Category: Startups

HBO vets raise cash from top VCs for immersive augmented reality startup Leaftail Labs

by Taylor Soper on October 12, 2018October 13, 2018 at 9:25 am 2 Comments

Top venture capital firms are making an early bet on a new Seattle startup that is pushing the envelope with immersive games. Leaftail Labs recently reeled in $1.25 million from… Read More

Making a lot of money won’t make you more happy, secure, and centered — according to this VC

by Taylor Soper on October 11, 2018October 11, 2018 at 8:30 amComment

It’s not all about the money. That’s what John Connors wishes he would have known before starting his career, one that took him from the Montana ranches to the Microsoft… Read More

Startup advice: 6 mistakes that entrepreneurs should avoid making before their investor pitch

by Taylor Soper on October 10, 2018October 11, 2018 at 10:47 am1 Comment

An investor meeting can sometimes make or break a young startup. That’s why entrepreneurs should do everything they can to prepare for those valuable moments and avoid making crucial mistakes… Read More

The top pitches from Amazon’s Alexa Accelerator as startups push boundaries of voice tech

by Taylor Soper on October 10, 2018October 12, 2018 at 10:30 am1 Comment

“Alexa, please ask the audience to take their seats.” Between bad Alexa jokes and innovative ideas pitched on stage, the rapid growth of voice-enabled technologies and companies was on full… Read More

Former aQuantive executive teams up with military publisher to launch OurMilitary.com

by Clare McGrane on October 10, 2018October 10, 2018 at 1:41 pmComment

The U.S. is home to more than 20 million veterans and active service members, a community with a unique need for information and media related to their work. A new… Read More

Moz takes aim at ‘golden age of search’ with acquisition of STAT Search Analytics

by Taylor Soper on October 10, 2018October 10, 2018 at 9:09 am 2 Comments

Moz is making its largest acquisition to date as the Seattle search engine optimization company aims to tackle what CEO Sarah Bird calls the “golden age of search.” Moz today… Read More

Here are the top 10 highest-valued startups in the Seattle area

by Taylor Soper on October 9, 2018October 10, 2018 at 10:43 amComment

Seattle-area companies continued raising cash at a record clip during the third quarter, raking in $855 million across 88 deals, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. Total venture capital… Read More

See ya, seed? Decline in seed-stage startup funding deals may impact venture ecosystem

by Taylor Soper on October 9, 2018October 9, 2018 at 9:29 amComment

A record amount of investment dollars are going to U.S. startups. But that doesn’t necessarily mean good news for founders trying to raise seed-stage capital. VC-backed companies in the U.S.… Read More

‘Cash bubble’: VC investments in U.S. startups on pace for new record, fueled by mega-rounds

by Taylor Soper on October 8, 2018October 8, 2018 at 1:24 pmComment

Venture capitalists continue investing heavily in U.S. startups at levels not seen since the dot-com era. A new quarterly report from Crunchbase shows total dollars invested reaching $32 billion in Q3.… Read More

Novo Nordisk teaming up with startups for diabetes challenge, aiming to create new digital health tools

by Clare McGrane on October 8, 2018October 8, 2018 at 11:45 am1 Comment

More than 100 million people in the U.S. have diabetes or pre-diabetes, making the disease one of the most common — and costly — health problems in the country. Danish multi-national… Read More

Video

Ex-Bungie engineers aim to steal your heart through a sword-wielding VR mouse called Quill

by Lisa Stiffler on October 5, 2018October 6, 2018 at 10:37 amComment

More than a week after my almost-10-year-old daughter met Quill, she’s still talking about her. They spent only about an hour together, but she misses the tiny, sword-wielding mouse that… Read More

Travel apartments startup Stay Alfred raises $47M to fuel nationwide expansion

by Taylor Soper on October 5, 2018October 9, 2018 at 10:38 am 3 Comments

Stay Alfred, a Spokane, Wash. startup that rents out downtown apartments and turns them into short-term rentals, has raised $47 million to fuel expansion across the U.S. Nine Four Ventures led… Read More

Pebblebee’s Finder tracking device now selling at Costco, putting little startup on path for big growth

by Kurt Schlosser on October 5, 2018October 5, 2018 at 11:03 am1 Comment

Costco shoppers can find a wide array of items in one of the big-box retailer’s more than 500 U.S. locations. Now they can find Finder, too, the tracking device created… Read More

