Financial deals, mergers and acquisitions in the tech ecosystem are mentioned daily in the Atlanta Inno Beat newsletter, along with insights on how personnel moves may impact a startup’s future. Sign up for the Beat to get it each day in your inbox.
Check out the most important mergers, acquisitions, partnerships and investments from Atlanta technology companies from June 2019. Did we miss a deal? Let me know at mhogan@americaninno.com.
ConnexPay, an Atlanta-based fintech startup, raised $7 million in a Series A funding round lead by local VC firm BIP Capital. According to company representatives, the funding will be used to expand their Atlanta team, further technology development and expand into new markets.
Surterra Wellness, Atlanta’s star medical marijuana startup is back at it again, with its largest raise to date, a $100 million Series D round. The company also approved the expansion of its board of directors. The round was supported by existing and new investors, family investment offices and the startup’s current director, Ed Brown, former Patrón Spirits Co. CEO. The startup plans to use the new funding to continue “strategic acquisitions and infrastructure capital expenditures,” along with expanding its headcount to nearly 2,000 employees by the end of the year.
A week prior, Surterra Wellness was cleared to acquire a Massachusetts cannabis company with dispensaries in Brookline and Northampton. The company, New England Treatment Access, also has a cultivation facility in Franklin that received state approval just before the deal was complete. The deal combined NETA’s 700 employees with Surterra’s 800 employees. With NETA’s two dispensaries, Surterra now has close to 30 dispensaries in Florida, Texas, Massachusetts and Nevada.
Vyne, a Dunwoody-based health care communication platform, was acquired by The Jordan Company, L.P., a private equity firm in New York. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition will help Vyne provide health care technology and support to hospitals, health systems and dental offices across the country, according to a news release. The company was acquired from private equity firm Accel-KKR. With support from The Jordan Company, Vyne plans to expand on its current platforms.
Sun Joo “Grace” Ahn, an associate professor of advertising in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and director of the Games and Virtual Environments Lab at the University of Georgia, is working to find out how VR can benefit children. The lab was recently awarded a $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, allowing Ahn and fellow researches to explore how kids can become more active with VR.
NCI Information Systems, a Reston, Va.-based government IT contractor, signed its third exclusive business partnership with Holonic Technologies, an Atlanta-based firm focused on AI-as-a-service solutions for legacy systems. The company will now use Holonic Technologies’ software for its AI capabilities.
The National Science Foundation granted a $4 million award to support the South Big Data Innovation Hub, an organization that helps 16 southern states and the District of Columbia use data science and engineering to address critical societal needs. The South Big Data Hub is managed by Georgia Tech and theUniversity of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. It’s one of four regional data hubs supported by the NSF in the country.
Jeezy, an Atlanta rapper and philanthropist, partnered with telecommunications entrepreneur Freddie Figgers, founder of Figgers Communications. This partnership will focus on releasing a new cell phone and earpods together.
The Emory Healthcare Innovation Hub at Emory University partnered with Konica Minolta Healthcare, Novo Nordisk and Philips and Stryker to improve the patient care and provider experience by using IT. “The Innovation Hub, along with partner Sharecare, uses a demand-driven innovation approach, developed with 11ITEN Innovation Partners, to identify improvement through the eyes of the end user and to develop solutions with the greatest impact on cost, quality and health outcomes in the state of Georgia and across the U.S.,” a press release states. “Initial areas of focus include precision medicine, genetics, trauma/emergency medicine, orthopedics, obesity and rural access to care through telehealth.”
Cypress.io, an Atlanta-based startup that offers automated testing for applications in web browsers, completed a $9 million Series A round, led by previous investor Bessemer Venture Partners. The funding comes almost a year to the day after the startup announced it completed a $4 million seed round from BVP and Las Olas Venture Capital. The funding will primarily be used to continue the growth and expansion the company started with its seed round, with a focus on cross-browser testing, test analytics, code coverage, component testing, enhanced errors, built-in test retries, Github integration and more. The company is also hiring for new positions.
MedXoom, an Atlanta-based healthcare and fintech startup focused on patient identification, raised $3.3 million in a funding round, according to an SEC filing. Las Olas VC and TTV Capital, led the round. The startup will use the funding to increase staff and platform expansion, according to a news release.
Demand Driven Technologies, an Atlanta-based software startup that helps distributers find better inventory solutions, raised about $3.7 million from undisclosed investors in a round of convertible notes. CEO Erik Bush said a majority of the funding would be used to support growth, sales implementation, software development resources and hiring. The round was supported by the company’s existing investors, who Bush said are primarily located in the Southeast. Demand Driven Technologies plans to complete its Series A round in 2020.
Atlanta-based fintech startup Softgiving announced a partnership with local rapper and Grammy-nominated artist Jeezy to develop a new way to donate to his charity, Street Dreamz Foundation. Softgiving develops fundraising software for nonprofits such as Jeezy’s foundation, which provides opportunities and tech to at-risk youth. Founded in 2001, the Street Dreamz Foundation strives to encourage young people to “become effective leaders through programs that foster independence and respect for others, while educating and motivating each child to reach their ultimate potential in their area of interest,” according to the organization’s website.
Ironscales, an auto-phishing startup based in Atlanta and Tel Aviv, raised $15 million in a Series B round led by previous investor K1 Investment Management. The company plans to use the new funds to focus on decentralization as a means of preparing against cyber attacks and AI in the future, a company blog post said. CEO Eval Benishti told VentureBeat the funding will go toward growing the startup’s operations in the United States.
PPRO, an Atlanta and European e-payments company, acquired the largest Latin American payments provider, allpago. According to a news release, allpago covers 90 percent of the payment and gateway services in Latin America, which will help globalize PPRO. The company established its U.S. headquarters in Atlanta in March 2018.
Sparkfly, an Atlanta-based adtech company, scored a major partnership with fast-casual restaurant chain Chipotle to run its loyalty program and digital customer experience. Sparkfly will use its technology to run Chipotle’s in-app ad campaigns, rewards program, tech intelligence in the stores and online ordering. The company originally partnered with Chipotle in 2017, where it began implementing a promotions management platform.
Marc Stad, a San Francisco investor, acquired a 22 percent stake in Atlanta fintech giant GreenSky. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Stad, who runs Dragoneer Investment Group, first invested in the company in January, acquiring a 13 percent stake. He now owns more than 14 million GreenSky shares.
Greenzie, an Atlanta-based startup that designs software for autonomous robotic lawn mowers, has raised $500,000 in funding from seven investors for a Seed round, according to a filing with the SEC.
Atlanta-based fintech giant NCR Corp. acquired the Brazilian IT assets of Japan’s Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd., according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. NCR will utilize Oki Brazil’s IT services and some software assets for financial, retail and other industries. The company’s manufacturing operations and printing business in Brazil were not included in the deal.
Alogent, a Peachtree Corners-based software company that designs technology solutions for fintech companies, acquired the consumer lending software assets of IntelliEngines, an Austin-based company that designs AI business automation platforms. FinanceGenius, the cloud-based suite of lending software from IntelliEngines, will now be marketed under the new name Origins, as part of Alogent’s lending business, according to a news release. The service automates consumer lending and streamlines the loan origination process for financial institutions and retail lending. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
InComm, an Atlanta-based payments and technology services provider, acquired Hallmark Business Connections, the B2B incentives subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, Inc. Hallmark Business Connections provides integrated, personalized solutions for organizations to boost employee engagement through incentive programs built around physical and digital gift cards, according to a news release.
