Get details below on deals from the past week, including a eight-figure infusion for a company using drones to install power lines and a couple of seed rounds.
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Austin-based Mach Industries Inc., a startup using hydrogen to power drones and aerial protection devices for the defense industry, last week reportedly snagged an eight-figure funding. TechCrunch, citing anonymous sources, reported that the company secured a $79 million series A round led by Bedrock Capital, at a post-money valuation to $335 million. Also last week, the company filed securities paperwork indicating it had sold $84 million in equity. The reason for the discrepancy between those figures was not immediately clear.
Mach, led by founder and CEO Ethan Thornton, aims to develop hypersonic defense technologies. Earlier this year, Mach secured $5.7 million in new funding led by one of the nation's largest VC firms, Sequoia Capital.
Clinical trials company Elligo Health Research Inc. said Oct. 3 it has secured a $40 million venture loan from Connecticut-based Horizon Technology Finance Corp. The Austin-based company said the cash influx will be used for general growth and working capital purposes. Elligo, founded in 2016 and led by CEO John Potthoff, has raised a total of about $211 million from backers including Morgan Stanley, Norwest Venture Parters and Piper Sandler. The news comes about a month after the company announced Barry Simms as its new chief operating officer.
An Austin startup that uses AI to track progress and quality on big construction projects has raised a fresh round of funding. AI Clearing, co-founded in 2020 by Chief Technology Officer Adam Wisniewski and CEO Michael Mazur, said Oct. 2 it raised a $14 million series A funding round led by New York-based Prudence. Other investors included FJ Labs, Tera Ventures, Inovo and Innovation Nest. That adds to a $2.1 million seed round in 2020 and a $1 million debt round back in March, according to Crunchbase.
The startup, which operates legally as AI Clearinghouse Corp., has built a platform that helps contractors, lenders and owners keep track of large construction projects, such as utilities, railways and airports, in real time. It has partnered with big firms including Bechtel and PCL.
"In the past 12 months, we have achieved 15x revenue growth," Mazur stated. "This new financing enables us to expand our sales and client success teams across the United States, Western Europe, and the Gulf region."
Big research papers, studies and legal documents can be a bear to read. So most of us just skim or maybe use a CTRL-F to spot a few key terms. Austin-based startup Humata AI, legally known as Tilda Technologies Inc., wants to take the pain out of that process with AI. Its platform, which launched earlier this year, can summarize files, such as PDFs, or answer your questions about them. The startup announced Oct. 3 it raised $3.5 million in early-stage funding to help it improve and expand its platform. The round was led by Google-backed Gradient Ventures. Other backers included ARK Invest, M13 Ventures Management and angel investors.
Humata was founded by serial entrepreneur Cyrus Khajvandi and Dan Rasmuson.
"Humata is going viral. It was initially built to address complex scientific queries since ChatGPT often produces inaccurate responses with 0 context from your data," Khajvandi stated. "As a former researcher, I believe Humata's AI proficiency in reading and writing can expedite scientific discovery by providing accurate, context-based responses directly from any of your files. Currently, Humata is experiencing global adoption and gaining traction across various industries with enterprise needs."
Austin-based pool services business Poolie has secured an undisclosed investment from Dallas-based Unity Partners LP. It appears to be the first funding for Poolie, which was founded in 2021 by Leslie Elliott. The startup sells weekly pool cleanings, as well as commercial services, repair and restoration.
In what is a bit of an eye opener, the company says the U.S. has a $9 billion total addressable market for pool services, including $1 billion-plus in Texas alone.
"Pool services is a very fragmented industry, and we believe there is ample opportunity to grow through strategic M&A, both in Austin and other metropolitan areas in and beyond Texas," Unity Partners CEO John Block stated. "We already have a healthy pipeline of potential partners that will allow us to scale quickly in pursuit of our vision."
For more local deals, check out another recent funding wrap. And subscribe to Austin Business Journal for startup resources such as lists of venture capital and private equity firms, incubators and accelerators, angel investors and coworking providers.
