Get details below on recent funding deals. In the past couple of weeks, seven Austin companies announced fundings or reported deals with the U.S. Securities Commission worth at least $92.6 million.
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Real estate investment startup CrowdStreet Inc. raised $43 million in a round led by the venture arm of financial services firm TIAA.
The round was debt and equity and included new backers Cypress Equity Investments, The Dinerstein Cos. and Foulger-Pratt. Existing backers Grotech Ventures, Rally Ventures, Seven Peaks Ventures, and Green Visor Capital also participated.
CrowdStreet was founded in Portland in 2013 but moved its headquarters to Austin in 2021. The company built an online marketplace that allows accredited investors to find and back commercial real estate projects nationwide. The software can also be used by developers and project sponsors to manage their own projects and investors. This kind of property technology, or proptech, is finding fertile ground to develop in Central Texas.
Austin-based real estate tech company Flueid Software Corp. said Oct. 11 that it raised $20 million to roll out new products. The round was led by New York-based Aquiline Technology Growth, which also led the company's series A round last year, and included backing from Commerce Ventures.
The $20 million round includes $15 million in series B and $5 million of financing from Silicon Valley Bank. The startup, led by co-founder and CEO Peter Bowman, has developed a platform for data and insights required to clear real estate deals.
The company says it has supported more than a million transactions, and it noted it saw a 400% increase in revenue in 2021. The new funding also follows the company's first patent and its 2021 acquisition of real estate software company Vodii.
"Flueid is focused on bringing data forward that expedites decision-making and unlocks processes, no matter where a client sits within the ecosystem," Bowman stated. "Over the last 18 months, we’ve evolved our technology to power multiple transaction types and arm our partners with a modern, tech-forward solution that helps them capitalize on any market shift. This funding reinforces a shared confidence in our go-to-market strategy and our vision to power the real estate transaction from end-to-end with Flueid’s data, decisions and insights at the core."
Austin robotic forklift startup Fox Robotics Inc. reported raising $19.8 million in new equity funding and other securities. The new SEC filing comes after the company announced a $9 million series A led by Menlo Ventures in 2020.
Charles DuHadway and Peter Anderson-Sprecher founded Fox Robotics in 2018. In May, Anderson-Sprecher took over as CEO. Meanwhile, DuHadway and Head of Operations Desiree Fox stepped away from their roles due to personal challenges.
Anebulo Pharmaceuticals Inc., an early-stage pharmaceutical company in Austin, reported raising $6.6 million in new financing. The startup, founded in 2020, is developing an antidote to treat cannabinoid intoxication as its lead product. The drug, called NEB-001, is said to reverse the effects of intoxication within one hour. It comes as marijuana use has become more widely accepted, and some states have seen an uptick in emergency room visits, often stemming from people feeling too high after eating THC-infused foods.
The company, which trades on the Nasdaq, said it agreed to sell about 2.2 million common shares to accredited investors through a private investment in a public company, or PIPE financing. The warrants have an exercise price of $4.21 per share.
Zenus Inc., an Austin startup with a different approach to facial recognition software, raised a $3.2 million seed round of funding led by Moneta Ventures, a Sacramento- and Austin-based firm.
The company, led co-founder and CEO Panos Moutafis, relies on edge computing to create what it calls ethical facial analysis. It uses a hardware device to analyze video on site and generate reports that don't identify anyone but can help retail and marketing teams learn more about their customers' attention, moods and buying habits.
Genesis, a University of Texas-based startup investing organization, recently announced it has made two investments in student-led startups, Sweetwater Mining Co. and Gazelle Ecosolutions. A blog post about the deals doesn't disclose how much funding was awarded. But Genesis generally invests through non-dilutive funding of $500 to $15K, as well as follow-on funding.
These new investments stem from its "Call for Innovation" in partnership with Affinity Engineering, Chevron, Shell and the UT Austin Energy Institute. The deal was processed by the Genesis team, and they partnered with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and others to reach out to student founders.
