GeekWire chairman Jonathan Sposato with Vittana’s Kushal Chakrabarti

Thanks to everyone who came out last night for the GeekWire Gala. We had a blast partying with more than 800 folks, recognizing some of the top Newsmakers of the Year and celebrating a fabulous year in tech.

But one of the coolest things about the evening is how the community came together to support our non-profit partner, Vittana, through the Geeks Give Back campaign.

We raised more than $32,000 for Vittana’s education-oriented student loan program, with various companies in town pooling their funds in a bit of friendly philanthropic competition.

Taking home the top prize was Blue Box, which raised $6,823. As winners, the Blue Box team took home an autographed Sounders jersey, and a $500 gift card to The Garage restaurant and bowling alley. A big congrats to Blue Box. [Editor’s note: Blue Box is GeekWire’s hosting provider].

In second place was Socrata with $5,025, followed by Rooster Park, which  raised $4,418. Kudos as well to fourth place finisher Startup Seattle, which rallied various members of the startup community to raise $3,866. Also, individual donor Mike McSherry, the former CEO of Swype, donated $2,500, and won  a $500 gift certificate to Knoll.

Together, these funds will be used to help wipe out youth poverty through the power of education.

Check out photos from the Gala here.

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