The funded: These Kentucky startups got the most investment dollars in 2021

The U.S. keeps shattering its records for venture capital activity this year.

There's been $238.7 billion invested into U.S. startup companies across 12,837 deals in 2021, surpassing the previous annual record set in 2020 of $166.4 billion, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. Nearly 600 of those were "mega-deals" with investments totaling $100 million or more.

Some of that VC activity was fueled by exits, which brought more than $582.5 billion in liquid value to market across 1,150 deals in the first nine months of the year —surpassing $500 billion for the first time and already doubling 2020’s previous record.

Kentucky did have one outsized investment on the books this year: $100 million invested into Climavision, which made the Louisville-based weather technology company the top-funded startup in the commonwealth, according to CB Insights.

I've got the details on that investment and more in this rundown of Kentucky startups that have raised the most capital this year (so far).

Climavision (Louisville, Kentucky) — $100 million

Climavision, a new Louisville company, made its grand entrance in June with a $100 million private equity investment from The Rise Fund. Much of that capital is being deployed in the development of the company's weather services and intelligence platform powered by a private network of high-resolution radars, GPS-RO data and proprietary software. I talked with CEO Chris Goode in September about the company's hiring efforts.

AppHarvest (Morehead, Kentucky) — $48.99 million

Founded in 2020, AppHarvest (Nasdaq: APPH, APPHW) went public early this year through a special purpose acquisition company, receiving approximately $475 million of gross proceeds. The agtech company, which is building massive indoor farms across the commonwealth, went on to raise nearly $50 million from 44 equity investors in April, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

eBlu Solutions Inc. (Louisville, Kentucky) — $11.4 million

Louisville startup eBlu Solutions LLC completed a $11.4 million Series A fundraising round in April. The business, which specializes in streamlining prior authorizations for infusion-based specialty medications, got funding from the following investors: lead investor Chicago-based OCA Ventures and co-investors Cleveland-based Mutual Capital Partners and Brentwood, Tennessee-based FCA Venture Partners’ Health Innovations II fund.

PowerTech Water Inc. (Lexington, Kentucky) — $6.01 million

PowerTech Water announced the closing of its oversubscribed Series B financing round led by HG Ventures in June. At the time of the announcement, the company said the funds would be used to meet the rising demand for sustainable industrial water treatment, accelerate corporate partnerships and expand operations in Lexington, Kentucky.

To the Market (Lexington, Kentucky) — $5 million (tie)

To The Market, a sustainable supply chain startup, raised a $5 million round led by Curate Capital. With a network of more than 200 suppliers in over 50 countries, the company has attracted big-name clients, such as Target, Bloomingdale's, TJ Maxx and Nordstrom Rack since its founding in 2016. Read more about my October interview with To the Market's founder and CEO Jane Mosbacher Morris.

Blue Run Spirits LLC (Georgetown, Kentucky) — $5 million (tie)

Blue Run Spirits was launched last year by a group of friends and bourbon lovers — a Nike designer, Facebook’s first director-level employee, a hospitality executive, a political advisor and a philanthropist — that teamed with Jim Rutledge, a 50+ year whiskey veteran who serves as the brand’s liquid advisor. The bourbon business has raised $5 million in both equity and debt investment as of Nov. 2, according an SEC filing.

Here are the other startup companies that secured more than $1 million in venture capital in 2021:

Note: Covington, Kentucky-based Cloverleaf announced an undisclosed Series A round in January 2021, bringing its total capital raised to $5 million.

Investment data was collected from SEC Form D filings and previous reporting. See a missing company? Email me at hcawthon@bizjournals.com.