Seattle is one of the most active and fast-growing startup ecosystems in the United States, with the city creating a wealth of top startups. For reference, the ecosystem itself is valued at $109 Billion, which dwarves the global average of $28.6 Billion. This shows that startups in Seattle are being established and are growing at a much quicker rate than most ecosystems. This is due to a blend of talent, available funding and a range of accelerators and incubators to assist new projects.
On the subject of startup funding, Seattle startups received a total of $3.8 Billion in startup funding between 2019 and 2021- far outpacing many global competitors. This highlights the level of funding flowing through the city and total VC funding for the period between 2017 and 2021 reached a level of $16 Billion. It should also be noted that a software engineer's salary of $114,000 in Seattle is significantly higher than in many other startup ecosystems, which influences the talent pool.
1. Karat
Year Founded: 2014
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Jeffrey Spector, Mohit Bhende
Karat is the first start-up on the list of twenty-one to watch this year. The company is working to solve the world's problem of a shortage of software engineers. Karat provides and develops a digital platform for interviewing, to make the employee hunt easier. It also makes finding a job more accessible for candidates who otherwise might not get a chance. The tech solution is making the software industry more diverse with the interviewing cloud.
In 2014 Jeffrey Spector and Mohit Bhende founded this tech start-up. Since then, the company has grown to have an employee size of between two hundred and fifty-one to five hundred people. It also has nineteen investors and a headquarters in Seattle, USA. Six funding rounds have raised the business $169.1M in total funding.
2. Arrived Homes
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Alejandro Chouza, Kenneth Cason, Ryan Frazier
The next start-up on the list is the home-central start-up Arrived Homes. This company offers its customers support with financial independence by helping them with investment services for rental homes. It is making rental income more accessible and less stressful, as Arrived Homes allows customers to buy shares of rental homes, whilst the company deals with the rest.
Alejandro Chouza, Kenneth Cason and Ryan Frazier founded the start-up in 2020 with a headquarters being based in Seattle, USA. The company has eleven to fifty employees and thirteen investors with two lead investors. In five funding rounds, the company managed to raise $162M in total funding.
3. WeMeta
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: Ali Vira, Nick Brons, Winston Robson
WeMeta is a blockchain start-up from Seattle. It is a metaverse marketplace, where users can buy and sell NFT land. There are multiple tools on the site from a browsing tool, to leaderboard and analytics tools that users can access to get a better understanding of the metaverse, digital real estate world.
The company has a headquarters in Seattle, USA and was founded in 2021 by Ali Vira, Nick Brons, Winston Robson. With just a small employee size of between one and ten people, the start-up has raised an impressive $1.1M total funding in just one funding round.
4. Qumulo
Year Founded: 2012
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Aaron Passey, Neal Fachan, Peter Godman
Qumulo is a big data and software company from Seattle. It offers its customers a multi-cloud storage platform they can use. It has regular new features that help to make the platform and whole data storage experience easier for the user. With access to success experts, the user can work to their own schedule.
Founded in 2012 by Aaron Passey, Neal Fachan and Peter Godman, the company now has an employee size of between two hundred and fifty-one to five hundred employees. The headquarter location is in Seattle, Washington, USA. $347.3M total funding was raised in seven funding rounds with thirteen investors and four lead investors.
5. Shipium
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Jason Murray, Mac Brown
The next start-up is a retail technology, e-commerce company that was founded in 2019. Shipium is a Fulfillment Technology Platform. It works to improve the shopping experience for retail customers. The company helps operators make promises to their customers about fast and reliable delivery dates, whilst allowing customers to reduce delivery costs.
The company was founded in 2019 by Jason Murray and Mac Brown. The employee size is between eleven and fifty people and the headquarters are based in Seattle, USA. In three funding rounds, the company managed to raise $37.5M in total funding from six investors.
6. Edge Delta
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: Fatih Yildiz, Ozan Unlu
Edge Delta is a security data start-up operating in the computer, software and network security industries. It is a stream processing platform allowing users to analyse their data where it is created, whilst it is being created. Edge Delta is a start-up that is helping its customers to gain complete observability.
In 2018, the start-up was founded by Fatih Yildiz and Ozan Unlu. It employs between fifty-one and one hundred individuals and has a headquarters in Seattle, Washington, USA. The start-up has completed three funding rounds between July 2019 and May 2022. With the help of ten investors and four lead investors, Edge Delta has raised $81M in total funding.
