New York City-based e-commerce technology company Rokt is establishing a foothold in Seattle.
The company in April opened a temporary office in Pioneer Square that now holds roughly 10 people. Rokt hopes to get a permanent space by the end of the year to house its growing staff.
"We've had really good candidates come through," said John Walzer, vice president of engineering and head of the Seattle office at Rokt. "We're looking to really increase our velocity for hiring here going into the middle of the year."
Walzer said the company aims to grow to 50 employees in Seattle by the end of this year and 200 by the end of next year.
The Seattle team is moving into a larger temporary space in its same building for the near future while it continues looking for its permanent space. Walzer said the company really likes Pioneer Square, but hasn't decided where in the city the permanent office will be.
Rokt, founded in 2012, helps companies gain more business through their online shopping pages. For example, the company can help show consumers relevant upsells, payment providers and rewards programs during the checkout experience. The company says its technology runs on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Its clients include Uber, Hulu and Staples.
Walzer said Rokt has just over 500 employees total. In addition to New York City and Seattle, the company has offices in London, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney and Aukland, New Zealand.
Walzer joined Rokt at the end of January after 10 years at Amazon, where he worked on Alexa News. He was Rokt's first Seattle employee and has been tasked with growing the company's presence in the area. Walzer said the company is mostly hiring engineers, as well as adjacent roles like product and user experience.
"We love Seattle," Walzer said. "We believe there is a really large population of talented engineers and (machine learning) people, and we think those people can really help us deliver more for our partners."
