Seattle startup raises $26M seed round | Nirvana co-founder presses Microsoft at shareholders meeting

Seattle tech veteran Vetri Vellore (above, left) is launching a new startup with a big vision to help companies improve their productivity and backing from investors who funded his former venture.

• Rhythms announced a massive $26 million seed round to fuel development of its platform that uses AI to analyze an organization’s habits and patterns — and provide recommendations to boost efficiency and output. 

• Vellore previously led Ally, a Seattle startup that helped companies measure objectives and key results. Microsoft acquired the company two years ago.

• "Vetri has been thinking about this problem for a long time,” said Madrona Venture Group Managing Director S. “Soma” Somasegar (above, right). “It feels like all the stars are aligning now.” Read more. 

Is Microsoft rushing too quickly to capitalize on artificial intelligence at the expense of long-term shareholder value? That was a key question at the company’s annual shareholder meeting Thursday morning. Krist Novoselic, the musician and author who co-founded the iconic band Nirvana, served as the spokesperson for a shareholder initiative asking the company to carefully study and report on the impact of its AI initiatives. Read more. 

The newly launched Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology aims to create new ways to document the development of cells, and how cells are affected by diseases, with tens of millions of dollars in support from the Allen Institute, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and UW Medicine. Read more.

GeekWire Gala recap: More than 600 attendees turned out for a night of networking, dancing, singing and partying as a frosty winter theme took over the historic Showbox Market in Seattle at our annual holiday bash. See the photos.

Music-licensing startup Audiosocket pushed play on a new subscription platform aimed at getting startups and digital creators to use the company’s stable of artists for music tied to games, apps, creator tools, metaverse worlds, and more. Read more.  

Hot Links:

• Amazon is testing a new grocery subscription service for Prime members, charging $9.99 for unlimited deliveries on orders of more than $35. (CNBC)

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committing $100 million to a new effort to address poverty in the U.S. (AP)