While August may have brought in less funding deals than July, it had plenty of headlines.
We've rounded up the deals — both the local companies that snagged funds and the deployment of local investors' funds — below.
Kush.com, a B2B provider of cannabis products, has closed a $2 million funding round led by local tech titan Steve MacDonald. The company is headed up by John Lynch, whose own company, TradeCraft Origin, was acquired by Kush in June. Lynch is a former Coca-Cola executive who moved to Tampa in 2013. He and MacDonald met through Oxford Exchange co-founder Blake Casper, and MacDonald has served as a mentor to Lynch since. Get the full story.
St. Pete-based SavvyCard received an undisclosed investment from California-based firm Venture MLS. SavvyCard founder David Etheredge told Tampa Bay Inno it is a six-figure funding and part of the company's $1 million bridge round that just closed.
KnowBe4 Ventures quietly launched in August. It will largely focus on investing in fellow cyber companies, although it's open to adjacent industries like education. They don't plan to take large roles in the investing, instead participating in smaller roles. And they've already closed three deals this year. The Business Journal's got the rundown.
KnowBe4 Ventures also made its first investment, with participation in an $8 million funding round for Luma, a Miami cyber startup.
Tampa-based Florida Funders cut its largest check yet with a $5 million investment into Betr, a Miami-based micro-betting startup headed up by YouTuber-turned-boxer Logan Paul. TampaBay.Ventures also participated in the round. Get the full story.
Procoto, a St. Pete startup that was among the mass migration to the region in 2021, snagged the attention of local and national tech funds. It closed a $750,000 pre-seed round with TampaBay.Ventures leading the round. There was also participation from Y Combinator and local angel investors. Get the full story.
Tampa-based marketing tech company Nickelytics closed a six-figure deal with California-based BDev Ventures. However, it’s coupled with a fundraising round on crowdfunding site Republic. The company previously raised $398,000 on Republic, and this time is shooting for $535,000. We've got the scoop on why the company is going down two funding paths — read about it here.
While we initially broke the news in July, Lakeland-based Hook Security officially confirmed it received an undisclosed investment from TampaBay.Ventures last month. The funding will help Hook Security expand its offerings to more businesses and develop additional cybersecurity programs. You can read more about the company here and their plans to make Lakeland a tech hub here.
Aharon Chernin, a local serial entrepreneur with one big exit under his belt, raised $4 million led by Maryland-based TDF Ventures. GroTech Ventures, Florida Funders, MDJ and Adam Slutskin and David Bellini, who head up Tampa-based CyberFOX, also participated in the round for Rewst. We've got the scoop.
Healee, a Bulgarian-based medtech company that helps companies break into the telehealth world, closed a $2 million seed round extension. Its general manager and head of U.S. operations lives in the region and wants to make Tampa Bay the company's new home base. Get the story.
