The venture capital scene may be starting to heat up in Colorado as five local companies raised a collective $165 million last month.
One of the five businesses secured $100 million in funding, a milestone not reached by local companies in March or April.
Infleqtion — $10.8 million
Infleqtion, formerly called ColdQuanta, raised approximately $10.8 million in equity investment, according to two filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s CEO said “this is part of a much larger capital raise.” Louisville-based Infleqtion aims to commercialize quantum technology. It has developed a quantum clock and is creating quantum radio-frequency antennas.
Tilt — $15 million
Recent Colorado Inno Madness champion Tilt secured nearly $15 million in equity from seven investors, according to a Form D filed with the SEC on May 17. The filing lists Career Allies Inc. as the company that raised the funding and Tilt CEO Jen Henderson as its executive officer and director. Career Allies Inc. is also associated with Kait Feeney, Tilt’s chief operating officer, records show. Tilt is a Fort Collins-based workplace leave management platform.
MagicSchool AI — $17.9 million
Generative artificial intelligence startup MagicSchool AI pulled in approximately $17.9 million in equity investment, according to an SEC filing last month. MagicSchool was founded in 2023 by former teacher and principal Adeel Khan and named a Colorado Inno Startup to Watch this year. The Denver startup has developed more than 60 AI tools to help K-12 educators develop lesson plans, communicate with parents, create quizzes and diagnostic assessments, summarize text and more. MagicSchool also recently developed a platform to help build AI literacy for students.
Mesa Financial Inc. — $21 million
Mesa Financial Inc. is founded and led by local entrepreneur Benjamin Apel, who co-founded credit card issuer Final which eventually rebranded to Apple Card. Boulder-based Mesa secured $21 million, according to a May 16 regulatory filing with the SEC that noted about $14.6 million of the raise came as convertible debt. Founded in 2021, Mesa uses embedded payment solutions to helps businesses offer early payments to their suppliers.
Meati Foods — $100 million
Also in Boulder, plant-based meat company Meati Foods pulled in a $100 million Series C-1. The company, which makes a mushroom-root meat alternative, said the funding will help it meet demand. Meati recently began distributing its products in 2,000 Kroger grocery stores and announced its founding executive Tyler Huggins will step away from day-to-day roles. It also laid off 13% of its workforce in February, its second round of layoffs in five months. Meati has raised more than $300 million since 2019 and opened a more than 100,000-square-foot factory in Thornton last year.
