Atlanta startups raised more than $120 million in the seven largest deals during February, a significant drop-off from the 15 investments valued at $866 million that kicked off 2021. Marketing technology startup Terminus closed the biggest round ($90 million), but most of the deals this month were small, early-stage investments.
Here’s a breakdown of the funding and acquisition deals of the month in case you missed it. As always, subscribe to The Beat newsletter and get these deals in your inbox as they happen.
Funding
Softwear Automation closes $18.1M round
Softwear Automation reported closing an $18.1 million funding round in a Feb. 1 SEC filing. The Atlanta startup, founded in 2012, uses robotics and artificial intelligence to automate the manufacturing of sewn goods. The startup began raising for the round in 2019, according to the filing. Softwear Automation, a Georgia Tech spinoff company, expanded out of the ATDC incubator in 2017, the same year it raised $4.5 million. Investors include Atlanta's Silicon Road, SRI Capital and Monta Vista Capital. Softwear Automation CEO Palaniswamy "Raj" Rajan also invests in his company through his firm CTW Venture Partners. Read more.
SmartPM Technologies raises another seed round
SmartPM Technologies, an Atlanta-based schedule analytics company for the construction industry, announced it raised a $785,000 seed round. CEO Michael Pink said the company increased its customers by 250% and tripled sales revenue in 2020. The company plans to hire more employees throughout 2021. It currently has 15 employees, according to LinkedIn. In 2018, the startup used a $1.1 million funding raise from angel investors for hiring and product development. Read more.
Startup with Atlanta, New York offices raises $3.8M
Buy It Mobility Networks, which has offices in New York and Atlanta, raised a $3.8 million round, according to a filing with the SEC. Buy It Mobility Networks is a financial technology platform that allows existing mobile apps to accept financial transactions. Adam Frisch is president and CEO. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.
Atlanta virtual event startup raises $2M
InEvent, a virtual event startup based in Atlanta, raised a $2 million seed round led by Storm Ventures, according to a TechCrunch report. The investment will be used for product innovation and improved technology for hybrid event management, according to a company blog post. More than 6,500 hybrid events have been hosted on the platform, which is focused on corporate events for employees and partnerships rather than consumer events. CEO Pedro Góes leads the company, which is backed by the Y Combinator accelerator.
Civic Dinners raises $1.1M
Civic Dinners, an Atlanta startup that provides a platform for community conversations on social issues, closed a $1.1 million seed round that will expand the platform and its reach. Atlanta Seed Company led the funding round, which included participation from the Jump Fund, Techstars and angel investor Becky Winkler. Founder and CEO Jenn Graham said she quadrupled her team to 28 people, expanded into 11 languages and launched a back-end admin dashboard with the funding. Civic Dinners has about 40 clients, mostly based around Atlanta, and intends “to invite 1 million people to the table” in 2021, Graham said. Read more.
Fintech startup Gravy raises $4.5M
Alpharetta-based financial technology startup Gravy raised a $4.5 million Series A round led by Arlington Family Partners. The startup, founded in 2017 and led by CEO Casey Graham, helps businesses with subscription-based revenue recover failed payments. Gravy plans to hire 67 more people to its team of about 80 with the funding and ramp up sales and marketing. Graham said Gravy will also build out its integration capabilities to work with more payment processors and subscription managers and its insight capabilities to provide more data to its customers about the failed payments. Read more.
Terminus raises $90M
Marketing technology startup Terminus raised a $90 million Series C led by Boston’s Great Hill Partners to expand internationally and accelerate its hiring and innovation. Existing investors Atlanta Ventures, Edison Partners and Hallet Capital also participated in the round, which brought Terminus’ total investment to $120 million. Derek Schoettle and Chris Gaffney, both of Great Hill Partners, will join the board of directors. Terminus has hired 30 employees with the funding and plans to hire 50 more, CEO Tim Kopp said. The company has just over 200 employees across its Atlanta, Indianapolis and San Francisco offices. Terminus plans to open an office in London to better connect with its international clients and partners. Read more.
Acquisitions
Equifax acquires long-time partner for better data integration
Atlanta-based credit giant Equifax Inc. bought bank transaction data analytics company AccountScore Holdings. The acquisition aims to enhance Equifax's open banking and insight capabilities by combining Equifax's credit bureau information with bank transaction data from London-based AccountScore. The acquisition will allow for better integration of information, which means more automation and digital income verification will be possible, speeding up the process of checking credit for a consumer.
Crown & Caliber acquired by luxury watch leader
Hodinkee, a New York-based company that produces content on luxury watches, is buying Atlanta’s Crown & Caliber after receiving a $40 million Series B investment, which made the deal possible. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Crown & Caliber buys and resells luxury watches, adding transparency to an industry that was notoriously seedy, CEO Hamilton Powell said. All Crown & Caliber employees, including Powell, will stay with the company through the acquisition. Powell said he will continue in his role as Crown & Caliber founder, making sure the company aligns with his vision for it. The office will remain in Atlanta as well. Read more.
Bayan Software acquires Virginia-based startup
Bayan Software Inc., an Atlanta company that buys and grows software companies, chose Dominion Leasing Software as its latest purchase. Dominion Leasing Software, based in Powhatan, Va., and founded in 2001, provides accounting and asset management software to the equipment and finance industry. Dominion CEO Clinton Dunlow said Bayan Software will help his company offer more products and build on the success of its flagship product, LeaseComplete.
Peachtree Corners company acquires construction software startup
DSi-Digital, a Peachtree Corners holding company for architecture, engineering and construction, bought Boston-based Manufacton to expand its software tracking abilities of construction projects. DSi-Digital acquired Atlanta software startup ViZZ for its design and visualization tools a few years ago. The combination of those two companies allows DSi-Digital to expand its AI and data visualization capabilities to analyze a construction project from its design to its completion, according to a news release.
SPAC deals
Sharecare to go public
Sharecare, an Atlanta-based digital health management platform, is going public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, according to a Feb. 12 announcement. After merging with Falcon Capital Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: FCAC), Sharecare will become Sharecare Inc. and be listed under the ticket symbol SHCR. The deal is set to close in the second quarter and would put the enterprise value of the combined company at $3.9 billion. Read more.
