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.
Brightly founders Laura Alexander Wittig and Liza Moiseeva raise $1M to scale eco-focused content, community and e-commerce
Seattle startup Brightly, founded by Laura Alexander Wittig and Liza Moiseeva, raised $1 million to expand its eco-focused content, community and upcoming e-commerce platform after growing from a popular 2019 podcast into a social-media-driven brand reaching over 250,000 women daily. The founders leveraged accelerators (Snapchat Yellow, Female Founders Alliance), a 10,000+ ambassador program, and brand partnerships to monetize recommendations and will expand the five-person team later this year.
Fusebit, founded by Microsoft, Apple and Auth0 veterans, raises $3.3M seed to provide integration APIs
Seattle startup Fusebit, founded in 2019 by veterans of Microsoft, Apple and Auth0, raised a $3.3 million seed round to offer hosted and private-cloud APIs that help SaaS vendors add and monitor integrations at scale. The three-person company — led by CEO Tomasz Janczuk — plans to hire remotely and lists customers including Factory Four, Hyperproof and Leasera.
Flexe expands Series C with additional $10M, total funding reaches $144M
Seattle warehousing marketplace Flexe expanded its Series C by $10 million after stronger-than-expected investor interest, bringing total funding to $144 million and serving nearly 2,000 warehouses in the U.S. and Canada.
Hillrom to Buy Bardy Diagnostics for $375M, Deal to Close in Q2 with Possible Milestone Payments
Hillrom will acquire Seattle-based Bardy Diagnostics for $375 million, adding Bardy’s week-long CAM cardiac monitor and related cardiology products to its portfolio; the deal may include future milestone payments and is expected to close in Q2. Bardy, founded in 2013, has about $30 million in annualized revenue, over $20 million in net operating losses, roughly 230 employees, and has raised more than $71 million to date.
Armoire raises $3.5M from Satya Nadella, Aman Bhutani after pivoting to casual inventory and community tools
Seattle clothing subscription service Armoire adapted to pandemic-driven demand shifts by cutting costs, adding casual items, and building community-driven discovery tools, helping long-tenured members stay. The four-year-old startup raised $3.5 million from investors including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani as it regains growth momentum.
Gemma Labs raises $2.75M from PSL Ventures to expand Gemmist personalized shampoo service
Seattle-based Gemma Labs raised $2.75 million from PSL Ventures and other investors to expand its Gemmist custom shampoo service and roll out new products after reaching $1.5M in annualized sales. The company creates personalized shampoos using customer surveys and in-house scientists, with bottles starting at $18 and a $25 scalp balancing bar.
Seattle tech vet Keith McCall acquires and relaunches everyvine, moves operations to Bellevue
Seattle tech veteran Keith McCall acquired and relaunched everyvine, an eight-year-old wine-grape marketing and sales site, moved its operations to Bellevue, and is operating the bootstrapped company with two employees. The acquisition complements his Pollen Systems vineyard-monitoring venture and follows McCall’s prior exit when Avanade bought his 2004 startup Azaleos for $106 million in 2010.
iSpot acquires Ace Metrix; Ace CEO Peter Daboll joins as chief strategy officer, 45 employees added
Seattle-based TV-ad measurement firm iSpot has acquired Los Angeles-based Ace Metrix to strengthen its ad measurement technology, adding 45 employees and bringing Ace Metrix CEO Peter Daboll into iSpot as chief strategy officer; financial terms were not disclosed.
U.S. Startups Raised Record $156.2B in 2020; Pacific Northwest Logged $946M in Q4 Across 54 Deals
U.S. startups set a new annual VC funding record in 2020 with $156.2 billion raised, driven by digital acceleration during the pandemic and a surge in mega-deals; Q4 saw $946 million invested across 54 Pacific Northwest deals. VC fundraises also hit records and IPO activity boosted exit values, suggesting continued momentum into 2021 as investors hold dry powder.
Seattle fintech Secure raises $3.5M seed round to power employer-offered emergency savings accounts
Seattle fintech startup Secure raised a $3.5 million seed round to help employers offer emergency savings accounts (ESAs) to workers and is launching with its first customers this month.
Mailchimp acquires Chatitive; CEO Andy Hollenbeck to lead conversational SMS at Mailchimp
Mailchimp has acquired Seattle SMS-marketing startup Chatitive, a Madrona Venture Labs spinout, integrating its team (fewer than 10 employees) and naming CEO Andy Hollenbeck head of conversational SMS; terms were not disclosed.
Former Zulily Execs Jason LeeKeenan and Kevin Saliba Raise $150M to Buy and Scale E‑Commerce Brands
Two former Zulily executives, Jason LeeKeenan and Kevin Saliba, raised over $150 million to launch Cap Hill Brands, a firm that buys and operationally scales profitable e-commerce businesses and has acquired 10 companies since last summer.
Pioneer Square Labs spins out 25 startups in five years; six launched during pandemic surge
Seattle startup studio Pioneer Square Labs (PSL) spun out 25 startups in five years — six during a six-month pandemic stretch — by rapidly testing ideas, though it has yet to produce a breakout unicorn and faces criticism over founder dilution.
