The GeekWire 200 has always been a showcase for the variety of startups that call the Pacific Northwest home. The top of the list boasts everything from space companies, to tax automation startups, to vacation rental companies.
Like kids analyzing their Halloween hauls, we are always curious to see which companies — and sectors — are on the rise. In October, the biggest risers came from industries about as disparate as they get. A lunch delivery company that stands out from the pack, a medical startup creating a virtual doctor’s office and a matchmaker for warehouse space were all on the move this month.
It was a pretty static month at the upper reaches of the list, as only Vacasa and Nintex — both of which moved up a single spot to numbers six an 11, respectively — made noise within the top 20 in October. Digital signature company DocuSign retained the top spot this month, followed by tax automation tech company Avalara, space exploration venture Blue Origin, work management technology company Smartsheet and software automation company Puppet.
Click for the full October update to the GeekWire 200 and continue reading for highlights and an explanation of the GeekWire 200 methodology.
Seattle lunch delivery startup Peach is thriving in a competitive industry that has seen numerous companies go under. Peach said this week that it has hit profitability in all three of its markets — Seattle, San Diego and Boston — with plans to expand to Dallas in the next month and several other cities in the near future.
Peach also rose 13 spots on the GeekWire 200 this month, cracking the top 100 at number 96. The company focuses on delivering multiple lunch orders to office buildings. More than 400 restaurants and 1,300 companies are currently on the platform across its three markets.
Each morning, Peach sends a text message to members with a link for that day’s selected dishes, which rotate daily from various restaurants and range from $10 to $14 on average, including taxes and fees. Customers have 90 minutes to place an order by responding with a “yes” text, and the food shows up about an hour later at their office. You can also order via the Peach website.
Health tech startup 98point6 just raised close to $20 million, and that helped the company move up 20 spots on the list to number 164. The money will be used to create a primary care system that’s entirely virtual, a system that aims to bring down healthcare costs while increasing access.
Here’s how the service works: 98point6 users have constant access to a primary care doctor through the company’s app and web portal. If they have any medical questions or aren’t feeling well, they can simply hop into the app to talk to a 98point6 doctor, who can give them medical advice, diagnose health issues and prescribe treatments.
The company says the service can be used for many non-urgent health issues, everything from nasal congestion and eye infections to hypertension and sleep disorders. No appointments are needed, and to get started patients must simply download and login to the app.
The idea is to bring down medical costs by catching health issues early and eliminating visits to physical care locations for minor health problems, like an ear infection or the flu. The company employs approximately 70 people in Seattle.
Amazon has changed our expectations about when and how items should be delivered, and it’s got retailers scrambling to catch up. Some are building out their own distribution operations, while others are relying on third-party companies.
Seattle startup Flexe has been a beneficiary of that trend. It was the biggest riser this month, shooting up 44 spots to number 129. Flexe matches companies that need warehouse space with warehouse operators looking to fill excess space.
In May, Flexe announced a new next-day delivery service that the company said would give brands the ability to reach 98 percent of U.S. customers faster than Amazon Prime two-day shipping.
Here are some of the other climbers on the GeekWire 200 this month:
- VoiceBox Technologies, up 11 spots to number 57
- LoginRadius, up 15 spots to number 81
- Stay Alfred, up 15 spots to number 95
- SheerID, up 16 spots to number 117
- Qorus, up 17 spots to number 120
- Outdoor Project, up 16 spots to number 125
- Mighty Ai, up 23 spots to number 137
- Lighter Capital, up 18 spots to number 145
- Hubb, up 14 spots to number 158
- HERO Sports, up 15 spots to number 159
- HaloSource, up 15 spots to number 167
Eleven startups made their debut on the GeekWire 200 or returned to the list in October. They are: Discuss.io, Amplero, resin.io, Phytelligence, MovingWorlds, Phylos Bioscience, New Engen, Demand Energy Networks, Inc., CloudEnablers, Echodyne and KenSci
The GeekWire 200 — sponsored by our partners at EY — 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 rankings are generated from publicly available data, including social media followings, approximate employee counts (via LinkedIn) 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.
