VeriTX is facing down a big year.
Now it has the financial runway to help meet its goals.
The Buffalo-based startup company builds blockchain-based solutions that protect sensitive supply-chain data.
VeriTX has raised $4.5 million in venture capital, including lead investor Stony Lonesome Group and Veteran Ventures Capital.
Both funds target veteran-led startups – VeriTX founder James Regenor is a retired Air Force colonel.
Regenor said the cash will support the company as it finalizes its first commercial product, Fortis, which is being validated right now through a $2 million project with the Air Force.
"We're at rocket launch," he said of VeriTX's projected growth. "We're sitting there on the pad watching the spark."
Regenor said once that is complete, he expects to bring Fortis to commercial partners later this year. He said it’s just one of several products in the VeriTX pipeline.
The company has transitioned from being an evangelist for the use of blockchain in Web3 and Industry 4.0 applications – particularly in how the vast importance of data means it must be recorded, used and communicated within highly secure environments.
“We don’t have to go out and preach about these technologies anymore,” Regenor said. “Our partners understand their value.”
Another investor was Virginia-based aerospace corporation M International, which is a strategic partner for VeriTX. Regenor said he hopes to have at least four anchor, enterprise clients by year’s end and at least one strategic partner to assist with integrations and scale.
VeriTX has a handful of Buffalo employees but a distributed workforce.
Regenor, who self-published a book on leadership in December, said his company has been steadily building its intellectual property portfolio and now has 24 patents in various stages. He also works closely with Bina Ramamurthy, director of the University at Buffalo's Blockchain ThinkLab, and regularly employs UB interns at VeriTX.
“VeriTX is enables digital supply chains in contested environments,” he said. “What’s important right now with Industry 4.0 and Web3 is creating value out of the datasets you’re creating, but that fundamentally requires data integrity.”
VeriTX is the eighth local company to confirm a growth-oriented capital raise this year. The other ones are Circuit Clinical ($29 million), PostProcess Technologies ($5 million), HELIXintel ($3 million), ShearShare ($2.3 million), Patient Pattern ($2 million), BetterMynd ($1 million) and AireXpert ($125,000).
