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Geek Wire
19 hours ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
Seattle doesn't have many unicorns. Does it matter?
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . From left: Moderator Joaquin Gallardo, Flying Fish's Geoff Harris, Tola Capital's Sophia Lu, Amazon's Phoebe Wang, and Madrona's Tim Porter. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) It's hard to find Seattle-area startups represented on CB Insights' list of unicorn companies. In fact, out of more than 1,200 startups on the list (as of January 2025), there are fewer than 20 active companies from the Seattle region that reached a $1 billion valuation in recent years. That's about 1.5% of all global unicorns. San Francisco has nearly 200. New York has 125. Beijing has 62. Seattle is in the same league as places like Chicago, Boston, and Austin. But for a region with nearly a quarter of the nation's AI engineers and a super dense tech talent pool — the lack of unicorns wandering around the Pacific Northwest presents a bit of a paradox. Or maybe it's just not that important of a metric. 'I think unicorns are a really bad measure of things,' Tim Porter, a longtime managing director at Seattle's Madrona Venture Group, said at a Technology Alliance event in Redmond on Tuesday. Porter's point: while it would be great if Seattle had more unicorns, it doesn't tell the whole story — especially for this moment. He said Seattle is in the 'top two places in the world' to build an AI startup. 'It's a great place to build a business,' he said. Seattle has plenty of fast-growing startups. Truveta and Statsig have emerged in 2025 as unicorns. The region has produced some sizable acquisitions and a handful of public offerings in recent years. It also has the ingredients for billion-dollar value startup creation. There are homegrown cloud computing giants (Microsoft and Amazon), premier research institutions (Ai2, University of Washington), and more than 100 Silicon Valley engineering centers (Meta, Apple, Google, Salesforce, OpenAI, Anthropic). But why aren't more unicorns sprouting out of Seattle? Some believe Seattle founders should swing bigger — go for massive, disruptive growth rather than just steady, linear growth. 'Seattle has a history of building companies a little bit more pragmatically,' Porter said. Maybe the city needs more on-ramps to help longtime corporate tech workers make the leap to startup land or welcome transplant entrepreneurs who are looking for community. Foundations and AI House are two new groups aiming to do that. Even just three years ago, founders in Seattle wouldn't know where to find investors or connect with other company builders, said Sophia Lu, an investor with Seattle-based Tola Capital. 'That's definitely changing now,' Lu said. It may just be a 'matter of time,' as Geoff Harris, managing partner at Seattle VC firm Flying Fish, said at the Tech Alliance event. 'For what we do, this is an absolutely amazing place to do that work,' Harris said. Here are the companies included on the CB Insights unicorn list that are currently active and based in the Seattle area, along with the year they were added. (Caveat: some companies may no longer be valued above $1 billion due to down rounds, business slowdowns, etc.) Tanium , cybersecurity (2015) , cybersecurity (2015) Outreach , sales software (2019) , sales software (2019) Icertis , contract management (2019) , contract management (2019) Qumulo , data management (2020) , data management (2020) Zenoti , salon software (2020) , salon software (2020) Amperity , customer data (2021) , customer data (2021) Helion , fusion energy (2021) , fusion energy (2021) Highspot , sales enablement (2021) , sales enablement (2021) Karat , technical interviews (2021) , technical interviews (2021) Place , real estate (2021) , real estate (2021) Rad Power Bikes , e-bikes (2021) , e-bikes (2021) Rec Room , gaming (2021) , gaming (2021) Flexe , warehouse logistics (2022) , warehouse logistics (2022) Temporal , developer tools (2022) , developer tools (2022) SeekOut , recruiting software (2022) , recruiting software (2022) Chainguard , cybersecurity (2024) , cybersecurity (2024) Statsig , developer tools (2025) , developer tools (2025) Truveta, healthcare (2025) Data from PitchBook also shows additional unicorns in the region: EigenLayer , blockchain infrastructure , blockchain infrastructure Group14 Technologies , next-generation batteries , next-generation batteries iSpot , advertising tech , advertising tech Veeam Software , data protection , data protection Zap Energy, fusion energy Related:
Geek Wire
3 days ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
The smart way to text via satellite with your smartphone: It's not exactly rocket science
