Vittana founder Chakrabarti steps down as Lovell takes the helm

Kushal Chakrabarti

Kushal Chakrabarti is stepping down from the educational microloan non-profit Vittana, handing the reins of the organization over to Rebecca Lovell who has been named interim CEO. “This is a big opportunity for Vittana. The last five years have been incredible. The next five will be epic,” said Chakrabarti, the former Amazon.com employee who founded Vittana in… Read More…

Vinod Khosla, others bankroll Seattle fund to accelerate Indian startups

Vinod Khosla

Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, former Microsoft executive Mike Murray, former Bain Capital managing director Bob Gay and others have joined with several leading investors in India to bankroll the Unitus Seed Fund, an $8 million venture capital fund that’s designed to help entrepreneurs in India get new ventures off the ground. The Unitus Seed Fund… Read More…

Good work Seattle: Here are the winners of the Geeks Give Back campaign

GeekWire chairman Jonathan Sposato with Vittana's Kushal

Thanks to everyone who came out last night for the GeekWire Gala. We had a blast partying with more than 800 folks, recognizing some of the top Newsmakers of the Year and celebrating a fabulous year in tech. But one of the coolest things about the evening is how the community came together to support… Read More…

Vinod Khosla, Rich Barton lead Vittana’s new ‘League of Extraordinary Tech Superheroes’

Rich Barton

Venture capital Vinod Khosla and Zillow co-founder Rich Barton have joined forces to bankroll Vittana, the Seattle non-profit that’s attempting to wipe out youth poverty through education-oriented microloans. The contributions of Khosla and Barton mark the largest in Vittana’s history, and set the organization on a path to become self sustainable. The exact amount of… Read More…

Geeks Give Back: Who will win the Vittana challenge at the GeekWire Gala?

geeksgiveback3

We’re gearing up for the geekiest holiday bash of the season, with more than 700 expected at McCaw Hall for Thursday’s huge GeekWire Gala. And while we’ll raise a toast to an exciting year in technology, and honor some of the most important newsmakers of the year, this event is extra special in part because the… Read More…

4-Hour Workweek author Tim Ferriss joins Vittana for 35th birthday fundraiser

tim ferriss 200

He’s a man of fours — you know, the four-hour workweek, the four-hour body — but now author Tim Ferriss is the $100,000 man. To celebrate his 35th birthday today, Ferriss has pledged to match every dollar up to $50,000 donated on Vittana, a Seattle non-profit that funds educational efforts to fight youth poverty. As… Read More…

Google joins with Seattle angels to bankroll non-profit education microloan upstart Vittana

Kushal Chakrabarti

Vittana, the Seattle non-profit that’s facilitating micro-loans to students in developing countries, has received a $250,000 grant from Google. Others backing the organization include entrepreneurs Hadi and Ali Partovi; former Microsoft VP Mike Murray; Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman; BuddyTV co-founder Andy Liu; Founder’s Co-op’s Chris DeVore; TeachStreet CEO Dave Schappell and others. Vittana founder Kushal Chakrabarti… Read More…

A night at the Seattle 2.0 Awards: Watch the speeches of the 10 winners

Cliff Kushler, left, and Mike McSherry of Swype at last year's Seattle 2.0 Startup Awards

Seattle’s startup community partied Thursday night at the annual Seattle 2.0 Awards, a celebration of the region’s top tinkerers, geeks, designers and investors. Team GeekWire was there in full force, recording a special podcast from the red carpet and shooting some video of geek fashion (Check out Estately CEO Galen Ward’s pink shirt, SEOMoz founder… Read More…