Taylor Soper
Taylor Soper is Director of Community and Programming at AI House and serves as a board member at the University of Washington, Board of Student Publications. He previously held editorial and reporting roles at GeekWire and Major League Baseball, with expertise in technology startups, programming, and community building.
Taylor Soper lists founders and startups who pitched at Demo Day, including Lightspeed AI, Vantari VR, Eidol AI and Hubble AI (YC S26)
A LinkedIn post by Taylor Soper lists founders who pitched at Demo Day, naming thirty individuals and teams along with their startups, including companies like Lightspeed AI, Vantari VR, Eidol AI, and Hubble AI (YC S26).
Taylor Soper thanks Seattle founders, investors, partners after AI House’s first Demo Day
Taylor Soper thanked Seattle founders, investors, partners, and the AI House team after the first-ever AI House Demo Day, highlighting founder practice, event production, and supporting organizations. He acknowledged specific contributors including Maya Sukovaty, Andy Lai, Audrey Yun, Wilson Sonsini (Craig Sherman), JPMorganChase, Google Cloud, photographer Dan DeLong, and videographer Carlin Ma.
GeekWire 2026 Innovation of the Year Finalists Include Alpenglow Biosciences and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
The 2026 GeekWire Awards announced finalists for Innovation of the Year, including Alpenglow Biosciences, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, RevealDx, Starcloud, and VerAvanti, recognized for breakthroughs in healthcare and data center technology. The awards event will be held on May 7 in Seattle, with public voting open through April 10.
Aetheon Raises $1.24M Seed Funding to Launch Skills Translation Platform for Veterans and Graduates
Aetheon, a startup helping workers, especially veterans and recent graduates, translate real-world skills into job-ready competencies, raised $1.24 million in seed funding. The company plans to use the funding to launch its beta, expand pilot programs, and enhance its skills data platform.
Bluesky Raises $100M Series B Led by Bain Capital Crypto, Reaches 43M Users Amid Leadership Shift
Bluesky raised $100 million in a Series B round led by Bain Capital Crypto in April 2025, following a $15 million Series A in October 2024. The company reported a 60% user growth last year, reaching 43 million users, while undergoing leadership changes with Toni Schneider as interim CEO.
Helion Energy Tops GeekWire 200 as No. 1 Pacific Northwest Tech Startup in Q2 2025 Amid Hardware Sector Growth
Helion Energy, a fusion power startup backed by SoftBank and Sam Altman, has become the new No. 1 on the GeekWire 200 list of top Pacific Northwest tech startups. The list highlights a growing trend of hardware-focused startups in sectors like space, energy, robotics, and agriculture, shifting away from the region's traditional emphasis on enterprise software.
Vantari Relocates Headquarters to Seattle to Expand VR Medical Training Across North America with Harvard, Yale, and Others as Clients
Vantari, a VR startup founded in 2017, has moved its headquarters from Sydney to Seattle to expand its healthcare training software across North America. Its VR platform, used by top medical centers including Harvard and Yale, simulates medical procedures with AI guidance and realistic controls to improve clinician training.
Cloud Security Startup Native Raises $42M Led by Ballistic Ventures to Automate Multi-Cloud Policy Enforcement
Cloud security startup Native, founded by AWS veterans, raised $42 million in funding to develop a platform that automatically enforces security policies across multiple cloud providers like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud. The startup focuses on embedding security policies directly into cloud infrastructure to prevent vulnerabilities upfront, serving major enterprises including top streaming services and chip manufacturers.
Ramp Acquires 2024-Founded Corporate Travel Startup Juno Backed by Madrona
Ramp acquired Juno, a 2024-founded corporate travel expense startup backed by Madrona and Bungalow Ventures, with Juno’s founders continuing as co-CEOs. The acquisition aims to integrate Juno’s platform for managing non-employee expenses into Ramp’s fintech offerings while preserving Juno’s brand and team.
Tim Chen’s Essence VC Raises New $7 Million Fund to Boost Infrastructure Startup Investments
Essence VC, led by Tim Chen, is raising a new $7 million fund to lead larger pre-seed rounds and have greater investment flexibility, focusing on infrastructure startups. This fund is separate from their previous $41 million fund raised last year.
Jay Graber Steps Down as Bluesky CEO, Toni Schneider Named Interim CEO; Graber Becomes Chief Innovation Officer
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is stepping down to become chief innovation officer as the company hires Toni Schneider as interim CEO to focus on scaling and execution. Bluesky has grown its user base to 43 million and distinguishes itself with the open AT Protocol for social media.
Seattle Startup Radar Highlights AI-Driven Ventures Like The Carry’s $299 Fitness Vest and Color42’s Music Video AI with 1,000 Users
Several Seattle-area startups led by founders such as Esther Sedgwick of The Carry and Prince Bajracharya of Color42 are leveraging AI across diverse sectors including fitness, music marketing, and autonomous debugging. These companies are at early stages with products launching this year and are receiving feedback from a GPT-powered critic called 'Mean VC' to refine their market strategies.
Seattle-San Francisco Fund TheFounderVC Launches $5M Inaugural Vertical AI Early Stage Fund
TheFounderVC (TFVC), a new early stage fund based in Seattle and San Francisco, publicly launched its inaugural $5 million fund focused on vertical AI startups. TFVC plans to invest $100,000 to $250,000 in 25 to 30 pre-seed and seed companies, mostly with ties to Seattle, including startups in AI-powered knowledge storage, science automation, weather risk planning, and more.
