Sage Khanuja, left, and Nikolas Ioannou, the founders of Seattle-based Spira. (Spira Photo) The news: Seattle entrepreneurs Sage Khanuja, 17, and Nikolas Ioannou, 18, have sold their telemedicine startup Spira to Galileo, a New York-based healthcare company. “To be honest, I didn’t really think much or ask about their age,” Galileo CEO Tom Lee said of the teens. … Read more
Seattle mobile remittance startup Remitly landed an undisclosed equity investment from Visa. The companies previously partnered in 2019 and have extended that partnership; Visa cited the deal in its earnings call last month. The investment comes as Remitly is reportedly preparing to go public. Total funding to date in the 10-year-old company, prior to the … Read more
New funding: Seattle real estate startup Plunk has closed a $6.5 million seed round led by Unlock Ventures. The tech: Plunk helps homeowners play “what if” scenarios to figure out what might drive the value of their home up or down. The app uses image processing, AI, and machine learning to assess the condition of a … Read more
BluePallet CEO Scott Barrows. (BluePallet Photo) New funding: BluePallet, a startup with roots in Seattle, has emerged from stealth mode with $4 million in new funding. The company operates a marketplace for the chemical industry. Founded last year, BluePallet aims to change the way chemical producers, distributors, and end users connect with each other. Companies use … Read more
(Remitly Photo) The news: Seattle startup Remitly has hired investment banks to prepare for an initial public offering, according to Reuters. The IPO would value Remitly at around $5 billion, Reuters reported — a sizable spike from its last valuation of $1.5 billion in July. Remitly declined to comment when contacted by Mekhato. Remitly background: Founded … Read more
The Mekhato Awards are fast approaching on May 20, but the spirit of our annual startup and technology celebration extends beyond a single ceremony. It is a true community effort. This year, Mekhato received nearly 200 community nominations and looked at each category anew through the lens of an ongoing pandemic. The nomination, selection and … Read more
Auth0 co-founders Matias Woloski (left) and Eugenio Pace. (Auth0 Photo) Okta’s giant $6.5 billion acquisition of Seattle-area startup Auth0 officially closed on Monday. But for Eugenio Pace, the major milestone is just another marker — albeit a lucrative one — in the Auth0 journey. “The word ‘exit’ is often used when somebody sells a company,” … Read more
Jesse Salk, CEO and co-founder of TwinStrand Biosciences. (TwinStrand Photo) New funding: Gene-sequencing startup TwinStrand Biosciences raised $50 million in a Series B round led by Section 32, a California-based fund focused on biotech, technology, healthcare and life sciences. Total venture capital funding is now north of $70 million for the 6-year-old company. Double strands … Read more
Seattle-based Modica builds interconnected systems for micromanufacturing and houses it all in shipping containers. (Modica Image) Watching stacks of shipping containers come and go from Seattle’s waterfront, you might wonder what’s in them, where they came from and where they’re headed. One Seattle startup isn’t filling the brightly colored boxes with merchandise and is instead … Read more
Seattle startup Headset, which provides a business intelligence platform for the legal cannabis industry, announced $1.8 million in new funding. Headset will use the funds to expand into recently legalized markets. In the U.S., 16 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana for adults over age 21 and 36 states have legalized medical marijuana. … Read more