Kurt Schlosser
Kurt Schlosser is a photographer and reporter associated with GeekWire and Recompose, mentioned in multiple GeekWire articles.
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.
SparkRise and Val Kilmer Host Interactive 'Top Gun' Streaming Potluck Watch Party Saturday; $8.95 Admission
Seattle-linked startup SparkRise is partnering with Val Kilmer to host an interactive, streaming 'Top Gun' potluck movie night and watch party Saturday at 5 p.m. PT, featuring celebrity guests and a virtual chat with Kilmer; attendance costs $8.95 with donations benefiting the USO and TwainMania Foundation.
Glowforge partners with Michaels to sell Plus and Pro 3D laser cutters, filters and materials online and in select stores
Glowforge announced a retail partnership with Michaels to sell its Plus and Pro 3D laser cutters, air filters and Proofgrade materials on Michaels.com and in select stores, aiming to reach more home and school customers. The Seattle startup, founded in 2014, has raised about $120 million and sells its printers for $2,995–$5,995.
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.
Membrion adds $3M to Series A, will double Seattle manufacturing facility and hire 10
Seattle startup Membrion added $3 million to its earlier Series A to expand production of ceramic desalinization membranes for treating toxic industrial wastewater and plans to double its Seattle facility and hire 10 more people.
Madrona leads $1.5M round for Battlesnake, the competitive coding game with a 10,000-developer community
Battlesnake, a Victoria, B.C.–based company that runs a competitive coding game used by mid-career programmers to experiment with new technologies, raised $1.5 million led by Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group to expand its reach. The community grew to about 10,000 developers after moving online during the pandemic and has hosted events including an AWS internship tournament.
Strike Graph raises $8M Series A to expand AI-driven SOC 2 and privacy compliance services
Seattle startup Strike Graph raised $8 million in a Series A to expand its compliance automation platform that simplifies SOC 2 and other security/privacy certifications using AI; the company says it has 4x customer growth since October 2020 and a 100% clean audit rate among customers.
Pebblebee CEO Daniel Daoura Perseveres After Co-Founder Nick Pearson-Franks Dies in June 2020 ATV Accident
Daniel Daoura, CEO of Pebblebee, continues to push forward at the startup more than a year after the tragic death of his co-founder and close friend Nick Pearson-Franks, who died in an ATV accident in June 2020. Despite the personal and professional challenges, Daoura remains committed to honoring their shared vision and has sought therapy to cope with the loss while relentlessly advancing the company.
Textio integrates inclusive-writing guidance into LinkedIn for enterprise customers, CEO Kieran Snyder says
Seattle startup Textio is integrating its augmented writing and inclusive-language guidance directly into LinkedIn, enabling enterprise customers and employees to get real-time suggestions while composing posts and comments on the platform. The move extends Textio’s post-2020 product expansion aimed at improving diversity, equity and inclusion across company communications and external social media.
Picnic begins U.S. pre-orders for Pizza System at $3,500–$5,000/month, shipping new units in 2022
Seattle startup Picnic is taking U.S. pre-orders for its Picnic Pizza System, a robotic pizza-assembly machine that can produce up to 100 customized 12-inch pizzas per hour and targets labor and cost reduction in commercial kitchens. The system is offered via monthly subscriptions of $3,500–$5,000, will fulfill existing customer orders through 2021, and begin shipping new orders in 2022.
Forbes Cloud 100 Names Seattle Unicorns Tanium, Outreach, Icertis and Highspot in Top 50
Forbes' sixth annual Cloud 100 list includes four Seattle-area unicorns — Tanium, Outreach, Icertis and Highspot — all ranking in the top 50 based on growth, sales, valuation, culture and reputation. The companies have valuations from $2.8B to $9.2B and recent funding rounds ranging from $80M to $200M.
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.
Tignis raises $1M from BMNT, exits H4XLabs and launches PAICe AI product suite for semiconductors, oil & gas and energy
Seattle startup Tignis, which builds AI/ML tools for manufacturers, smart buildings and utilities, raised $1 million from BMNT and completed BMNT’s H4XLabs accelerator while launching its first commercial PAICe product suite focused on semiconductors, oil and gas, and energy. Founded in 2017 by former VMware executives Jon Herlocker and Matt McLaughlin, Tignis has 20 employees and has raised $7.4M in angel and seed funding to date.