7. Fabric
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Ryan Bartley, Shiv Agarwal
Fabric is another e-commerce start-up from Seattle that is worth watching in 2022. The company believes that it has the future of commerce. This start-up provides its users with a headless platform for e-commerce so that the customers (companies) can grow online and improve their reach. Fabric believes that 'Headless means connecting every sales channel (head) to a single source with fabric.'
Since 2016, the start-up has been growing its employee size which currently sits at between two hundred and fifty-one and five hundred employees. The company was founded by Ryan Bartley and Shiv Agarwal and has a headquarters located in Seattle, USA. It has also made $293.5M in total funding across four funding rounds.
8. Copper Banking
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Eddie Behringer, Stefan Berglund
Number eight on the list of Seattle based start-ups to watch in 2022 is Copper Banking, otherwise known as Copper. The business' target audience is teens, as it is working to help young people learn how to look after their money, in a way that traditional banks have never been able to teach. The start-up provides an app and a card that can link teenagers to their parents, to encourage young people to make smart financial decisions.
Eddie Behringer and Stefan Berglund founded Copper Banking in 2019 and it has since grown to employ between eleven and fifty people and has a headquarters located in Seattle, USA. The company has completed three funding rounds so far. These took place between August 2020 and April 2022, raising $42.3M with help from sixteen investors.
9. Possible Finance
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: Anthony Huang, Prasad Mahendra, Tyler Conant
Possible Finance is a Seattle startup that was founded in 2017 and is based in the Washington city. The company aims to offer help to consumers by providing them with access to credit to help them in the short term and a wide range of tools to help them on their way to long-term financial health. As the cost of living continues to increase, this startup is helping people with a large problem.
Since being founded, the company has gone through 12 rounds of startup funding, with the last being completed in May 2022. From these funding rounds, the company has agreed to deals with 14 investors. From these investors, the company has successfully raised a figure of $157.5 Million.
10. Wrench
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: Casey Willis, Doug Stevens, Ed Petersen, Michelle Virta, William H. Beaver
Wrench is a startup in Seattle that was founded in 2015 and is currently still based in the city. The company provides a software solution for fleet management and it also provides a service for the maintenance of fleet vehicles with repairs through a mobile mechanic to make things more convenient and efficient for the customer.
The startup has gone through eight rounds of startup funding since being founded, with these funding rounds being supported by a total of seven investors. From these investors, the company has managed to raise a total of $38.7 Million.
11. Rainway
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Andrew Sampson, Evan Banyash
Rainway is a Seattle startup that was founded in 2017 and is still currently headquartered in the Washington city. The company has created a web-based platform for gaming that allows users to stream a large variety of games made for the PC on a variety of different devices, so they can take their favourite games with them wherever they go. Some examples of such games are Fortnite, Overwatch and Call of Duty.
Since being founded, the company has gone through three rounds of startup funding, with the most recent taking place in August 2019. From these funding rounds, the company has agreed to deals with three investors. These investors have helped the company to raise a total figure of $5.1 Million.
12. Era Software
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: Robert Winslow, Todd Persen
Era Software is a startup in Seattle that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in the largest city in Washington state. The company has created a data management tool that is specifically built to provide data teams with full visibility of their data en-mass from a variety of different sources. This allows teams to improve their security and the efficiency of their operations.
The company has gone through three rounds of startup funding since being founded, with the most recent round being completed in April 2021. These funding rounds have seen the company agree to deals with a total of six investors. The investments from these sources have allowed the company to raise $22.3 Million.
13. Nori
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: Christophe Jospe, Paul Gambill, Ross Kenyon
Nori is a startup in Seattle that was founded in 2017 and is currently headquartered in Seattle, USA. The company has created a marketplace platform specifically to help with the climate crisis by connecting carbon removal companies with businesses and other entities that may need their help to minimize their carbon footprint.
The startup has completed four rounds of startup funding since being founded, with the last taking place in February 2022. These funding rounds have seen the company strike deals with a total of nine investors. These investors have helped the business to raise a total of $12.4 Million to fund its climate mission.
14. AccelByte
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Junaili Lie
AccelByte is a Seattle startup that was founded in 2016 and is still based in the large Washington city. The company has created a solution for the developers of live services games that powers matchmaking, lobbies, season passes, overall progression and more, giving developers more time to focus on making content for these games, rather than dealing with their servers.
The business has completed a pair of startup funding rounds since being founded, with the last being completed in May 2022. These funding rounds have seen the company gain support from six investors. The support from these investors has helped the founders to raise $70 Million.
