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.
Ralph de la Vega, ex‑AT&T vice chairman, joins Outreach board as startup hits $1.33B valuation; Flyhomes names two VPs
Former AT&T vice chairman Ralph de la Vega joined Seattle sales engagement startup Outreach's board after meeting CEO Manny Medina; Outreach is a $1.33B-valued unicorn that raised $50M in June and employs about 700. Seattle real-estate startup Flyhomes also appointed two VPs: Adam Hopson (growth and strategy) and Rehan Mohammad (finance and business operations).
Pioneer Square Labs raises $100M Fund II to back 30+ Pacific Northwest startups with $1–3M initial checks
Seattle-based Pioneer Square Labs raised $100 million for its second venture fund, exceeding its $80 million target due to strong institutional demand, and will invest across more than 30 early-stage Pacific Northwest companies with initial checks of $1–3 million. The firm operates a startup studio (raised $29 million) and a venture fund model that splits capital roughly half to studio spinouts and half to external startups.
Jungle Scout raises $110M and acquires Seattle Amazon-ad startup Downstream, adding its 11-person team
Jungle Scout, an Austin-based company serving Amazon sellers, raised $110 million and announced the acquisition of Seattle startup Downstream, which provides Amazon advertising recommendations and will join Jungle Scout with its 11-person team; terms were not disclosed. Downstream, founded in late 2017, has 5,000 customers, >200% year-over-year revenue growth, and has raised $5 million from multiple investors.
Founders’ Co-op raises $50M fifth fund to back 20–25 Pacific Northwest early-stage startups
Seattle venture firm Founders’ Co-op raised a $50 million fifth fund, its largest to date, to invest in 20–25 early-stage startups across the Pacific Northwest. The larger fund reflects growing deal sizes and outside LP interest as the region sees record startup funding and more unicorns.
Former Amazon executive Jeff Blackburn joins Bessemer Venture Partners as partner, staying in Seattle
Longtime Amazon executive Jeff Blackburn left Amazon and has joined Bessemer Venture Partners as one of five new partners; he will focus on early- and late-stage customer-focused companies and remain based in Seattle. Bessemer also announced it raised $3.3 billion across two new funds and has a history of backing major startups.
TiE Seattle VC Panel: 2020 Ended with Record Startup Funding and SPAC Surge, Investors Expect Strong 2021
A TiE Seattle panel of four Seattle-area VCs said despite early pandemic layoffs and valuation fears, 2020 ended with record startup funding, VC capital raises, and strong exits, and they expect continued momentum in 2021 driven by SPAC activity and pandemic-driven innovation. Panelists highlighted increased founding activity, higher valuations, and pandemic-forced business improvements creating investor opportunities.
Boundless lays off 4, asks 27 employees to relocate to Las Vegas after $7.5M raise and RapidVisa acquisition
Seattle-based immigration startup Boundless cut four jobs and asked 27 customer-support employees to relocate to Las Vegas after raising $7.5 million and acquiring RapidVisa, consolidating support to the acquired companys Las Vegas center as part of a restructuring.
Madrona Venture Labs’ Pendulum, led by Sam Clark and Mark Ledwich, launches tech to identify QAnon videos across YouTube, BitChute and Rumble
Pendulum, a Madrona Venture Labs startup led by Sam Clark and Mark Ledwich, builds technology to classify publicly available video content and identify harmful narratives like QAnon across platforms including YouTube, BitChute, and Rumble. The company released a report on QAnon videos, has interest from advertisers and government groups, and analyzes audio and image content though its business model remains undisclosed.
SoundCommerce raises $15M Series A to centralize retailers' data into Snowflake or BigQuery
Seattle startup SoundCommerce raised $15 million in a Series A to help online retailers centralize commerce data into Snowflake or BigQuery warehouses and gain analytics for profitability, forecasting, logistics and inventory. CEO Eric Best says the product integrates with platforms like Amazon, Shopify and Magento to help brands scale back-office operations and "think and act like Amazon."
Highspot raises $200M Series E at $2.3B valuation, becoming Seattle’s newest unicorn
Highspot, a nine-year-old Seattle enterprise sales enablement startup, raised a $200 million Series E at a $2.3 billion valuation, becoming the city’s newest unicorn. The company says ARR grew 900% over three years and its platform uses AI to optimize sales conversations for customers like Hootsuite, Twitter, Siemens and Workday.
Pipe17 raises $8M seed round led by GLP Capital Partners to scale e-commerce integration platform
Seattle e-commerce logistics startup Pipe17 raised an $8 million seed round led by GLP Capital Partners to expand its integration platform that connects inventory, orders and fulfillment systems, benefiting from pandemic-driven growth in online shopping.
Ally raises $50M Series C led by Green Oaks, Tiger Global and Madrona as remote work fuels demand
Seattle startup Ally raised $50 million in a Series C led by Green Oaks Capital, Tiger Global and Madrona, bringing total funding to $76 million as remote work drove demand for its OKR goal-tracking software that tripled revenue in 2020.
