Startup Radar: 5 Early Stage Companies In Seattle That Are Raising Cash And Gaining Traction

From top left, clockwise: Yara CEO Joe Braidwood; Tamnoon CEO Marina Segal; Govstream CEO Safouen Rabah; Integrate CEO John Conafay; and Sound Games CEO Mike Schmid. (LinkedIn and company photos)

We’re back with another spotlight on startups making moves in Seattle.

The latest batch includes: Govstream.ai, Integrate, Sound Games, Tamnoon, and Yara AI.

Some are just getting off the ground, while others have started to raise capital.

Read more about the companies below, and catch up on our previous startup radar spotlight here. Send us an email at tips@geekwire.com to flag other companies or startup news we should know about.

Govstream.ai

Former Socrata exec Safouen Rabah recently took the startup leap with Govstream.ai, which is using artificial intelligence to help government leaders improve the permitting and urban development process. “Today, that process is a bottleneck for housing supply, a material contributor to rising costs, and a source of deep frustration for all involved,” Rabah told GeekWire. He was most recently a vice president at Tyler Technologies, which acquired Socrata, a Seattle-based startup that helped government agencies use and display data. Govstream investors include Nellore Capital Management and Socrata founder Kevin Merritt.

Integrate

Founded in 2022, Integrate’s software aims to help companies streamline program management for hardware development. The 11-person company has raised $5 million from investors and is nearing completion of a $1.25 million small business contract (SBIR) with the Space Force. Integrate CEO and co-founder John Conafay previously led business development for ABL Space Systems. Andrew Sloan, co-founder and vice president of product, was vice president of brand at Momentus. “Our customers are using Integrate to manage deliverables, requirements, and schedule directly with their vendors, contract manufacturers, and customers,” Conafay told GeekWire.

Sound Games

Mike Schmid, former head of publishing at Seattle startup Rec Room, is launching a new startup that is developing video games and “other things related to making games,” according to a post on LinkedIn this week. Schmid said the company has raised initial funding. His co-founders include Jacobo Abril and Sergio Abril, who previously started and led video game development company nada studio. Schmid was most recently vice president of growth at mobile gaming startup Backbone, and also spent four years at Apple.

Tamnoon

Founded in 2022, Tamnoon announced a $12 million Series A investment in September to fuel growth of its cloud security software platform that’s boosted by AI. Tamnoon CEO and co-founder Marina Segal said the company can “reduce critical threat exposures to near zero in just months after deployment.” Segal previously held leadership roles at Sysdig, Check Point Software Technologies, Credit Karma, and Deloitte. Her co-founder Idan Perez was a director at Dome9 Security. Investors include Blu Ventures, Mindset Ventures, Merlin Ventures, Secret Chord Ventures, Inner Loop Capital, and Elron Ventures.

Yara AI

Seattle tech vet Joe Braidwood just revealed Yara AI, the latest startup aiming to use AI to improve mental wellness. Braidwood tells GeekWire that this is more than just a chatbot. “Our system combines advanced language models and deep memory features with clinical expertise to provide evidence-based support that adapts to each user’s unique needs and circumstances,” he said. Braidwood was most recently chief strategy officer of Vektor Medical. He also co-founded social TV platform Scener and was chief marketing officer at SwiftKey. Yara co-founder Dr. Richard Stott has experience with clinical psychology, mathematics, and digital therapeutics.