At the end of every month, we take a look back at all of the Chicago startups that raised millions over the past thirty days. It's FundingFest time!
The big deal this month was AuraSense, a Skokie-based biotech startup, closing its $18M Series C. Though the investors for this round were not disclosed, AuraSense has had some high-profile backers in the past, including Bill Gates, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, Aon Founder Patrick Ryan, Microsoft Executive Craig Mundie, and Illumina Co-Founder David Walt.
AuraSense is developing first-in-class gene therapies using Spherical Nucleic Acids (SNA), particles with a unique architecture that makes them compatible for drugs/agents. The innovative SNAs actually originated in a lab at Northwestern University in 1996.
However, bigger than the aforementioned deal, was a significant trend that emerged later in the month. Over the past two weeks, four local startups have raised $1+ rounds from Windy City VC firms and angels. After a recent report came out that only 19% of Chicago venture capital is going to city startups, it's encouraging to see investment dollars stay in-state.
Now, let's get to February 2015's FundingFest:
| Company | Amount | Backers | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Konekt | $1.3M | NextView Ventures, Mucker Capital, Tyler Willis Syndicate. Groupon International co-founders Chris Muhr and Raj Ruparell | IoT |
| Luxury Garage Sale | $1.5M | Chicago Ventures, Brian Spaly, Elle Bruno, Paul Lee, Lon Chow | Retail |
| Iris Mobile | $2.5M | Illinois Ventures, Origin Ventures, OCA Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Hyde Park Angels and Serra Ventures | Mobile |
| Page Vault | $1.3M | IrishAngels, Pritzker Group VC, Foley Ventures, Great Oaks VC | Legal / Software |
| AuraSesne Therapeutics | $18M | N/A | BioSciences |
| Greenlight Planet | $10M | Fidelity Growth Partners India | GreenTech |
| CENX | Undisclosed | Highland Capital Partners, Mesirow Financial Private Equity, Verizon Ventures, Ericsson, DCM Ventures and Cross Creek Advisors | Software |
(Image via Luxury Garage Sale)
