Latest from Geek Wire
Geek Wire
7 hours ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
Newlywed Jeff Bezos sells $5.4 billion worth of Amazon stock
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in Los Angeles in November 2021. (BigStock Photo) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is selling more than $5.4 billion worth of Amazon shares, according to a new regulatory filing made public Friday, part of the billionaire's ongoing effort to diversify his wealth. The sale of 25 million shares took place Friday, according to the filing — the same day Bezos married fiancée Lauren Sánchez in a star-studded celebration reportedly costing around $50 million. It also comes as Amazon stock surpassed $223 per share this week and approaches its all-time high, rebounding from broader market downturns earlier this year. Over the years, Bezos has used Amazon stock sales — including more than $13 billion in 2024 — to fund initiatives including his Blue Origin space venture. He also launched the Bezos Day One Fund in 2018, committing $2 billion to support homeless families and preschool education, and created the Bezos Earth Fund in 2020. Bezos remains Amazon's largest shareholder, holding about 9.6% of the company's outstanding stock, according to a February proxy statement. He stepped down as Amazon's CEO in 2021 and serves as executive chair. The Washington Post owner is ranked No. 3 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $244 billion. Bezos announced in November 2023 that he was leaving his longtime hometown of Seattle, where Amazon is based, and moving to Miami. The move sparked questions about tax motivations, as Washington state passed a 7% capital gains tax in 2021. Florida does not have a capital gains tax. In an Instagram post, Bezos said he wanted to be closer to his parents and Blue Origin operations in Florida. He did not mention taxes.
Geek Wire
11 hours ago
- Science
- Geek Wire
University of Washington celebrates Rubin Observatory's debut — and looks ahead
University of Washington astronomer Zeljko Ivezic talks about the Rubin Observatory — a project in which he played a leading role — with an image of the facility displayed behind him. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) It's been more than two decades since the University of Washington helped kick off the effort to get the Vera C. Rubin Observatory built in Chile — and now that it's finished, UW astronomers are gearing up to get in on the first decade of discoveries. The university's role in the past, present and future of the Rubin Observatory and its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, or LSST, literally took center stage in front of a packed house at UW's Kane Hall on Thursday night. UW astronomer Zeljko Ivezic, who served as director of Rubin construction and is shifting his focus to his role as head of science operations for LSST, recalled the night of April 15, when Rubin's first test images came in for fine tuning. 'We were all so happy, and we are still happy,' he said. 'We had been dreaming about this night for two decades, and it finally arrived. And not only that, we quickly obtained beautiful data, but also we continued to do so, and every new image was better and better. The observatory is performing beyond all our expectations.' Ivezic showed off the images of swirling galaxies and colorful nebulas that he first unveiled earlier in the week at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. And he talked up an online tool called Skyviewer that allows users to click around the observatory's 3,200-megapixel images and zoom in on details. 'It's an easy-to-use app,' he told the audience. 'When you go home tonight, then you can spend the next few hours just going around. Turn off the light in your room and then look at your screen, and it will be fantastic.' University of Washington Zeljko Ivezic shows off his Rubin Observatory necktie and matching nail polish. The tie is on sale via the Startorialist website. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) The University of Washington's involvement in the Rubin Observatory goes back to the early 2000s, when astronomers began considering how a next-generation sky survey might be accomplished. In its early years, the project was known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (which set the precedent for the LSST acronym). UW was one of four founding partners of the LSST Corporation, an entity that was set up to get the project started. (That nonprofit group, which was subsequently renamed the LSST Discovery Alliance, now has 40 member institutions.) In 2008, the project got a huge boost from Microsoft billionaires Bill Gates and Charles Simonyi — who donated $10 million and $20 million, respectively, to support early work on the telescope's 8.4-meter-wide (28-foot-wide) mirror. As the years went on, support for the project grew, fueled by a high rating in the National Research Council's 2010 Decadal Survey. Eventually, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for building the observatory in Chile, where dry air and dark skies made for optimal viewing conditions. In 2019, the observatory was officially named in honor of astronomer Vera Rubin, who analyzed galactic rotation rates to nail down the first convincing evidence for the existence of dark matter. The survey telescope, meanwhile, was named after Simonyi's family in recognition of his early gift. Today, UW's Rubin Observatory team consists of about 75 faculty members and graduate students, plus scores of undergraduates. University of Washington astronomer Mario Juric, the team's principal investigator, noted that UW played an essential role in getting the observatory up and running. 'None of this would be possible without the Rubin team right here at UW,' he told Thursday night's audience. Members of the University of Washington's team for the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time pose for a group picture after a presentation at UW's Kane Hall. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) That essential role will continue into the next decade. In partnership with Princeton University, UW's team is responsible for the software that processes the trillions of bytes of image data that are generated by the observatory on a nightly basis. That work meshes with the leading roles in Rubin operations that are performed by the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. 