As venture capital activity has surged throughout the U.S. this year, startups in Buffalo kept up a steady pace that is roughly in line with previous years.
Buffalo Inno counted 16 local startups that closed on growth-oriented funding rounds this year, though a few of those, such as Jerry and Torch Labs, are Bay Area firms with significant operational bases here.
The pace reflects the healthy portfolio of scalable firms in Buffalo, but it is also a reminder that more seeds must be planted before the city can claim a nationally relevant explosion of startup activity.
Here’s a look at who raised what.
Tackle.io raised a $35 million round of Series B venture capital led by Andreessen Horowitz. The firm’s founders are based in Boise, but it has a remote-first work policy. CEO John Jahnke lives in Orchard Park, leading a cluster of Western New York “Tacklers.”
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Jerry raised a $28 million Series B round of venture capital led by Goodwater Capital. The Palo Alto-based startup opened an office in Lockport in 2019, where it now has 50 employees. It expects to double that number within a year.
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Torch Labs raised a $25 million Series B funding round led by Obvious Ventures. Torch Labs is headquartered in San Francisco but is building out its engineering team in Buffalo, with 16 employees here and plans to double that number within a year.
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Circuit Clinical raised $7.5 million in Series B funding, which included participation from LabCorp as well as local sources such as the Western New York Impact Investment Fund, Launch NY, Rochester Angels, Buffalo Angels and members of Charles Lannon’s investment network. The Buffalo-based startup recently crested 50 employees as it seeks to scale nationally.
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SomaDetect raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Ag Capital Canada. The former grand prize winner of the 43North business competition, SomaDetect is headquartered in New Brunswick, Canada, but maintains a presence in Buffalo.
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Kickfurther raised $5.9 million in a round led by the Tom Golisano's Grand Oaks Capital firm. Local funders include Rochester-based Impellent Ventures, M&T Bank chief information officer Mike Wisler, investor Jack Greco and 43North. Kickfurther CEO Sean De Clercq plans to add five to 10 employees every quarter to support his company's growth. Read more
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HELIXintel closed on $1.1 million of pre-seed funding this year with contributions from Launch NY's Investor Network, Lauren DeLuca's Motivate Venture Capital and Rohit Gupta's Future Communities Capital. HELIXintel is based at the University at Buffalo's new incubator @CBLS.
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Ellicotville Greens raised $1 million in a deal led by Varia Ventures partners Scott Friedman and Andrea Vossler. Founders Sal LaTorre and Gabe Bialkowski said the cash would support construction of vertical organic farming facilities and the purchase of an existing farming operation in Buffalo.
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Ognomy raised $700,000 in pre-seed funding from venture capital firms, including Future Communities (which contributed to the HELIXintel deal listed above). The company will use the money to build sales and software teams in Buffalo.
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Braid Babes raised $415,000 in pre-seed funding with contributions from Launch NY, the Buffalo Angels and individual angel investors. The company has 30 employees and plans to continue building out its team as it stands up new markets this year and next.
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MemoryFox closed on a $380,000 seed round with contributions from the University at Buffalo’s Buffalo Innovation Seed Fund, Launch NY, Z80 Labs and various individuals. CEO Chris Miano said the cash would fund a new version of his platform that will be released this year.
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Zizo Technologies raised $200,000 with contributions from Launch NY and other investors. Founded by CEO Jimmy Chebat, the company had 20 employees as of May with seven of them in Buffalo.
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Thimble.io gained a $125,000 investment from AT&T as part of participation in its Aspire Accelerator ed-tech program.
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Classavo raised an undisclosed amount of money to support the hire of four sales professionals.