15. Logixboard
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Juan Alvarez, Julian Alvarez
Logixboard is a startup in Seattle that was founded in 2016 and is currently based in the city. The company has created a platform to help freight and logistics companies to move away from inefficient low-tech tracking solutions like spreadsheets, paper and email and replaces that with an all-in-one tech solution that improves the efficiency of these freight providers and improves customer outcomes.
The company has gone through four rounds of startup funding since being founded, with the most recent round taking place in January 2022. These funding rounds have seen the company gain support from 11 investors. The efforts of these investors have helped the company to raise $50.8 Million.
16. Syndio
Year Founded: 2012
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: Zev Eigen
Syndio is a startup in Seattle that was founded in 2012 and is currently based in the Washington city. The company aims to address the problem of inequity with staff pay and this is achieved through the use of their platform that analyzes organizational pay structures and highlights any potential inequities. This improves employee engagement and also prevents businesses from receiving bad publicity as a result of unequal pay conditions.
The business has gone through nine rounds of startup funding since being founded, with the last taking place in September 2021. These funding rounds have seen the company generate support from 17 investors and the total raised from these investors has reached a total of $83.4 Million.
17. Violet
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: Brandon Schulz, Rhen Zabel
Violet is a Seattle startup that was founded in 2017 and is currently headquartered in the largest city in Washington state. The company has created an API specifically for e-commerce that allows stores to integrate universal checkout in a manner of weeks, when for some businesses it can take years, if not longer. This helps stores to take more payments and make more money.
The startup has gone through three rounds of startup funding since being founded, with the last taking place in October 2021. These funding rounds have seen the company receive support from a total of five investors. The efforts of these investors have allowed the company to raise $13 Million.
18. Amperity
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Derek Slager, Kabir Shahani
Amperity is a startup in Seattle that was founded in 2016 and is currently still based in the city. The company has created a data management platform for businesses that allows them to aggregate all of their customer data to provide actionable insights into their customers. This helps businesses to make better decisions based on the needs and the wants of their market.
The startup has gone through five rounds of startup funding since being founded, with the last taking place in July 2021. These funding rounds have allowed the company to agree to deals with a total of 17 investors, with these investors collectively investing a total of $187 Million into the startup.
19. Coinme
Year Founded: 2014
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: Michael Smyers, Neil Bergquist
Coinme is a Seattle startup that was founded in 2014 and is currently still headquartered in the city. The company has created a platform that allows physical locations to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, enabling them to take part in the digital currency revolution. The exchange currently operates in 48 states and has strategic partnerships to further its operations. The company also offers APIs to help to create a crypto-friendly financial ecosystem.
Since being founded, the startup has gone through seven rounds of startup funding, with the last taking place in January 2022. These funding rounds have seen the company gain support from six investors. These investors have helped the exchange to raise a total of $19.1 Million.
20. CLIPr
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: Aaron Sloman, Cindy Chin, Humphrey Chen
CLIPr is a startup in Seattle that was founded in 2020 and is currently still based in the Washington city. The company has created an AI-powered solution for video analysis and management, which allows users to easily find and select key points within videos, organize content, search and interact with said content with ease, it also makes sharing this content significantly easier.
Since being founded, the startup has gone through three rounds of startup funding, with the last being completed in May 2021. These funding rounds have seen support from a pair of investors, which has allowed the startup to raise a total of $6.3 Million to grow and develop its offering.
21. 98point6
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: Seattle, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Gordon Cohen, Jeff Greenstein, Robbie Cape
98point6 is a Seattle startup that was founded in 2015 and is currently based in Seattle, USA. The company has created a digital health platform that gives users access to personalized healthcare consultations that allows professionals to make a diagnosis and provide access to treatment for the patient, more efficiently than is usually the case with doctor's surgeries.
The business has gone through six rounds of startup funding since being founded, with the last taking place in October 2020. From these funding rounds, the company has managed to agree to deals with ten investors. From these investors, the company has managed to successfully raise $247.3 Million.
FAQs
What Is The Average Investment In Seattle?
The average Seed Round in Seattle is worth $1.4 Million and the average Series A Round is worth $7 Million, both above the global average.
What Are The Strongest Sectors in Seattle?
The two biggest startup sectors in Seattle are the life sciences and Deep Tech, such as AI, Big Data and Analytics.
How Many Startups Are There in Seattle?
There are currently more than 600 startups in Seattle.
