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Tampa Bay companies continued a funding streak to end Q2, raising more than roughly $85 million in June.
The funding brought splashy headlines with it, from hitting unicorn status to massive exits and getting a "Shark Tank" investor involved. We've got the deals you may have missed below.
- Cirkul, the Tampa-based innovative water bottle company, received a $70M Series C investment led by New York-based SC Holdings. The investment reportedly boosted its valuation to $1B, according to officials. Cirkul has had a rapid rise — it was founded in Boston in 2018 before moving to Tampa, then raised a $6.6M Series A in 2020 and $30M Series B in 2021. It hit shelves in Walmart and Bed Bath & Beyond and made appearances on QVC, all while going viral on TikTok. Get the full story.
Cirkul is a Tampa-based company.
Cirkul
- Spontivly, a community-focused SaaS company founded in 2019, received an investment from Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner and charismatic "shark" on ABC's hit show "Shark Tank." The investment was made for an undisclosed amount but was part of the company's $500K bridge round, which gives it a 24-month runway. Get the story.
Spontivly's co-founders Anthony Nagendraraj and Marissa Huggins.
Spontivly
- Reptrics, a Tampa-based startup focused on B2B SaaS companies, received a $600K investment from TampaBay.Ventures. It is part of a $1M seed round that Reptrics is in the process of closing. Get the details on the latest investment.
Kevin Goodwin, co-founder and CEO of Reptrics.
JEN COFFIN
- BlocHealth CEO Jared Taylor moved his company from Boston to St. Petersburg last year, and last week announced it was acquired by St. Louis-based SteadyMD for an undisclosed amount. BlocHealth was founded in 2017 and offers a health care professional credential sharing network that's powered through blockchain and its technology. See Taylor's plans for changing the Tampa Bay ecosystem post-exit here.
BlocHealth's Jared Taylor (left) with SteadyMD's Guy Friedman and Yarone Goren.
SteadyMD
- Ronati, a SaaS company is a Hootsuite-type offering for vintage and antique shops, closed a $5.5M seed round led by New York-based BoltRock Holdings LLC. The funding will largely go toward technology development — including an app for shop owners — but also to boost its local presence. Get the full story.
Stacey Tiveron, founder and CEO of Ronati.
Ronati
- Code-X, a St. Pete cybersecurity company that launched from stealth mode last year, closed a seven-figure Series B. While the exact amount was undisclosed, it's larger than the company's $5M Series A, which closed last July. The latest round was led by New York-based Sagewind Capital LLC. The Business Journal's got the details.
The co-founders of Code-X.
Code-X
- Tampa-based CROOW, which offers creative collaboration software, closed an oversubscribed $400K seed round. This brings the company's total funding to $1M since its two years of launching. You can see our original profile on the company here.
David Capece
Courtesy of David Capece/Sparxoo
- Tampa-based Signature Athletics, which makes buying athletes' uniforms and equipment automated, has closed a $2M "seed plus" round. The round was comprised of roughly 200 private investors with an undisclosed lead. We've got the full story.
Dan Soviero, CEO and founder of Signature Lacrosse.
(Provided/Dan Soviero)
- Lakeland-based Hook Security received an undisclosed amount of funding from TampaBay.Ventures. The company combines psychology and humor to fight security hacks. You can check out our original feature on the company here. This is the ninth investment for TampaBay.Ventures, which launched last year.
Zach Eikenberry, CEO of Hook Security
Hook Security
- Cyber Florida, which is housed on Tampa's University of South Florida campus, received a $20M grant to boost cybersecurity jobs in the next year. The Department of Education granted the funding to the institution, which will span over 24 projects across the state and is expected to impact 27K Floridians. Get the details over on the Business Journal.