'We're here to figure out how to build algorithms to get the most out of data, how to make the software work as well as it can,' Juric told GeekWire. Andrew Connolly, another UW astronomer who is the director of the university's eScience Institute, said the university's researchers are relying on machine learning and other artificial intelligence strategies 'to accelerate our discoveries.' 'We build AI that allows us to study the variability in time series data. We build new tools at U Dub to search for the signatures of a distant planet in the outskirts of our solar system,' he said. 'We even use AI to improve the image quality and the sharpness of the images that you see.' Astronomers expect the data from Rubin to reveal millions of previously undetected asteroids in our own solar system, shed light on the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, track phenomena including gamma-ray bursts and supernovas, and capture images of billions of galaxies repeatedly over the coming decade. James Davenport — who is the newly named director of the university's DiRAC Institute, taking a handoff from Juric — said it's going to be an exciting 10 years. 'We are going to discover things we don't expect,' he said.
Geek Wire
17 hours ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
Tech Vets: Christopher Pavel connects innovators to the military problems they can help solve
Christopher Pavel, deputy director at Pacific Northwest Mission Acceleration Center. (Photo courtesy of Christopher Pavel) [Editor's note: 'Tech Vets: Profiles in Leadership and Innovation,' is a GeekWire series showcasing U.S. military veterans leading companies within the Pacific Northwest tech industry. The series explores how military experience fosters leadership, resilience, and innovation in tech.] While describing the talent in his office at Pacific Northwest Mission Acceleration Center (PNW MAC), Christopher Pavel rattled off a lineup of former military members that sounded like a team he could go to war with: Former Navy C130 crew member. Marine Corps helicopter commander. Tank crew member and purple heart recipient. Marine Forces Special Operations Command amphibious recon member. As deputy director of PNW MAC, Pavel's not headed to a battlefield, but he's fighting nonetheless — for the military and for companies innovating on its behalf. 'This team is available to everybody in this community to translate defense needs and industry tech and put them together,' he said of PNW MAC. 'Anybody can come to us and use our service. We're literally here to support the defense ecosystem in the greater Pacific Northwest. We're lucky to do it.' Renton, Wash.-based PNW MAC helps innovators with mentorship and strategic connections to military partners. By better understanding operational needs and aligning technology with defense priorities, companies are able to accelerate viable deployment opportunities. Pavel joined PNW MAC last year in September after a more than two decades of experience in the U.S. Air Force and tech sector. Originally from the Tri-Cities in southeastern Washington, Pavel joined the Air Force in 2002, viewing it as a way to travel the world. He landed just eight hours away from his hometown at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Mont. 'I just basically moved next door,' he laughed. 'But everywhere I've been, it's been a little mini-adventure and a good experience.' Pavel served for about a decade in the Air Force Security Forces, helping secure nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles at Malmstrom before transitioning to a job as an antiterrorism advisor. That's where he started piecing together how industry could be leveraged to solve complex military problems. 'That was the name of the game,' Pavel said. 'Finding issues or problems associated with whatever base we would do an assessment on, and then finding products in industry that could be leveraged and put on contract to solve it. I did a lot of matchmaking, even back in my early days.' Christopher Pavel in uniform and on the field before a Seahawks game at Lumen Field in Seattle. (Photo courtesy of Christopher Pavel) After his active duty service, Pavel transitioned to the Montana Air National Guard and crossed over to a combat engineering squadron where he eventually trained to be a cyber operator. His career eventually brought him back to Washington, working in a cyber role for the Western Air Defense Sector at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. It was here that he laid the groundwork for his current job. Pavel helped lead an innovation program for the Washington State Air National Guard that served all 41 commanders across the state. The program raised a $17 million innovation portfolio and launched 28 projects — many of them brought to fruition through collaboration with PNW MAC. As he was transitioning out of the military, PNW MAC made perfect sense. 'I basically went from doing the job in uniform to doing the exact same job out of uniform,' Pavel said. The Pacific Northwest, with its robust tech industry and numerous military installations, offers a fertile ground for defense innovation. There are multiple military tech startups on the rise, such as Overland AI and EdgeRunner AI, both ranked in the GeekWire 200. And new reports suggest tech's on-again, off-again cycle of engagement with the military is heating up again. PNW MAC offers a range of services, including two tech accelerators: an international one called NATO DIANA and an in-house Defense Technology Accelerator. They also manage contracts specifically for the Navy and other branches of service, acting as 'DoD matchmaker.' The team at PNW MAC is comprised almost entirely of veterans with diverse military backgrounds who possess invaluable firsthand knowledge and know what works in the field. 'The DoD is kind of funny,' Pavel said. 'You have this really tradition-based organization, but you're still needing to change and accelerate and innovate to meet the demands of emerging threats. So being able to be on both sides has been super important. To understand the hurdles around tech translation is gold.'
