Mar 23, 2022

Techstars

Techstars, a global investment business that provides access to capital, one-on-one mentorship, and customized programming for early-stage entrepreneurs, and Protocol Labs, creator of the Filecoin and IPFS decentralized storage protocols, announced the inaugural class of the Filecoin Techstars Accelerator. This selective accelerator has accepted 12 startups who are building on top of the Filecoin and IPFS protocols to participate in a 13-week intensive program which will provide hands-on mentorship, curated entrepreneurial content and programming, up to $120K in funding, and access to Techstars’ network of mentors, investors, alumni and corporate partners. The program, based at Techstars’ Seattle facility in Startup Hall on the University of Washington campus, will operate on a virtual and in-person hybrid basis. The 12 companies participating in the program include: Bailport, Ecko, Haiphen, MerkleBot, MetaPals, Mint State Labs, Peeranha, The Bloop Browser, SharpShark, StaTwig and TransCrypts. Over the course of the 3-month program founders will have access to a mentor pool of serial entrepreneurs, subject matter experts, and industry experts from Techstars Seattle, as well as crypto-specific mentors from Protocol Labs and the broader Filecoin ecosystem.

SMPS

The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) is celebrating SMPS Seattle’s 40th anniversary by hosting its first ever silent auction. For this auction, they are asking members and their companies to donate items for bidding. The auction will open for bidding leading up to the Reign Awards evening where the auction will close and items can be claimed. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to one or more non-profits. Questions or information about donating an item should be addressed to Paula Welly or Jeremy Richard at paulawelly@paceengrs.com and jrichard@designwesteng.com. Commitment to donate is due by Monday, May 2, 2022. The SMPS Seattle chapter has more than 300 members from hundreds of firms throughout Washington, Montana, Idaho and British Columbia.

Whitman

Christina and Peter Dawson have donated a $2 million gift to Whitman to endow the Kathleen M. Murray Chair in Computer Science. The chair is named for Whitman President Kathleen Murray, who is retiring at the end of this academic year. Established in 2015, the computer science program was approved as a new major in 2016 during Murray’s first year in office, and then officially offered to students starting with the 2017-18 academic year. Since then, it has continued to expand, with courses including web design, introduction to data science, computational problem solving and human-computer interaction. Graduates have gone on to careers at Google, Microsoft and other competitive companies. Each full-time computer science faculty member currently advises nearly 30 students. The Dawsons’ gift will allow the college to search for an additional computer science faculty member this year.

Mar 22, 2022

Delta Dental

Robinson

Delta Dental of Washington selected Monty Robinson as its new chief revenue officer. Robinson will oversee the sales, account management, product development and customer implementation teams and is responsible for the vision and strategies to increase value to customers, retaining existing accounts, drive new growth and develop innovative products and services. With more than 24 years of healthcare and financial services experience, Robinson comes to Delta Dental with success in leading enterprise business, talent management, strategic planning, and organizational readiness strategies. Prior to this, Robinson held key senior leadership positions for sales at Aetna and at Nationwide Financial. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management & Finance from the University of South Carolina, and an MBA in Marketing from Troy University in Alabama. Delta Dental of Washington is the state’s leading dental benefit provider, covering over 3 million people in Washington state and nationally.

HDC of Seattle-King County

Malaba

The Housing Development Consortium of Seattle-King County (HDC) announced that Patience Malaba has been selected as HDC’s next executive director. For almost four years at HDC, and in increasing levels of responsibility, Malaba has served as HDC’s director of government relations and policy. Prior to that, she managed Seattle for Everyone, a broad coalition that was central to the success of Seattle’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda. Previous positions also include work with Futurewise and the Services Employees International Union Local 6. Malaba was the 2020 Bullitt Foundation Environmental Fellowship awardee. An advocate for affordable homes and equitable communities, her efforts have advanced cross-sector partnerships that resulted in equitable access to affordable housing. The Housing Development Consortium of Seattle-King County was founded in 1988 by 10 non-profit housing providers. HDC’s mission is to build, sustain, and inspire a diverse network committed to producing, preserving, and increasing equitable access to affordable homes.

