OfferUp cuts staff | Microsoft releases outside report on harassment and discrimination

More tech companies are slashing their workforces. 

• Bellevue, Wash.-based mobile marketplace operator OfferUp is laying off about 19% of its staff, joining a growing list of companies reducing headcount.

• Amazon is reportedly laying off 10,000 corporate and tech workers; Seattle-area startups such as Convoy and Flyhomes also recently announced cuts.

Despite the shaky economy, Seattle-area startups are still raising cash. 

• Bonum Therapeutics raises $93M: The biotech startup creates protein-based therapeutics that are active in the body only where they need to be. 

• MotherDuck emerges from stealth: The Seattle startup has raised $47.5 million for a data analytics system based on the open-source platform DuckDB.

• AI2 Incubator spinout lands $4M: CalmWave takes on nurse burnout with tech to reduce alarms from devices attached to patients in the ICU.

Microsoft released results from an outside report on harassment and discrimination. 

• The report makes a series of recommendations to revise the company’s policies and practices, improve transparency and feedback, and address what it described as “perceptions” inside the company that senior leaders are not held accountable. 

Amazon is trying its hand at another healthcare service. 

• "Amazon Clinic" uses message-based interaction to connect customers with third-party telehealth providers. The idea is to offer a convenient way to seek treatment for more than 20 common health conditions.

• The launch comes just a few months after Amazon announced that it would stop offering its Amazon Care primary healthcare services at the end of this year.

Amazon is testing facial recognition tech to verify the identity of online sellers.

• The use of automated technologies instead of human review is part of a broader effort by the company to combat fraud on its platform. Here's how it works.

• The Seattle billionaire says in a new post that she’s “supporting the voices and opportunities of people from underserved communities.” Read more.

The latest vote count shows that Seattle may change how it votes in primaries.

• Pivotal Ventures, a company founded by Melinda French Gates that supports female empowerment, recently deemed ranked choice “a better way to vote” compared to traditional ballots. Read more.