Geek Wire
17 hours ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
MediScan AI raises $1.4M to help medical professionals evaluate patient records
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . MediScan AI co-founders Kavian Mojabe, left, and Sean Podvent. (MediScan AI Photo) MediScan AI, a Seattle startup using artificial intelligence to help medical professionals evaluate patient records, raised $1.4 million in funding, the company announced Friday. MediScan's platform can quickly scan records — including typed and hand-written notes — and generate summaries and comprehensive reports, reducing the time it takes human evaluators to perform such tasks. The startup has positioned itself at the intersection of medicine, insurance and legal industries. Launched in 2024, MediScan was co-founded by CEO CEO Kavian Mojabe and COO Sean Podvent. Mojabe, who previously worked as a software engineer at Amazon, said he witnessed the challenges and inefficiencies in the medical evaluation process while growing up around his father's chiropractic office. 'Medical evaluators are the hidden lynchpin in determining the validity of everything from workplace injuries to personal injury claims, yet they're using technology that hasn't evolved in decades,' he said in a news release. 'Our platform has shown we can double their case throughput without sacrificing quality.' Along with the ability to generate reports, the MediScan platform also organizes records in chronological order, features AI search and chatbot functionality, and allows for team collaboration. 'We're not just applying general AI to medical documents,' said Podvent, who previously founded and sold health-tech startup Hygiene IQ. 'Every interaction between a physician and our platform further refines our models to think like a medical expert, creating an ever-widening competitive moat.' The company has seen early traction, signing close to 100 deals since launching its payment structure last June. Physician-evaluators have collectively processed more than 14,000 cases through the platform, according to MediScan, which said it has seen 4-5x growth this year. The new funding, led by Tidal Ventures, will be used to boost product development and expand the engineering and sales teams. MediScan employs eight people and is anchoring 2,000 square feet of space on the second floor at Foundations, the Seattle community for tech startup founders. Mojabe said the startup is just scratching the surface of what's possible. 'Our platform is already being used for more than just standard evaluations — about 20% of our users are personal injury and malpractice lawyers who discovered our product delivers better results than legal-specific AI tools,' he said. 'As we expand, we're positioned to become the central intelligence layer for all MedLegal decision making, potentially saving billions in administrative costs while ensuring better outcomes for everyone involved.'
Geek Wire
a day ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
Customer data startup Amperity moves to new downtown Seattle office with room to grow
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . A view inside Amperity's new office space in downtown Seattle. (Amperity Photo) Amperity, the Seattle-based startup that helps companies collect and manage customer data, moved to a new office in downtown Seattle. The company now occupies a full floor in the Qualtrics Tower at 2nd Avenue and University Street, and the space is designed to accommodate 125 employees who are working in-person three days per week. The move gives Amperity 25% more square footage to support its growth, as it's actively hiring for several key roles. The startup was previously on the 26th floor in Columbia Center on 5th Avenue. Founded in 2016, Amperity reached a billion-dollar valuation in 2021 after raising $100 million. The company established itself as a leader in the customer data platform sector, or CDP. Amperity helps companies fine-tune marketing campaigns and understand buying habits by connecting fragmented data sources about individual customers via emails, purchase history, mobile app usage, website traffic, physical store visits, and more. The company named Tony Alika Owens, a longtime tech exec who previously spent a decade at Salesforce, as CEO last November. Amperity is ranked No. 43 on the GeekWire 200, our quarterly ranking of the top privately held technology startups in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