Fabric raises $43M Series A from Norwest to sell headless commerce platform to mid-market retailers
Seattle-area e-commerce startup Fabric raised $43 million in a Series A led by Norwest Venture Partners to help mid-market retailers build modular, headless commerce systems and compete with Amazon amid a pandemic-driven online shopping surge. Founded by Faisal Masud, Fabric offers commerce APIs used by brands like GNC and Juicy Couture and had raised $9.5 million in seed funding five months earlier.
Nuance acquires Seattle voice-assistant startup Saykara to bolster AI healthcare products; terms undisclosed
Nuance Communications has acquired Seattle startup Saykara, whose voice assistant Kara automatically documents doctor-patient conversations, to strengthen Nuance’s AI healthcare products; Saykara’s team including CEO Harjinder Sandhu will join Nuance R&D. Terms were not disclosed; Saykara had raised $10 million, employs about 30 people, and Sandhu previously sold a startup to Nuance and worked there.
Nautilus Biotechnology to go public via Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp III SPAC, raising $350M at $900M valuation
Nautilus Biotechnology, a Seattle proteomics startup led by Sujal Patel and Parag Mallick, will go public via a SPAC merger with Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp III, raising about $350 million and valuing the company at $900 million. The deal includes a $150 million SPAC component and a $200 million PIPE, expects to close in Q2, and the combined company will trade on Nasdaq as NAUT.
Techstars Seattle alum Insent raises $2M to expand 'human-first' B2B marketing chatbot competing with Drift and Intercom
Seattle startup Insent raised $2 million to sell a ‘human-first’ B2B marketing chatbot for mid-market companies, aiming to increase lead engagement and alert sales teams; the company has ~50 customers, 40 employees, and revenue has quadrupled since May.
Gradient Ventures leads $5.4M investment in Seattle analytics startup Iteratively to standardize customer data
Seattle analytics startup Iteratively raised $5.4 million in a round led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused fund, to help companies standardize and improve customer analytics tracking. The 10-person company, founded in 2019 by Patrick Thompson and Ondrej Hrebicek, integrates with tools like Amplitude and Mixpanel and counts Box and thredUP among clients.
Rad Power Bikes raises $150M minority investment to scale global e-bike business
Rad Power Bikes raised a $150 million minority investment to expand globally after pandemic-driven demand, planning to double its 325-person workforce and grow its showrooms and service stations. The profitable Seattle-based company — claiming 200,000 riders in 30+ countries and roughly $100M revenue in 2019 — will use the funds to scale operations and international footprint.
Seattle Startup Brightloom Raises $15M Led by Ex-Starbucks Digital Chief Adam Brotman to Personalize Customer Marketing
Seattle startup Brightloom, led by ex-Starbucks digital chief Adam Brotman, raised $15 million to help companies use customer data for personalized marketing campaigns. The company evolved from restaurant automation startup Eatsa and targets smaller brands lacking advanced marketing resources.
Madrona pauses Create33 co-working space, shifts to free virtual membership after COVID-19 forces closure
Madrona’s Create33, a Seattle founder center launched in July 2018, has closed its co-working space and is converting to a free virtual membership program after pandemic-related event cancellations and lost rental revenue; key staff including executive director Rebecca Lovell have departed.
Parse Biosciences raises $7M led by Bioeconomy Capital to scale single-cell RNA-seq tech; total funding $9M
Parse Biosciences (formerly Split Biosciences) raised $7 million to grow its single-cell RNA-seq 'Whole Transcriptome Kit' that profiles up to 100,000 cells across 48 samples; the 16-person startup spun out of UW in 2018 and has 40+ labs using its kit.
Kevala raises $4M led by Vulcan Capital to help long-term care facilities fill nursing shifts with staffing and compliance software
Seattle startup Kevala raised $4 million led by Vulcan Capital to provide staffing, compliance and workforce-management software for long-term care facilities, helping them fill nursing shifts via a curated on-call pool and earning revenue from software sales and a cut of supplemental staff wages.
Usermind raises $14M led by WestRiver Group as pandemic-driven digital demand boosts Seattle startup
Seattle marketing startup Usermind raised $14 million in a funding round led by WestRiver Group as demand for digital customer-experience software surged during the pandemic; total funding is $60 million and headcount has recovered to just over 50 employees.
i2 Holdings acquires Ambassador from Intrado, adds 11 employees and folds product into ContextLink
Seattle-based i2 Holdings acquired Ambassador, a refer-a-friend platform from Intrado, and will operate it within its ContextLink platform while retaining all 11 Ambassador employees; this is i2's third acquisition in 18 months.
Techstars Seattle launches 12th cohort virtually, achieves first-ever gender parity among CEOs
Techstars Seattle announced its 12th cohort, which will run largely virtually using lessons from its 2020 remote program and starting a few weeks earlier to improve virtual connection. The 2021 class achieved gender parity among CEOs, and Techstars Seattle says virtual programming has not hurt fundraising and broadened investor interest.
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
