Blockchain-based startups, shipping logistics companies and beverage innovators all landed major investments in Austin in June. In all, we tracked 21 venture fundings in the month, with Medici's $22 million round leading the way.
Meanwhile, several Austin companies were acquired, including Drillinginfo and Malauzai.
That’s just a tease of all the activity from last month. Below, we’ve listed all the local tech startup funding announcements, mergers, acquisitions and venture capital fund activity from June 2018.
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Fundings
Mighty Swell, an Austin-based canned cocktail maker, reported raising $1.6 million in new equity funding and other securities. The company, founded by Clayton Christopher, Daniel Barnes, Sean Cusack and Jason Bronstad, previously raised $12.8 million.
Nadine West, an Austin-based clothing subscription service founded in 2013 by Ben Munoz and Sidney Williams, reported raising about $200,000 of a planned $1 million round of equity funding.
HeatGenie, which developed a self-heating beverage can that warms contents to 150 degrees within about two minutes, announced it has closed a $6 million funding round led by San Francisco-based ARTIS Labs. New York-based Almanac Investments and other private investors were also in on the round. HeatGenie, founded by Brendan Coffey in 2008 and led by CEO Mark Turner, previously raised about $3.2 million. That includes seed funding from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund and the Central Texas Angel Network, as well as a recent investment from former Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb, who is now on HeatGenie’s board of directors.
101 Commerce, a newly launched e-commerce platform company, has landed new investments from Austin’s Next Coast Ventures. Los Angeles- and New York-based 3L Capital, HomeAway founder Brian Sharples and RetailMeNot founder Cotter Cunningham also invested in the round. The amount of the investments weren’t disclosed. 101 Commerce, led by founder and CEO Richard Jalichandra, plans to use the money to acquire or invest in 101 small businesses that sell things through Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon program. While 101 Commerce and its investors didn’t disclose the amount of the Series A round, an SEC filing indicates the initial deployment is $12.7 million.
ALTR, a blockchain-based cybersecurity startup that has been developed for about four years by a team experienced in algorithmic options trading technologies, emerged from stealth mode and announced it has raised $15 million in funding. The startup is led by CEO David Sikora, a software entrepreneur and executive who helped lead ForeFront Group to become Texas’ first software company to launch an initial public offering in 1995 and founded mobile app company Digby. The new investments came from a variety of institutional and private sources, including Ronin Capital CEO John Stafford III.
SeriesX, an Austin-based startup using blockchain tech to secure token offerings, closed two rounds of funding totaling $2 million. The funding came from Shasta Ventures, Next Coast Ventures, Capital Factory Fund 5, Yeoman’s Capital, Hampstead Park Capital, Rigel Asset Holdings, Array.VC, 11-11 Ventures and Insiders. SeriesX plans to use the funding to further develop its CRM platform, Vertalo, which uses two-sided verification on the Ethereum blockchain. The company is also working on SEC-compliant smart contracts to enforce investor requirements for U.S.-based offerings.
Unchained Capital, an Austin-based startup that lends cash to long-term crypto investors, announced it has raised a $3 million seed round to expand its team and offerings. Investors include Michael Komaransky, formerly of Cumberland Mining; Brian Spaly, an angel investor and co-founder of Bonobos and Trunk Club; Mike W. Erwin and Whurley of Ecliptic Capital; and Ezra Galston of Starting Line, an early venture investor in the crypto sector. Unchained Capital was founded by Joe Kelly and Dhruv Bansal. It launched last November.
Eventador, a data streaming service based in Austin, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding to boost sales and expand its research and development. Austin’s LiveOak Venture Partners led the round. Deep Space Ventures, RSH Ventures and Capital Factory also joined the round along with existing investor Keshif Ventures. The new money brings Eventador’s total funding, which includes an earlier round of angel investment, to $3.8 million. As part of the new funding deal, LikeOak Partner Venu Shamapant will join Eventador’s board of directors.
Knocki, an Austin home IoT device created by Swan Solutions, reported raising $1.6 million in new equity funding from a single investor. The startup, founded by Ohad Nezer and Jake Boshernitzan, makes Knocki, which attaches to most surfaces and can sense gestures (a simple knock) and serve as a remote control for a variety of devices over WiFi.
Medici, an Austin-based telehealth app, announced it has raised $22 million from a group of individual investors. Those investors include Natie Kirsh of Jetro; Ken Griffin of Citadel; Barry Sternlicht of Starwood Capital; Howard Jenkins of Publix Super Markets;Amit Bhatia of Swordfish; Brett Moody of Moody National; Antonio Gracias of Tesla; and Austin heavyweight Tom Meredith, formerly of Dell.
Strangeworks, an Austin quantum computing startup founded by whurley, formally announced its $4 million seed round led by Menlo Park-based Lightspeed Venture Partners. The ABJ first reported on the seed funding in March as Strangeworks emerged from stealth head of SXSW. But this announcement provided an expanded roaster of investors. Other investors include Ecliptic Capital, GreatPoint Ventures, Lux Capital, BoxGroup and Amplify Partners. The ABJ reported other individual investors included BMC Software Inc. board chair Bob Beauchamp, Julius Baer Group AG board chairman Charles Stonehill and well-known San Francisco investor Jon Soberg.
Ambiq Micro, Inc., maker of low-power microcontrollers that work in wearables, chip cards and IoT devices, reported raising $11.4 million in equity funding, per an SEC filing. This is part of a pileup of equity and debt funding reported by the company, which used to be called Cubiq Microchip, Inc. In June last year, the company reported a $23.5 million round of equity funding. It later reported a $34 million round that came in two installments in late 2017 and early 2018.
Knowingly Corp., an Austin-based internet publishing company that owns tech news site GigaOm, has raised more than $1.2 million in new equity funding, according to two new federal filings. The company was founded in 2014 by CEO Byron Reese, who recently released a new book called “The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity.” In a separate filing, Knowingly Holdings, Inc., which is also led by Reese, filed a Form D indicating it has raised $6.3 million in new equity funding.
Mikaila & the Bees, the maker of Me & the Bees Lemonade, reported raising $1.1 million in equity funding. That adds to the $820,000 the company raised in 2016. The company was started when Mikaila Ulmer started a lemonade stand at age 4. Now, at age 13 and still using her great grandma’s recipe, she and her parents, Theophilus and D’andra, have scaled the business to distribute in major stores, including Whole Foods, in 20-plus states. The company has brought significant attention to efforts to save honey bees. The company also was recently featured on LeBron James‘ social media pages. Me & the Bees has gotten a lot of media coverage, but this Microsoft video is fun way to get to know the startup.
Convey, a deliveries software startup that connects businesses, shippers and customers, has raised an additional $10 million in funding. The new infusion came from Silverton Partners, Techstars Venture Capital Fund, RPM Ventures, NextGen and others. The company, led by founder and CEO Rob Taylor, has raised a total of about $26 million.
GroupBy, an ecommerce software company headquartered in Toronto and Austin, has closed a Series B round of funding. The company didn’t disclose the total amount, but it said the round came from PeakSpan Capital, a growth equity firm based in New York and Silicon Valley. The new money will fund product innovations.
Newchip, an Austin-based investment marketplace aggregator, which just raised a $2 million seed round. Newchip aggregates hundreds of investment opportunities from a number of platforms, allowing investors to put in as little as $100 in exchange for equity. In 2017, $300 million in investment capital was sought on Newchip by 800+ listed companies. Investors in the company’s seed round included JadeValue, SputnikATX, Youbi Capital, Polymath and Yeoman.
Arrive Logistics, an Austin-based freight brokerage startup that uses tech to make shipping more efficient for clients, has raised more than $10 million in a Series A funding. The company declined to share a specific amount. The round was led by Lead Edge Capital, a growth-stage VC firm with offices in New York and Santa Barbara. The company, founded in 2014 by Matt Pyatt and Eric Dunigan, now has more than 450 employees in Austin and Chicago. It plans to expand to 600 by the end of the year. It reported generating $30 million in revenue in first-year sales and hit $145 million in 2017. It expects to have $330 million in revenue this year.
Cerebri AI, an Austin-based platform that helps predict consumer behavior using artificial intelligence, has closed a $5 million Series A investment round. The funding was led by M12, which used to be called Microsoft Ventures. Others in on the round include the University of Texas Horizon Fund, WorldQuant Ventures and Leawood Venture Capital. This brings the startup’s total funding to $10 million.
Nulo, Inc., an Austin-based pet food startup, reported raising $28.4 million in new equity funding. The company, founded in 2009 by Michael Landa and Brett Montana, makes cat and dog food, including grain-free kibble recipes that are sold at PetSmart. The funding filing lists CAVU Venture Partners co-founders Clayton Christopher as a board member, and CAVU lists Nulo as one of its brand partners. Additionally, Crunchbase lists San Francisco PE Firm Main Post Partners as an investor. Nulo previously raised about $6.4 million in equity rounds between 2010 and 2015, and it raised $5.5 million in equity and other securities in February.
High Brew Coffee, an Austin-based maker of cold brew coffees, reported raising an additional $4.4 million of a planned $20 million round. That brings it’s funding on this round to $16.3 million. The company recently moved to a new HQ at near Oltorf and Congress Avenue. The company had previously raised about $28 million.
Acquisitions, Mergers & IPOs
SolarWinds, an Austin IT management software company, has filed draft paperwork indicating it will file for an initial public offering. It didn’t say how many shares it may offer or in what price range. So, not a ton to know at this point, other than a more detailed S-1 filing will likely be coming soon. SolarWinds, which initially IPOed in 2009, was bought out by private equity firms Silver Lake Partners and Thoma Bravo for about $4.5 billion in 2015.
Austin physical resource management software company Accruent has acquired Denver-based EMS Software. No financial details were provided. EMS Software helps organizations with conference and meeting room scheduling, as well as classroom and exam scheduling. The move comes just a few months after Accruent acquired La Jolla, California-based medical device management startup Connectiv. Accruent has made eight acquisitions now in the past two years.
Civitas Learning, an Austin education technology company, announced it has acquired ClearScholar, an Indianapolis-based student engagement startup. No financial details were shared. The acquisition comes a little less than four months after Civitas Learning announced it had formed a partnership to integrate ClearScholar’s student engagement app into Civitas Learning’s platform to give college students additional tools to help ensure they graduate.
Drillinginfo, an Austin software company for oil and gas analytics, announced it has acquired 1Derrick and PLS‘s research and database business. Drillinginfo CEO and President Jeff Hughes said his company has been looking to acquire the two companies since 2016, as part of its mission to expand its platform. Both acquired companies provide intelligence on mergers and acquisitions, as well as planned pipeline data and scouting reports in the energy sector. Later in the month, the company, which has 675 employees in 13 offices around the globe, agreed to be acquired by San Francisco-based Genstar Capital, a private equity firm that invests in software and industrial technology. No financial details were revealed.
Austin workplace management software company Asure Software announced it is offering 2 million new shares of its common stock in a move to raise about $35 million. The shares were priced at $17.50.
Malauzai, an Austin-based mobile banking company, has been acquired by Finastra, a London-based fintech company. The two companies have a long-running relationship and share 130 joint customers. Financial details weren’t included.
Siemens, a German engineering group, has agreed to acquire Austin-based software startup Austemper Design Systems Inc. No financial details were provided. Austemper, founded in 2015 by Sanjay Pillay, makes electronic design automation tools that analyze safety features in system-on-chip and ASIC components.
Austin-based Magnitude Software announced it has acquired Every Angle Software Solutions, which makes business analytics software for SAP users. Every Angle CEO Fred Hermans will become SVP of Every Angel Solutions under the Magnitude umbrella. Magnitude Software was founded by Chris Ney in 2014 when Noetix Corp. and Kalido merged. That year, the company raised $100 million from Boston-based PE firm Audax. This is one of at least six other acquisitions the company has made.
Nearly six months after securing a $250 million commitment from SilverLake, Austin-based WP Engine is making one of its first big moves. It is acquiring StudioPress, a Dallas-based company that created the Genesis Framework that’s used to create themes on WordPress sites. StudioPress was previously owned by Boulder, Colo.-based Rainmaker Digital. No financial details were shared. The deal expands WP Engine’s offerings and third-party plugin support — as well as original content about WordPress and design.
TrendKite, an Austin that uses AI and big data to analyze and improve the reach of public relations campaigns, is acquiring Atlanta-based Insightpool and Austin-based Union Metrics. Union Metrics was founded in 2009 by Hayes Davis and Jenn Deering Davis. Initially it created a Twitter report product called TweetReach. The founders moved to San Francisco in 2010 and began growing a social analytics company before returning to Austin. Insightpool, meanwhile, was founded in Atlanta in 2012 by Adam Blaschke, Adam Lewites and Adam Wexler, according to Crunchbase. It has has a social influencer database and helps brands expand their social reach. Its investors have included Peter Kight, Steve Chamberlain, Steve Koonin, TDF Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank. Both of the acquired companies will stay in their respective offices in Austin and Atlanta.
Dell announced it’s going public once again, albeit in a rather complicated way. Dell and Silver Lake have reportedly reached a $21.7 billion deal to buy shares that track the performance of VMWare, which Dell partially owns, back from investors. The cash piece of the deal will be financed by a dividend VMWare pays to its shareholders, Reuters reported. Dell owns most of it and will get roughly $9 billion. It will trade as DVMT. The move will put Dell back into the public sphere in a sense, even though Dell will remain a private company. The deal allows the Dell and its primary investor to retain more control than is typical for initial public offerings. The deal also will allow Michael Dell to remain CEO and chairman of his company.
Venture Capital Firm Activity
BuildGroup, an Austin-based capital investments company, announced it has raised $330 million from investors in Texas and the Rocky Mountains to invest in software companies. The company has already invested $57 million across three Austin deals — CDSC, Anaconda and Valkyrie Labs. It has also invested in Toronto-based Fixx. BuildGroup was founded in 2015 by Rackspace alumni Lanham Napier, Jim Curry and Klee Kleber, as well as Pete Freeland from General Catalyst. The organization offers hands-on operational help and playbooks to spur growth.
Arcade, a Dallas-based startup making software to motivate salespeople, has raised $750,000 in seed funding. The round was led by ATX Seed Ventures, Dallas Innovates reported. The company previously raised $500,000 in a round led by Dallas’ REVTECH Accelerator.
Dell Technologies Capital, the venture arm of Dell, led a $35 million Series B round for San Francisco-based Noodle.ai. Dell Technologies Capital emerged from stealth in 2017 and has made 90-plus investments since it started in 2012. The fund’s president, ScottDarling, Will join Noodle.ai’s board.
ATX Seed Ventures led a $1.5 million round for Philadelphia-based sales software startup QuotaPath. QuotaPath was co-founded by former Austinite and TrendKite co-founder AJ Bruno.
