Articles by Taylor Soper

Taylor Soper is GeekWire's editor, responsible for coordinating the newsroom, planning coverage, and editing stories. A native of Portland, Ore., and graduate of the University of Washington, he was previously a GeekWire staff reporter, covering beats including startups and sports technology.

Startup sold to big tech giant

End of an era: Microsoft to shut down Skype, shifting users to Teams, 14 years after $8.5B deal
Amazon commits $100M to Bellevue to ‘accelerate’ production of affordable housing
GeekWire 200 CEO survey: Tech startup leaders on the economy, RTO, AI, and key priorities for 2025

Latest from Taylor Soper

This is a headline for a YouTube embed story for a test on GeekWire’s site

here’s a story with youtube embedded watch it below here, below and here’s an image jusifitied right right side over… Read More

Startup sold to big tech giant

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Quantum physics and outer space may seem as different as two tech frontiers can be, but the challenges facing Pacific Northwest ventures aiming to make their fortune on those frontiers are surprisingly similar. Read More

Tech investors on why AI makes this a great moment for startups — with one caveat

There’s no better time to build a startup — but be ready for some fierce competition. That was one takeaway… Read More

End of an era: Microsoft to shut down Skype, shifting users to Teams, 14 years after $8.5B deal

Before Zoom, before FaceTime, and before video-calling became a default feature of today’s messaging apps — there was Skype. Microsoft paid… Read More

Amazon commits $100M to Bellevue to ‘accelerate’ production of affordable housing

Amazon announced that it is giving $100 million to support affordable housing efforts in Bellevue, Wash. The contribution is part… Read More

Automating ‘science of war’: Exia Labs raises $2.5M to build AI for military operations

Jonathan Pan spent five years in the U.S. Army and then ventured into the video game industry. Now he’s combining… Read More

Kestra Medical Technologies aims to raise $150M in IPO

Kirkland, Wash.-based Kestra Medical Technologies is aiming to raise about $150 million in its initial public offering, pricing shares between… Read More

GeekWire 200 CEO survey: Tech startup leaders on the economy, RTO, AI, and key priorities for 2025

Interest rates remain high, tech IPOs are still sparse, and uncertainty looms around regulatory action and funding constraints. But startup… Read More

Inspectify acquires Aloft in Seattle real estate startup deal

Inspectify, a Seattle startup that sells home inspection software, announced the acquisition of Aloft, another Seattle real estate startup that… Read More

Bridgetown, a Seattle startup that uses AI agents to automate research tasks, raises $19M

Bridgetown Research, a Seattle-based startup that uses AI to help investment firms and corporate teams supercharge their research efforts, raised… Read More

Expedia confirms layoffs at Seattle travel giant

Expedia Group confirmed that it laid off more workers as the Seattle-based travel giant looks to cut costs. “To ensure… Read More

Opal, a Vancouver startup that automates back-office tasks for ad agencies, raises $1.5M

Vancouver, B.C.-based startup Opal raised a $1.5 million pre-seed round led by Seattle venture firm Founders’ Co-op and Exit North… Read More

Microsoft’s venture fund M12 leads $15M round for Seattle cloud infrastructure startup Edera

Edera, a Seattle-based startup that helps companies secure their Kubernetes and AI workloads, raised a $15 million Series A round… Read More

Could Zillow buy Redfin? New rentals partnership brings real estate rivals closer together

Zillow Group and Redfin are long-time competitors. So when the Seattle-based real estate technology giants announced a key partnership earlier… Read More

Starbucks to lay off 1,100 corporate workers, updates remote work policy

Starbucks is cutting 1,100 corporate positions as part of a bid to create “smaller, more nimble teams,” CEO Brian Niccol… Read More

Kapta Space, a Seattle startup working with the Department of Defense, raises $5M

Kapta Space, a radar technology startup based in Seattle, raised $5 million in a seed round led by MetaVC Partners.… Read More

Startup radar: Check out 4 up-and-coming tech companies from Seattle

We’re back with another spotlight on new startups sprouting out of the Seattle area. This time we’re featuring companies building… Read More

Overland AI opens new factory in Seattle to manufacture off-road autonomous vehicles

Seattle startup Overland AI is bringing manufacturing operations close to home with the opening of a 22,000 square-foot facility that will help… Read More

GeekWire 200 update: Here are the hot tech startups moving up our list for Q1 2025

The latest update to the GeekWire 200 reveals which companies are growing quickly and making moves up our list of… Read More

Former Intel leaders raise $21.5M for Portland startup AheadComputing

AheadComputing, a Portland, Ore.-based startup led by former Intel execs, raised $21.5 million in a seed round led by Eclipse.

Compliance software startup SingleFile raises $9M

SingleFile Technologies, a legal tech startup based in Seattle that helps companies file compliance reports with government agencies, raised $9… Read More

Bill Gates-backed semiconductor startup Lumotive raises $45M

Lumotive, a Redmond, Wash.-based startup that manufactures semiconductor chips tailored for 3D sensors, raised $45 million in a Series B… Read More

Seattle mayor says he has ‘grave concerns’ about Trump administration

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell expressed optimism for the city’s future while addressing concerns about the Trump administration in his annual… Read More

Seattle fintech startup Strix Leviathan acquired by crypto hedge fund Parataxis

Strix Leviathan, a Seattle-based digital assets startup, has been acquired by Parataxis, a crypto hedge fund based in New York… Read More

Former Cruise CEO Marc Whitten joins Meta to run new group focused on humanoids

Marc Whitten, a longtime tech executive with roots in the Seattle region, has joined Meta to lead a new team… Read More

AI will transform parts of healthcare — but slow adoption and sales cycles could impede startups

The rise of generative AI and other automation technologies will surely create efficiencies within the $4.5 trillion healthcare industry. But… Read More

Meet the Seattle VC behind a new $6.6M fund focused on women’s health startups

Jessica Kamada does not have a traditional startups and venture capital background. And that’s exactly what helped her land $6.6… Read More

AI recruiting startup led by former Microsoft manager raises $16M

ConverzAI, a Seattle startup founded in 2019 that aims to automate recruiting processes, raised $16 million in a Series A… Read More

Seattle startup group launches new program for founders that rethinks traditional accelerator format

Aviel Ginzburg spent years learning what makes a startup accelerator effective for founders. Now he’s applying those lessons to a… Read More

Initial election results show support for Seattle social housing tax opposed by Amazon, Microsoft

Seattle voters are showing support for a new tax on big business that would fund a social housing developer. More… Read More

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