Secretive startup Receptor Life Sciences raises $7.5M for therapies based on ‘plant extracts’

by Clare McGrane on October 4, 2018October 4, 2018 at 3:28 pmComment

Secretive biotechnology company Receptor Life Sciences has raised a funding round totaling just over $7.5 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A representative of the Seattle-area… Read More

HaptX debuts new version of high-tech haptic virtual reality gloves at GeekWire Summit

by Taylor Soper on October 3, 2018October 3, 2018 at 9:16 amComment

The baby deer hooves prance on my palm. The raindrops tap my skin in staccato. The spider legs graze, freakishly, across my fingers. I’m in virtual reality, but with an… Read More

Recommendations startup Likewise emerges from Bill Gates’ private office, letting friends track and share their favorite things

by Nat Levy & Todd Bishop on October 3, 2018October 3, 2018 at 10:31 am 2 Comments

A new startup cooked up by one of Bill Gates’ top executives, hatched in his office and funded by the Microsoft co-founder himself, is coming out of hiding today after… Read More

Microsoft invests in $21M round for wireless over-the-ear headphones startup Human

by Taylor Soper on October 2, 2018October 2, 2018 at 9:18 pm1 Comment

Microsoft is investing in the future of headphones. Seattle startup Human today revealed the investors in its new $21 million Series B round. GeekWire first reported about the investment on… Read More

Video

Elevator Pitch finalists take stage at GeekWire Summit and a champion rises to the top

by Kurt Schlosser on October 2, 2018October 2, 2018 at 5:45 pmComment

It was only a few steps up onto the stage at the GeekWire Summit, but Seattle-area entrepreneurs still reached great heights on Tuesday — just like they did during this… Read More

Shelf Engine raises $4.3M to help grocers battling Amazon save money on food orders

by Nat Levy on October 2, 2018October 2, 2018 at 1:45 pmComment

Shelf Engine has made some major changes since it was founded about two years ago. The Seattle startup began by providing technology to grocery stores to create more accurate orders… Read More

Meet Karat: This startup has quietly conducted 20K technical interviews for MuleSoft, Intuit, Pinterest

by Taylor Soper on October 1, 2018October 4, 2018 at 3:07 pmComment

Before Mo Bhende and Jeff Spector decided to go all-in on a startup idea, they took a little trip around America. It was a six-month market research project of sorts,… Read More

Mobile car repair service Wrench raises $12M to expand nationally, launch corporate benefit program

by Taylor Soper on October 1, 2018October 1, 2018 at 10:15 amComment

Wrench is putting its foot on the pedal as the mobile car repair marketplace continues to expand across the U.S. The Seattle startup today announced a $12 million Series B… Read More

Video

Binge-watch our Elevator Pitch video series before this week’s GeekWire Summit showdown

by Taylor Soper on September 30, 2018October 1, 2018 at 2:29 pmComment

It’s not easy to pitch a game-changing startup idea in less than 50 seconds, no less doing it in an elevator rising fast to the top of an iconic Seattle… Read More

Wireless headphone startup Human raises $21.2M, product still in development 4 years after launch

by Taylor Soper on September 28, 2018September 28, 2018 at 5:25 pm1 Comment

Human’s product is still under wraps, nearly four years after the company launched. But investors continue to bet big on the Seattle startup. A new SEC filing posted Friday reveals… Read More

Static Object tracks the progress of programmers by focusing on the 5% of code that’s meaningful

by Lisa Stiffler on September 28, 2018September 27, 2018 at 1:59 pmComment

Entrepreneur Bill Harding launched Static Object to build a product that he personally needed: a more effective way of tracking his programmers’ progress without relying on standup meetings or interrupting… Read More

Inside the inaugural Female Founders Alliance accelerator: Eight startups, one hope for the future

by Taylor Soper on September 28, 2018September 28, 2018 at 10:37 am 2 Comments

Female Founders Alliance started as an online community for women CEOs and startup leaders just 18 months ago. But it has turned into something much more, and that evolution was on… Read More

Video

GeekWire Elevator Pitch Ep. 9: AI startups make case for final spot in entrepreneurial competition

by John Cook on September 27, 2018October 1, 2018 at 4:38 pmComment

OK, startup fans. It’s time for the final episode of GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch, the fun startup competition where entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts in the 48 seconds it takes to… Read More

