Former 43North winner Bounce Imaging has closed on $4.2 million in venture capital as it prepares for commercial-scale contracts in the defense and emergency services industries.
The company develops 360-degree cameras that can be thrown into dangerous situations. The startup initially set out to raise $3 million.
The company won a $500,000 runner-up prize in the 2017 version of 43North, a state-funded business competition. The company is technically headquartered near Boston, but its center of gravity has been gradually pulled back to Buffalo over the past year. Former 43North executive Lauren Baynes is vice president of operations and oversees a handful of local employees.
The Series A prime round of venture capital was led by R42 Group with participation from Good Growth Capital, Tanis Ventures and other investment groups and individuals. ACV Auctions co-founder and local investor Jack Greco participated in the round. Another company investor is In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit investment vehicle on behalf of the U.S. intelligence community.
The money will help Bounce Imaging scale from making hundreds of cameras a month to thousands. Last year, the startup scored a deal with U.S. Customs and Border Protection worth up to $15 million.
“We’re preparing for large orders from the Department of Defense, and in order to achieve that milestone, we need to make sure we’re ready on the manufacturing side,” Baynes said. “Additionally, we are going to use some of the funds on technology upgrades our customers have been asking for.”
Baynes said the $4.2 million figure represents a first close on a round that could grow significantly larger in the coming months. She said the company is on the cusp of capitalizing on major opportunities.
“From the speed with which we raised this round and the interest from investors, I think we’re in a very optimistic space,” she said. “We could have raised more but we wanted to get this capital in the door so we could start putting it to use.”
Bounce Imaging is the 12th local company to confirm a growth-oriented capital raise this year. The other ones are Circuit Clinical ($29 million), PostProcess Technologies ($5 million), VeriTX ($4.5 million), HELIXintel ($3 million), ShearShare ($2.3 million), Patient Pattern ($2 million), BetterMynd ($1 million), Cahill Tech ($375,000), AireXpert ($125,000), Arbol ($110,000) and Ognomy (undisclosed).
