Aravind Bala
Aravind Bala is CEO at SeekOut and also serves as an Instructor at TiE Seattle. He founded SeekOut in 2017, which is still running, and previously held several engineering leadership roles at Microsoft.
Seattle Students Compete in TiE Young Entrepreneurs Finals with AI Startup Winning Spot in Global Contest
Over 100 students from 20 teams competed in the TYE Seattle Chapter Finals pitching startups in AI, healthcare, nutrition, and recycling, with an AI-powered email assistant winning first place. The event featured a panel from Amazon, Microsoft, and OpenAI discussing career navigation in the AI era, and Seattle aims for a third consecutive global title next month.
Anoop Gupta Steps Down as SeekOut CEO, Sean Thompson Named Successor to Drive AI Recruiting Growth
Anoop Gupta is stepping down as CEO of SeekOut on May 4 to become executive chairman, passing leadership to Sean Thompson, who will focus on scaling SeekOut's AI recruiting service and pursuing acquisitions for growth. Thompson, an enterprise tech veteran, previously led NAVEX and has experience with SAP, Microsoft, and AI startups.
Student Team Kymavi Wins $3,000 at TiE Young Entrepreneur Seattle Finals with Ocean-Healing Biodegradable Plastic Bags
A student team named Kymavi won the TiE Young Entrepreneur Seattle chapter finals with biodegradable plastic bags that release ocean-healing additives. They received a $3,000 prize and will represent Seattle at the TYE Global Finals in Washington, D.C.
Seattle High School Team Soundwave Wins $2,750 at TiE Young Entrepreneur Finals with AI Accent Softening Tool for Call Centers
Seattle-area high schoolers from the team Soundwave won the TiE Young Entrepreneur Seattle chapter finals with an AI-enabled accent softening tool for call center agents, earning a $2,750 prize. Other notable winners included KEY Beauty and MyPath, which created technology platforms addressing makeup shade matching and AI-driven college counseling, respectively.
Seattle Recruiting Software Startup SeekOut Lays Off 30% of Workforce, Second Round in Eight Months
Seattle-based recruiting software startup SeekOut cut 30% of its workforce last week, marking its second round of layoffs in eight months amid a tech downturn. The company raised $115 million in 2022, was valued at $1.2 billion, but did not disclose exact numbers of employees affected.
Seattle Recruiting Startup SeekOut Cuts 7% Staff Amid Restructuring, Plans Growth to 225 Employees in 2024
Seattle-based recruiting software startup SeekOut laid off 16 employees (7% of its workforce) in a restructuring but plans to grow its team to 225 employees by year-end. The company, valued at over $1.2 billion after raising $115 million last year, uses AI technology and serves over 1,000 clients including Salesforce and McKinsey.
SeekOut raises $115M, valuation tops $1B to expand recruiting and internal-employee products
Seattle startup SeekOut raised $115 million to push its valuation past $1 billion, becoming a unicorn, and will use the funds to expand recruiting and internal-employee products. Its recruiting platform, used by over 1,000 companies, aggregates data on 700+ million candidates, has built-in diversity filters, and reports ARR of $25–$50 million after tripling in nine months.
GeekWire Names Common Room, Ozette, SeekOut, Shelf Engine and Strike Graph as 2024 Startup of the Year Finalists; Voting Open
GeekWire has announced five finalists for Startup of the Year — Common Room, Ozette, SeekOut, Shelf Engine, and Strike Graph — highlighting Seattle and Pacific Northwest entrepreneurship; community voting runs through April 30 and winners will be revealed May 20 at the virtual GeekWire Awards.
SeekOut raises $65M Series B led by Tiger Global at nearly $500M valuation after 10x ARR growth
Seattle recruiting startup SeekOut raised $65 million in a Series B led by Tiger Global at a near-$500M valuation to expand its Talent 360 recruiting software, after growing ARR 10x in 21 months and remaining profitable.
Organizations
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SeekOut CEO 2026–present, CTO & Co-Founder 2017–2026 · current
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TiE Seattle Instructor 2023–present · current
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Nextio Co-Founder & CTO 2015–2017 · past
Education
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The Ohio State University Master’s Degree, Computer Science · 1997–1999
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Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay B.Tech, Computer Science and Engineering · 1993–1997
