Textio CEO Kieran Snyder. (Textio Photo) Textio, the Seattle-based augmented writing platform, conducted a “broad team reorganization” this week, according to co-founder and CEO Kieran Snyder. Snyder said the 9-year-old startup adjusted the balance of its enterprise and commercial sales, customer success, and marketing resources based on anticipated future product growth. She confirmed that 15 roles were eliminated as part of the first quarter restructuring, other roles were realigned and the company plans to staff for new roles with new skill sets in Q2. Textio, which established a fully dist ..read more

Bittrex launched in 2014 and “the crypto ecosystem is very different” today, CEO Richie Lai wrote Friday. (BigStock Photo) Bellevue, Wash.-based crypto exchange Bittrex announced Friday it was “winding down” its U.S. operations. The company, which launched in 2014, cut 83 jobs last month. The crypto sector was rocked last year by the swift collapse of digital-asset exchange FTX. The prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other coins have fallen steeply over the past 12 months. A post from Bittrex co-founder and CEO Richie Lai assured customers that their money was OK. “Don’t worry — all cus ..read more

ESS Inc. builds products called Energy Warehouses that can provide back-up power to the energy grid. (ESS Photo) International scientists this month warned that urgent action is needed within a decade in order to avoid a global warming catastrophe, putting renewed pressure on climate tech companies to rapidly develop and deploy their solutions. Oregon battery manufacturer ESS Inc. is one of those companies. The long-duration energy storage company founded 12 years ago has raised $350 million from venture capital firms and through its IPO two years ago. It has support from noteworthy backers in ..read more

Charlie Bell speaks at the GeekWire Summit in October. (GeekWire Photo / Dan DeLong) — Microsoft executive Charlie Bell joined the board of directors of customer engagement software giant Twilio. Bell is executive VP of security, compliance identity and management at Microsoft, and is a member of the company’s senior leadership team. He was previously senior VP of Amazon Web Services. Bell also had decade-long stint as a space shuttle flight engineer in the ’80s. Current Twilio board member Richard Dalzell, a former Amazon vice president, notified the board he will not stand for re-electi ..read more

The LEGO version of T-Mobile Park, by Shane Deegan, now features new roof mechanics and magenta lighting, among other tweaks. (Shane Deegan Photo) It’s Opening Day at T-Mobile Park — both the real version of the Seattle Mariners ballpark and the LEGO version, which has undergone a major upgrade from builder Shane Deegan. Deegan, of Mukilteo, Wash., tweeted Thursday afternoon that his miniature brick ballpark, which went viral in December, has substantial new components. He put in a new scoreboard, new roof tracking, smoother gears for opening and closing the roof, and new magenta lighting ..read more

Seattle’s King County gained 13,751 residents from July 2021 to July 2022. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) After an outflow of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, new population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show that fewer people are leaving urban centers such as King County, home to Seattle. The Census Bureau reported that overall patterns of population growth and decline are moving toward pre-pandemic rates for the nation’s 3,144 counties. King County had net domestic outmigration of -16,035 in 2022, compared to -37,655 in 2021. When counting other factors ..read more

SpaceX employees in Redmond, Wash., give a cheer during the countdown to a Starlink satellite launch in 2019. Thousands of Starlink satellites have been built in Redmond. (SpaceX via YouTube) REDMOND, Wash. — This Seattle-area suburb has played a role in the space industry for more than a half-century, but the city of Redmond is shining brighter than ever on the final frontier — and now it has the brand name to prove it. Welcome to the Redmond Space District. Redmond Mayor Angela Birney showcased the newly established district in a proclamation issued today during her annual State of the City ..read more

Matt McIlwain. (Madrona Venture Group Photo) Editor’s note: We asked two Seattle venture capitalists — Civic Ventures’ Nick Hanauer and Madrona’s Matt McIlwain — to defend their opposing viewpoints on the new capital gains tax in Washington state that was ruled constitutional by the state Supreme Court last week. Tech leaders shared both praise and concern for the law, which imposes a 7% tax on capital gains of more than $250,000 from the sale of stocks and bonds. Below is McIlwain’s post — you can read Hanauer’s post at this link. Since Washingtonian’s rejected a state income t ..read more

Nick Hanauer. (Civic Ventures Photo) Editor’s note: We asked two Seattle venture capitalists — Civic Ventures’ Nick Hanauer and Madrona’s Matt McIlwain — to defend their opposing viewpoints on the new capital gains tax in Washington state that was ruled constitutional by the state Supreme Court last week. Tech leaders shared both praise and concern for the law, which imposes a 7% tax on capital gains of more than $250,000 from the sale of stocks and bonds. Below is Hanauer’s post — you can read McIlwain’s post at this link. Washington has the most upside-down tax code in the co ..read more

Startup CEO of the Year finalists, clockwise from top left: Christie Lagally of Rebellyous Foods; Prem Kumar of Humanly; Grin Lord of mpathic; Ivan Liachko of Phase Genomics; Emily Pesce of Joon Care. The finalists in this year’s GeekWire Awards category for Startup CEO of the Year are taking on a range of tech and innovation challenges, in disciplines that include plant-based meat production, young adult mental health care, employee communication, DNA analysis, and automation of job candidate screening. The award, presented by T-Mobile, is for leaders of companies with 100 employees or f ..read more