borumand and featuring Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner as a venture partner. Ignite will sunset its brand while Fuse focuses on doubling down in Seattle and managing new investments, with Wagner committing to active involvement.
UW Spinout AnswerDash Acquired by CloudEngage; AI Q&A Tool Joins Personalization Platform
Seattle startup AnswerDash, founded from University of Washington research by Jake Wobbrock, Amy Ko and Parmit Chilana, has been acquired by Spokane-based CloudEngage after nearly eight years. The AI-powered contextual Q&A tool will join CloudEngage’s web personalization and live chat offerings to help clients reduce support costs and improve customer experience.
Uplevel launches remote-work analytics to track engineers' 'always on' hours, isolation, and throughput
Seattle startup Uplevel, which emerged from stealth earlier this year, added new analytics features to measure developer productivity and wellbeing in remote work settings, tracking metrics like messaging hours, meeting attendance, and engineering throughput. The tools aim to help managers detect overwork, isolation, and workflow bottlenecks caused by increased digital interruptions and home distractions.
Syndio raises $7.5M to expand pay-equity software as CEO warns COVID-19 could widen gaps for women and minorities
Seattle HR-tech startup Syndio raised $7.5 million to expand software that analyzes and corrects pay disparities tied to gender, race, ethnicity, or age; CEO Maria Colacurcio warns COVID-19 risks widening pay gaps for women and minorities. Syndio serves 60+ customers including Nordstrom, Slack, Adobe and plans to grow despite the economic downturn, backed by investors including Emerson Collective and Voyager Capital.
Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio Raises $7.5M Series A from Home While Quarantined with Six Kids
Maria Colacurcio, CEO of pay-equity software Syndio, closed a $7.5 million Series A led by Voyager Capital and Emerson Collective while quarantined at home with six children, fundraising remotely as her husband handled homeschooling. Syndio’s platform, used by companies like Adobe, Nordstrom, Slack and Target, provides real-time employee compensation analyses to identify and model pay gaps, a capability in heightened demand amid COVID-19 concerns and litigation risk.
Fund History
People
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Austin Guyette Partner
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Bill McAleer Managing Director
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Erik Benson Managing Partner