Seattle Fintech Startup Confido Legal Raises $9 Million Led by Emery Wager to Enhance Legal Tech Financial Software
Seattle fintech startup Confido Legal raised $9 million across two rounds to develop financial software for law firms and legal tech companies. The company, led by Emery Wager, aims to make embedded payments a competitive advantage for legal tech platforms.
Union.ai Raises $38.1M Series A Led by NEA to Advance AI Workflow Platform Flyte 2
Seattle-area startup Union.ai raised $38.1 million in a Series A round led by NEA to develop its AI development infrastructure platform, including Flyte 2 for orchestrating machine learning workflows. The company, serving clients like Spotify and Carfax, aims to help engineering teams build dynamic and durable AI workflows faster and more reliably.
Seattle Startup Elevāt Raises $12M Series A to Expand AI-Powered Industrial Equipment Repair Software
Seattle startup Elevāt raised $12 million in a Series A round to expand its AI-driven platform that helps industrial companies speed equipment repairs and reduce downtime amid skilled labor shortages. Founded in 2015, Elevāt plans to use the funding to grow in Europe, serving customers in construction, agriculture, and fire and safety.
Temporal Raises $300M Series D Led by Andreessen Horowitz, Valued at $5B Amid AI Infrastructure Surge
Temporal, led by CEO Samar Abbas, raised $300 million in a Series D round at a $5 billion valuation, driven by surging demand for its durable execution infrastructure supporting AI agents. The company’s revenue grew over 380% year-over-year as it positions itself as a core infrastructure provider for the emerging AI agent platform shift.
Matt Oppenheimer Steps Down as CEO of $7B Remitly After 15 Years, Moves to Chairman Role
Matt Oppenheimer led Remitly for nearly 15 years, growing it from a three-person startup to a $7 billion public fintech company with over 9 million users, before transitioning to chairman. Remitly reported $442.2 million revenue in Q4 with its first profitable year in 2025 under new CEO Sebastian Gunningham.
Sana Biotechnology Appoints Brian Piper as CFO; Aptevo CEO Marvin White to Step Down in April; Violett Names Scott Kushino CEO
Brian Piper was appointed CFO and executive vice president at Sana Biotechnology, while Marvin White will step down as Aptevo CEO in April, succeeded by COO Jeff Lamothe. Additionally, Scott Kushino became CEO of Seattle startup Violett, and several other leadership changes occurred across Seattle and New York tech companies.
London’s Foundry Acquires Seattle AI Management Startup Griptape to Boost Creative Production Tools
Seattle startup Griptape, founded by former AWS executives and specializing in AI model management platforms, was acquired by London-based creative software company Foundry to enhance its AI-powered production tools. Griptape had raised $12.5 million in funding and had 13 employees at the time of acquisition.
Temporal Raises $300M at $5B Valuation to Support Reliable AI Agent Workflows in Production
Temporal raised $300 million in a Series D round led by Andreessen Horowitz, doubling its valuation to $5 billion by supporting reliable execution for AI systems. The Bellevue-based company's software powers long-running workflows for clients like OpenAI, with revenue and usage surging significantly as AI agent deployments grow.
Seattle Startup Certivo Raises $4M Seed Round Led by Suffolk Technologies to Automate Supply Chain Compliance with AI
Seattle startup Certivo raised $4 million in seed funding led by Suffolk Technologies to expand its AI-powered platform automating supply chain compliance. Founded in 2024 and led by CEO Kunal Chopra, Certivo aims to replace manual compliance with its AI-native system called CORA, targeting manufacturers facing evolving regulatory requirements.
Seattle AI2 Incubator Director Jacob Colker Challenges Tech Exodus Narrative Amid Washington Tax Debate
Jacob Colker, managing director at AI2 Incubator, pushed back against negative narratives about Seattle's tech industry decline, arguing that recent tax proposals won't outweigh the region's strong innovation ecosystem. His message sparked varied reactions from local tech leaders about Seattle's future amid potential tax changes.
Highspot to Merge with Seismic in Major Sales Software Deal Led by Seismic CEO Rob Tarkoff
Seattle-based enterprise software companies Highspot and Seismic have signed a definitive agreement to merge, with the combined company operating under the Seismic name and led by Seismic CEO Rob Tarkoff. The merger unites two major revenue enablement platforms, with Highspot CEO Robert Wahbe joining the board and Permira remaining as controlling shareholder.
Seattle Startup Accelerator Foundations Expands to San Francisco with New 5,000-Sq-Ft Location in Q2 2024
Seattle-based startup accelerator Foundations is opening a new 5,000-square-foot location in San Francisco to support founders who split time between the two tech hubs, responding to shifting market dynamics and growing startup momentum in the Bay Area. The expansion aims to bridge Seattle and San Francisco communities without abandoning Seattle, enabling members to access both spaces starting in Q2 2024.
Organizations
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AI House Director of Community and Programming 2026–present · current
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University of Washington, Board of Student Publications Board Member 2016–present · current
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AI House Director of Community and Programming · current
Education
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University of Washington Executive Development Program, Business Administration and Management, General · 2021–2022
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University of Washington Bachelor, Business, Journalism · 2008–2012
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Foster School of Business B.A., Business Administration · 2008–2012
