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.
Veteran Entrepreneur Dave Parker Named CEO of Entrepreneurs’ Organization to Expand Global Membership
Dave Parker, a veteran entrepreneur with nearly three decades of startup experience, has been named CEO of the global networking group Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO), which has nearly 19,000 members worldwide. Parker aims to grow EO’s membership to over 35,000 while remaining based in Seattle.
Seattle Startup Dropzone AI Raises $16.8M Series A to Develop AI-Powered Autonomous Cybersecurity Agents
Seattle startup Dropzone AI raised $16.8 million in a Series A round to develop AI-driven autonomous agents that assist Security Operations Centers by automating repetitive cybersecurity tasks. Founded 14 months ago by Edward Wu, the company uses large language models to augment human analysts amid rising cybersecurity challenges related to AI technologies.
Impinj Stock Surges 20% After Q1 Revenue of $76.8M and $45M Patent Settlement Boosts Net Income to $33.3M
Impinj's shares rose 20% after reporting Q1 revenue of $76.8 million, beating analyst estimates, and a GAAP net income of $33.3 million boosted by a $45 million patent litigation settlement.
Acquired Podcast Founders Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal Launch Growth-Stage Tech Investment Fund
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, founders and hosts of the Acquired podcast, are launching a new investment fund to invest in growth-stage tech companies, leveraging opportunities from their podcast network. Their fund formalizes their existing personal investments in startups like Vanta and Modern Treasury without turning into a traditional venture capital firm.
Zillow and Grubhub Veterans Launch Scala Advisors to Support Growth Companies in Seattle
Chad Cohen, former CFO of Zillow Group and Adaptive Biotechnologies, and Ryan Domyancic, ex-Grubhub investor relations analyst, launched Scala Advisors, a Seattle-based firm helping growth-stage companies with finance, operations, and public market readiness. The advisory offers services including capital planning and executive coaching to support scaling businesses.
Seattle AI Startup Validated Raises $800K, Launches Taglines Ad Generator Used by Beauty Brands
Seattle startup Validated raised an additional $800,000 and launched Taglines, an AI-driven ad content generator and tester used by beauty brands like Sio and Birthdate. The company, led by Rahul Bhardwaj and Zean Tsoi, helps businesses identify effective product features and messaging.
Former Facebook Engineers Raise $10M for Data Tech Fund Investing in AI-Driven Startups
Data Tech Fund, launched in 2021 by four former Facebook engineering leaders, is a Seattle-based investment firm focusing on startups leveraging proprietary data and AI. The fund raised $10 million and has invested in over 25 companies, with investors from major tech firms like Meta, Apple, and Dropbox.
Galvanick Industrial Cybersecurity Startup Opens Seattle Office to Combat Rising Ransomware Threats
Galvanick, an industrial cybersecurity startup founded in 2021 by former White House and Amazon experts, helps manufacturers monitor for cyberattacks and recently opened a Seattle office near Amazon's headquarters amid rising ransomware threats.
Munil Shah Joins Talkdesk as CTO; Ajay Nair Hired by Elastic; Libretto Raises $3.7M Led by Ex-Redfin Leaders
Munil Shah, former UiPath CTO with 23 years at Microsoft, joined Talkdesk as CTO amid growth in conversational AI; Ajay Nair, ex-Microsoft and AWS leader, joined Elastic as VP, while LLM startup Libretto, led by former Redfin executives, secured $3.7 million funding.
Seattle Investment Firm Curious Acquires Infrastructure Platform Convox in First Deal
Seattle-based investment firm Curious made its first acquisition by buying Convox, a 10-year-old infrastructure company founded by former Heroku engineers. Curious, led by Andrew Dumont, targets underfunded software startups with ARR between $500,000 and $5 million, aiming to reset and grow them.
Seattle Startup Volt Athletics Acquires ZAMA Health to Enhance App with Mental Health Services
Seattle's Volt Athletics acquired Washington D.C.-based ZAMA Health to integrate mental health services into its workout app, with ZAMA's CEO Brendan Sullivan joining as general manager of athlete wellbeing.
Seattle Startup KredosAI Raises $2.1 Million Led by StartFast Ventures to Expand AI Late Payment Collection
Seattle-based startup KredosAI, founded in 2020 by former T-Mobile execs, raised $2.1 million in new funding led by StartFast Ventures to expand its AI-driven late payment collection software amid rising delinquency rates.
Seattle Startup OpenPipe Raises $6.7M Seed to Cut Costs with Customized LLMs for Business Use Cases
Seattle startup OpenPipe raised $6.7 million in seed funding to help companies reduce costs and improve performance by building customized smaller large language models for specific business needs. Founded by Kyle and David Corbitt and a Y Combinator alum, OpenPipe targets specialized generative AI use cases that avoid the expense of general-purpose models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Apptio Co-Founder Sunny Gupta Reflects on Building a $4.6 Billion Tech Business Following Key CIO Insight
Sunny Gupta, co-founder of Apptio, shared how a pivotal question from a CIO about managing technology costs inspired him to found the company, which pioneered Technology Business Management. Apptio went public in 2016, was acquired by Vista Equity Partners for nearly $2 billion in 2019, and then bought by IBM in a $4.6 billion deal in 2023.
