All the Tampa Bay tech fundings, hires and moves in April

We've got the rundown of the deals you might have missed, from millions raised to global companies settling down in Tampa Bay.

Instants

By Lauren Coffey - TBBJ & Inno Reporter

May 04, 2023, 12:06pm EDT

Tampa Bay's technology and startup scene held steady in April. While it did not bring in the same large amount of funding or the number of C-level hires as March, it still racked up wins.

We've rounded up a list of the deals you may have missed below.

New Money

Clearwater-based Digital Media Solutions raised $14 million through a private placement stock offering. San Francisco-based venture capital firm Leo Investors participated in the transaction along with Lion Founders, which helped take Digital Media Solutions public back in 2020. The Tampa Bay Business Journal's got the story.

Digital Media Solutions in Clearwater

Jeremy Scott Photography www.jeremyscottphoto.com

TampaBay.Ventures, an investment firm solely focused on Tampa Bay early-stage startups, closed its oversubscribed fund at $27 million. The firm's invested in 13 companies since its May 2021 launch, with another three deals set to close by the end of the month. Get the scoop.
Tampa-based HCI Group Inc. has called off a $100 million initial public offering for its insurtech subsidiary, TypTap. Instead, the insurance giant has launched a new subsidiary, Tailrow Insurance. HCI will issue $2.5 million shares of common stock on behalf of the new venture, at $1 per share. The Business Journal's got the story.

HCI Group corporate headquarters in Tampa

A St. Petersburg artificial intelligence company with multiple Fortune 500 customers has closed a $4.2 million seed round. Optiversal, which officially launched on the market earlier this year, confirmed the raise to Tampa Bay Inno on Wednesday. According to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, the funding had four investors participate that were all undisclosed. Optiversal's CEO Will Underwood said the funding will be used to expand the 15-person team to 50 by the end of the year. We've got the details.

William Underwood, CEO and co-founder of Optiversal

Aaron Gang / aarongang.com

Telepathy Labs, a Tampa-based information technology company, has raised $29.5 million, according to a filing with the SEC. The company, founded in 2016, has long been quiet when it comes to raising funds. Its previous funding round in August 2021 was for $17 million; before that, it raised $6.6 million in June 2020. We've got a look at its latest funding here.

Player Personnel

Don Kleoppel takes over as the new chief information and security officer at Greenway Health in Tampa. Kleoppel joins Greenway Health with over 30 years of experience in the health care IT industry, most recently as VP and chief security officer with Cerner where he primarily focused on creating a highly secure computing environment through the establishment of operational improvements and programs.
Tampa-based cybersecurity firm ReliaQuest promoted three of its C-levels: Chief Operating Officer Colin O’Connor is now president of field operations; Chief Product Office Brian Foster is now president of product and technical operations; Chief Information Officer Regina Marrow is now also executive vice president of operations
Tampa-based cybersecurity firm A-LIGN brought on Ryan Grace as chief revenue officer and Giles House will be chief marketing and product officer. Grace previously served as chief revenue officer at London-based Hero, an e-commerce mobile app technology company. And House served as chief product officer and chief marketing officer at Pennsylvania-based SAP Sales Cloud.

A-LIGN's first international office, which is in a Bulgarian chocolate factory. (Provided/A-LIGN)

(Provided/A-LIGN)

Chargebacks911, a Clearwater-based chargeback remediation firm, tapped Monica Eaton as CEO. Eaton will replace Gary Cardone, who served in the spot for 10 years. Eaton is the co-founder of the company.

Monica Eaton-Cardone

Chargebacks911

Encoda, a Tampa-based medtech company, hired Allen Starkman as chief product and strategy officer. Prior to Encoda, Allen was the chief revenue cycle officer for Wisconsin-based Forefront Dermatology, the largest private equity-owned dermatology group practice in the U.S.
Phonism, a Tampa-based telecommunications tech firm, hired Greg DiFraia as chief revenue officer. DiFraia previously served as general manager at San Francisco-based Scality, which develops platforms for software-defined object storage.

Making Moves

St. Petersburg-based insurtech firm Squaremouth was acquired by New Jersey-based Specialty Program Group LLC for an undisclosed amount. The news follows the company's CEO, Jessica Burns, stepping down late last month. Corporate development executive Rupa Mehta replaced Burns as CEO and will stay in that role once the acquisition is finalized.

Squaremouth employees at the company's downtown St. Petersburg headquarters.

Ashlee Hamon Photography, INC

U.K.-based insurtech firm FloodFlash is expanding across the pond and into Florida, along with four other states. Mark Hara, the company's North American CEO (and Naples, Florida resident) said the company will insure any flood zone, no matter how risky the location. The Business Journal's got that story.

Mark Hara, North America CEO for FloodFlash

FloodFlash

Germany-based vivenu has tapped Tampa for its U.S. headquarters. The company dubs itself a "ticketing and experience" tech company and offers a platform to manage, market and analyze ticket sales. It will take up 700 square feet in the downtown Tampa WeWork space and plans to hire 30 people by the end of the year, according to the Business Journal.

WeWork in downtown Tampa

Nola Laleye

Tampa-based software firm ConnectWise made waves with its $1.5 billion sale in 2019 — and it could be looking to repeat history. Thoma Bravo, the private equity firm that bought the software company in the headline-making acquisition, is reportedly looking to sell the company as it nears its five-year ownership mark. Bain Capital is the reported buyer, a Boston-based firm best known for co-purchasing Bloomin' Brands in 2006. We've got the full details over at the Business Journal.