It was a slow fundraising month for Atlanta startups.
Five startups raised $141 million, and Collab Capital closed its $50 million fund for Black entrepreneurs.
That’s a significant drop from the $725 million raised in April, which was one of the most lucrative months of the year for the Atlanta technology ecosystem, mostly because of massive raises from Atlanta unicorns Greenlight Financial Technology and OneTrust.
The highest raises in May were from two health tech startups: LifeQ and Florence Healthcare. The dip in fundraising shows a typical trend in the ebb and flow of capital. Atlanta startups raised more than $850 million in January, which dropped to $120 million the next month.
Here’s a rundown of the month's top funding and acquisition deals. As always, subscribe to The Beat newsletter and get these deals in your inbox as they happen.
Green Feather raises $1.5M
Green Feather, a healthcare financial technology startup that spun off of Ally Commerce Inc., raised a $1.5 million seed round. Ciena Corp. Co-Founder Lawrence Huang, who's also executive chairman of Green Feather, led the round. Med-Metrix CEO Joseph Davi and Chosen Payments Founder Jeff Brodsly participated. A May 21 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says the round includes nine investors. The Atlanta-based startup officially launched in April 2020 to provide more flexible payment options for healthcare patients through its platform, Feather Pay. Read more.
Collab Capital's first, $50M fund
Atlanta early-stage investment firm Collab Capital raised its first, $50 million fund for startups led by Black founders. Google for Startups Head Jewel Burks Solmon, Atlanta Techstars Social Impact Accelerator Director Barry Givens and Goodie Nation Co-Founder Justin Dawkins founded the firm to give the next generations of Black startups more access to capital than they had while growing their companies. The fund includes investments from Apple, Goldman Sachs, Google, PayPal and Mailchimp. It supports Black-led startups or tech-enabled companies. The partners are focused on cities like Atlanta where there’s a high concentration of Black entrepreneurs and low concentration of capital. Read more.
LifeQ raises $47M
Alpharetta health tech startup LifeQ raised a $47 million Series A round for its health operating system that integrates into wearable health monitoring devices. The startup's first formal round included investments from Invenfin, 4Di Capital, Allectus Capital, Mogul Capital, Tenhong Holdings and more. LifeQ plans to have 100 employees by the end of the year and double that number in 2022, CEO Laurence Olivier said. The startup already has integrations with wearable device manufacturers for consumer use. The funding will help the startup expand its cloud capabilities, which would allow for a new, LifeQ consumer app and use of the devices in clinical and medical practices. Read more.
Mile Auto raises massive seed round
Atlanta insurance technology startup Mile Auto raised a $10.3 million seed round and scored another partnership with a major automaker. The round included investments from California-based Ulu Ventures, Emergent Ventures and Sure Ventures, and Louisville, Ky.-based Thornton Capital. Mile Auto uses computer vision and machine learning to provide car insurance to low-mileage drivers. Drivers take a picture of their odometer each month, which is uploaded into Mile Auto’s database. The startup charges for insurance based on the number of miles people drive. Read more.
Maptician raises $1.7M
Atlanta workplace management software startup Maptician raised a $1.7 million seed round led by Nelnet with participation from Invest Nebraska and Nebraska Angels. Equifax Chief Technology Officer Bryson Koehler is also a strategic investor. The round comes after Maptician has spent the year helping companies map out how their office space should look during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Co-founder John Wichmann said companies could strategize safe and efficient return-to-work plans through Maptician Flex, a platform that offers interactive floor plans of workspaces, including desks, offices, tables and walls. Nelnet was an early customer of Maptician and called the company "an essential component" of getting people back to office's and managing post-pandemic space.
Florence Healthcare raises Series C
Atlanta software startup Florence Healthcare raised an $80 million Series C round and plans to double its team as it expands its network. The round was led by New York-based Insight Partners, a global venture capital firm with bets on Atlanta unicorns OneTrust and SalesLoft. Existing investors Fulcrum Equity Partners, Bee Partners and Flashpoint also participated. The startup has $90 million in total investments. Florence automates the paperwork that physicians must do when conducting clinical research on drugs and medical treatments, which speeds up the trials, CEO and co-founder Ryan Jones said. Read more.
Acquisitions:
CallRail buys first company
CallRail, a marketing technology startup, bought New York-based PhoneWagon, its first acquisition. PhoneWagon, a call tracking software company, expands CallRail's customer base. CallRail, founded in 2011, provides a marketing platform to small businesses to help drive more sales leads, centralize communication and retain customers. It raised $56 million at the end of 2020 after clocking years of high growth. The company has more than 200 employees and 150,000 customers, according to its website. In 2018, CallRail expanded into the downtown Atlanta building 100 Peachtree and had a five-year expansion plan, which included adding 300 jobs and multiple floors of the tower.
Global Payments buys real estate software company
Fintech giant Global Payments Inc. bought real estate software company Zego from Vista Equity Partners for $925 million. Global Payments aims to expand its reach in the real estate vertical with the acquisition, which combines Zego's property management and resident engagement platform with Global Payments' payments technology. The deal is the fintech company's largest acquisition since its 2019 merger with Total Systems Services Inc., which made Global Payments one of the nation's largest fintech companies. Read more.
