The little chips that could: Impinj CEO Chris Diorio and team rang the Nasdaq opening bell Tuesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the Seattle RFID company’s IPO. Impinj over the years has overcome one roadblock after another, while benefiting from a network of patient Seattle investors and supporters who gave it the time that Silicon Valley never would have. Our deep dive traces the company’s 26-year journey and looks ahead to what’s next.
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A high-profile new backer: Seattle startup Copper is getting a boost from Grammy-winning artist and entrepreneur Diplo, who has invested in the company as it expands its consumer rewards platform. Copper, which says it has more than 4 million members, helps users earn money through shopping, mobile games and everyday digital activities. Read more.
Clarify's first buy: Seattle-based AI CRM startup Clarify has acquired San Francisco AI startup Seam, planning to fold its buying-signals technology into a new product called Clarify Signals later this year. The combined company now has 30 employees, and Clarify is opening a San Francisco office alongside its Seattle headquarters. Read more.
Powering an “Earth Search Engine”: Geospatial startup TerraByte AI has partnered with satellite provider SkyFi to upgrade its AI-powered service that allows users to track real-time natural disasters and access high-resolution satellite imagery on demand. Read more.
Building better batteries: Sila, a startup producing next-generation battery materials, landed $300 million from investors, which will help fund the expansion of its Moses Lake, Wash., manufacturing plant. The company is seeing increased demand for higher-performance batteries for AI-driven applications such as drones, space technologies and wearable devices. Read more.
Amazon catches Jimothy fever: A Seattle painter’s depiction of the internet-famous raccoon drew an auction-winning bid of $6,543.21, with proceeds going to the Ballard Food Bank. Amazon matched the gift and encouraged other Seattle companies to follow suit. Read more.
Is that the GeekWire logo in Times Square? It sure is. GeekWire lit up the Nasdaq MarketSite as media partner for the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center's Milestone Summit '26 in Seattle, where the GeekWire Studios team profiled the founders, funders, and leaders shaping what's next. The Times Square nod also marked 15 years of GeekWire. (LinkedIn)
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A King County judge halted Kalshi’s operations in Washington state, ruling preliminarily in response to AG Nick Brown’s suit that the prediction‑market platform likely violated state gambling laws by offering event‑based bets to residents. (Seattle Times)
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Microsoft broadened its partnership with Mistral, investing in European AI infrastructure and bringing Mistral’s newest models into Microsoft’s tools. (Microsoft Source)
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Skyfall AI emerged from stealth, built by the founders of Maluuba — the deep‑learning lab Microsoft acquired in 2017 — and is now moving to buy a small SaaS company to test whether its enterprise world‑model AI can run a business fully autonomously. (WebWire)
Thanks for subscribing, and have a great day. — GeekWire editor Todd Bishop, [email protected]; reporter Kurt Schlosser, [email protected]; and reporter Lisa Stiffler, [email protected]
