Facts
- HQ
- Seattle, Washington, US
- Sectors
- Investment Management
- Founded
- 2002
- Employees
- 28
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.
GeekWire Names Five Finalists for 2021 Innovation of the Year; Winners Announced May 20
GeekWire named five finalists for its 2021 Innovation of the Year award, highlighting Seattle-area breakthroughs from battery materials and vaccine tech to clean-energy purchasing, insect-tracking devices, and cloud-management tools. Community voting runs through April 30 and winners will be announced May 20 at the virtual GeekWire Awards presented by Wave Business.
GeekWire Opens Voting for 13th Annual Awards; Deal of the Year Finalists Include $6.5B Auth0 Acquisition and Multi‑Hundred‑Million Funding Rounds
GeekWire has opened community voting for its 13th annual GeekWire Awards, highlighting Deal of the Year finalists across Fundings and IPOs/Acquisitions from Pacific Northwest tech companies. Voting runs through April 30, winners announced May 20 at the virtual awards presented by Wave Business.
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.
Usermind raises $14M led by WestRiver Group as pandemic-driven digital demand boosts Seattle startup
Seattle marketing startup Usermind raised $14 million in a funding round led by WestRiver Group as demand for digital customer-experience software surged during the pandemic; total funding is $60 million and headcount has recovered to just over 50 employees.
Seattle Reaches 10 Unicorns Worth $1B+, Mostly Enterprise Software Firms with Microsoft Links
Seattle now has 10 unicorn startups valued at $1 billion or more, many concentrated in enterprise software/cloud computing and driven by rapid digital transformation and strong revenue run rates. Most have immigrant founders and Microsoft ties, but none have female co-founders or CEOs.
SVB Financial Group's SVB Capital to acquire WestRiver Group's debt fund business; Erik Anderson to join as executive chairman
SVB Financial Group's SVB Capital has agreed to acquire WestRiver Group's debt fund business, bringing WestRiver founder Erik Anderson to SVB as executive chairman of the SVB Capital Credit Platform; the deal, terms undisclosed, is expected to close by year-end and aims to expand SVB's institutional investment and lending solutions.
WestRiver Group Sells Debt Investment Business to SVB Financial Group; Erik Anderson Named Executive Chairman of New SVB Capital Credit Platform
Seattle-based WestRiver Group agreed to sell its debt investment business to SVB Financial Group to form the SVB Capital Credit Platform, with WestRiver CEO Erik Anderson joining SVB as executive chairman; terms were not disclosed. WestRiver manages about $2 billion AUM and holds investments including Singularity University and several Seattle startups.
Igneous lays off staff amid ‘difficult economic environment’; CEO role held by Dean Darwin
Seattle-based unstructured data management startup Igneous has conducted a reduction in force amid a difficult economic environment; the company declined to disclose the number of layoffs and lists 69 employees on LinkedIn. Founded in 2013, Igneous raised $25 million in a 2019 Series C (bringing total funding to $70M) and recently replaced co-founder Kiran Bhageshpur with Dean Darwin as CEO.
WestRiver Group CEO Erik Anderson and Riverstone launch Decarbonization Plus Acquisition SPAC, raising $200M to pursue global decarbonization targets
WestRiver Group CEO Erik Anderson and asset manager Riverstone launched Decarbonization Plus Acquisition, a SPAC that raised $200 million to target companies advancing global decarbonization across energy, agriculture, industrials, transportation and commercial/residential sectors.
Pro.com lays off 52 employees as COVID-19 halts construction; CEO Matt Williams confirms WARN filing
Seattle-based Pro.com laid off 52 employees after COVID-19 halted its construction work, and the company is resuming jobs with new safety and contact-tracing measures. CEO Matt Williams said the cuts were disclosed in a Washington WARN filing and affect a company that employs about 150 people on LinkedIn.
People
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Jeff Raikes Executive, Former Chief Executive Officer of the Gates Foundation, Independent Director, Former President of Microsoft Business Division
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Anthony Bontrager Managing Director
