March was a month of acquisitions in the Austin tech scene.
Georgetown, Texas-based agile development software maker AgileCraft to picked up for $166 million. Digital Pharmacist Inc., an Austin-based software company, got scooped up in a $125 million deal with an LA-based PE firm. And local digital agency Springbox was acquired by Chicago-based consulting firm Prophet.
Meanwhile, there were about a dozen funding announcements and plenty of venture capital firm activity to keep the deals flowing.
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Now, let’s get to it.
Fundings
QuotaPath, a sales software startup that operates in Austin and Philadelphia, announced a $3.5 million funding round led by ATX Seed Ventures. That brings its total funding to $5 million. The startup was founded in 2018 by TrendKite co-founder AJ Bruno, and it is preparing for a public launch in coming months.
New virtual chat engine startup Claimbot announced it has raised $615,000 in seed funding. And it comes from some interesting places — the Google Assistant investments program, Notley Ventures and Social Starts. Other angel investors were also in on the round. The startup has an AI-enabled virtual chat engine used by insurance and auto companies to reach out to customers.
Dana Inc., an Ohio-based drivetrain supplier, has become a lead equity investor in Austin electric engine tech startup Hyliion, Transportation Topics reports. No word on the total investment. Hyliion was founded by engineer and motorsports racer Thomas Healy.
Austin’s MAP Health Management, which helps combat drug addiction, raised $25 million in a round led by health insurance giant Aetna. The ABJ reports the funding will go toward hiring more than 100 people, doubling its headcount. The company is led by CEO Jacob Levenson and was founded in 2011. The company’s tech-enabled peer recovery support services and engagement help folks with addiction issues and reduce preventable healthcare cost.
Prism.fm, an Austin startup that makes live music booking and management software, announced it has raised $2.2 million in seed funding from a group of notable angel investors. Those include Kip McClanahan, founder of Pershing and general partner at Silverton Partners; Mario Fighali, chief operating officer and co-founder at Sparefoot; Bill Babel, co-founder of Capital Factory; and Jay Jensen, president of Clasen Quality Coatings.
Austin-based CesiumAstro, which makes phased array communication systems for space and airborne platforms, closed a $12.4 million Series A. The funding round was led by Airbus Ventures, and also included Kleiner Perkins, Franklin Templeton Venture Fund, Lavrock Ventures, Honeywell Ventures and Analog Devices Ventures. The startup, founded in 2017 by Lockheed Martin Space Systems executive Shey Sabripour, plans to use the new money to scale its team and invest in development of new aerospace communications systems.
StoryFit, an Austin startup that provides predictive AI analytics for the publishing and entertainment industry, announced it has raised a $1.75 million round of funding. It was led by New York-based ff Venture Capital. Others in on the round include Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), Ascend Venture Capital, prominent Boston-area angel Walt Winshall, Techstars and Capital Factory. The startup, led by founder and CEO Monica Landers, a former ABC News producer, plans to use the new money for hiring and product development. The company recently added former CEO and founder of eFax.com Rudy Prince as COO. It also promoted Mark Bessen, who joined the company in 2017, to CTO.
Adthena, a U.K.-based search marketing company that has offices in Austin, announced it has raised a $14 million Series A round from Updata Partners. That will fuel growth in its Austin office, in addition to its office in Sydney. As part of the deal, Update General Partner Jon Seeber is joining Adthena’s board of directors.
With a fresh $45 million raised, OJO Labs Inc. executives plan to go on a hiring spree and to expand the reach of their real estate-technology platform. Investors in the new round included Austin-based LiveOak Venture Partners, New Jersey-based Realogy Holdings Corp., Royal Bank of Canada and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures. Those four also invested in OJO’s $20.5 million Series B round in May 2018.
Austin-based Magnitude Software, which develops software to make sense of fragmented datasets, has raised a $179 million investment round from London-based private equity firm 3i Group. Magnitude founder, chairman and CEO Chris Ney will maintain a large stake in the business. The investment came at a $340 million enterprise valuation. Magnitude was founded by Ney in 2014 when Noetix Corp. and Kalido merged.
Dallas-based employee data and productivity software startup ActivTrak announced it has raised a $20 million Series A round of financing from Austin-based Elsewhere Partners. The company is setting up its HQ in Austin, although it will maintain an office in Dallas. The company also announced that Elsewhere Partners Operating Advisor Rita Selvaggi will become CEO of ActivTrak. The company was founded by Herb Ailrod and Anton Seidler (who was previously CEO) — both are now listed as co-founders and advisors.