GeekWire's Alan Boyle points his iPhone skyward to seek a satellite connection in an Oregon cafe. (Photo Courtesy of Alissa Farley) NEHALEM, Ore. — When I bought myself a phone that was built for satellite texting, nearly three years ago, I never thought my first opportunity to make a space-based connection would come in a cozy Oregon cafe. But there I was, standing up and pointing my iPhone toward the sky to find a signal while the rest of my family was eating brunch. It was my first lesson in the nuts and bolts of direct-to-cell satellite phone service — the sort of lesson that some smartphone users might be learning under more dire circumstances. One of the big selling points for the iPhone 14 that I bought in 2022 was that you could send emergency SOS messages via the Globalstar satellite network if you ran into trouble in a cellular dead zone. GeekWire co-founder John Cook learned his lesson about the emergency alert system when he inadvertently triggered 'the worst butt-dial' of his life during a hike through Dinosaur National Monument in 2023. Since then, telecom network operators have worked to widen subscribers' access to satellite texting, in recognition of the fact that you don't need to have an emergency to appreciate being able to communicate from a dead zone. 'Millions and millions of people every single year find themselves in these situations where there is no cell service, and we've become so reliant on these devices — they're our connection to the world — that it's increasingly becoming challenging for people to find themselves in situations where it doesn't work,' Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy and products at T-Mobile, told me. 'That's really what inspired us, because we've always felt like our mission is to keep people connected.' To address that coverage gap, Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile struck up a partnership with SpaceX in 2022 to make satellite texting available through SpaceX's Starlink network. That satellite option has been available on a beta-test basis for the past few months, setting the stage for an official rollout next month. Eventually, subscribers will be able to share photos, use data and make voice calls. Other major telecom providers are rolling out their own systems for direct-to-cell satellite services. Because I'm an iPhone user with a T-Mobile plan, I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of other companies' offerings. Instead, I'd refer you to what Verizon and AT&T have to say about their plans on their websites. And then there's Apple's built-in satellite offering, which popped up in that Oregon cafe. My sister and her daughter were visiting the Oregon coast, so my wife and I met up with them and were taking in the sights, texting photos to each other as we went. When I checked my phone in the Nehalem cafe, it turned out that we were seated in a corner that was just beyond the reach of any cell network. At last I had a chance to try out texting by satellite! Pointers for satellite texting Sure enough, a pop-up on the phone pointed me to a satellite setting I had never noticed before. The setting brought up a rendering of Earth's globe with a satellite hovering off to the left — and I was directed to point my phone toward the satellite. I held my phone high and pivoted to the left to send a text to my sister, not caring that the surrounding diners must have thought I was a classic tech jerk. I may have even tapped out the text while the phone was above my head. It took a minute, but my sister got the text. I felt a little bit like Samuel Morse telegraphing 'What Hath God Wrought?' Then my sister used the satellite connection to send a text back at me. That baffled me at first: I thought we were using T-Mobile's service, but she was a Verizon subscriber. Eventually, we figured out that we were both using Apple's point-and-text satellite connection rather than T-Mobile's Starlink connection. Once we finished our brunch and left our table, the standard cellular connections kicked back in. But I resolved to figure out why I didn't get connected to T-Mobile's Starlink service. The satellite connection settings on an iPhone direct you to point your phone at a satellite if you're using Apple's system (left). When you're connected, you have several choices for communicating (center). Note the satellite logo at upper right, which tells you you're connecting via Apple and Globalstar's network. The iPhone displays a similar screen when you're connecting through T-Mobile and Starlink (right), with a 'SAT' label shown at the upper right corner. (Click on the image for a bigger version.) Several days later, I asked T-Mobile's Katz about the mystery. 'Apple does have their network on certain devices, which, in my opinion, was great in a world where there were no other options,' he told me. 