Winter is arriving in Seattle. Whether you’re watching the snow fall from the Columbia Center’s Sky View Observatory, warming up with a hot drink from one of Seattle’s many iconic coffee shops, or strolling through the Wildlights at the Woodland Park Zoo, it might also be a good time to catch up on the movers and shakers in your local tech scene — and Built In Seattle has curated 11 noteworthy companies to get you started.
What’s more: Many of the city’s tech employers are developing upgrades to the breadth, depth and inclusion of their company culture, tech stacks and benefits.
The Seattle-based companies we featured are special in many ways, but all 11 have one thing in common: They are innovative, people-first organizations with intriguing perks — and well worth keeping on your radar in the winter season ahead.
What they do: Tango Card helps businesses of all sizes provide reward and incentive programs for their customers and employees. Their products provide a rewards dashboard and customizable delivery options.
The Perks:
- Unlimited PTO
- 401K with 100 percent employer matching up to 6 percent of income
- Opportunity to work from home at least 1 day a week for most roles
- Partnership with over 20 nonprofits including “RED” and “Girls Who Code”
- Company equity options, divested over a 4-year period
Rewarding Integrations: Tango Card’s Reward Genius integrates with widely-used programs such as Salesforce, Qualtrics and Zapier, allowing companies to use their pre-existing systems to get digital goodies to their employees.
What they do: Dreambox Learning aims to scale differentiated instruction for K-8 math and reading by using adaptive technologies to give each student a personalized learning experience.
The Perks:
- Full-coverage medical, dental and vision insurance
- Four weeks of vacation along with paid holidays and sick days
- Annual bonus and incentive programs
- Diversity manifesto and unconscious bias training
- Paid parental leave
Remote human connection: Chief People Officer Ronit Peled sat down with Built In back in May to talk about forging human connections in a remote environment.
“Real connections help individuals feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work, learn about each other and cultivate the empathy needed to flourish together,” said Peled. “At DreamBox, we have deliberate conversations about things that matter.”
What they do: Peak6 is an unconventional investment firm with a focus on innovation and democratization. It invests in, builds and supports businesses in a variety of industries including finance, esports and education.
The Perks:
- A Seattle office stocked with an in-office bar and deck along with a game room where they host ping-pong, cornhole and poker tournaments
- Company-sponsored sports teams and events, including an annual party that often features high-profile acts like The Chainsmokers and Imagine Dragons
- DEI council and ERGs including POWHER to amplify women’s voices and knowledge and BRIDGE: Black Resourceful Individuals Dissolving Gaps Everywhere
- Coordinated volunteer opportunities with nonprofits like Go Red for Women
- Three weeks of PTO and five personal days, with an 8-week sabbatical available to employees with 10+ years of service
Evil Geniuses: One of Peak6’s companies is Evil Geniuses, a legacy esport franchise that strives to build diverse esports teams of the best players available and fight toxicity in the pro gaming community. Evil Geniuses is the first major esports organization to choose a woman captain to lead a mixed-gender team for hero-shooter Valorant, and has programs to support women, BIPOC and LGBTQA+ gamers.
What they do: Optimize Health’s digital healthcare platform enables remote patient monitoring. Their team assists with patient onboarding and monitoring, workflow management and provider training, allowing for more ease of use.
The Perks:
- Full-time remote work for all positions
- $750 home office stipend for remote employees
- Mental health support through TalkSpace
- Access to Classpass and gym discounts
- Three medical plan options, including one with 100 percent premium coverage.
Healthy workplace: Optimize Health was one of the recipients of Built In’s 2022 Best Remote-First Places to Work awards at the start of this year. Best Places to Work is driven by an algorithm that sorts salary and benefits data.
What they do: Mothership matches freight with its on-demand network of trucks for last-mile delivery and logistics.
