Atlas Digital Group, a St. Louis-based startup that provides e-commerce software for broadband internet providers, has raised $2 million in seed funding.
The financing adds to $3 million raised by Atlas in 2021. St. Louis-based venture capital firm Cultivation Capital led the $2 million financing. It also was lead investor in the 2021 funding round. Other return investors include Jerry Kent’s technology investment and management firm Cequel III, Tom McMillin and Gregg Graff. McMillin and Graff are former executives of St. Louis-based Suddenlink Communications, which was acquired in 2015 by European telecom company Altice. New investors in the round include Terry Cordova, a former executive at Altice and Suddenlink; Andy Parrott, president and chief operating officer of Vyve Broadband; and Justin Freesmeier, chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Wyyerd Fiber.
Founded in 2018, Atlas has developed an e-commerce platform, called Core, designed to help internet providers to grow and maintain their customer base.
“Atlas Digital Group enjoys a unique advantage with a powerful product and deep industry expertise that make it possible for broadband providers to acquire customers quickly and easily,” said Heather Wood, general partner at Cultivation Capital. "Atlas has a winning formula: a vision and a tremendous commitment to delivering a great customer experience.”
Atlas CEO Mark Mihalevich said his company’s new funding aims to help it expand its customer roster and strengthen its technology capabilities. He said the company’s initial seed funding in 2021 sought to “validate and provide the basic business proposition” of the company.
“We did that,” he said.
Mihalevich said the company has notched key milestones, doubling its customer base in 2022 to include 15 customers and adding several new features to its Core platform. Atlas has found success in signing on fiber internet companies that are new to the market, Mihalevich said. One of its clients is a Wright City-based Gateway Fiber, a local developer of fiber broadband networks.
“We really bet on this idea that the fiber business itself was going to be a very fruitful aspect of the overall industry,” Mihalevich said. “That's been proven correct. Most of our main customers are these pure-play fiber builders that are often early stage companies that are growing rapidly.”
Research from marketing research firm RVA LLC has projected U.S. investment in new fiber routes for home use will top $125 million between 2022 and 2026. Its data found the number of U.S. homes with access to fiber internet jumped 12% in 2021 to include 60 million-plus homes.
Atlas, which has a team of 20, has its headquarters at 2721 Sutton Blvd. in Maplewood.
