Facts
- HQ
- 1301 Second Avenue, Floor 36
- Sectors
- Real Estate
- Founded
- 2006
- Employees
- 13647
- Stage
- Public
Relativity Space Launches First 3D-Printed Terran 1 Rocket from Cape Canaveral on March 23, 2023, but Fails to Reach Orbit
Relativity Space launched its first 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket on March 23, 2023, at Cape Canaveral, but the test flight fell short of reaching orbit due to technical challenges despite successful liftoff and engine performance.
SVB aftermath; remote work 'affliction'; and Microsoft puts AI to work
This week on the GeekWire Podcast ... We catch up on the latest on the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, and consider the long-term implications of the meltdown on the startup ecosystem and the U.S. financial system. Then, a point-counterpoint on the issue of the return to office, as Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes laments the "affliction" of remote work, and Zillow Group CEO Rich Barton says the ways we work (and the places we work) have changed forever. And finally, we catch up on the latest in the world of generative artificial intelligence, listening to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's…
Flyhomes Acquires Seattle’s Loftium to Expand Host-to-Own Real Estate Services
Flyhomes has acquired Seattle-based host-to-own real estate platform Loftium, expanding its home-buying services while retaining Loftium’s team and operations amid a challenging market. Loftium’s unique model enables buyers to use rental income from Airbnb hosting to finance down payments, a program launched a year ago.
Maureen Ezekwugo Named CEO of Oggvo; Chad Cohen Joins Capella Space as CFO and COO; GitHub Appoints Inbal Shani as Chief Product Officer
Maureen Ezekwugo became CEO of Seattle-based Oggvo, specializing in customer review software, while Chad Cohen joined Capella Space as CFO and COO. Microsoft-owned GitHub hired Inbal Shani as its new chief product officer, and Falkon added two executives after raising $16 million.
Flyhomes Cuts Nearly 40% of Staff Amid Housing Market Recession and Cooling Demand
Seattle-based real estate startup Flyhomes has laid off nearly 40% of its workforce in a second round of cuts due to a recession in the housing sector and a cooling market. The company, led by CEO Tushar Garg, has about 700 employees and has raised over $200 million since its 2016 founding.
Seattle Startup Tribute Loses $3M Seed Funding When Lead Investor Bails Out, Receives $250K from Engage
Sarah Haggard's Seattle startup Tribute lost a $3 million seed funding round when the lead investor backed out, causing major setbacks including key staff departures. However, partial investment from Engage and interest from its partners enabled Tribute to continue pursuing opportunities and pivot its business model.
Arrived Homes Launches Vacation Rental Investment Platform with $5M in Properties Including Joshua Tree and Scottsdale
Arrived Homes, a Seattle startup, has launched vacation rental properties on its investment platform, allowing users to buy shares in short-term rental homes like those on Airbnb and VRBO. The company listed seven properties totaling $5 million, with one property, "The Oasis," selling out on its first trading day.
Seattle Lumber Marketplace Startup Yesler Raises $5M to Disrupt Volatile Lumber Industry
Seattle-based startup Yesler, which offers a software platform to simplify lumber market transactions and analytics, has raised $5 million despite initial adoption challenges due to market volatility. Founded in 2019 and spun out of Pioneer Square Labs, Yesler's marketplace transactions grew tenfold this year amid a fragmented lumber industry ripe for disruption.
Seattle’s Arrived Homes Raises $50M for Fractional Property Investment Amid Housing Affordability Debate
Real estate tech startups like Seattle-based Arrived Homes are enabling fractional ownership of properties, funding about $50 million in assets across 20 U.S. cities, but critics argue these platforms reduce scarce housing inventory and drive up prices. Experts suggest the root issue is limited housing supply rather than the rise of investing platforms.
Real Estate Tech Firm Knock Expands to Seattle with $220M Funding, Offers Home Swap and Jumbo Loans Up to $3M
Knock, a real estate tech company founded by Trulia's creators, is expanding its home financing services to Seattle and Western Washington, offering products like Home Swap and Knock GO to help buyers compete with cash offers. The company recently secured $220 million in funding and added jumbo loans to its portfolio despite past challenges including workforce cuts and a halted SPAC.
Ryan Frazier
Ryan Frazier is the Co-Founder & CEO of Arrived. Arrived makes it easy for anyone to invest in shares of single-family rental homes, and earn passive rental income + property appreciation right away. The company is backed by Jeff Bezos, Marc Benioff, Spencer Rascoff (the former CEO and founder of Zillow), and Core Innovation Capital. Previously, Ryan was the Co-Founder and CEO of DataRank, an alumni of Y Combinator, and GM at Sprout Social. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tomo, Founded by Ex-Zillow Execs, Raises $40M Series A at $640M Valuation to Speed Mortgage Approvals
Tomo, a fintech startup founded by former Zillow executives Carey Armstrong and Greg Schwartz, raised $40 million at a $640 million valuation to accelerate mortgage approvals with its digital platform. The company now covers nearly a third of the U.S. market and focuses solely on purchase mortgages to help buyers compete in a hot real estate market.
Arrived Homes secures $100M credit line with Certain Lending to expand U.S. single-family rental purchases
Arrived Homes, a Seattle startup that lets people buy shares of single-family rental properties starting at $100, has secured $100 million in credit financing to expand U.S. home purchases and meet strong demand. The company partnered with fintech Certain Lending and previously raised $10 million equity and $27 million debt in June.
