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The finalists for Innovation of the Year at the 2025 GeekWire Awards.
Technology at play in the Innovation of the Year category at the GeekWire Awards could change the way we live and work in the future.
The five finalists are developing everything from a next-generation nuclear power plant to tech that can help law enforcement avoid dangerous weapons pat-downs.
The competing companies are: Lassen Peak, Lumotive, Microsoft (“Majorana 1” processor), Starfish Space, and TerraPower. The category is sponsored by Astound Business Solutions.
The GeekWire Awards recognize the top innovators and companies in Pacific Northwest technology. Finalists in this category and others were selected based on community nominations, along with input from GeekWire Awards judges. Community voting across all categories will continue until March 23, combined with feedback from judges to determine the winner in each category.
We’ll announce the winners on April 30 at the GeekWire Awards, presented by Astound Business Solutions. There are a limited number of half-table and full-table sponsorships available to attend the event. Contact our events team at [email protected] to reserve a spot for your team today.
Last year’s Innovation of the Year winner was Seattle-based AI2, which released OLMo, the open-source large language model, along with the underlying data and code, meant to significantly improve understanding of how generative AI actually works.
Continue reading for details on each of this year’s finalists, and vote here or below.
Lassen Peak is developing a handheld concealed weapon detection system. Using terahertz frequency imaging radar, Lessen’s device is intended for use by law enforcement, military, and private venues. The company says its application addresses the public safety concerns around physical weapon searches or “pat-downs” that it calls “highly dangerous for individuals conducting the search, as well as the individuals being searched.” Bellevue, Wash.-based Lassen Peak has raised $32 million to date.
Lumotive manufactures semiconductor chips tailored for 3D sensors. The Bill Gates-backed company focuses on optical semiconductor technology that can “steer” laser light and is used in mobile devices, autonomous vehicles, and robots, offering an alternative to traditional LiDAR systems. Renton, Wash.-based Lumotive raised $45 million in a Series B round in February.
Microsoft “Majorana 1” is a new quantum processor based on a novel state of matter. The technology provides a clear path to achieve quantum computing’s long-term promise of solving some of the world’s most difficult problems, especially in areas such as chemistry, biochemistry and materials science. Microsoft’s innovations are the result of a 19-year quantum computing initiative at the tech giant — currently the longest-running research-and-development program inside the company.
Starfish Space is developing its Otter orbital servicing vehicles for missions serving the U.S. Space Force, NASA and Intelsat. The spacecraft is designed to rendezvous with satellites in orbit to inspect them and link up with them, either for servicing or for safe disposal. The system makes use of several innovative technologies, including Starfish’s Cetacean and Cephalopod navigation and docking software systems and the Nautilus orbital capture mechanism. The Tukwila, Wash.-based company raised $29 million last November.
TerraPower is a Bill Gates-backed venture that could be the first to deploy a small module nuclear reactor in America. The company is focused on a design that aims to be cheaper and faster to construct than traditional reactors and that could help save the planet from the ruinous impacts of climate change. The company has raised about $1 billion.
Astound Business Solutions is the presenting sponsor of the 2025 GeekWire Awards. Thanks also to gold sponsors JLL, Baird, Wilson Sonsini, Baker Tilly and First Tech, and supporting sponsors ALLtech and Showbox Presents.
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