Taste test: Seattle startup’s beanless coffee vs. Starbucks and others

Buzzworthy notes from a Seattle coffee taste test: GeekWire put the beanless cold brews from upstart coffee maker Atomo up against established offerings from Starbucks and others and discovered that corporate coffee still leaves an impression in the city where it became a craze. Above, GeekWire’s Taylor Soper, Nathan Bek and Charlotte Schubert get caffeinated. Read the story.

Jay Carney lands at Airbnb: The former White House press secretary under President Obama will leave his role as Amazon’s senior vice president of global corporate affairs to become Airbnb’s global head of policy and communications. In a 2019 interview at the GeekWire Summit, Carney joked that he decided to join Amazon because “it was time to take on a really relaxing job like this.” Of course, as he acknowledged, his tenure at the tech giant was anything but.

More startup layoffs: Seattle healthcare company 98point6 cut 10% of its workforce, becoming the latest startup to reduce costs and extend runway amid the broader economic downturn. This week we reported on layoffs at Flyhomes, Rad Power Bikes, and RealSelf.

See recent layoffs affecting Pacific Northwest startups with our layoff tracker.

Do crypto assets = securities? That’s the question at the heart of a new lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission involving a former Coinbase employee in Seattle. 

Silverback Therapeutics merger: The Seattle-based biotech company, which went public in 2020, is combining with San Diego-based ARS Pharmaceuticals. 

Seattle housing projects funded by payroll tax: More than 1,700 affordable housing units will be built in the Seattle region thanks to money used from the city’s new payroll tax on big businesses. Read more. 

High school team flies high at rocket competition: The 10-person team from Newport High School in Bellevue, Wash., which won the American Rocketry Challenge this spring, finished second at the international event in London.