Funding rounds, new products, and shifting priorities are fueling growth at startups in the Seattle region. Companies that have expanded their teams and social media reach rose on the GeekWire 200 index of privately-held young companies in the Pacific Northwest.
Recent cash infusions, which often spark hiring sprees, were a boon for several startups that jumped up on the list.
Click for the full June update to the GeekWire 200 and continue reading for highlights.
Predictive Q&A engine, AnswerDash, posted the biggest jump on the GeekWire 200, ranking #181 in June. The startup, which raised $2.9 million in the fall of 2015, has been steadily adding new employees and social followers. The UW spinout’s total funding as of September was $5.3 million.
Placed, which debuted a new location analytics tool in February, rose to #75. Prior to launching the new tool, the Seattle company was already pulling smartphone location data from 600 million consumer locations each day. The new product uses existing smartphone technology to determine determine how users interact with advertisements.
Placed has raised $13.4 million to date, since launching in 2011. The company’s team is growing, partially accounting for the jump on the GeekWire 200.
Mobile-friendly marketplace OfferUp rose seven places to #51. The Craigslist rival, which announced $90 million in funding last fall, says it’s on pace to process more than $14 billion worth of transactions this year. OfferUp is scaling rapidly and continues to add employees to its Bellevue, Wash.-based team.
Fast-growing scientific wellness company, Arivale, continues its ascent on the list, rising to #82. The startup, which was named Startup of the Year at the 2016 GeekWire Awards, has jumped nearly 30 spots in the past few months. Arivale was founded by biomedical pioneer Leroy Hood.
Planetary Resources, which just announced $21 million in new funding and put a new emphasis on Earth observation, climbed to #62. As part of that pivot, Planetary Resources announced a partnership with German Pharmaceutical giant Bayer last month. The Seattle company will provide satellite images to help Bayer with its Digital Farming Initiative. Planetary Resources, based in Redmond, Wash., continues to grow its team as it heads in a new direction.
New additions to the GeekWire 200 include Garmentory, Hiya, Usermind, Convoy, and Decisive Data.
The GeekWire 200 is presented by our partners at EY, which will hold its annual Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur of the Year Gala next Friday, June 17. The index is derived from our broader list of more than 900 Pacific Northwest tech startups. The list is designed to provide a better understanding of the startup landscape in the Northwest. The ranking is generated from publicly available data, including social media followings, approximate employee counts and inbound web links.
To make sure your startup is eligible for inclusion in the GeekWire 200, first make sure it’s included in the broader Startup List. If so, there’s no need to submit it separately for the GeekWire 200. If your Pacific Northwest startup isn’t among the companies on that larger list, you can submit it for inclusion here, and our algorithm will crunch the numbers to see if your company makes next month’s GeekWire 200. (Please, no service providers, marketing agencies, etc.)
Thanks to everyone for checking out this month’s ranking. And, just a reminder, if you value resources like these, be sure to check out our list and map of out-of-town tech companies with Seattle engineering outposts as well as our list of startup incubators, co-working spaces and accelerators in the region, and our GeekWork job board.
