Tax software company Avalara is no longer calling Seattle its headquarters.
The company, which was ranked as the 19th-largest tech employer in Washington last year with 700 local employees, now hangs its hat in Durham, North Carolina. The company recently updated its LinkIn page to reflect the change.
Avalara confirmed the move Thursday. For now, the change appears to be mostly symbolic.
In an email, a company spokesperson said its headquarters address "does not change the way Avalara works as a global business." Avalara in late 2022 began offering space for sublease at its former Seattle headquarters in Hawk Tower at 255 S. King St. in the Pioneer Square neighborhood.
"Our HQ is where mail goes. We continue to maintain office space in Seattle and other strategic locations around the world to support our customers and partners," the Avalara spokesperson said.
Avalara employed about 480 people at its Durham office as of March and planned to add 100 more over the next year, according to the Triangle Business Journal.
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Avalara was founded in 2004 and went public in 2018. Four years later, the company was taken private when it was acquired for $8.4 billion by Austin-based private equity firm Vista Equity.
Vista Equity has a long history with companies in the Raleigh-Durham area. In 2013, Avalara acquired Raleigh-based Tax Technology Services, gaining a foothold in the Research Triangle region.
Avalara helps clients with consumer use tax, sales and use tax, and international compliance. The company says it has more than 30,000 clients, including Netflix, Converse and Zillow.
As of July 2023, the company had over 4,800 employees companywide, according to Business Journal research, including four offices in the U.S. as well as in Europe, India and Brazil.
The company told the Business Journal that its revenue exceeded $1 billion in 2023.
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