Melissa Binde. (OfferUp Photo) — Mobile marketplace OfferUp hired former Splunk VP of Engineering Melissa Binde as its new CTO. Binde previously held senior engineering roles at Google, Nordstrom and Persistent Systems. She was also a software developer at Amazon soon after it went public. She oversaw Splunk’s cloud engineering business while CTO at the … Read more
Daryl Hok, CEO of Seashell. (Seashell Photo) The news: Seashell, a new Seattle fintech startup that says it can offer up to 10% interest to users, raised a $6 million seed round co-led by top Silicon Valley firms Khosla Ventures and Kindred Ventures. Other backers include Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban; Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad … Read more
Highspot HQ in Seattle, Wash. (Highspot Photo) The news: Highspot raised another big round, this time reeling in $248 million as part of a Series F round. It is now valued at $3.5 billion, which is up 4X over the past two years. The Seattle startup raised a $200 million round less than a year … Read more
SeekOut employees. (SeekOut Photo) The news: Seattle-area startup SeekOut just landed an additional $115 million to propel its valuation past $1 billion, earning it the coveted unicorn label. The tech: SeekOut’s software is used by more than 1,000 companies such as UiPath and Experian to help with recruiting. It pulls data on more than 700 … Read more
ShareGrid co-founders Arash Shiva (left) and Marius Ciocirlan. (ShareGrid Photo) New York-based Backstage has acquired ShareGrid, a Seattle startup that runs a marketplace for film and photo equipment rentals. The deal will boost Backstage’s freelancer marketplace and application suite for creators. Founded in 2015 by Marius Ciocirlan and Arash Shiva, ShareGrid has more than 150,000 … Read more
(Doorstead Image) Doorstead, a San Francisco-based real estate property management startup founded by former Uber employees, is starting to expand nationally and just launched in the Seattle region. Doorstead helps small real estate investors who own single-family units and need help renting out their space. Founded in 2019, the company raised $12.5 million last year … Read more
The CODA Farm Technologies’ founding team, pictured at Wallace Farms, from left to right: Connor Wallace, chief technology officer; Gabe Martin, lead hardware engineer; David Wallace, CEO; and Daniel Oschrin, lead software developer. (CODA Farm Technologies Photo) New funding: CODA Farm Technologies, an internet of things (IoT) agriculture startup with literal roots in Western Washington’s … Read more
Thingy AQ provides information to first responders in wildfires. (Thingy Photo via Amazon) Scott Waller is a former Cisco and Microsoft systems engineer and network architect who was inspired by his experience as a volunteer firefighter and avalanche instructor to launch an Internet of Things startup. Thingy LLC, based in Bellevue, Wash., develops and integrates … Read more
Portland, Ore.-based startup AskNicely raised $32 million in a Series B round led by Kansas City, Mo.-based Five Elms Capital. The company helps customers such as First Commonwealth, DebitSuccess, and others measure customer feedback and help frontline employees improve. Founded in 2015, the startup relocated its headquarters from New Zealand to Portland in 2019.
Ciara speaks at the 2021 Mekhato Summit in Seattle. (Mekhato Photo / Kevin Lisota) The news: The House of LR&C, a Seattle-based fashion house co-founded by music superstar Ciara and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, plans to raise up to $50 million this year as part of a Series A investment round. Axios first reported … Read more