'The way this is set up on iPhones, directly in the OS itself, is that the device will try to connect to the T-Mobile satellite network first, before it tries to connect to any other satellite network.' So why didn't T-Mobile and Starlink take over in Oregon? 'You were inside?' Katz said. 'OK, so satellite [technology] is a line-of-sight technology. You need a clear sky to get to it. … My guess is, because you didn't have line-of-sight, our system didn't see you. With Apple's UI [user interface], if there's no signal whatsoever, it starts giving you prompts for the satellite even if they don't detect a satellite signal.' When I followed the prompts and raised my phone toward the cafe's translucent ceiling panels, Apple's interface went ahead and hooked me up with the Globalstar network rather than the Starlink network. (I probably didn't need to hold the phone above my head, but who knows?) In search of dead zones That little corner of an Oregon cafe probably rates among the world's smallest and most manageable cellular dead zones. But there are wider swaths of territory where getting connected is more of a challenge. T-Mobile says more than 500,000 square miles of the U.S. are unreachable by terrestrial cell towers. All that acreage includes wilderness areas and remote stretches of highway where you'd want to make sure you can let folks know if you're in trouble. To put my satellite texting skills to a more rigorous test, I went in search of such cellular dead zones — and found out that finding them can be harder than you think. After studying T-Mobile's coverage map, I decided to head for a stretch of road near Carnation, about 30 miles east of Seattle, and try my luck. The bars on my phone dwindled as I drove along the Tolt River and into the woods. Soon I had no bars, and I was in the dead zone. It took a minute or so for my phone to seek out a connection. Depending on how and when I activated the satellite settings, I could choose between Apple's point-and-text connection and T-Mobile's automatic Starlink hookup. On the fringe of the dead zone, the satellite connection and the standard 5G/LTE connection ping-ponged back and forth unpredictably. I tried texting my wife with one system, then the other. We found out that you shouldn't expect to use satellite texting for a real-time conversation, since message receipt can be delayed by up to a few minutes. For example, my wife received the numbered text messages that I sent in a 4-8-10-9-11 order. The images we sent couldn't be delivered until I drove out of the dead zone. And some of the texts I sent over a just-barely-there standard cellular connection weren't delivered at all. The 'SAT' label on an in-vehicle navigation screen indicates that T-Mobile's satellite connection is active in a cellular dead zone. Driving directions currently can't be updated over the satellite connection, however. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) Texting via satellite isn't the same as connecting over a 5G connection, but after the experiment, I felt more confident that I could get in touch with the folks back home if I needed to check in from a mountain trail, or if I was stuck with a flat tire on a mountain road in a dead zone. (That actually happened a few years ago — fortunately, a kindhearted driver stopped by and helped me change the tire.) Katz pointed out that satellite connections aren't just for sending messages. He said T-Mobile's beta test suggests that such connections will be used more commonly for receiving messages. 'We've had millions and millions of text messages sent during the beta,' he said. 'We see 10 times more messages received than sent. … If you're not automatically connected, you're missing communication. And so for us, we think that's not just a big differentiator, it's one of the most important differentiators, because people don't want to have to do a lot of work to connect to their communication network. They want it to just work.' What happens when the beta test ends and regular service begins in July? Some of T-Mobile's subscription plans will include satellite service as part of the package, while subscribers to other plans may have to pay $10 a month. T-Mobile will also offer satellite service for the same price to folks who subscribe to other networks, including Verizon and AT&T customers. Apple says its satellite messaging is free for two years after activation for the iPhone 14 and newer models. That no-charge period was extended for phones like mine. It's not yet clear what Apple's pricing model will be once the free period expires. Is satellite connectivity worth paying extra for? I suppose it depends on the alternatives. During my experiment, I met up with Bill Rush, whose house sits in the dead zone near Carnation. Rush told me that he uses his home's Wi-Fi connection for his communication needs, including messaging. 'We have to reboot everything every once in a while,' he said. I explained that he could probably also use a satellite connection to stay in touch, and I wondered out loud whether that'd be of interest to him. 'Probably not,' he replied. Satellite connectivity is an option for recently released iPhone models (iPhone 13 and up for T-Mobile, iPhone 14 and up for Apple), and for recently released Android phones from Google, Samsung and Motorola. Apple makes a Satellite Connection Demo available for iPhone users who aren't in a dead zone; follow the instructions on Apple's website to try it out. For the definitive word on using satellite services with your mobile device, check out these resources:
