Seattle business leaders request ‘immediate action’ from city to improve safety in downtown

Deal mania: Catch up on the latest PNW fundings | Tech Moves ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: Become a GeekWire member: [Support independent journalism and join today!]( TODAY'S TOP STORIES “We are writing to urge immediate action and investment.” In a sharply worded letter to Seattle and King County councils, members of the Downtown Seattle Association said the neighborhood is in crisis from crime and homelessness and that people should expect more businesses to move or close unless measures are taken soon. Representatives from Amazon, Vulcan, Weyerhaeuser, downtown law firms, the Seattle Kraken and others signed the letter, which comes as questions swirl about the future of downtown’s status as a business district. The area was largely deserted when companies sent employees home at the outset of the pandemic, and some are now looking to reduce their physical office footprint with the shift to remote work. [Read the letter](. Deal mania: Pacific Northwest companies are reeling in venture capital dollars at a rapid clip. [We put together a quick recap of the latest rounds]( raised by startups including Pandion, Tribute, Copper Banking, and others. And here are three other funding-related stories that just published today: - [Rendered.AI raises $6M]( Former Kymeta CEO Nathan Kundtz is leading a new Seattle-area startup that could potentially drive substantial improvements to AI training. - [Husband-wife founding team lead Game Jolt]( “Who’s the best person to experience the stuff with other than the love of your life?” That’s David DeCarmine on going through the highs and lows of building a startup with his wife, Yaprak. - [Cloud data startup Chronosphere reaches unicorn status]( Co-founders Martin Mao and Rob Skillington first met at Microsoft, where they worked on migrating Office to the cloud-based Office 365 format. Rough week for Twitch: Photos of Jeff Bezos' face showed up on the Amazon-owned platform overnight in an apparent act of electronic vandalism. It comes just a few days after Twitch acknowledged a data breach. [Read more](. Predicting viral spillovers — before a pandemic: Washington State University this week [launched a new $125 million program]( to collect and analyze animal viruses with the aim of preventing the next pandemic. The program includes researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle nonprofit PATH. Tech Moves: Auth0 hires ex-Glassdoor CTO; Flyhomes names a CRO; Madrona Venture Labs adds a technical partner; [and more personnel changes across the PNW tech industry](. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend. — GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com. 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[Download the full complimentary report now.]( LATEST HEADLINES [Twitch got e-vandalized overnight with photos of Jeff Bezos amid fallout from data breach]( [Former Kymeta CEO lands $6M to reimagine AI training with new Seattle-area startup Rendered.AI]( [Led by founders who met at Microsoft, Chronosphere lands $200M, reaches unicorn status]( [For the love of gaming: Husband and wife co-founders raise $2.6M for social platform Game Jolt]( [Seattle business leaders request ‘immediate action’ from the city to improve safety in downtown]( SPONSORED: GEEK REAL ESTATE [Iconic Penthouse Living in The Heart of Downtown Seattle]( [Washington State U. lands $10M in effort to bolster nutrition and uptake of whole-grain foods]( [Funding news roundup: Pandion’s parcel network, Copper’s banking app for teens, mentoring app Tribute, life navigator OwnTrail, and more deals]( [Tech Moves: Ex-Glassdoor CTO will lead Auth0 engineering; Flyhomes hires CRO; and more]( [Preventing the next pandemic: WSU will lead $125M global project to find, analyze animal viruses]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [INRIX: Software Developer – Mobility Analytics (Java)]( - [HIGHSPOT: Sales Engineer, EMEA]( - [HIGHSPOT: Senior Quality Assurance Engineer, Content]( - [HIGHSPOT: VP, Core Engineering]( - [HIGHSPOT: Senior Technical Project Manager]( - [HIGHSPOT: Senior Backend Software Engineer, Solution Management]( - [HIGHSPOT: Support Engineer]( - [HIGHSPOT: Senior Manager, Software Engineering, Analytics]( - [HIGHSPOT: Senior Backend Software Engineer, Training and Coaching]( - [HIGHSPOT: Software Development Engineer 2, Engagement]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? 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