Seattle’s Rising Tech Stars: Four Startups Shaping the Future

As the Pacific Northwest continues to cement its status as a tech innovation hub, a fresh crop of Seattle-based startups is emerging with solutions that span the realms of retail analytics, nutrition technology, digital memory preservation, and business intelligence. These early-stage ventures—Axel AI, DrunR, Eluum, and profileAPI—represent the region’s entrepreneurial spirit and technological ambition, each addressing distinct market needs with innovative approaches and experienced leadership teams at the helm.

At the intersection of data analytics and retail media, Axel AI is positioning itself as a critical “reasoning layer” for sales teams drowning in disorganized information. Founded in 2024 by Bobby Figueroa, who previously built and sold commerce insights company Gradient to Criteo, Axel AI transforms scattered data into coherent commercial narratives and proposals. The company’s value proposition centers on efficiency—enabling retail media sales teams to reduce time spent on manual analysis and preparation while creating more compelling pitches. With leadership that boasts executive experience from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, Axel AI brings significant industry credibility to the table. The startup recently unveiled its minimum viable product at major industry events CES and NRF 2026, signaling its readiness to enter the market. While the concept addresses a genuine pain point for sales professionals, industry observers note that Axel’s long-term success will depend on demonstrating tangible revenue improvements for clients and seamlessly integrating with existing sales workflows to avoid becoming “just another tool” in an already crowded tech stack.

Meanwhile, DrunR is tackling the increasingly complex world of nutrition guidance through a personalized app experience. Founded by Yaya Ali, a financial analyst with food operations background, DrunR provides tailored nutritional guidance based on individual goals and preferences. What makes this startup particularly relevant is its focus on supporting users in real-world scenarios—specifically while dining out or ordering food online—moments when maintaining nutritional goals typically becomes most challenging. The company is currently running a closed beta in Seattle, working directly with restaurants and users, including those taking GLP-1 medications for weight management. As part of the WTIA Founder Cohort 13 program, DrunR benefits from structured support as it develops its offering. Industry analysts point out that while DrunR’s timing is excellent—coinciding with significant shifts in eating habits driven by new weight-loss medications—the app’s ultimate success will depend on becoming an essential daily companion rather than an occasional resource. The challenge ahead lies in identifying and optimizing for high-frequency use cases that will drive consistent engagement.

The digital landscape has become increasingly fragmented, with personal memories and important life moments scattered across multiple platforms, devices, and formats. Eluum, founded in 2024, aims to provide a solution to this modern dilemma by offering a reimagined social media experience focused on organizing personal memories, stories, and digital artifacts into a unified, user-controlled system. Unlike traditional social platforms that prioritize engagement metrics and algorithmic content distribution, Eluum emphasizes community-driven moderation and cross-platform compatibility. The company is led by CEO Bilkay Rose, whose executive experience includes roles at Avalara and Clearwire, alongside technical co-founder Dale Rector, who brings three decades of Microsoft experience to the venture. Currently in the early user onboarding phase, Eluum plans to launch its MVP later this year. Industry observers recognize that Eluum addresses a genuine emotional need in the market—the desire to reclaim and meaningfully organize one’s digital legacy—but caution that the platform will need to establish clear, compelling use cases that drive regular engagement without relying on the addictive mechanisms that characterize traditional social media. The bootstrapped company faces the challenge of defining a focused initial value proposition within the broad concept of “memory curation.”

As artificial intelligence increasingly transforms business operations, profileAPI is positioning itself as the essential data foundation for developers building AI-native tools for sales and marketing teams. Founded by serial entrepreneur Wissam Tabbara, who previously built and sold two startups and spent over six years at Microsoft, profileAPI represents an evolution from the founder’s previous venture, Truebase. Rather than competing as another AI sales agent in a crowded marketplace, profileAPI has pivoted to become an infrastructure provider—tracking more than 10,000 signals across over 10 million companies and 500 million professionals. With $2 million in funding secured, the company is building what it describes as a “business data layer” specifically designed for AI applications like chat interfaces, copilots, and autonomous agents focused on go-to-market activities. Industry analysts view this strategic pivot from product to platform as shrewd, noting that providing the underlying intelligence for multiple AI tools offers greater growth potential than developing a single agent. However, profileAPI will need to demonstrate that its vast data resources translate into actionable, timely insights that drive meaningful business decisions, while ensuring its integration process is streamlined enough to encourage widespread adoption.

These four startups exemplify the diversity and innovation thriving in Seattle’s technology ecosystem. From transforming how retail media teams leverage data to reimagining personal digital archives, from personalizing nutrition guidance to powering the next generation of AI business tools, each company brings a unique vision and solution to market challenges. Their success will ultimately depend on execution—transforming promising concepts into essential products that seamlessly integrate into users’ lives and workflows. As they navigate the challenging early stages of growth, these ventures benefit from Seattle’s robust startup support networks, access to technical talent, and proximity to major technology companies that often become partners, customers, or eventually acquirers. Whatever their individual outcomes, Axel AI, DrunR, Eluum, and profileAPI collectively represent the continuing vitality of Seattle’s position as a launchpad for technological innovation and entrepreneurial ambition in 2026 and beyond.