NavigatorCRE raises $17.2M Series A led by Fulcrum Equity Partners to expand CRE analytics platform
Seattle-based NavigatorCRE, a commercial real estate data analytics startup, raised $17.2 million in a Series A led by Fulcrum Equity Partners to expand in North America and Western Europe and form a Customer Advisory Council. The 2014-founded company, led by CEO Taylor Odegard, has ~40 employees, offices in Seattle, Los Angeles and Dallas, and has raised about $24 million to date.
Wyze Labs raises $110M Series B led by Marcy Venture Partners to build AI into <$36 Wyze Cam
Wyze Labs raised $110 million in a Series B led by Marcy Venture Partners to expand its product line, invest heavily in AI features for its <$36 Wyze Cam, and improve customer service and shipping.
Picnic raises $4.2M more for Series A to scale Picnic Pizza System as partnerships and customer talks accelerate
Seattle food-automation startup Picnic raised an additional $4.2 million for its Series A, bringing the round past $20 million, to expand its team and commercial operations for the Picnic Pizza System. The pizza-assembly robot — able to produce up to 100 customized 12-inch pizzas per hour — has drawn partnerships and late-stage customer talks with multiple restaurant groups and brands.
Ridwell CEO Ryan Metzger grows Seattle recycling startup to 35,000 members across 40+ cities, adds Denver and hires 100+ employees
Seattle startup Ridwell, founded by CEO Ryan Metzger, has grown to over 35,000 members across 40+ Pacific Northwest cities, collecting hard-to-recycle household items for up to $14/month and employing more than 100 people. The company is expanding (recently entering Denver), hiring aggressively, and aiming for about 300 employees within a year while its founder says he’d prefer the need for the service disappear if climate change were solved.
adyn CEO Elizabeth Ruzzo launches genetic-and-hormone test this fall to predict birth-control side effects
Elizabeth Ruzzo, founder and CEO of Seattle startup adyn, is launching a fall test that analyzes genetic and hormone data to predict birth-control side effects and reduce trial-and-error prescribing. She aims to make scientific discovery more inclusive by addressing biases in medical research and offering users the option to opt into anonymous research.
Simon Yu, ex-Bomba Fusion owner, leads crypto startup StormX and lands Portland Trail Blazers sponsorship
Seattle entrepreneur Simon Yu closed his Korean-Mexican food truck Bomba Fusion and pivoted to cofound StormX, a fast-growing crypto startup he launched in 2015; recently StormX secured a sponsorship deal with the Portland Trail Blazers as Yu reflects on his journey from financial hardship to startup success.
AI2 spinout MajorBoost raises $350,000 pre-seed to automate insurance calls for medical providers
MajorBoost, an AI2 spinout founded by Lekshmi Venu, Ben Hesketh and Andrew Palmer, uses AI to automate insurance phone calls for medical providers to reduce time lost to eligibility and claim inquiries; it received $350,000 in pre-seed funding from AI2 and is preparing a seed round while running private beta customers.
Seattle Couple’s EpicSurf Wave Debuts After Five Years; ADG to Manufacture 3–5 ft Man-Made Surf Wave
John and Trisha Hoss spent five years securing financing and partners to build EpicSurf, a man-made deep-water stationary wave for surfing; they partnered with Aquatic Development Group in New York to manufacture and debut the adjustable 3–5 foot wave after traveling 2,500 miles and spending five months building the concept during the pandemic.
Pioneer Square Labs alum Boundless hires Ohio tech veteran Alan Gilbert as VP of Engineering after recommendation from PSL co-founder Ben Gilbert
Seattle VC Ben Gilbert helped his father Alan Gilbert land a remote VP of engineering role at Boundless, a Pioneer Square Labs spinoff, highlighting how COVID-19 has broadened companies' acceptance of remote hires and kept tech ties strong across distance.
Marchex co-founder Pete Christothoulou launches Xembly, an AI meeting-productivity startup entering beta
Pete Christothoulou, former Marchex CEO, launched Xembly, an AI startup that automates meeting tasks and provides data-driven insights to improve meeting productivity; the Madrona Venture Labs company is entering beta this week. Xembly cites a survey of 1,000 workers showing many meetings are unnecessary or too long and says its software works for both in-person and online meetings.
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.
Stephen Curry-backed Penny Jar Capital leads $1M investment in Seattle pay-equity startup Syndio
Seattle pay-equity startup Syndio raised a $1 million investment led by Penny Jar Capital that is anchored by NBA star Stephen Curry, adding to the company’s more than $30 million raised over four years and bringing Curry active involvement and public support for pay equity.
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