Mixtroz, a Birmingham-based startup founded by a mother-daughter team, has landed another $1 million in funding.
The company, which helps people make authentic connections at live, virtual and hybrid events, raised the funds in a round led by Black Star Fund, an early-stage innovation fund focusing primarily on companies led by Black technology and innovation leaders.
Mixtroz was founded by Kerry Schrader and Ashlee Ammons. The company moved to Birmingham after participating in the Velocity Accelerator at Innovation Depot.
Backstage Capital’s Arlan Was Here Fund and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund participated in the round, as did Birmingham entity Timberline Holdings.
“Securing funding is based not only on the strength of your product but the strength of your network, and we’ve been building relationships with our new investment partners at Black Star Fund and Backstage Capital for years,” said Ashlee Ammons Mixtroz cofounder. “We believe they are the perfect partners to help as we continue to expand and grow our business, technology, and client base nationally.”
For Mixtroz, the raise comes after a year in which the company pivoted its model by launching a virtual event product in the wake of Covid-19. The company plans to soon unveil a reimagined platform with knowledge gleaned from the past year.
The new funding will allow Mixtroz to grow its team, advance its product development and establish a national footprint. Mixtroz is also currently partnering with Microsoft Women in Cloud and Google for Startups Founder Academy to support the company’s scale.
The new $1 million is the latest notable raise by Mixtroz, which closed a pre-seed round in 2018 that made the pair the 37th and 38th Black, female founders to raise over $1 million of funding in the U.S.
“I’m proud to announce Black Star Fund’s investment in Mixtroz because the company has taken a fresh approach coupling human-centric design and technology to improve the way people connect in our now hybrid world,” said Kwame Anku, CEO and chairman, Black Star Fund. “I look forward to continuing to work with Mixtroz as it scales and becomes a trusted brand on the national business stage.”
