After starting the year off hot, Colorado's technology and startup ecosystem funding momentum rolled on in April.
Companies across the state topped $500 million raised in outside capital for the third time in four months.
In April we tracked nearly $560 million raised across 23 deals, keeping up with March's total of nearly $600 million in funding across 18 deals. We also saw a similar $600 million funding figure in January, as the local startup and tech scene is flourishing.
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 April in a roundup below:
After a busy year, telemedicine startup CirrusMD closed a $20 million Series C financing round. The round was led by Blue Venture Fund, with participation from 7wireVentures, Drive Capital and the Colorado Impact Fund. It brings the company's total funding to $46 million. The round is expected to bring Denver-based CirrusMD into its next phase of growth, following a year that proved the value of telemedicine solutions.
A Colorado startup planning to make supersonic planes that will halve international travel times has raised $45 million in new funding and added a finance industry veteran to its board. Centennial-based Boom Supersonic revealed the funding, a new director and the hiring of a new head of human resources and company culture. The startup landed funding from Prime Movers Lab and added its general partner Zia Huque to the Boom Supersonic board directors.
A Denver-based provider of global expansion solutions has raised $100 million and acquired a competitor in the space as it prepares to cross $1 billion in revenue next year. Velocity Global announced its acquisition of iWorkGlobal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gary D. Nelson and Associates, and a $100 million growth investment from private equity firm FFL Partners to fuel the deal. Founded in 2014, Velocity helps other companies hire workers around the world. If an American company wants to hire employees in the U.K., it can hire through Velocity Global rather than take on the cost of setting up a corporate structure in another country.
Denver-based creative content startup soona announced that it raised $10.2 million in Series A funding, led by Union Square Ventures, with follow-on investments from Matchstick Ventures, Starting Line Ventures, 2048 Ventures and Range Ventures. The round comes as soona has found a fit in the market and is ready to rapidly scale its team and solution.
Boulder-based tech company Automox has secured $110 million in Series C funding, which it will use to grow its employee base and expand its offerings. The round was led by Insight Partners, along with funds managed by Blackstone and existing investors Koch Disruptive Technologies and TechOperators. With this round, Automox’s total funding exceeds $152 million.
Simple Homes, a Denver-based prefabricated home startup, has raised $3.7 million in equity funding from 25 investors, according to a Form D filing. The company uses technology to design, manufacture and assemble sustainably made homes using its Scandinavian-inspired panelized building system.
Denver's Amenify, a startup powering in-home services like housekeeping and dog-walking for multifamily residential properties, announced the closing of a $4.8 million funding round with plans for expansion. The funding will enable the company to add approximately 320,000 units of multifamily properties to its platform – which will include approximately 15 new markets for the company.
Colorado-based startup Kickfurther raised $5.9 million in a seed-plus round set to accelerate its breakneck pace. Kickfurther targets small to mid-sized businesses in the physical products space, allowing them to raise money via its web-based crowdfunding platform. Individuals fund the production of a specific lot of inventory, and once the inventory is produced and sold, the funders earn a predetermined (consignment) profit from the sale.
A Denver company planning a major expansion of its business turning flared natural gas at oil wells into cryptocurrency and computing power has landed big financial backing. Crusoe Energy Systems closed a $128 million Series B equity financing round to fuel the business’ growth, and it secured a separate $40 million in project financing, the company said.
Boulder-based Unsupervised, an automated analytics platform, closed a $35 million Series B round by new investors Cathay Innovation and SignalFire with participation from prior investors Coatue, Eniac Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners and Elad Gil.
As jobs in the cannabis industry spike, despite the current pandemic, Denver’s Wurk is feeling the impacts. In order to keep up with that booming workforce, Wurk, a human capital management company for the cannabis industry, announced an oversubscribed $3.5 million Series AA round of financing. The round included only existing investors and was led by Wurk Investment Partnership with participation from Poseidon Asset Management, Salveo Capital and The Arcview Group, among others. Prior to this round, Wurk had raised $22 million in seed and Series A rounds of funding.
Denver's Shotzr, an AI advertising startup, raised nearly $1 million in equity funding, according to a Form D filing. The company landed a spot on Inno's inaugural Startups to Watch list in 2018 and raised a $3 million equity round in 2019.
Denver-based VieCure, an AI startup in the oncology industry, announced the closing of its $25 million Series A growth equity investment led by Northpond Ventures. VieCure has developed an AI software platform that combines clinical knowledge with patient data to assist oncologists and hematologists in generating personalized treatment plans throughout diagnosis, therapy and follow-up care.
The Tifin Group, a Boulder venture platform that builds fintech companies, announced the closing of $22.3 million in Series B funding. As part of the funding, Tifin has brought on J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Morningstar and Broadridge as investors. Tifin was founded in 2018 and has ten active operating companies in the asset and wealth management industry.
A Colorado deodorant startup has topped $550,000 on WeFunder with the help of an Indonesian tech giant as its lead investor. Pit Liquor, an eco-friendly natural deodorant made from whiskey and vodka, announced that it has reached its funding milestone of $450,000, led by Gojek co-founder Michaelangelo Moran. Gojek is a ride-hailing service in Indonesia that has been rumored to have a $10 billion valuation, or a 'decadorn' as the tech world has dubbed it.
Denver connected fitness startup CLMBR raised $10.7 million in equity funding from 29 investors, according to a Form D filing. The company already has announced a celebrity investor roster that includes Ryan Seacrest, Jay-Z, Novak Djokovic and Pitbull.
Spark Grills, a Boulder-based startup reinventing charcoal grilling, has raised $6.8 million in equity funding, according to a Form D filing. The company had previously raised $3.5 million in May 2020 for its 'precision charcoal grilling' system.
As they use data to shake up the energy industry, Denver’s Project Canary has raised $10 million with big plans ahead. Quantum Energy Partners, Global Reserve Group and Energy Impact Partners led the Series A funding round, bringing together partners from across the oil, natural gas and utility sectors. Project Canary, which was founded in 2018, sells continuous emissions monitoring technology and services to oil and gas infrastructure companies.
Denver's CareCar, a non-emergency medical transportation benefit startup, announced that the company closed a $3 million seed funding round led by Kapor Capital and Impact America Fund. CareCar plans to use the funds to accelerate its growth into new markets, with a focus on expanding its services in the senior home care sector.
Denver’s interviewIA, a technology platform that manages the job interview workflow to remove bias, has raised $2 million in seed funding to enable strategic hires and product development as well as growth initiatives. This Series Seed round was led by The Colorado Impact Fund, with participation from FirstMile Ventures, Rockies Venture Club, Outbound Capital, Dasein Capital, Stout Street Capital and Service Provider Capital.
Boulder-based section.io, an edge computing startup, has raised nearly $12 million in equity funding from 14 investors, according to a Form D filing. The company was founded in Australia in 2012 and moved its headquarters to Boulder in 2016, where it now counts Foundry Group as an investor.
In a move that positions it to triple its headcount and cement its place in the amateur sports market, Boulder’s TeamSnap announced a strategic partnership with private equity firm Waud Capital Partners. The partnership brings new capital to TeamSnap and gives Waud Capital majority ownership of the company. As part of the deal, Waud Capital executive Peter Frintzilas will take over as CEO and Andrew Rueff will join TeamSnap as executive chairman. Founder and current CEO Dave DuPont will retain a financial stake in the company and remain on TeamSnap’s executive team.
