Pro.com co-founders reunite to launch AI wealth management startup

OnTrade emerges from stealth: Raji Subramanian and Matt Williams, co-founders of the Seattle home-improvement marketplace Pro.com, have reunited to launch OnTrade, an AI startup for the wealth management industry, joined by former Bank of America chief investment officer Zachary Harl. Backed by General Catalyst and Madrona, the company deploys AI agents that handle analytical work financial advisors have traditionally done manually.

Marc Whitten to lead Dolby: The former Xbox and Amazon executive was named president and CEO of Dolby Laboratories. Also in Tech Moves: Microsoft AI CMO Andréa Mallard and AI Frontiers Lab leader Ece Kamar depart, Fred Hutch names new division leaders, and Poppy MacDonald joins NationSwell as president.

Skyfarer founder and CEO Nick Tsang in the cockpit of a Gulfstream G650. (Photo courtesy of Nick Tsang)

Airbnb for aviation: Skyfarer connects pilots with flight instructors, mechanics, examiners and aircraft in a single marketplace, with 14,000 users and 8,500 listings across all 50 states. In our latest Startup Spotlight, founder and CEO Nick Tsang explains why he believes general aviation is long overdue for a centralized tool that goes beyond word-of-mouth at the local airport.

Biotech’s manufacturing gap: A federal commission heard from biotech leaders in Seattle about the “valley of death” between research and commercial-scale manufacturing. Companies like Arzeda design enzymes with AI locally but manufacture largely overseas. The commission has recommended $15 billion in federal investment to help the U.S. keep pace with China.

Prestigious award for UW researcher: University of Washington Ph.D. student Malek Itani has won the Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for his work in “superhuman hearing.” Itani develops low-power AI algorithms that bring real-time target speech extraction, acoustic sound bubbles, and semantic hearing directly to everyday hardware — such as earbuds, hearing aids, and smart glasses.

Seattle AI startup expands English soccer reach: Arkero has added Bolton Wanderers FC to a growing roster of customers using its platform to connect directly to internal data, systems, and workflows and transform their business and sports operations.

• More than 100 companies, including Amazon, Microsoft and Anthropic, signed a letter urging policymakers to “act decisively” on AI-driven cyber threats, warning of a limited window to strengthen defenses as agentic attacks grow more sophisticated. (CNBC)
• University of Washington astronomers simulated thousands of stellar streams and found that galaxies themselves — not just dark matter — may cause the irregularities scientists have long studied as evidence of the mysterious substance. (UW News)

Thanks for subscribing and have a great weekend. — GeekWire editor Todd Bishop, [email protected], and reporter Kurt Schlosser, [email protected].