One quarter down, three to go.
With the start of the new season, Boston startups are looking flush with cash and full of renewed enthusiasm for projects. March was a notable month with some companies raising multimillion dollars in venture funding.
Markforged, the Watertown-based maker of industrial 3D printers, raised $82 million in a Series D round led by Summit Partners. Paris-based Shift Technology, a company that uses artificial intelligence to help insurance companies detect fraud with offices in Boston, raised $60 million led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Cambridge-based MineralTree, the fintech startup that automates accounts payable and payments for mid-market companies, raised $50 million in a Series C, and travel startup Lola.com raised $37 million led by General Catalyst.
In terms of VC activity, after a successful launch of its first graduate syndicate fund, Boston-based venture capital firm Flybridge Capital is now on repeat mode. The company told closed its second edition of the graduate syndicate fund worth $4 million to invest solely in startups founded by Harvard University graduates.
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Below are the startups that raised capital in March:
Augmented Reality
Lingar, a company that makes mobile augmented reality platform designed to make interactive digital experiences raised $330,000 from Cosimo X.
CleanTech
Cambridge-based Via Separations, a startup that focuses on molecular filtration for industrial processes, sold shares worth $4.1 million in its $4.8 million round of equity funding, according to a Form D filing.
Cryptocurrency
Boston-based tokenized VC firm Cosimo X invested in three local ventures: It invested $1.5 million in Oneiro, a company that launched the first unpegged digital currency and buoyant coin optimized for long-term value called ‘ndau,’ raised $1.5 million from Cosimo X.
Cybersecurity
Information security and compliance startup Cygilant Inc. sold shares worth $1 million in its $6 million fundraise, according to a Form D filing.
Cybersecurity startup CyberX raised $18 million led by Qualcomm Ventures and Inven Capital. Existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Glilot Capital Partners, Flint Capital, and OurCrowd also participated in the round, bringing total funding to date to $48 million. The company focuses on protecting industrial control systems from cyber attacks.
Data Science
Somerville startup Via Science, which helps energy companies plan for contingencies, predictive maintenance with AI sold shares worth $3.2 million in its $5 million funding round, according to a Form D filing.
EdTech
FutureFuel.io, a three-year-old fintech startup based in Back Bay, raised a $11.2 million Series A round. It will use the funds to add sales and marketing employees to its team of 12 and expand the features of its student debt employer benefits SaaS platform.Rethink Impact, a female-led venture capital firm with offices in Washington, D.C., New York and San Francisco, led the round, which brings the total funding to date to $15.7 million.
FinTech
Cambridge-based MineralTree, the fintech startup that automates accounts payable and payments for mid-market companies, raised $50 million in a Series C round led by Great Hill Partners. Existing investors including .406 Ventures and Eight Roads Ventures also participated in the round. The round brings the company’s total funding to $82 million.
InsureTech
Paris-based Shift Technology, a company that uses artificial intelligence to help insurance companies detect fraud, raised $60 million led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Existing investors including Accel, General Catalyst, Iris Capital and Elaia Partners also participated in the round. The round is earmarked for the company’s expansion in the U.S., making Boston its American headquarters.
Life Sciences
Cambridge-based Ovation.io, a startup that makes cloud-based laboratory information systems for researchers and scientists, sold shares worth $5.9 million in its $7.1 million fundraise, according to a Form D filing.
Real Estate Tech
Boston-based fintech company Knox Financial, a startup that offers homeowners alternatives to selling their homes, announced that it had both raised $1.4 million in seed funding and launched in the Boston area.
Robotics
Waltham-based Takeoff Technologies, which wants to automate grocery shopping, sold incremental shares worth $23 million to its previously listed equity funding round, according to a Form D filing.
Software
Cambridge-based software startup LogRocket raised $11 million in Series A funding led by global investment firm Battery Ventures, with participation from seed investor Matrix Partners. Battery general partner Neeraj Agrawal has joined Matrix General Partner Stan Reisson LogRocket’s board of directors.
ProdPerfect, a Boston-based platform using live traffic behavior to automatically build, run and maintain QA testing for web applications, closed a $2.6 million seed round co-led by Eniac Ventures and Fika Ventures, with participation from Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator.
TVision Insights, the startup that measures how people watch TV, sold shares worth $3.45 million of its $5 million equity funding round, according to a Form D filing.
Travel
Business travel startup Lola.com raised $37 million in a Series C round led by existing investors General Catalyst and Accel to do exactly that and more. Other investors in the round were Charles River Ventures, Tenaya Capital and Google Ventures, bringing the company’s total venture capital raised to $82 million. (Travel)
3D Printing
Markforged, the Watertown-based maker of industrial 3D printers, raised $82 million in a Series D round led by Summit Partners. It will develop an advanced version of its product, fuel global expansion, double its headcount and add a new manufacturing facility in the Boston area.
Telecom
Community Phone, the Boston startup that provides an alternative to big cellphone carriers with plans starting at $25 per month, raised $150,000 from Y Combinator. The startup opened its first pop-up store in Harvard Square in December last year.