Flexe hires Amazon biometrics lead Lara Rogers as SVP/GM; Magnify names ex‑Amazon Sajo Jacob CTO; Schuster joins Open Systems board
Several Seattle-area tech companies announced senior hires and board moves: Flexe hired former Amazon biometrics leader Lara Rogers as SVP and GM; Magnify named Sajo Jacob as CTO and co‑founder after a $6M launch; Open Systems added ex‑Microsoft exec Gavriella Schuster to its board; Fabric and Scener also announced senior appointments.
Inspectify raises $8M Series A led by Nine Four Ventures; total funding $10M to digitize home inspections
Inspectify, a two-year-old Seattle proptech startup that provides a booking marketplace and inspection software, raised $8 million in a Series A led by Nine Four Ventures to digitize home inspection reporting and aggregate inspection data.
Seattle appraisal startup Aloft raises $20M Series A led by Fifth Wall, bringing total funding to $25M
Seattle startup Aloft raised $20 million in a Series A led by Fifth Wall to expand its appraisal software that delivers quotes in two minutes and facilitates inspections; the company has annualized revenue in the millions, works with dozens of national and regional lenders, and has raised $25 million total. Founded less than a year ago by CEO Travis Soukup and co‑founder Yongxing Deng, Aloft operates in Seattle and Portland and plans further expansion.
Deloitte’s 2021 Fast 500 Includes 26 Washington Firms; Coinme Tops Seattle Growth at 2,198% (Rank 78)
Deloitte’s 2021 North American Technology Fast 500 ranks the fastest-growing tech companies by revenue growth from 2017–2020; 26 Washington-based firms made the list, with 24 from the greater Seattle area and strong representation from Bellevue and software/SaaS companies. Coinme led local growth with 2,198% growth (ranked 78th), and Washington firms comprised about 5% of the full Fast 500.
Place raises $100M Series A led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management at $1B+ valuation
Place, a real estate technology and services company founded in 2019, raised a $100 million Series A led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management at a valuation above $1 billion; the Bellingham-based firm reported $85M revenue and $11.3M profit in 2020 and projects $150M revenue this year. Place provides an end-to-end suite of software and business services to agents and brokers while allowing them to remain with their existing brokerages.
WhyLabs, an AI2 spinout led by CEO Alessya Visnjic, raises $10M and launches AI Observatory to monitor live ML models
WhyLabs, a Seattle startup spun out of AI2 and led by CEO Alessya Visnjic, raised $10 million and launched AI Observatory, a tool to monitor and diagnose live machine-learning models for anomalies and "model meltdowns." The platform offers an open-source library and real-time alerts, positioning WhyLabs as a Datadog-like monitoring service focused on backend ML/AI, and saw adoption by over a dozen organizations in its first week.
Tech pay, cloud trends, Kraken, and self-driving cars with Qumulo CEO Bill Richter
Everyone is closely monitoring the implications of remote work as we emerge from the pandemic, so it's no surprise that one of the most widely read stories on GeekWire this week — right behind the Titanic's disappearing bathtub and Facebook's potential name change — was a story on trends in tech salaries. Two big trends stood out in the report from jobs site Hired: Average tech salaries in Seattle are up 4.6% from last year, to $158,000, second only to the Bay Area, which saw its average dip slightly to $165,000. Nationwide, the average U.S. tech salary fell 1.1% to…
Seattle Average Tech Salary Rises 4.6% to $158,000, Second-Highest U.S. Behind Bay Area
Hired data shows average Seattle tech salaries rose 4.6% year-over-year to $158,000, the second-highest U.S. average behind the Bay Area. The report notes continued strong hiring from Amazon, Microsoft and other firms, high open roles at startups, remote-work-driven shifts in pay, and broad worker interest in new opportunities.
Microsoft acquires Seattle OKR startup Ally to integrate into Microsoft Viva; terms undisclosed
Microsoft has acquired Seattle-based OKR startup Ally, founded three years ago, to integrate its goal-tracking capabilities into Microsoft Viva and other products; financial terms were not disclosed.
Cloudentity Names Jason Needham as CEO After $13M Series A; Leafly Appoints Suresh Krishnaswamy as CFO; Chris Suh Joins Cardlytics Board; Three Named HHMI Investigators
Seattle startup Cloudentity named Jason Needham, ex-CloudCoreo and VMware multi-cloud security lead, as CEO and board member after a $13M Series A; Leafly hired Suresh Krishnaswamy as CFO as it prepares for a SPAC, and Microsoft CVP Chris Suh joined Cardlytics' board. Trevor Bedford, Frederick Matsen IV and David Veesler were named 2021 HHMI Investigators, each receiving roughly $9M over seven years.
Mystery pivots from surprise dates to ‘morale as a service,’ selling virtual team events to Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks and more
Mystery, a Seattle startup that began by organizing surprise date nights, pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic to virtual events and now markets a B2B employee-engagement product it calls “morale as a service,” attracting clients like Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Apple and Zillow. The company offers six categories of virtual experiences tailored to team types and says it has codified its event design into a tech-centric platform to deliver surprise-driven morale-boosting events.
Chloe Harford Joins Roofstock Board as Kymeta Names Walter Berger and Doug Hutcheson Co-CEOs
Chloe Harford, a former Zillow and OfferUp executive, joined Roofstock's board as the fintech firm continues to expand after acquiring Great Jones and raising $133 million; Kymeta named Walter Berger and Doug Hutcheson co-CEOs and partnered with OneWeb to test mobile satellite broadband. Seattle startups Optimize Health and CityBldr announced leadership moves: Todd Haedrich became Optimize Health CEO, and Convoy CEO Dan Lewis joined CityBldr’s advisory board.
People
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Rich Barton Founder, Co-founder and Co-Executive Chair, Former CEO
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Glenn Kelman Executive, CEO
