CareAcademy raised $20 million in June. The Boston-based startup that trains home care professionals was founded by Madhuri Reddy and Helen Adeosun.
Courtesy of CareAcademy
Venture capital funding to Greater Boston startups was up in June after several low months. By our count, startups brought in $2.7 billion in funding last month. That compares to the $616.25 million raised in May and $1.84 billion from April.
As predicted by Boston venture capitalists we spoke with, poor economic predictions don’t mean funding is not available. Some startups may be lengthening their runways with extra cash in anticipation of a difficult fundraising period ahead. Several companies in June’s roundup extended a previous round to generate additional funding, a tactic recommended by Boston VCs.
The life sciences industry led this month’s funding roundup with $1.58 billion, largely bolstered by a funding round from National Resilience Inc. Following the life sciences industry was software companies who raised $534 million and greentech with $300 million.
Check out all the deals, including links to our coverage or the company’s announcements.
Life sciences
- Transition Bio Inc. announced a $50 million Series A financing led by Northpond Ventures. The company has offices in Cambridge, Mass. and Cambridge, England, and launched in September 2020 with a seed round led by Lifeforce Capital.
- Upstream Bio, a Waltham-based startup that acquired its foundation drug program from Japanese pharmaceutical giant Astellas, formally launched with $200 million in Series A funding co-led by OrbiMed and Maruho Co., Ltd.
- National Resilience Inc., the startup behind a string of manufacturing facilities for drug companies, plans to grow further in Massachusetts with the help of $1.2 billion in new venture funding.
- Vibe Biotechnology Inc. launched with $12 million. The Boston company plans to build an online hub of patients, investors, scientists and other experts to identify and develop treatments for rare diseases. Vibe’s capital will be sourced from cryptocurrency token sales. The company said anyone with the token can help identify promising treatments and decide which to pursue next.
- Boston-based Evolved By Nature, a company developing proprietary molecules from natural silk protein, closed a $120 million Series C round led by Teachers' Venture Growth. The company said the molecules could be used as renewably sourced sustainable chemicals, bioactive ingredients and therapeutics.
Software
- HourWork has closed an additional $2.5 million in Series A funding led by MassMutual’s MM Catalyst Fund. The company announced the initial close of an oversubscribed $10 million Series A funding round last month.
- Devo Technology, a Cambridge cloud-native logging and security analytics company, announced $100 million in Series F funding at a valuation of $2 billion.
- Immuta Inc., a seven-year-old data access control software provider, reached a billion-dollar valuation after a $100 million fundraise.
- HYCU Inc., a Boston-based BaaS company, raised a $53 million Series B round led by Acrew Capital.
- Workflow automation company airSlate completed a $51.5 million financing round led by G Squared. The round values airSlate at $1.25B, making the Boston company the latest tech unicorn.
- Vendr raised a $150 million Series B round co-led by return investor Craft Ventures and new investor SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The Boston company said the funds will accelerate development of its SaaS buying platform.
- LogRocket Inc., a maker of analytics software with about 100 full-time workers in the Bay State, plans to add another 30 to 40 employees in Greater Boston following a $25 million fundraising round.
- JobGet, a mobile app for hourly workers, raised $52 million in a Series B funding, including $12 million in venture debt financing. JAZZ Venture Partners and Sanabil Investments co-led the round. JobGet said companies like Home Depot, California Pizza Kitchen and Taco Bell are using its app to post jobs.
- Boston-based Jamyr, which provides video communication technology for recruiting and onboarding, raised $200K from the TinySeed accelerator program. The company was founded in 2021 by Brian Mooney and Jennifer Paxton.
Energy
- Cambridge-based Quaise Energy Inc. expanded its Series A round from $40 million to $52 million. The geothermal energy company said the expansion was led by TechEnergy Ventures.
- Boston-based Electric Hydrogen announced a $198 million raise consisting of Series B equity and venture debt from investors. Fifth Wall Climate Tech led the round. The company will use the funds for the manufacturing and deployment of projects to produce fossil-free hydrogen.
Manufacturing
- Foundation Alloy, a Cambridge-based metal part production company, raised $10.5 million. The round was led by MIT's The Engine and Material Impact.
Agtech
- Little Leaf Farms, which grows lettuce through controlled environment agriculture, raised $300 million with equity financing led by The Rise Fund and debt funding from Bank of America. The company is headquartered in Devens.
Consumer goods
- Titan Casket, a Boston- and Seattle-based direct-to-consumer casket company, closed a $3.5 million seed round led by Reformation Partners.
Healthtech
- CareAcademy, a Boston-based startup that trains home care professionals, most of them people of color, received a $20 million strategic investment, led by Goldman Sachs' One Million Black Women Initiative.
Funds
- Seae Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital firm, has kicked off its first fund with just over $107 million. The firm is dedicated to investing in women and entrepreneurs of color, according to the founders.
- Boston venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures raised its sixth fund at $1.1 billion and expects to create about 10 companies with it over the next three years.
- MassMutual Ventures, the venture capital arm of Springfield insurer MassMutual, said it's now investing from its fourth U.S. fund worth $100 million.