Cloudsnap, a task automation platform as a service startup, announced a $1.75 million seed round that was led by Active Capital, with additional funding from Mercury Fund and Capital Factory. That brings the startup’s total funding to $2.25 million. They highlighted the fact that their funding flowed from across Texas.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Abrigo, a tech compliance and credit risk company in Austin, is acquiring Madison, Wis.-based Farin Financial Risk Management. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Abrigo is led by CEO Dave Koch and backed by private equity firm Accel-KKR.
ATX Travel Tech, a travel technology Meetup group announced it is being acquired by Voyager HQ, a New York City-based travel startup community. ATX Travel Tech was created by Ana DeAlvare and Daniel Senyard in May 2017, and it has more than 1,400 members. After the deal, Voyager HQ will manage logistics and coordination, but Senyard will stay on as an advisor and co-host at local events. Daniela Pachon, co-founder of Trip Loop, will be the local event director here.
Austin-based digital agency Springbox has been acquired by Chicago-based consulting firm Prophet. Springbox will keep its name and will still be led by CEO John Ellett. No financial details were provided. Springbox has raised about $12 million from investors including Atoll Asset Management, Galleon Group and Chesapeake Partners Management, according to Crunchbase. It also acquired nFusion last year.
Digital Pharmacist Inc., an Austin-based software company, is getting scooped up in a $125 million deal with LA-based PE and VC firm K1 Investment Management, which is a subsidiary of Mdk Limited Partners Ltd. in South Korea. The firm bought out Austin VC firm LiveOak Venture Partners, which led a $6.5 million Series B round in Digital Pharmacist a couple years ago. The SaaS company works with roughly 7,500 independent U.S. pharmacists on external communications like text reminders to refill a subscription and marketing emails. The ABJ reports that the buyout values Digital Pharmacist at $125 million. The company launched in 2010 as RxWiki Inc.
Software giant Atlassian is acquiring Georgetown, Texas-based agile development software maker AgileCraft for $166 million, the companies announced late Monday. It’s a huge exit for AgileCraft, which was founded in 2013. The company, led by founder and CEO Steve Elliott, had raised just over $10 million in funding. That came mostly in a $10 million Series A in 2015 led by private equity firm Crane Nelson. Former Bank of America executives Jim Kelly and Tim Arnoult also added to the round.
Austin healthcare security and privacy compliance company CynergisTek announced it will sell its managed print services business division to healthcare document services company Vereco for $30 million. CynergisTek will continue to operate its other divisions, and it will use some of the sale proceeds to pay down debt and grow its cybersecurity business.
VC & PE Firm Activity
Firebrand Ventures, a Kansas City-based firm with several Austin startups in its portfolio, opened an Austin office and added Ryan Merket as a partner. It’s Firebrand’s first satellite office. Merket went to high school just south of Austin in New Braunfels before he started building Facebook apps and caught the attention of major publications. Soon after, his career took off like a rocket ship with key roles at Facebook, Reddit, CBS Interactive and Amazon; he has been an active angel investor for a few years; and he has invested alongside Firebrand in Austin cybersecurity startup Threatcare.
Pitchbook outlined its latest breakdown of Texas VCs. It’s hard to believe, but it looks like Central Texas Angel Network was edged out in deal count (by a single deal) by the Houston Angel Network, which logged 145 deals since the start of 2010. A step back in third place was Capital Factory, which had 97 logged in this roundup. They were followed by: Austin Ventures (89), Silverton Partners (85), Mercury Fund (70), Right Side Capital Management (45), Baylor Angel Network (43), S2 Ventures (42) and LIveOak Venture Partners (41).
Austin-based Bumble announced its first batch of startup investments, Fast Company reported. The fund, which is for women-led startups, invested in Houston-based Alice, which is a virtual advisor for founders. Other investments included Gixo, Translator and Promise. The size of the investments wasn’t immediately available.
ATX Seed Ventures is renaming itself as ATX Venture Partners. They said the new name better reflects their partnership in working with founders. It’s also a step away from the term “seed,” which Managing Partner Chris Shonk said has become too crowded and tough to define. The new name follows the announcement of the firm’s $32 million second fund. The firm, co-founded by Brad Bentz and Danielle Allen, also announced a new strategic partner. Stephen Gray joined the firm in that new role. He was previously a partner at VantagePoint Capital.
Backstage Capital, a relatively new VC firm focused on backing diverse founders, has reportedly struggled to raise a planned $36 million fund and is instead transitioning to become an accelerator. Axios reported that founder Arlan Hamilton, who created the firm while homeless, had two anchor investors fall through. But Hamilton’s tweet indicates they’re moving on. Backstage has invested in or assisted several local startups, including Localeur, Bandwagon, The Mentor Method and Astral AR.
Tennis star Serena Williams will invest in the Bumble Fund, which was established by the Austin-based dating and networking app to back women founders of color. Williams also invests through her own fund, Serena Ventures, which focuses on women founders of color, Fortune reported.