Kymeta

Kymeta, a communications company making mobile global, has introduced three new product brands for the u8 terminal including the Hawk TM u8, Goshawk TM u8, and Osprey TM u8. Along with new Kymeta branding, the company announced the Osprey u8 product for the military is now shipping. In addition, the company introduced significantly lower pricing for the Hawk u8 . This follows last week’s news of $84 million in new financing to further evolve the company’s growth as it prepares to expand offerings for LEO and defense customers. Kymeta was recently named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies and listed as No. 5 on the 10 Most Innovative Space Companies of 2022 by Fast Company. Kymeta’s satellite connectivity solutions offer turnkey bundled solutions to the market based on best-in-class technologies and tailored customer-centric services. Kymeta is a privately held company based in Redmond.

Mar 18, 2022

CougsFirst!

CougsFirst! hired Tony Poston as its new executive director. CougsFirst! was launched in 2010 by Washington State University alumni in various businesses across the state who wanted to encourage WSU graduates and friends to “Think Cougs First” for products and services. Annual trade shows in Seattle and Spokane featuring businesses owned, managed or affiliated with WSU alumni are among its most visible undertakings but the organization has grown to encompass a mentoring program, business education, virtual events and a golf tournament, with 350 plus business members that span across all industries. Poston, a WSU graduate who has served on the CougsFirst! board of directors since 2019, stepped down as CEO of College Hill on Jan. 1 in order to focus more on community-building endeavors. Poston launched College Hill in 2011 after five years managing artists and band merchandise in the music industry. In 10 years, College Hill grew from a one-room operation in an apartment to a member of Inc. magazine's 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America in 2016.

Artist Trust

Artist Trust, a nonprofit that supports working artists of all disciplines in Washington State, announced the recipients of the 2022 Artist Trust Fellowship Awards: visual artists Crista Ann Ames, David Chatt, and Tamela Laclair; performing artists Alfonso Cervera, Nia-Amina Minor, and Jovino Santos Neto; multidisciplinary artists Kamari Bright (Fellowship Award for Black Artists), Camas Logue, Darrell McKinney (Greg Kucera & Larry Yocom Fellowship Award), d.k. pan, and D.A. Navoti; media artist Neely Goniodsky; and literary artists Shin Yu Pai, Olivia Stephens, and Arianne True. Each artist received a cash award of $10,000. 2022 marks the largest Fellowship cycle in Artist Trust's history, with $150,000 in funding awarded to fifteen Washington state artists, compared to $90,000 the prior year. In October 2021, long-time donors Greg Kucera and Larry Yocom contributed $500,000 to create two new permanent Fellowship Awards: the Greg Kucera & Larry Yocom Fellowship Award, and the Artist Trust Fellowship Award for Black Artists, both awarded for the first time this year. This gift, combined with renewed support from the Vadon Foundation and increased support from individual donors, allowed Artist Trust to provide fifteen awards this year. Arianne True was selected as the recipient of the Vadon Foundation Fellowship Award for Native Artists.

Symetra

Symetra is the recipient of a 2022 Celent Model Insurer Award, winning in the Innovation Execution category for its Symetra SwiftTerm digital term life insurance platform. Celent, a global research and advisory firm for the financial services industry, announced the awards at their annual Innovation & Insight Week. Launched in June 2021, Symetra SwiftTerm offers term life insurance coverage through a streamlined application process. Qualified applicants can apply, pay and get their policy online — from whatever device they choose — in as little as 25 minutes. Celent Model Insurer Award nominations undergo a rigorous evaluation process by Celent analysts, who assess insurer submissions on three core criteria: demonstrable business benefits of live initiatives; the degree of innovation relative to the industry; and the technology or implementation excellence. Symetra Life Insurance is a subsidiary of Symetra Financial, a diversified financial services company based in Bellevue.