With the end of the year rapidly approaching, Colorado startups and technology companies are closing out 2021 strong on the funding front.
Across six deals we tracked in November, Colorado companies raised more than $1.5 billion in outside funding. That massive total was carried by a $1.4 billion round raised by Sierra Space that was termed one of the largest Series A investments in industry history. Outside of that deal, hospitality intelligence startup OTA Insight and remote work company Whimsical also brought on rounds of $30 million or greater this year.
The total easily eclipsed October's total of $200 million raised across seven deals.
We cover funding rounds, acquisitions and other transactions in our daily newsletter, The Beat. You can sign up for that here. We gathered some of the state’s top fundings from November in a roundup below:
OTA Insight
With travel set to top pre-pandemic levels this holiday season, a Denver-based hospitality business intelligence startup has brought on $80 million in new capital to fuel its growth. OTA Insight announced that it has raised $80 million from Boston-based Spectrum Equity, a growth equity firm focused on internet-enabled software and transformational data companies. OTA Insight, whose U.S. HQ is in Denver, provides hospitality data and analytics to hoteliers to enable them to plan effectively, understand their competition and alter pricing.
Whimsical
Denver startup Whimsical has been building integrated tools to enable the future of remote work since it launched in 2017. Now, as companies around the globe settle into a dispersed employee model, Whimsical has seen the interest in its product explode and has brought on its first outside capital to accelerate its growth. Whimsical announced that it has raised $30 million in Series A funding led by Accel, with participation of Basis Set Ventures. It also received angel investments from GitHub’s CEO and chief operation officer, Stripe’s chief procurement officer, Dropbox’s co-founder and others.
Assignar
Denver-based construction software company Assignar has brought on a new round of capital aimed at providing liquidity to early investors and its team. The company, which relocated to Denver in 2017 from Australia, raised this $16.5 million round just months after its $20 million Series B in May. The company’s CEO and co-founder Sean McCreanor said this add-on investment was largely driven by investor demand.
Sierra Space
Sierra Space, a Colorado company developing a commercial space station and building the Dream Chaser spaceplane, landed a $1.4 billion initial round of funding from outside investors. The Broomfield-headquartered company said it’s the second-largest Series A investment in industry history and largest of 2021. It values Sierra Space as a multi-billion-dollars commercial space business.
Tynt Technologies
A Boulder startup looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions using what it calls "dynamic windows" has brought on its first major capital round as it prototypes its unique product. Tynt Technologies, a window technology company that's engineering a smart window for residential homes, announced that it has secured $8.5 million in funds through a combination of private financing and federal grants. Led by University of Colorado Professor Mike McGehee and his former student, ex-Halio Chief Engineer Ameen K. Saafir, Tynt is building a window solution that allows homeowners to go from clear state to blackout with the click of a button.
RADICL Defense
Two years after stepping away from the company he helped build, LogRhythm co-founder Chris Petersen is back in charge of a Boulder startup providing military grade cybersecurity to small and medium-sized businesses. RADICL Defense recently emerged from stealth with a $3 million seed funding round that will help the company develop its first product in the cyber space.