Former Convoy Engineers Launch Manifold Freight Startup to Build Spot Freight Marketplace in Seattle
Andrew Huff and Oliver Jones, former Convoy engineering leaders, launched Manifold Freight, a Seattle startup in Y Combinator focused on creating a spot freight marketplace that helps carriers find shipments without taking load risks. Manifold aims to reduce reliance on brokers and load boards that take high fees by charging carriers a usage fee based on fleet size.
SingleFile Raises $6.5M Led by Foundry Group as Corporate Transparency Act Increases Demand
Seattle-based legaltech SingleFile raised $6.5 million in a round led by Foundry Group to support growth as new rules like the Corporate Transparency Act increase demand for compliance filing services; total funding exceeds $15 million. The company automates filings for law firms, VCs, private equity, and real estate to replace manual email, PDF, and spreadsheet processes.
Seattle Startup Round Shuts Down After $12M Series A as Tech Downturn and VC Model Challenges Loom
Seattle startup Round, which raised $12 million in Series A funding and quickly reached $1 million in annual recurring revenue, shut down due to challenges from the 2022 tech downturn and flaws in its venture-backed business model dependent on employer-sponsored memberships. CEO Ryan Fuller reflected on the risks of venture capital funding and the impact of macroeconomic factors despite investor support.
Marcus Lemonis Leads Beyond Inc. to Acquire and Revive Zulily for $4.5 Million After 2023 Liquidation
Marcus Lemonis, entrepreneur and former star of CNBC's "The Profit," is leading Beyond Inc. to revive the struggling e-commerce brand Zulily, which was acquired for $4.5 million after its liquidation in 2023. Zulily, once a high-growth Seattle-based company, declined due to competition and operational issues despite generating significant sales.
Textio Lays Off 14 Employees (16% of Staff) to Shift Focus to Bias-Reduction Product
Textio laid off 14 employees, 16% of its workforce, to restructure and focus on its Textio Lift product, which helps reduce bias in workplace language. The company, which has 71 employees and notable clients, has raised $42.5 million and recently underwent leadership changes.
AI2 Incubator Secures $200M AI Compute Resources to Support Startups with Up to $1M Free Access
The AI2 Incubator in Seattle secured $200 million in AI compute resources from cloud providers to offer up to $1 million in free computing power to its portfolio startups, helping them scale AI models without high costs. This initiative aims to support AI founders lacking privileged compute access and strengthen AI2's position among incubators and investors.
Marcus Lemonis' Beyond Acquires Zulily for $4.5M, Plans 2023 Relaunch of Former $4B E-Commerce Retailer
Beyond, led by Marcus Lemonis, is acquiring the former online retailer Zulily for $4.5 million and plans to relaunch it later this year. Zulily, once a $4 billion valued flash sales e-commerce company, had previously shut down and laid off hundreds of employees.
Seattle Startup PreemptiveAI Raises $6.4M Seed to Build AI Medical Model Using Smartphone and Wearable Data
Seattle startup PreemptiveAI announced $6.4 million in seed funding to develop AI software that predicts health outcomes using data from smartphones and wearables. The company, led by CEO Jamien McCullum, partners with Duke University and targets providers, drug developers, and insurers.
Alliance of Angels Plans Third Innovation Fund to Invest $1.9 Million in Pacific Northwest Startups
Seattle-based Alliance of Angels is preparing to raise its third annual Innovation Fund, aiming to invest around $1.9 million in approximately 14 startups primarily in the Pacific Northwest. The fund, launched in 2022, enables quicker and larger investments with member voting for decisions and has attracted new members despite a challenging venture capital environment.
Harshit Shah Named CTO of Kyruus Health; Ryan Asdourian Joins Lumen as CMO and EVP; Fred Hutch Announces 2024 Weintraub Awardees
Harshit Shah, former AWS engineering head, becomes CTO at healthcare software company Kyruus Health, while Ryan Asdourian, a longtime Microsoft manager, joins telecom firm Lumen as CMO and EVP. Additionally, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center announced 12 recipients of the 2024 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Award.
Former Microsoft Exec Yatharth Gupta’s Codified Raises $4M Seed to Advance AI-Powered Data Governance
Seattle startup Codified, founded by former Microsoft executive Yatharth Gupta, raised a $4 million seed round led by Madrona Venture Group to develop an AI-driven data governance platform. The company aims to simplify and improve internal data access management by enabling users to create data access rules in plain English, addressing industry challenges around data access complexity and security.
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
