This is a roundup of Chicago tech and startup companies that received venture capital investments during the last month. If we missed one, let us know at info@chicagoinno.com.
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While coming in below the frenzied pace of deals earlier in the year, venture funding remained healthy in Chicago during May with $257 million raised by local tech and startup companies.
Throughout the month, startups raised $257 million, which was down from April, when local companies raised an unusually large amount of funding at $930 million, according to data compiled by Chicago Inno.
An analysis by Inno shows that Chicago startup funding over the first five months of 2021 has eclipsed what local companies raised over the entirety of 2020. Chicago startups have so far raised more than $3 billion in 2021, according to Inno's analysis. Over the entirety of 2020, local companies raised $2.8 billion.
May’s fundings were led by Amount, which raised $100 million, and Kin Insurance, which raised $64 million.
Below are nine Chicago tech and startup companies that raised money in May.
Amount: Amount, a fintech startup that spun out of Chicago-based Avant, raised $100 million in a Series D round led by WestCap, a VC firm that has also made notable investments in technology businesses such as Airbnb and StubHub. This latest round of funding is Amount’s third financing within 14 months, said the startup’s CEO and President Adam Hughes. The company raised a $68 million round in December and $58 million in March 2020. To date, Amount has raised $243 million. Founded in 2018 originally as the tech arm of Avant, a digital consumer lending company, Amount has built tech-powered lending products for banks, who wanted to significantly enhance their digital capabilities.
BluePallet: The Chicago startup, which is modernizing how the industrial sector purchases chemical products, came out of stealth mode with $4 million in funding. Founded in 2020, BluePallet is a digital marketplace for buying and shipping chemical products, such as plastics and fertilizers. The startup was formed through a merger between fintech company Velloci and EchoSystem, a chemical marketplace founded in 2017.
Evertas: The crypto insurance company raised $5.8 million in a seed round led by Morgan Creek Digital, CMT, HashKey, Wave Partners, RenGen, 4RC, Centrality, Plug ‘n Play, Vy Capital, and several individual investors. The new funding will be used to further develop its product, which are insurance underwriting tools to provide claims handling and risk management services.
Grove Biopharma: Grove Biopharma, a startup that's creating a novel class of “protein-like polymers” to make drugs that could treat Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis and other difficult to treat conditions, raised $4 million in a round led by Portal Innovations, a Chicago VC firm led by John Flavin that backs biotech startups. Portal is based in Fulton Labs, a life sciences campus in Fulton Market. Grove is co-founded by Nathan Giannesch, CEO Geoff Duyk, and president and COO Paul Bertin. The startup was based on science from Northwestern University and the University of California, San Diego.
Kin Insurance: The insurtech startup raised $64 million in new funding co-led by Senator Investment Group and Hudson Structured Capital Management. Founded in 2016, Kin's insurance platform allows it to make underwriting decisions quickly based on data from satellite images, public records and other sources. Kin sells insurance directly to homeowners, rather than through outside agents.
Obie: Chicago startup Obie raised $10.7 million in a Series A round led by Michael Brown and Battery Ventures. To date, Obie has raised more than $13 million. It raised a $2.8 million seed round last year from investors like Y Combinator, a prestigious Silicon Valley startup accelerator that Obie participated in shortly after launching. Obie has built a cloud-based insurance and portfolio management platform for small- and medium-size apartment landlords.
Puttshack: The startup, which is a tech-infused mini golf concept from the founders of Topgolf, raised $60 million in funding led by Promethean Investments. The company, founded in 2017, operates three venues in the U.K. and opened its first U.S. location in Atlanta last month. The company is planning to open a location in suburban Oak Brook this fall, along with new courses in Miami, Nashville and other U.S. cities.
Spot: Led by Chicago entrepreneur Greg Caplan, Spot raised a $5 million seed round from Kleiner, a Valley firm known for its investments in tech giants like Amazon, Google and Twitter. Founded earlier this year, Spot wants to keep you untethered from your computer during work calls and allows you to take walking meetings with its audio-only app.
Tiv: Chicago-based Tiv raised a $3.5 million seed round led by 4490 Ventures. The startup, founded in 2020, has created a payments platform for gamers that gives them the ability to redeem rewards for every hour of gaming.
