Viridi Parente closed a nearly $100 million round of funding in December, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The funding event is one of the largest in the history of Buffalo startups.
The full details will have to wait. Viridi Parente founder and CEO Jon Williams declined to comment on the filing, saying more information will be available in the near future.
Operating out of a former automotive factory on Buffalo’s East Side, Viridi Parente is developing a variety of products powered by its lithium ion battery technology. That includes electric vehicles and energy storage for buildings.
Williams has been preparing the company for this moment. Viridi Parente completed a $6 million expansion last year at its Delavan Avenue factory, bringing its total footprint there to 190,000 square feet. It hired Steve Finch, the former plant manager of General Motors’ Tonawanda Engine Plant, to lead the scale-up of its manufacturing activities; and promoted Dennis Elsenbeck, former National Grid regional director, to president.
Williams, the founder of contractor OSC Holdings, announced last week that he stepped down from his CEO role at that company to focus his attention on Viridi Parente.
The Form D does not specifically name Viridi Parente’s investors. The company closed a $30 million round of venture capital in late 2019 which was led by billionaire B. Thomas Golisano, Varia Ventures, Western New York Impact Investment Fund and Impact Capital of New York.
Viridi Parente is among 34 local startups that raised private, growth-oriented capital in 2021. Others include Tackle.io ($135 million), Jerry ($103 million), Squire ($60 million), Centivo ($51 million), Torch Labs ($25 million), CleanFiber ($11.9 million), Circuit Clinical ($7.5 million), Kangarootime ($6 million), SomaDetect ($6 million), Kickfurther ($5.9 million), MimiVax ($5 million), Garwood Medical Devices ($4 million), Joblio ($4 million), Verivend ($2.5 million), HELIXintel ($1.6 million), Ognomy ($1.37 million), OxiWear ($1.25 million), Patient Pattern ($1.2 million), Ellicottville Greens ($1 million), Immersed Games ($540,000), braidbabes ($415,000), MemoryFox ($380,000), Zealot Interactive ($350,000), Zizo Technologies ($200,000), AirExpert ($200,000), Thimble ($165,000), Immunaeon ($100,000)*, Real Talk ($100,000)*, Alo ($100,000)*, Rally (undisclosed), HiOperator (undisclosed), Tresca Design (undisclosed) and Classavo (undisclosed).