Geek Wire
25-05-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 18, 2025
Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 18, 2025. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on GeekWire 'We better wake up': Microsoft's Brad Smith sounds alarm as state enacts controversial tax plan Microsoft President Brad Smith issued a stark warning about Washington state's economic future, saying the tech industry that fuels its growth is being taken for granted — and urging lawmakers to focus as much on supporting the sector as they do on pulling revenue from it. … Read More
Geek Wire
20-05-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
Seattle startup Trellis Health launches to help women navigate pregnancy and postpartum care
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . (Trellis Health Image) Trellis Health released its iOS app on Tuesday as the Seattle-based health tech startup aims to use AI and personalized data to improve healthcare for women. Founded in 2022, Trellis' software provides recommendations, insights, and tracking based on personal medical records and guidance from doctors and maternity specialists. It is focusing on pregnancy and postpartum care. Trellis CEO and co-founder Estelle Giraud is a scientist and a former senior manager at biotech giant Illumina. She co-founded Trellis with Ryan Nabat, a former engineer at BlueOwl, Spect, and Virta Health. The company is aiming to address what it describes as 'glaring gaps in women's health' and replace late-night Google searches. 'We're building the foundation for generational, proactive consumer health with a private and secure digital health platform that uses AI to translate years of your health context into actionable, intelligent insights paired with innovative care solutions,' Giraud said in a statement last month. The company does not take insurance and charges an annual subscription fee of $96. It is partnering with Milkwise to provide digital lactation consulting, and Mavida for mental health support. Trellis was recently featured in GeekWire's startup radar series and announced a $1.8 million seed round last month. It participated in the Techstars Seattle accelerator in 2023. Investors include Palette Ventures, NEXTBLUE, Suncoast Ventures, Sundial Foundation, and Swizzle Ventures, which has Seattle-area roots. Earlier this month the company added six medical professionals to an advisory board.
Geek Wire
20-05-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
Alation acquires Numbers Station, an AI data analysis startup backed by Madrona
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . Numbers Station co-founder Chris Aberger. (LinkedIn Photo) Silicon Valley data intelligence company Alation announced the acquisition of Numbers Station, an 18-person startup with roots in Seattle that helps customers use natural language to automate data analysis. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2021, Numbers Station came out of research at Stanford University on applying AI to data problems. Two years later, the company raised $17.5 million in a Series A round led by Seattle venture firm Madrona. Other backers include Norwest Venture Partners; Factory; former Tableau CEO Mark Nelson; Cloudera co-founder Jeff Hammerbacher; and Intel CEO Lip Bu Tan. 'By joining forces with Alation, we're pairing our AI-native foundation with the most trusted enterprise data intelligence platform,' Chris Aberger, co-founder and CEO of Numbers Station, said in a statement. 'This unlocks a future where agents don't just find data — they do more with it.' Numbers Station has 10 customers. Its product will be integrated into the Alation platform. Alation launched in 2012 and was valued at $1.7 billion in 2022 after raising $123 million in a Series E round. The company helps more than 600 enterprise customers with data organization and governance. It recently launched new 'agentic' tools to help companies build AI agents with their data. Aberger and a small group of employees are based in the Seattle region, working out of the Create33 space in a floor below Madrona's headquarters in downtown Seattle. Aberger co-founded the company with Ines Chami, Sen Wu, and Chris Ré.
