Kyle Lui, general partner at Bling Capital who recently moved to Seattle, joins us for this startup radar to give his quick take on each company.
Check out Lui’s assessments below — the “VC View” — and read more about the companies. Check out past startup radar spotlights here and email me at taylor@geekwire.com to flag other companies and startup news.
Bluepill
Founded: 2025
The business: Bluepill assists companies in creating AI personas that replicate real customers to test reactions to various stimuli such as messaging, surveys, ads, and product concepts. This allows businesses to make informed decisions before launching new products or marketing campaigns. Bluepill has the backing of Pioneer Square Labs.
Leadership: Ankit Dhawan, the founder and CEO, previously served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Allen Institute for AI and co-founded Virtuelly, a virtual experience startup. With over four years of experience at Amazon in product leadership roles, Dhawan brings a wealth of expertise to Bluepill.
VC View: “Incumbents are sleepy and old, a new winner will emerge in the AI era. But there will be loads of similar competitors battling it out.”
Ecosided
Founded: 2025
The business: Ecosided aims to be a central hub for climate-related data and decision-making by introducing new frameworks and metrics. The company’s mission is to help businesses transform climate risk challenges into growth opportunities through strategic value chain and product strategies. Ecosided is currently self-funded.
Leadership: Haixia Wang, the CEO and co-founder, previously held the position of senior director of data research at ZoomInfo and senior VP of research at Skift. Co-founder Vladimir Baranek brings over three decades of tech industry experience, including a significant tenure at Amazon Web Services.
VC View: “Climate is hot. Great potential if the product works and can drive value to businesses.”
Flickboom
Founded: 2025
The business: Flickboom specializes in AI automation for social media marketing, offering services such as social media strategy development, content creation, and cross-platform publishing. The company is currently self-funded.
Leadership: Yinhan Liu, the founder and CEO, previously co-founded Birch AI, a healthcare startup, and gained experience at Facebook and eBay. Co-founder Shan Huang, who was involved in the founding of LeyLine last year, brings a strong background in cloud computing and executive engineering roles.
VC View: “Classic ‘replace agencies with AI’ thesis in a big market. The big question — is it durable or accumulating advantage over time?”
Managerspring
Founded: 2024
The business: Managerspring, a newly launched coaching app, positions itself as the “Duolingo for people management,” offering new and aspiring managers the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills through AI-assisted role-playing scenarios. The app, available on iOS, iPad, and Vision Pro, is self-funded.
Leadership: Tom Langan, the founder, previously held roles at Meta as a director in product management focusing on Oculus and VR devices. With leadership experience at Hulu and Microsoft, Langan brings a wealth of knowledge to Managerspring.
VC View: “Experienced product leader. Historically tough market for venture-scale businesses.”
Proponent
Founded: 2025
The business: Proponent supports B2B marketing and sales teams in analyzing customer interactions to pinpoint needs, pain points, and deal priorities. The company’s AI leverages insights from successful deals to enhance recommendations. Proponent seamlessly integrates with platforms like Gong, Hubspot, and Zoom and is currently self-funded.
Leadership: Prashant Mohite, the CEO and co-founder, previously held product manager roles at Paxafe and Datafi. Co-founder Mathew Thekkadayil, a former manager at Hemmersbach and About You, brings additional expertise to Proponent.
VC View: “Product looks solid. Is selling into PMMs (product marketing managers) a big enough market for venture?”
