Union coalition alleges Amazon deceived investors | Seattle outpacing U.S. venture capital trends

Unions allege Amazon deceived investors over warehouse injury data: A coalition of three labor unions asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate and take action against Amazon for using what the group describes as “cherry-picked and outdated data” about its warehouse injury rates in communications with investors this spring. Amazon disputed the claims, and said it relied on “the most recent, credible, independently verified safety data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics” in its annual proxy statement and letter to shareholders from CEO Andy Jassy (above).

Seattle outpacing U.S. venture capital trends: A tally from GeekWire’s funding tracker shows that the value of investments in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest rose 18% between the first and the second quarter of this year, to about $2.2 billion. That compares to a 23% sequential decline between the first and second quarters across the country.

Related: Flexe is Seattle’s newest unicorn as warehousing startup lands $119M

Merck in ‘advanced talks’ to buy Seattle-area biotech giant: Seagen could be acquired for $40 billion or more, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.

Boeing subsidiary to build flying launch pads: Virginia-based Aurora Flight Sciences is partnering with Virgin Galactic on Virgin’s next-generation motherships for its suborbital rocket planes. Read more.

Seattle to install curbside EV chargers: City Light aims to give more drivers who do not have access to off-street parking the ability to charge their electric vehicles. Residents can fill out a form to request a charging spot for their neighborhood. Read more. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day. — GeekWire Managing Editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com, and GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com.