Secretive new Seattle startup lands $10M | Tech-related bills in Wash. legislative session

A new Seattle-based startup called Avante confirmed that it raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Fuse Venture Partners, saying it’s building a company with ambitions to “improve the lives of millions.” Here’s what we know: 

• Kabir Shahani (above, center), a serial entrepreneur who was CEO of Seattle-based marketing tech startup Amperity, is Avante’s executive chairman. 

• The company’s founding team also includes CEO Rohan D’Souza (above, right), a former chief product officer for health care automation company Olive AI; and epidemiologist Carly Eckert (above, left), Avante’s head of product and data science, who was executive vice president at Olive AI.

• Three engineering job posts visible earlier this week said the company is focused on “improving employee wellbeing through advanced analytics and behavior change.” Those posts and that language were no longer among the company’s public job listings as of Friday morning. Read the story. 

Who will fill the open Seattle City Council seat? Around a quarter of the applicants vying for the position come equipped with experience at tech companies and startups, according to the list revealed on Thursday. 

With another Washington state legislative session now underway in Olympia, we sifted through hundreds of bills to find the tech-related proposals — here’s the rundown. 

Tech Moves: Pacvue hires another Microsoft vet; LeoStella adds a director; and more key personnel changes across the Pacific Northwest. 

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