Baird Capital, part of Milwaukee-based Baird, led a $22 million Series B financing round in Crayon, a Boston-based market and competitive intelligence platform, according to a May 4 announcement.
Baseline Ventures, Bedrock Capital, and C&B Capital also participated in the funding round. Baird Capital partner Benedict Rocchio joined Crayon's board of directors.
Chicago-based Baird Capital also recently invested in Azzur Group, a life science consultancy based in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures led a $1.1 million seed round in MentalHappy, a San Francisco-based mental health platform, according to a May 5 announcement.
Social Impact Capital, Chai Angels and Peter Reinhardt, founder and CEO of Segment.io, also participated in the funding round.
Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures also recently invested in Zirtue, a Dallas-based financial technology startup.
Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, the company’s corporate VC fund, provided a “significant investment” in Zirtue, which provides a lending application focused on folks with relationships, according to a statement by the startup.
Zirtue is getting more traction as it provides an application that helps facilitate loans between friends, family and trusted relationships. It turns those informal promises around borrowing into structured agreements and automates the repayment process.
“Loaning money can damage relationships, and Zirtue is the modern-day solution by providing a seamless, structured way for people to be paid back,” CEO Dennis Cail said in a statement. “By investing in the problem we are trying to solve, Northwestern Mutual is demonstrating their commitment to financial inclusion.”
Zirtue is about three years old — and over $10 million in loans have been processed on its platform.
Northwestern Mutual joins backers that include Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and the Jaylon Smith Minority Entrepreneurship Institute Capital Fund.
Brian Womack, staff writer for the Dallas Business Journal, contributed to this report.