WTIA names 24 early-stage Seattle startups as part of inaugural founder cohort program

by Taylor Soper on September 27, 2018October 4, 2018 at 7:27 am1 Comment

They are building businesses in blockchain, AI, augmented reality, sports, real estate, education, and even laser insect monitoring. But now they all have one thing in common: the inaugural startups… Read More

AbCellera raises $10M for machine-learning fueled antibody discovery platform

by Clare McGrane on September 27, 2018September 27, 2018 at 12:41 pmComment

AbCellera, a biotech startup based in Vancouver, B.C., announced Thursday that it has raised a $10 million series A round to expand its antibody therapy discovery program. AbCellera co-founder Véronique Lecault told… Read More

Sentinel Healthcare launches platform to fill gaps between IoT devices and doctors offices

by Clare McGrane on September 27, 2018October 5, 2018 at 7:49 am1 Comment

Dr. Nirav Shah is a stroke specialist by training. He’s spent years studying the cardiovascular system, but increasingly, his patients have another insight into their cardiovascular health: data collected from… Read More

Video

TLDR: Microsoft & Green Bay Packers win fight over domain name

by Starla Sampaco on September 26, 2018September 26, 2018 at 4:41 pmComment

Today’s featured stories Green Bay Packers and Microsoft win domain name fight after family sought cash, tickets and tablets Amazon sues over malicious ads, alleging a ‘sophisticated and widespread’ scheme… Read More

Startups

HBO vets raise cash from top VCs for immersive augmented reality startup Leaftail Labs

Making a lot of money won’t make you more happy, secure, and centered — according to this VC

Startup advice: 6 mistakes that entrepreneurs should avoid making before their investor pitch

The top pitches from Amazon’s Alexa Accelerator as startups push boundaries of voice tech

Former aQuantive executive teams up with military publisher to launch OurMilitary.com

Moz takes aim at ‘golden age of search’ with acquisition of STAT Search Analytics

Here are the top 10 highest-valued startups in the Seattle area

See ya, seed? Decline in seed-stage startup funding deals may impact venture ecosystem

‘Cash bubble’: VC investments in U.S. startups on pace for new record, fueled by mega-rounds

Novo Nordisk teaming up with startups for diabetes challenge, aiming to create new digital health tools

Ex-Bungie engineers aim to steal your heart through a sword-wielding VR mouse called Quill

Travel apartments startup Stay Alfred raises $47M to fuel nationwide expansion

Pebblebee’s Finder tracking device now selling at Costco, putting little startup on path for big growth

Secretive startup Receptor Life Sciences raises $7.5M for therapies based on ‘plant extracts’

HaptX debuts new version of high-tech haptic virtual reality gloves at GeekWire Summit

Recommendations startup Likewise emerges from Bill Gates’ private office, letting friends track and share their favorite things

Microsoft invests in $21M round for wireless over-the-ear headphones startup Human

Elevator Pitch finalists take stage at GeekWire Summit and a champion rises to the top

Shelf Engine raises $4.3M to help grocers battling Amazon save money on food orders

Meet Karat: This startup has quietly conducted 20K technical interviews for MuleSoft, Intuit, Pinterest

Mobile car repair service Wrench raises $12M to expand nationally, launch corporate benefit program

Binge-watch our Elevator Pitch video series before this week’s GeekWire Summit showdown

Wireless headphone startup Human raises $21.2M, product still in development 4 years after launch

Static Object tracks the progress of programmers by focusing on the 5% of code that’s meaningful

Inside the inaugural Female Founders Alliance accelerator: Eight startups, one hope for the future

GeekWire Elevator Pitch Ep. 9: AI startups make case for final spot in entrepreneurial competition

WTIA names 24 early-stage Seattle startups as part of inaugural founder cohort program

AbCellera raises $10M for machine-learning fueled antibody discovery platform

Sentinel Healthcare launches platform to fill gaps between IoT devices and doctors offices

TLDR: Microsoft & Green Bay Packers win fight over domain name

Facebook Community Boost Seattle

HIMSS WA Fall Conference – “Transforming the Experience for the Provider, Payer and Patient through Technology”

Beyond Ethereum: Demystifying DApps and mass adoption of blockchain