Blue Origin spacefliers rehearse roles on 15th test flight

Seattle-area startups set Q1 record for funding | Ex-Amazon leader Jeff Wilke joins Scale AI as advisor to CEO ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: The GeekWire Awards return May 20, 2021: [Celebrate the Pacific Northwest's leading innovators, entrepreneurs and technologists at one of the most-anticipated tech events. Register today!]( TODAY'S TOP STORIES “This is as real as it can get without … sending them on a trip to space.” Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture flew a mannequin into space today during the 15th test flight for its New Shepard reusable suborbital spaceship — but for the first time, living, breathing humans practiced all the steps leading up to launch and following landing. [Read more](. Tech Moves: Former Amazon exec Jeff Wilke is now an advisor to the CEO at Scale AI; Seattle startups Skilljar and Auth0 added new execs (who don’t live in Seattle); and T-Mobile names a new board member. [Catch up on the latest personnel changes across the PNW](. Related: [Bezos Earth Fund again poaches the leader of a grant recipient to help run its organization]( Seattle startups set Q1 record for funding: Seattle-area companies set a new bar for Q1 funding, reeling in $1.64 billion across 88 deals. That’s up from $616 million in Q1 of 2020. [Here were the top deals](. Speaking of top deals: Today in GeekWire Awards voting, we’re recognizing some of the biggest and most important transactions in the Pacific Northwest technology industry — deals that propelled companies to new heights. [Vote for Deal of the Year](. Huge debut for Coinbase: The cryptocurrency startup is the talk of the tech world today as it [went public via direct listing](. Shares opened at $381 each and spiked immediately. It's the first IPO for Version One Ventures, a VC firm that is active in the Pacific Northwest. Version One's Boris Wertz [detailed the thesis for the Coinbase investment here](. Seattle corporations join push for fair elections: Amazon, Microsoft, Nordstrom, and Starbucks are among hundreds of companies pushing back against voting restriction legislation currently being proposed in several states. [Read more](. VC’s new movie project: We previously connected with Vulcan Capital venture partner Steve Hall when he made a [viral cover of a onetime grunge hit](. GeekWire’s Kurt Schlosser caught up with Hall again to talk about his new movie “East of the Mountains,” theaters vs. streaming, and his attraction to NFTs. [Read more](. Thanks for reading, and see all our latest headlines below. — GeekWire Managing Editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com. SPONSOR MESSAGE [The GeekWire Awards return May 20, 2021!]( GeekWire’s annual celebration of the Pacific Northwest technology community is coming up on Thursday, May 20th via live stream. [Register today!]( LATEST HEADLINES [Blue Origin’s stand-in spacefliers rehearse roles, then watch their rocket rise to space]( [Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, Nordstrom join corporate push for fair elections]( [Seattle investor helps produce new film ‘East of the Mountains’ and learns how movies and tech differ]( [Boise-based PlexTrac raises $10M for cybersecurity collaboration and workflow software]( [GeekWire Awards: Vote for Deal of the Year]( SPONSORED: GEEK REAL ESTATE [Now Pending: Sought-After Houghton Living]( [Funding to Seattle-area startups hit new Q1 record with $1.6B invested — here were the top deals]( [Bezos Earth Fund again poaches the leader of a grant recipient to help run its organization]( [Tech Moves: Ex-Amazon leader Jeff Wilke joins Scale AI as advisor to CEO; Skilljar and Auth0 hire execs; T-Mobile board shuffle]( [Seeq lands $50M to grow manufacturing analytics software platform]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [INRIX: VP- Enterprise Sales]( - [Symetra: Sr. Software Developer]( - [Horry-Georgetown Technical College: Banner Developer]( - [GeekWire: GeekWire Technology and Business Reporter]( - [INRIX: Sales Development Representative]( - [New York Philharmonic: IT Support Specialist]( - [INRIX: Software Development Engineer]( - [Icertis: Senior Director Demand Generation]( - [Symetra: Software Developer]( - [Bonanza.com: Senior Rails Developer]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? BUY A FEATURED LISTING TO APPEAR HERE]( [About GeekWire]( [Contact Us]( [Advertise]( Copyright © 2021 GeekWire LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted to receive emails from GeekWire LLC.  Our mailing address is: GeekWire LLC 123 NW 36th St, Suite 203 Seattle, WA 98107  [change email frequency or address]( | [unsubscribe](