A new hacker house in the Seattle area brings startup founders together under one creative roof
A mansion overlooking Meydenbauer Bay in Bellevue, Wash., could be home to Seattle’s next big AI startup. At the very least, it’s a place where ideas are created by tech innovators who are inspired to live and work together.
Bili House is a hacker house started by a group of young people interested in improving communication and opportunity in the Seattle area.
The 7,000-square-foot waterfront home, complete with a swimming pool and boat dock, has five bedrooms and a co-working space. We already serve as a meeting place for events and workshops for things like learning to code vibe. And applications are open for the first batch of four to six teams.
The house was launched by four founders: Sylviane Zhao, who recently graduated from Cornell University, and Shawn Yang and Tehani Cabour, both of whom worked at the large French software company Dassault Systèmes. They work together on projects including CodeChimp, a project management platform that aims to turn vibe coding into a “multiplayer experience” by using multi-agent orchestration and other AI-powered tools. Last fall they were part of the Plug and Play group in Seattle. Jatin Kumar is the fourth founding member and Z Fellow.
“We’re just trying to get the first stage up and running here in Bellevue,” Yang told GeekWire.
“Every morning you wake up, you just go up to your room and start working together,” Zhao said. “Everything is 24/7, and very accessible.”
Yang said that before starting hacker house, they were thinking of moving to San Francisco. He joked that the money they paid for a house in Bellevue would get them a two-bedroom in the Bay Area.
“I was living in San Francisco back in 2022-23 and I was building rooms in different hacker houses. That really changed my perspective,” said Yang, adding that he feels there are more “first-timers” than “talkers” who choose to live and work this way.
The idea of a hacker house is not a new concept, especially in Silicon Valley where social housing for the tech-minded has long been a way to incubate the next big thing. Also tried in the Seattle area. Tech veteran Andy Rebele (Pure Watercraft) has worked in several different spaces over the past decade, including on Capitol Hill and in the University District.
Seattle startup Tune also hosted a house in 2015 near the University of Washington for women studying computer science. The desire for housing aimed specifically at female entrepreneurs continues today with FoundHer House, a San Francisco space spotted by the New York Times last year. Seattle is on the radar for potential expansion.
The Bili House website says rents range from $500 to $2,000 a month depending on the size of the room. Amenities include amenities, high-speed Internet, access to all common areas, and community events. The minimum stay is three months.
In addition to events like demo nights, founder dinners, and hackathons, the group is looking to collaborate, perhaps with a venture capital firm that can help defray some startup founders’ costs. Bili House also uses the marketplace to connect renters with hacker locations in other cities.
Other AI startups currently operating out of Bili House include legal simulation platform LexSims and construction cost analysis company Bevr.
“I really enjoy the culture,” Yang said. “I think it’s nice to have his people around you, and to be able to share knowledge, and skill sets, especially in this day and age. It really helps to stay connected in the community, to encourage each other.”
After stating that parking would be a hindrance in the area, Yang offered to hack on his way to and from Bili House.
“The University of Washington is 10 minutes by boat. The drive is like 30 or 40,” he laughs.
Keep scrolling for more photos of Bili House:
