We're running a bit behind with our August funding and acquisition wrap up.
But better late than never, especially with some of these big moves: Opcity is being acquired for $210 million, Social Solutions landed a $59 million commitment from the Ballmer Group and Bumble launched a venture fund for women-led startups.
That’s just a glimpse of the activity from last month. Below, we’ve logged all the local tech startup funding announcements, mergers, acquisitions and venture capital fund activity from August 2018.
We cover funding rounds and much more in our daily newsletter, The Beat. You can sign up to get that here.
Fundings
Fetch Package, a Dallas-based last-mile delivery startup for apartment complexes and multifamily dwellings, has raised $3 million in seed funding. The round was led by Austin’s Silverton Partners. Austin’s Capital Factory and Dallas-based Venn Ventures also participated in the new round. As part of the funding, Fetch announced it would expand its service from Dallas to Austin and Houston. It also says it will move its headquarters to Austin by the end of 2018, the Dallas Business Journal reported.
Factom, an Austin-based blockchain data security startup, reported raising $6 million in equity funding and simple agreements for future equity. The company’s filing indicates the funding came from a single investor and that it has targeted $15 million total for the round. Factom, founded in 2014 by Paul Snow and David Johnston, previously raised $8 million in a Series A round.
Qv21 Technologies, which makes shipping, dispatch and logistics software, reported raising about $575,000 in equity funding. The company was founded in 2009 and is led by CEO Jonathan Currie.
Primizie, maker of flatbread crisps, which also goes by the name Piadina Inc., reported raising $3.7 million in new equity funding to keep on growing. The company was founded by Mark and Lisa Spedale after they discovered some new recipe ideas in Italy. The company previously raised about $6 million.
Patchr, an Austin startup helping accelerate circuit board design, has raised about $100,000 in equity funding, according to a new SEC filing. The company was founded by Eric Schneider, whose LinkedIn shows he used to work at Honest Dollar, which was acquired by GoldmanSachs, and, before that, Chaotic Moon Studios.
TaskUs, a Los Angeles area customer service company whose founders live in Austin, landed a $250 million investment from Blackstone Group, Bloomberg reported. The deal valued the startup at $500 million. The company’s founders, Jaspar Weir and Bryce Maddock, live in Austin and they have several offices across the country.
Social Solutions, an Austin-based startup that makes software for case management with nonprofits and government agencies, has received a five-year, $59 million investment from Ballmer Group, which was co-founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and philanthropist and activist Connie Ballmer. The money will help Social Solutions develop more products and integrate public and nonprofit systems to allow data sharing. As part of the deal, Ballmer Group will get a financial interest in Social Solutions, which may return a profit if the company increases in value and is sold or goes public, a news release said.
Amgine Technologies, which makes the travel organization app HelloGbye, reported raising $2.2 million in new equity funding. That follows a $1.6 million round reported in May. The startup was founded by Jonathan Miller in 2015. It had previously raised about $2.9 million.
Living Security, an Austin startup that raises cybersecurity awareness through games and training, closed a $500,000 seed round. The funding was led by San Antonio-based Active Capital and Boston- and Houston-based Cathexis Ventures. Pipeline Angels also contributed. Living Security created a security escape room and several other products to help people understand and learn about cybersecurity risks. It’s led by co-founder and CEO Ashley Rose.
Cerberus Interactive, an Austin mobile game maker, reported raising $1.3 million from 33 investors via simple agreements for future equity — or SAFE notes, a relatively new way of raising a series of mini equity rounds or via token sales. Last year, it reported raising $130,000 on top of a prior $70,000 round of SAFE notes.
ListingSpark, an Austin-based real estate firm that gives home sellers help selling their home and avoids commissions, announced it has raised a $2 million Series A from Austin-based Silverton Partners. The startup, co-founded by Brett Appolito and Aaron Jistel in 2013, provides sellers with marketing assistance, agent support and access to market analysis and more. The company says more than 1.7,000 homes have been sold with its tech.
Prism FM, an Austin organizational startup that makes software for event and concert promoters, reported raising $1 million in equity funding and other securities. The company’s F6S page shows four co-founders — Adrian Tavares, Matt Ford, Michael Fenchel and Stephen Sternschein. The new filing doesn’t show who the investors were, but it’s worth noting that Silverton Partners’ Kip McClanahan is listed as one of the company’s directors.
MassChallenge Texas announced 10 startups will get a portion of $500,000-plus in equity-free cash prizes. The awards include: $100,000 for EQO and Sempulse; $75,000 for Cloud 9and NovoThelium: $50,000 for Augmenta and GrubTubs; $25,000 for Popspots and The Mentor Method; $10,000 for Re:3D; and ZPEG won the people's choice award.
AppClose, an Austin-based startup that made an app to help divorced parents and lawyers coordinate family matters, reported raising $600,000 in new equity funding. The company, founded by Igor Litinsky in 2015, previously raised rounds of $505,000 and $335,000 last year.
Austin-based infinite io secured an oversubscribed $10.3 million Series B round to migrate inactive data into cloud storage and cut the cost of data storage for a wide variety of businesses, governments and educational institutions. The new round was led by former Motorola CEO and Cleversafe Chairman Chris Galvin, and Chris Galvin’s son, David, of Three Fish Capital. Chicago Ventures, John Anderson, Dougherty and Company, Equus Holdings and PV Ventures also contributed. But, perhaps more interesting on the local level are contributions from angel investors Dean Drako, who founded Eagle Eye Networks and Barracuda Networks before that, and Brett Hurt, who founded data.world and Bazaarvoice before that. Drako also sits on infinite io’s advisory board.
Caringo, an Austin-based hybrid storage company, reported raising $3.4 million in new equity and other securities. The company was founded in 2005 by co-founder and CEO Jonathan Ring.
Austin-based finance and accounting software maker Consero Global landed a huge new investment that it will use to expand and acquire other startups. Consero announced Tuesday that Boston-based BV Investment Partners has made a $50 million private equity investment. The company said it’s one of the largest single funding rounds for a mid-market finance as a service company. It is also among the biggest investments in an Austin-based company this year. (WP Engine secured $250 million in January and BigCommerce closed a $64 million growth equity round in April.)
An investment fund called Saturn Five ICON reported raising $1.1 million in new equity funding. The pooled investment fund appears to be backing ICON, the Austin startup that’s 3-D printing homes. ICON, founded by TreeHouse co-founder Jason Ballard and Vest Printers co-founder Alex Le Roux, is one of several startups developed out of Saturn Five, the local startup studio launched by Evan Loomis and Max Anderson.
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, or CPRIT, recently awarded $177 million in research, product development and prevention grants. The money is spread across 64 projects. These new grants are the latest in a string of commitments tied to the $3 billion of cancer fighting money Texas voters approved in 2007 bond issue. While much of the grant money went to university-level research projects, CPRIT gave several of its largest grants to Texas companies developing cancer treatments. That includes an $18.5 million commitment to Austin-based Formation Biologics Corp., which is also known as Forbius.
New Knowledge announced that Menlo Park, Calif.-based GGV Capital has led an $11 million Series A funding round. New York-based Lux Capital also participated. Its previous investors have included Moonshot Capital, Haystack Ventures, Geekdom Fund, Capital Factory and Spitfire Ventures. The company, which targets entertainment, energy and defense companies as clients, plans to use the funding to build its sales and marketing teams. It was founded by Jonathon Morgan and Kelly Perdew in 2015 as Popily. It raised $2.2M at the start of 2018, and it now has about 40 employees.
InSyBio, an Austin bioinformatics software company, reported adding about $100,000 in equity funding to the $450,000 it reported back in May. The UK-based company is a portfolio company of Austin’s International Accelerator, and Austin angel investor and AngelouEconomics executive Angelos Angelou is one of the company’s executive officers.
Briggo, which makes automated coffee machines that you can place orders on from your phone, reported raising $1.5 million in new debt funding. SEC filings show the company has raised a total of about $15.2 million in equity since 2012 and, with this latest round, $3.6 million in debt funding.
Mergers, Acquisitions and IPOs
Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Duo Security opened an Austin office in 2016. Then, late last year it outgrew its initial Austin digs as its local headcount grew from 30 to 90 and moved into a new space on Congress Avenue. Now, change is coming again. This time, however, it’s a change in ownership. The company announced that Cisco will acquire Duo Security for $2.35 billion in cash. It’s a huge exit for a company that found a niche in verifying user identity before granting access to apps.
Alchemy Systems, an Austin company that makes monitoring and training software for food sector workers, is being acquired by London’s Intertek Group for $480 million in cash. Alchemy was founded in Austin in 2003. It employs about 270 people at four locations in the U.S. and Canada, and it was previously owned by The Riverside Company, a Dallas private equity firm.
Austin’s Q2 Holdings, a banking software company, announced it is acquiring Cloud Lending, a San Mateo, Calif.-based leasing software platform. They didn’t share the financial details. Both companies’ boards have approved the deal, which is expected to close in Q4 this year. This is the company’s fourth acquisition, according to Crunchbase. Previously, Q2 Holdings acquired Centrix, Social Money and Unbill.
Bitfract, an Austin blockchain software startup, has been acquired by ShapeShift.io, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. No financial details provided. Britfract, founded by Willy Ogorzaly, has a tool that allows people to trade several types of tokens in a single transaction. Coindesk reported that ShapeShift will keep Britfract’s tool in its current form. Ogorzaly previously founded Congo, perhaps better known for its product JustLegal.com, and sold it to DigitalTown, Inc.last year.
Real estate tech startup Opcity is being acquired by Move, Inc., which operates realtor.com and is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. The $210 million deal (still subject to some financial adjustment) is poised to generate returns for the founders and the investors behind Opcity’s May 2017 with a $27 million Series A — Palo Alto-based Ventures, Toronto-based Georgian Partners and Austin’s LiveOak Venture Partners. The acquisition also represents an incredibly quick and lucrative exit. Opcity was quietly founded in 2015 by Yodel co-founder Ben Rubenstein and former Citigroup VP of corporate strategy Michael Lam.
Venture Fund Activity
Chicago-based Madison Street Capital, a boutique investment baking firm, announced its expanding its Austin office. It makes sense. Madison Street Capital CEO Charles Botchway already lives in Austin. The firm said that Austin’s diverse business landscape makes it an attractive place for them to be — the firm assists with funding rounds, debt placements and other financial activity. They plan to open a new office space early next year.
Austin venture capital firm ATX Seed Ventures co-led a $1 million round of funding for Arcade, a Dallas startup that makes software to motivate salespeople. The Dallas Business Journal reported that the round was co-led by Dallas-based RevTech. The company is based out of Capital Factory‘s new Dallas coworking space.
Bumble revealed a new investment fund to help women founders capitalize their startups. The dating and professional networking app company said its fund would be led by its COO, Sarah Jones Simmer, and one of its senior advisors, Sarah Kunst. They’ll look for early-stage investments, mostly in business founded and led by women of color and other underrepresented groups. Bumble said it has already made several commitments, none of which appear to be in Austin: BeautyCon, Cleo Capital, Female Founders Fund, Mahmee and Sofia Los Angeles.
Multicoin Capital, a long-range cryptofund based in Austin, filed a Form D indicating it has raised a $12.8 million fund. This account, called Multicoin Opportunities Fund I, appears to be Multicoin’s third. It reported two funds in March — a $25 million fund in March called Multicoin Concentrated Fund I and a $5.1 million trove called Multicoin Diversified Fund I. The startup, led by co-founders Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain, has planned to raise a $250 million fund.
A new fund called Black Bull Crypto Fund is seeking to raise up to $50 million, according to a new SEC filing. We couldn’t find much on the fund during a quick search. But its principals include Constantine Potamianos, a Capital Factory and Techstars mentor who previously founded The Gryphon Group in Washington, D.C.; Alexander Artyukhin, whose AngelList profile shows as CEO of SnapExit; and Tim Peshkov. All three are also co-founders at cryptocurrency startup INTLTOKEN, which launched last year.
