A gaming company opened its doors with a franchise location at WestShore Plaza.
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January jump-started the new year with several executive hires at some of the biggest tech companies, as well as millions of dollars in funding.
For two years in a row, January has seen one of the biggest tech deals of the year. Fintech company Mad Mobile closed a $20 million funding in 2023. While it's still early to tell what the full year holds, Rewst's $31 million Series B tops that for at least January.
Tampa Bay Inno covered it all below.
Hires
- Skillable, a private equity-backed training service based in New Port Richey, hired Ken Talanian as its CFO. Talanian worked for Clearwater-based cybersecurity firm KnowBe4 for more than three years.
- ConnectWise named Kisha Thompson to the role of chief people officer. Thompson replaced Jennifer Locklear, a longtime ConnectWise employee.
- Michael Branca returned to cybersecurity firm A-LIGN as CFO in January.
- Clearwater-based cybersecurity company KnowBe4 appointed Alicia Dietzen Tawil as its new chief legal officer.
Acquisitions
- Public benefit corporation GAP Innovations, founded by a Washington, D.C. nonprofit, acquired Tampa-based Axiom Clinical Research. It plans to develop the space into an educational resource center for patients with brain diseases.
- Toronto, Ontario-based information technology services firm BioConnect acquired longtime Tampa tech services company Silent Partner Technologies for an undisclosed amount.
- Irish firm Learning Pool acquired Tampa software startup and Embarc Collective company OnScreen for an undisclosed sum.
- Illinois edtech firm Follett School Solutions acquired Texas-based education software company Livingtree for an undisclosed amount. Gary Hensley is a Tampa entrepreneur and was the CEO and president of Livingtree before the acquisition. The deal puts a third exit on his resume.
Fundings
- Rewst, a Tampa-based automation platform for managed service providers, raised $31 million in a Series B funding round led by Palo Alto-based Meritech Capital.
- Tampa-based software company Certus Core raised $1.6 million in a seed funding round from three undisclosed angel investors.
- St. Petersburg-based startup Anchor Yacht Charters raised $1.8 million in seed funding from new and existing investors.
- Early-stage St. Pete startup What's Good launched in late 2023 and closed $100,000 in pre-seed funding in January.
Moves