Sway Ventures leads $2.7M seed into Omnivor as Seattle startup scales 3D holographic media used by Nike and T-Mobile
Seattle startup Omnivor raised $2.7 million in a seed round led by Sway Ventures to expand its 3D holographic media platform, which is being used by clients including Nike and in partnership with T-Mobile for live holographic telepresence.
Nautilus Biotechnology hires ex-Smartsheet, Isilon and GenapSys leaders as it scales proteome platform after $76M Series B
Nautilus Biotechnology, a stealthy startup co-founded by Sujal Patel and Parag Mallick, has hired three senior executives — Chris Blessington, Anna Mowry, and Subra Sankar — to expand its team and accelerate development of a platform to quantify the human proteome after a $76 million Series B.
Madrona Venture Group Raises $345M for 8th Fund and $161M for 2nd Later-Stage Fund in Largest Ever $500M Capital Raise
Madrona Venture Group raised over $500 million for its largest fundraise ever, including $345 million for an eighth early-stage fund targeting 35-40 Pacific Northwest startups and $161 million for a second later-stage Acceleration Fund. The firm continues to focus on supporting the Pacific Northwest tech ecosystem while also backing later-stage companies across North America.
FlowPlay buys out investors to become fully employee- and founder-owned after 50% revenue spike in 2020
Seattle social-game developer FlowPlay repurchased investor shares to become fully employee- and founder-owned after seeing revenue rise 50% during 2020; the 14-year-old company has 75 million registered users and plans a new title in 2021.
LinkedIn data: Seattle added 2.2 tech workers per one lost from March–October as Bay Area outflows rise
LinkedIn migration data shows Seattle gained 2.2 tech workers for every one who left from March to October, nearly matching last year’s 2.5 ratio, and attracted a 28% increase in movers from the Bay Area. While the Bay Area and New York saw notable declines in their inflow-outflow ratios, observers and local advocates say Seattle’s similar amenities and lower cost of living help explain the trend.
Seattle-based Bloccelerate VC raises $12M first fund to invest $500K–$2M in enterprise blockchain startups
Seattle-based Bloccelerate VC raised $12 million for its first fund to back 10–15 early-stage blockchain startups selling to enterprise customers, with typical investments of $500,000–$2 million; the three-year-old firm has already invested in five companies including BlockApps, Symbiont, and MakerDAO. CEO Kate Mitselmakher and GP Sam Yilmaz say the pandemic and rising cryptocurrency adoption are accelerating enterprise blockchain use cases across supply chain, capital markets, healthcare, and record-keeping.
Rubrik acquires technology and IP assets from Seattle startup Igneous after layoffs
Rubrik, a Palo Alto cloud data management company valued at about $3.3 billion, has acquired technology and IP assets from Seattle startup Igneous after Igneous cut staff and fell below 40 employees; Rubrik said the acquisition enhances its unstructured data management capabilities.
Symbl raises $4.7M led by Crosscut Ventures with Amazon Alexa Fund to expand conversational AI for enterprise
Seattle startup Symbl raised $4.7 million in a round led by Crosscut Ventures with participation from Amazon’s Alexa Fund and several other investors to expand its conversational AI API that transcribes real-time conversations and extracts insights for meetings, customer care, and sales. Founded in 2018 by Surbhi Rathore and Toshish Jawale, the 30-person company says pandemic-driven digital communication growth has increased demand for its services.
Zenoti raises $160M Series D, reaches $1B valuation to expand enterprise software for 12,000+ salons, spas and wellness businesses
Bellevue-based Zenoti raised $160 million in a Series D that values the company at $1 billion; its enterprise software serves over 12,000 spas, salons and wellness businesses and has doubled revenue this year.
Vouched raises $3M to expand AI ID-verification as COVID-19 drives demand; will expand to Europe
Seattle startup Vouched raised $3 million to expand AI-powered ID verification services as COVID-19 boosts demand for remote identity checks; the company has 80+ customers and has verified over 850,000 people across 50 countries.
University of Washington launches Husky FAST Start to standardize licensing for spinouts after 35-startup pilot
The University of Washington launched Husky FAST Start, a standardized licensing process with template term sheets and agreements to speed and cut costs for startup license negotiations, after piloting it with 35 startups. The move, timed with the Bayh-Dole Act’s 40th anniversary, aims to help UW founders commercialize innovations from a university that has spun out 73 startups in five years and signed over 5,000 commercial licenses.
Voodle raises $6M from Madrona and Vulcan to sell TikTok-style workplace video for remote teams
Seattle startup Voodle raised $6 million in a round led by Madrona Venture Group and Vulcan Capital to offer a TikTok-like, bite-sized video communication app for workplaces aimed at reducing Zoom fatigue and Slack overload. The app — launched earlier in 2020 by former Pixvana execs and available on iOS, Android and web — includes searchable clips with transcriptions and integrations with workplace tools.
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
