Vote for Startup of the Year | LinkedIn explores adding games to feed

Amid a shaky venture capital market last year, there were still plenty of startups that gained momentum and reached new heights. That’s true for the five finalists up for the Startup of the Year category at the GeekWire Awards: Kevala, Overland AI, Pictory, Shipium, and SingleFile. Winners will be revealed May 9 at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle. Cast your vote and get tickets here. 

Adding some fun to the LinkedIn feed: The Microsoft-owned social platform is exploring adding several puzzle-based games to the overall LinkedIn experience, which could help “deepen relationships” and “spark the opportunity for conversations.” Read more.

Homecoming for Seattle-based entrepreneur-turned-investor: Andrew Peterson is back in town after a journey that took him halfway across the world and through a $825 million startup exit. Now the co-founder of Signal Sciences is looking to invest in enterprise software startups with a new fund. Read more. 

The rise, fall, and revival of Zulily: On a new episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we revisit the whirlwind saga of the Seattle e-commerce brand, explaining its decline and potential new rise led by investor and entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis of CNBC’s “The Profit.” Read more and listen here.

The artists who had a hand in the rise of Seattle’s underground comics scene shared the story of how that scene started and grew during a recent discussion at Emerald City Comic Con. A “perfect storm” of small publishers, alternative publications, the growing music scene and more helped independent comics flourish. Read more.

Hot Links:

• Starbucks is shutting down Odyssey, the coffee giant’s foray into NFTs and blockchain that launched as part of its rewards program in 2022. (Decrypt)

• Amazon and FedEx — two logistics rivals — reportedly discussed a partnership last year to help deal with package returns. (Wall Street Journal)