While we're primarily focused on Chicago's innovation economy, we also have our eyes on all of the startup and tech activity happening throughout the entire Midwest. Here are the major tech fundings, acquisitions, mergers, moves and IPOs that went down in the region in March. See all Midwest Reports here.
3/1: Carmel, Indiana-based Lumavate, a cloud software platform operator, raised $2 million in funding from angel investor Don Brown, with participation from Elevate Ventures, Allos Ventures, 4G Ventures, and Collina Ventures.
3/2: Elyria, Ohio-based Banyan Technology, a provider of freight management software, raised $7 million funding from JumpStart and River SaaS Capital.
3/4 Chaska, Minnesota-based Bailiwick, a provider of design and deployment of customized, large-scale IT solutions, received an investment from private equity firm Norwest Equity Partners. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
3/4 Ann Arbor-based Essen BioScience, a provider of instruments used for drug discovery and basic research applications, sold to to Sartorius for $320 million.
3/5: Lincoln, Nebraska-based Epicrop Technologies, an agriculture biotech company, raised a $3.2 million Series A from TechAccel, with participation from North Forty Ventures, Nelnet, Speedway Properties, and Allen & Company.
3/9: Minneapolis-based Kidizen, a marketplace for buying and selling used children's clothing and accessories, raised a $3.2 million Series A from Origin Ventures, with participation from Royal Street Ventures, Corigin Ventures, Mergelane, Sofia Fund, and Gopher Angels.
3/9: Columbus, Ohio-based Prevedere, a predictive analytics company, raised a $10 million Series B funding from Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from Rev1 Ventures, Microsoft Ventures and PointGuard Ventures.
3/13: Minneapolis-based Foodsby, a food-delivery startup for offices, raised a $5.9 million Series A from Greycroft Partners, Rally Ventures, and Corazon Capital.
3/15: Troy, Michigan-based Autobooks, a provider of cash management software for small business owners, raised a $5.5 million Series A from Draper Triangle, with participation from CU Solutions Group, Baird Capital, Detroit Venture Partners, and Invest Michigan.
3/15: Minneapolis-based RealVision, a provider of content marketing solutions for real estate professionals, raised a $1.3 million seed round from Dundee Venture Capital, with participation from Brightstone Venture Capital, Loup Ventures, Sandalphon Capital, Bridge Investment Group and 701 Angel Fund.
3/15: Minnetonka, Minnesota-based NeuroOne, a developer of neuromonitoring and neuromodulating products, raised a $1.2 seed round from several angel investors including FundRx.
3/22 Iowa City-based Pear Deck, a K-12 classroom engagement SaaS platform, raised a $4 million Series A from Growth Street Partners, with participation from Village Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Steve Case.
3/22 Minneapolis investment firm Varde Partners raised $1.74 billion for its twelfth fund.
3/22 Lake Forest, Illinois private equity firm Z Capital Partners is seeking to raise $1 billion for its third fund, according to an SEC filing.
3/27: Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Venture Technologies acquired Naperville-based NetSource Communications, a provider of Internet hosting services to SMEs.
3/28: St. Louis-based Benson Hill Biosystems, an ag technology company, raised a $25 million Series B from Lewis & Clark Ventures and Prelude Ventures, with participation from Fall Line Capital, S2G Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Cultivation Capital, iSelect Fund, Mercury Fund, Middleland Capital, Missouri Technology Corporation, Prolog Ventures, and TechAccel.
3/28: Indianapolis-based Kinney Group, a cloud solutions integrator serving the Global Fortune 2000, IT-centric mid-market companies, closed a raise of $6 million led by Plymouth Ventures and Elevate Ventures. (see more here)
3/29: Cincinnati-based Sirrus, a developer of electron deficient monomers and derivatives, was acquired by Nippon Shokubai, a Japanese chemical manufacturing company.
3/31: Kansas City-based Pepper, an IoT platform and service provider, raised a $8.5 million Series B from Leawood Ventures, the KCRise Fund, Royal Street Ventures, OpenAir Equity Partners, and Comporium Communications.
3/31: Milwaukee-based EthoStream, a provider of internet access networks for the hospitality industry, had its assets and operations acquired by DCI Design Communications. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
(Image via Wiki Commons)
