Boston Materials, a Billerica developer of high-performance materials, raised a $12 million Series A2 round led by Good Growth Capital.
Boston Materials Inc.
Venture capital funding to Boston-area companies was down slightly in November. By our count, local companies raised about $655 million last month. That’s down from $845 million in October. Unsurprisingly, biotech companies still raised big rounds, bringing in nearly $400 million. Robotics companies also raised significant rounds totaling $143 million. There were also several big fund launches this month, including news from the Boston Impact Initiative and MassMutual Ventures.
Check out all the deals, including links to our coverage or to the company’s announcements:
Biotech
- Rgenta Therapeutics, a startup behind RNA-targeting small molecules for "undruggable" diseases, has raised another $52 million as it works to enter clinical trials.
- FPV and Eli Lilly and Co. are among the investors in Strand Therapeutics' new, $45 million extended Series A round. The new funding is meant to bring Strand's lead drug into the clinic in mid-2023.
- Precision medicine startup FogPharma has raised $178 million as it prepares to launch its first human trial within the next year.
- Luminopia Inc., a Cambridge company developing treatments for neuro-visual disorders, closed a $5.7 million seed extension financing round. ShangBay Capital led the round.
- Zenas Biopharma, a Waltham biotech behind a suite of drugs that work by modulating immune cells' activity, has raised $118 million.
Robotics
- Locus Robotics, a Wilmington-based maker of robots for fulfillment warehouses, has raised $117 million and set its sights on an IPO in the next 18 to 24 months.
- Cambridge-based Pickle Robot Co. announced a $26 million Series A round and the live pilot implementation of its robots unloading packages at customer sites in the greater Los Angeles area.
Software
- Owl Labs, a startup with offices in Boston and Somerville that builds products to improve remote meetings, closed a $25 million Series C round.
- Boston-based CloudTruth raised $2.4 million in seed funding. The round was led by UBMB. Existing investors Glasswing Ventures, York IE and Stage 1 Ventures also participated.
- Embue raised a $2.3 million seed round led by Shadow Ventures. The Worcester-based company provides a cloud-based service platform for apartment building management.
- Vizit, an image analytics software company, announced its $10 million Series A round led by Infinity Ventures and Brand Foundry Ventures.
- Self-driving technology company ISEE has raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by Founders Fund. The Cambridge company has raised a total of $70 million since it spun out of MIT in 2017.
- SportsVisio, a sports artificial intelligence technology, closed a $3.1 million seed round led by Hyperplane Venture Capital. The Manchester, New Hampshire-based company will use the funds to scale its computer vision AI technology to automate statistics, analytics and video highlights for sports, starting with basketball.
Consumer goods
- DetraPel, which sells water- and stain- repellent treatments, has raised more than $5 million in new equity capital, according to an SEC filing. The startup got backing from Mark Cuban after appearing on Shark Tank in 2018. DetraPel was founded by David Zamarin, then an undergraduate of Babson College.
Healthtech/Medtech
Fintech
- Surround Insurance closed a $2.5 million seed round led by MassMutual through the MM Catalyst Fund, per a MassMutual spokesperson. The Cambridge-based startup offers “lifestyle-based insurance” for driving, renting and freelancing.
Defense
- Wilmington-based Liberty Defense Holdings Ltd. has raised nearly $300K in new equity funding, according to an SEC filing. The company is in the process of testing its system for detecting ‘ghost guns’ at several beta sites.
Manufacturing
- Boston Materials, a Billerica developer of high-performance materials, raised a $12 million Series A2 round led by Good Growth Capital.
Funds
- The Boston Impact Initiative launched its second "integrated capital" fund of $20 million. The BII seeks to build financial, social and political power for entrepreneurs of color
- MassMutual Ventures announced a new $100 million fund to invest in early and growth-stage companies in the fast-evolving climate tech area. Both the fund and its head are based out of MassMutual’s Fan Pier office in Boston's Seaport.
- MVM Partners, which has offices in Boston and London, closed its sixth fund with $500 million in limited partner commitments. The venture capital firm says it invests in “high growth healthcare businesses.
- RH Capital, a women-led venture capital fund that invests in early-stage startups working in women’s health, has raised its second fund, bringing its total assets under management to over $40 million.
