Maria Colacurcio
Maria Colacurcio is CEO at Syndio and co-founder and board member at Fair Pay Workplace. She also co-founded Smartsheet, which is still running. Her expertise includes pay transparency and anti-discrimination in the workplace.
Syndio Acquires Embrace.ai to Advance AI-Powered Pay Equity Platform
Syndio, a Seattle-based pay equity startup, made its first acquisition by acquiring Austin-based agentic AI startup Embrace.ai to enhance its AI-powered compensation platform. The acquisition brings Embrace.ai's founders and team to Syndio to accelerate development in real-time pay decision governance.
Tin Can CEO Chet Kittleson and Founders Share Key Startup Lessons at Seattle Flow Day on May 15
At Seattle Flow Startup Day, experienced founders including Tin Can CEO Chet Kittleson shared lessons from their hardships, emphasizing building passionate companies, maintaining emotional stability, hiring capable people, disciplined fundraising, questioning the need for venture capital, and considering acquisition early. Kittleson recounted surviving a disastrous network outage that nearly ended his startup, highlighting resilience and customer-driven growth.
Ex-Google Director Manish Sainani Launches AI Investment Firm Hushh Technologies; Nathan Brown Named CFO of Treasury4
Manish “Manny” Sainani, former Google director, launched Hushh Technologies, an AI-driven investment management startup, while Nathan Brown became CFO of Treasury4, a fintech company serving corporate finance professionals.
Seattle Tech Week 2024 Draws ~75 Events, Organizers Thank JP Morgan, Ascend, Google Cloud and Sarah Studer
Seattle Tech Week 2024 featured about 75 events that brought together founders, investors, and startups, showcasing Seattle as a vibrant tech hub. Organizers thanked hosts, sponsors (including JP Morgan, Ascend, Google Cloud), community builder Sarah Studer, and noted the program expanded from last year with spillover weekend activities and large community turnout.
Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio raises $55M+ for pay-equity software, expands analytics after Series B while nine months pregnant
Maria Colacurcio, CEO of Seattle-based pay equity software startup Syndio, has raised over $55 million and grown the company to serve 300 clients, helping reduce salary remediation budgets by an average of 17%. She emphasizes that pay equity is now essential, highlights expanding Syndio’s analytics to measure opportunity equity and internal mobility, and raised a Series B while nine months pregnant.
GeekWire Elevator Pitch Season 3 Finale Features Four CEOs Competing Live at GeekWire Summit
The season three finale of GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch featured four startup CEOs pitching their businesses live at the GeekWire Summit, competing for top honors in categories like fintech, sustainability, and consumer products. The finalists included Devin Miller of SecureSave, Amina Moreau of Radious, Erin Quick of PairTree, and Katherine Sizov of Strella Biotechnology.
GeekWire Elevator Pitch Final Episode Features Seattle Sustainability Startups Competing for 2022 Summit Finale Spot
The final episode of GeekWire's Elevator Pitch features three Seattle-area sustainability startup CEOs pitching their innovations in a timed elevator ride, with the winner advancing to the live finale at the 2022 GeekWire Summit on October 6. The startups include Strella Biotechnology, BattGenie, and Aquagga, focusing on produce ripeness sensing, battery longevity, and PFAS destruction respectively.
GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch S3 Features PairTree, Spot Tot, and Welcome Home CEOs Pitching Consumer Startups
GeekWire's Elevator Pitch season three features three consumer startup CEOs—Erin Quick of PairTree, Robin Waterman of Spot Tot, and Ashley Michael of Welcome Home—pitching their companies to a panel of judges in Seattle's Smith Tower. The season's finale will occur on October 6, 2022, at the GeekWire Summit.
GeekWire's Elevator Pitch Season 3 Features Startup CEOs Pitching in Smith Tower Elevator to Win Finals at October 2022 Summit
GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch returns with a competition where entrepreneurs pitch startups like Radious, Tribute, and Humanly.io in 32 seconds during an elevator ride to Seattle's Smith Tower. The season includes a series of episodes leading to a live finale at the 2022 GeekWire Summit on October 6.
GeekWire returns in person for 2022 Awards at Showbox SoDo, honoring 60+ finalists across 15 categories with 16,000+ votes
GeekWire held its first in-person GeekWire Awards in three years at Showbox SoDo in Seattle, honoring 60+ finalists across 15 categories with over 16,000 community votes and appearances by local tech leaders and entertainers.
GeekWire surveys Seattle-area VCs to name Pacific Northwest startups they predict will become unicorns in 2022
GeekWire surveyed more than a dozen Seattle-area venture capitalists for their picks of Pacific Northwest startups likely to reach unicorn status this year, compiling a list of candidate companies with reasons for each selection. The piece notes rising valuations nationwide and excludes VCs' own portfolio companies to reduce bias.
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.
Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio wins $1M from Stephen Curry-backed Penny Jar Capital amid $17.1M Series B as startup expands pay-equity software
Maria Colacurcio, CEO of Seattle pay-equity software startup Syndio, has secured high-profile backing including a roughly $1 million investment from Penny Jar Capital (backed by NBA MVP Stephen Curry) and a $17.1 million Series B, as the company builds tools to identify pay disparities for clients like Nordstrom, Adobe and Slack while deciding to leave its Pioneer Square sublease but remain in Seattle.
Seattle Tech CEOs — Icertis, Syndio, Qumulo, Remitly, Outreach, Convoy, Zenoti, Skilljar — Share First-Job Lessons That Shaped Their Careers
Seattle-area tech startup CEOs shared lessons from their first jobs—ranging from car washing to programming—highlighting practical skills, work ethic, and enduring lessons that shaped their leadership and product thinking.
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.
GeekWire names winners at 2021 Awards; SeekOut wins Startup of the Year after $65M raise
The 2021 GeekWire Awards returned as a virtual event honoring over 60 finalists across 14 categories from the Pacific Northwest tech community, featuring celebrity cameos and performances. Winners included SeekOut as Startup of the Year, and among 16 winners eight were women and five were people of color and/or immigrant entrepreneurs.
GeekWire opens voting for 2021 Startup CEO of the Year with five finalists including OctoML, Syndio and WhyLabs
GeekWire is running community voting for its 13th annual GeekWire Awards, featuring five finalists for Startup CEO of the Year: Luis Ceze (OctoML), Maria Colacurcio (Syndio), Mike McSherry (Xealth), Ray Meiring (Qorus Software) and Alessya Visnjic (WhyLabs); voting closes April 30 and winners are announced May 20 at a virtual event.
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.
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.
Organizations
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Fair Pay Workplace Co-founder and Board Member 2019–present · current
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Syndio CEO 2018–present · current
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Smartsheet Co-founder · current
Education
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Whitworth University Bachelor's, History and Political Science
