The Tampa Bay region had its most lucrative Q2 funding raise in nearly a decade, according to a new Pitchbook report.
The quarterly report revealed Thursday Tampa Bay companies brought in $105.1 million in funding over the last three months. It is its highest Q2 amount since Pitchbook began tracking local data in 2014.
The $105 million was spread across 16 deals. While strong, it's a slight dip from the $164 million Pitchbook originally reported local companies raised in Q1, which it later edited to $224.6 million when total deals closed in the first three months of the year.
Q2 has always been the Tampa Bay region's weakest quarter. In Q2 of 2021, Tampa Bay companies raised $46 million, with the same quarter garnering $11.6 million in 2020 and $44.9 million in 2019.
With the latest jump to $105 million, it bodes well for the second half of the year.
It's also in particular contrast to many startups that are facing mass layoffs and tightened purse strings from investors, with many holding off further activity until the tumultuous economy becomes more stabilized.
The Pitchbook Tampa Bay data states June brought in $17.2 million across four deals, with $5.5 million across three deals in May and $82.3 million in April across nine deals.
Some of the top Tampa Bay Q2 deals included:
- Cirkul, the Tampa-based innovative water bottle company, closed a $70M Series C investment led by New York-based SC Holdings. The investment reportedly boosted its valuation to $1B, according to officials.
- Prague-based-turned-Tampa-transplant MANTA closed a $35 million Series B.
- 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.
- PeopleGuru, a Tampa-based software as a service company focused on payroll, closed a $5 million Series A.
- Tampa-based Signature Athletics, which makes buying athletes' uniforms and equipment automated, closed a $2M "seed plus" round. The round was comprised of roughly 200 private investors with an undisclosed lead.
The Sunshine State as a whole raised $1.5 billion in Q2, buoyed largely by the Miami MSA's $1 billion across 90 deals. Orlando also had an eye-popping $305 million across nine deals, a massive jump from its $42 million raised in Q1.