The Perks:
- Employee equity and stock options
- Flexible PTO
- 99 percent employer-covered medical, dental and vision insurance
- Work-from-home and internet stipends
- 4 percent 401(K) matching
Making (Freight) Waves: Mothership has been featured recently in several relevant publications, including the newsroom of payment platform Stripe and supply chain intelligence site FreightWaves. These articles highlight the company’s tech innovations and how they are improving the trucking industry.
What they do: OctoML helps companies optimize and deploy machine learning (ML) software. Their platform allows businesses to set goals for their ML tools and calibrate those tools to their hardware.
The Perks:
- Flexible PTO policy and paid holidays
- Paid family and military leave
- Remote and telework options
- 100 percent paid premiums for employees and dependents
- Paid parental leave and a return-to-work program upon return
AWS partner: OctoML is an Amazon Web Services (AWS) partner, allowing for integration with AWS technologies, a larger customer reach and access to expert resources.
What they do: Knackshops is a custom-curated gift platform with a focus on building purposeful, meaningful gift experiences.
The Perks:
- Health, vision, dental and life insurance
- Unlimited vacation policy
- Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for employees with at least 1 year of service
- Dog-friendly office
- Company equity for some employees
Giving partners: Knackshops partners with a wide variety of companies to create their gifted products. This includes brands like Kate Spade New York, Art of Tea, McSteven’s and Lexon, along with dozens of others.
What they do: In addition to providing an eCommerce platform to purchase Magic: The Gathering cards, Card Kingdom also operates Mox Boarding House, a game store and restaurant with locations around Washington.
The Perks:
- Partners with nonprofits like Gamers Engaged, MagiKids, Childs Play, and Young Women Empowered to raise money and host charitable card game tournaments.
- Hybrid work schedule
- Health, vision and dental insurance, including mental health coverage
- Disability and life insurance at no cost
- Pre-tax commuter benefits
Gathering players: Card Kingdom’s website holds articles and videos for fans and new players alike, including updates on purchasable products, tips for playing and interesting history around the 30-year-old game of Magic: The Gathering.
What they do: Coinme’s API-driven crypto marketplace allows for safe and accessible buying and selling of cryptocurrency.
The Perks:
- Up to eight weeks of parental leave for all employees, with a return-to-work program post-leave
- 100 percent paid health insurance, including mental health benefits
- Generous PTO, including seven days paid sick leave and 16 paid volunteer hours.
- Remote-first company culture
- $600 yearly professional development stipend
Growing the chain: In November, payment firm MoneyGram announced that it would be offering cryptocurrency purchasing through its app — a feature that is only possible through its partnership with Coinme. This advancement in their partnership will increase cryptocurrency accessibility and Coinme’s market reach.
What they do: Blue Nile is a provider of engagement rings and other jewelry embedded with diamonds, pearls and other gems. It makes ethical and sustainable diamond acquisition a pillar of its business.
The Perks:
- Remote-work program that includes full-time remote for certain positions
- Employee-led DEI advisory council
- 100 percent paid employee premium for health insurance, including vision and dental
- $100 per month commuter benefit stipend for parking and public transit.
- Up to $2,650 pre-tax FSA spending account
Targeted feedback: In an article on Built In Seattle, Director of Human Resources Kevin Blum spoke about how Blue Nile uses engagement surveys to target a few specific areas of improvement at a time.
“Rather than trying to focus on every category or theme of feedback, we limit ourselves to just three themes or actions,” said Blum. “We could try doing a lot, but if we’re being honest with ourselves, those efforts would be mediocre. So instead, we focus on doing just a few things really well.”
What they do: Flyhomes aims to simplify the homebuying process by connecting potential buyers to a network of research analysts, loan officers and tour agents.
The Perks:
- Pet-friendly office
- Unlimited vacation policy
- 401(K) program with employer matching
- Remote work allowance
- Employer-paid long-term disability insurance
Leveling the field: In December of last year, Flyhomes became the first home-buying company to cover all fees, lender requirements and additional costs associated with its all-cash offer. As those fees would often make an all-cash offer less affordable than a traditional one, Flyhomes’ decision increased the options available to its buyers.
