Startup radar: Seattle founders tackle big problems, from childcare to cybersecurity
From top left, clockwise: Aira Security CEO Mohan Kumar; Concier AI CEO Sunny Pei; Rosie CEO Mitra Raman; Stronghold CEO Pete Schwab; and Empathium CEO Andrea Goubeaux.
Our latest startup radar spotlight features a fascinating mix of first-time and repeat founders building off their experience at companies such as Amazon and Box as they pursue ideas in childcare, video metadata, social work, cybersecurity, and local business support.
We're pleased to welcome Jenn Wrenn Henry, managing partner at Seattle-based startup investing group VentureUs, who joined us for this startup radar to give her quick 'VC View' insights for each early stage company.
Read on to learn more about the companies. Check out past startup radar spotlights here and email me at taylor@geekwire.com to flag other companies and startup news.
Aira Security
Founded: 2024
The business: Aira analyzes AI agent behavior in real-time, flags risky actions, and applies custom security policies without slowing down performance. The idea is to prevent AI tools from making decisions without proper security in place. Aira joined the Nvidia Inception Program earlier this year.
Leadership: CEO Mohan Kumar has more than a decade of security engineering experience from roles at Box, Bell, CN, Morgan Stanley, and other companies. Co-founder Naveen Mahavishnu is a generative AI security engineer at Amazon Web Services and also worked at Box.
VC View from Jenn Wrenn Henry: 'An AI-native security startup like Aira Security is exactly what the sector needs: disruption — or for incumbents, an opportunity to acquire fresh capability. Founders Mohan and Naveen bring deep expertise in this fast-evolving landscape, and could be well-timed for success.'
Concier AI
Founded: 2024
The business: AI-powered virtual assistant designed for local service businesses like nightclubs, beauty spas, dental clinics, and event venues. The idea is to replace traditional contact forms and manual responses with a conversational interface powered by AI. Early customers are seeing an increase in lead conversions and reduction in response times.
Leadership: CEO Sunny Pei is a former product leader at Microsoft and T-Mobile, where she oversaw groups working on Microsoft Teams and customer support programs. Co-founder Yupeng Xie worked in senior engineering roles at Airbnb and Amazon.
VC View: 'SMBs are primed to invest in AI that saves time and money — if you can get it in front of them. Concier.ai's product-market fit seems strong, but the real question is whether founders can architect a go-to-market engine that unlocks SMB scale profitably.'
Empathium
Founded: 2025
The business: Software platform to help social workers with academic and professional training. Empathium combines theory and practice with AI-powered simulation. The company is initially targeting social work students and university programs. It recently won a pitch competition at the AI House.
Leadership: Founder and CEO Andrea Goubeaux was a project manager at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs focused on managing electronic health record implementation. She also co-founded a trauma-informed birth support program and was a field education program director at Wright State University.
VC View: 'Simulations will continue to grow as a powerful training tool in a variety of fields/roles, and I imagine social workers have one of the most diverse and consequential interactions to prepare for. When built by a domain insider with empathy and clarity of purpose, early adoption could be strong. But to reach venture scale, a broader platform or multi-sector expansion path will be key.'
Rosie
Founded: 2025
The business: Marketplace that connects caregivers and families using a personal concierge approach. Aiming to solve the nanny search problem for parents — making it easier and more affordable. The company just opened its beta to families in the Seattle area.
Leadership: CEO Mitra Raman was an engineering leader at Ro, Glossier, and Pave. She previously co-founded an Indian food delivery company. Co-founder Karthika Shankar has spent more than 12 years at Amazon in various recruiting roles.
VC View: 'There's a clear consumer pain point in the Care.com experience — families are overwhelmed, and caregivers underserved. A disruptor has a path in if it can deliver trust, simplicity, and human-centered design. But this is a category where brand matters as much as tech.'
Stronghold
Founded: 2023
The business: Helps media companies automatically sort through video archives and enable new content monetization strategies, with a boost from AI. Stronghold is working with Dr. Phil's streaming network Merit Street Media. The company has a broader vision to disrupt the TV video metadata market.
Leadership: CEO Pete Schwab was a founding member of the Fire TV team at Amazon and led business development for Fire and Alexa-related products. He co-founded Seattle startup Metastories, which was acquired by Brightcove in 2006. Co-founder Joe Schwab — Pete Schwab's son — was a semiconductor metrology technician at Applied Materials before joining Stronghold as CTO.
VC View: 'There's no shortage of startups applying AI to video, but Stronghold is targeting a customer base with both deep pockets and clear ROI potential. By focusing on monetizing existing media assets, they've positioned themselves where the value proposition is not just compelling — it's measurable.'
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