2020 may be coming to a close, but funding is full speed ahead for Tampa Bay companies.
In October alone, Tampa Bay companies raised more than $64.8 million, according to SEC reports. We've got the full rundown below.
• 5x5 Technologies, a St. Petersburg drone analytics company, received $3 million from Boston-based Safar Partners Fund. The raise will be part of a larger $6 million Series B funding round. The company did not disclose when it expects to close the Series B round, or where the remainder of the funds will come from. The $3M funding comes after the company received a "Jump Start" award from Amazon Web Services. Get the full story.
• Cirkul, a Tampa-based company that creates and sells patented cartridge and water bottle systems, raised $6.6 million. Cirkul founder and CEO Garrett Waggoner confirmed the news to Tampa Bay Inno but did not add further comments. The fund was raised by 34 investors. This is not new territory for the company: in 2019, the company raised $4.8 million.
• Deepwatch, a St. Petersburg-based cybersecurity services firm, raised $53 million in new funding. The round was led by banking giant Goldman Sachs and included Baltimore's ABS Capital Partners. Get the full details of the deal here.
• Hire Humanely LLC, a Tampa-based entity which has trademarked the local company Chattr, raised $200,000 in debt equity, according to SEC filings. Chattr is an AI-powered digital assistant to specifically help hiring in the retail space. This is the first funding for Hire Humanly or Chattr and was raised by two investors.
• Stonehenge Growth Equity Partners, a Tampa-based investment firm, unveiled a new name and is raising for a new fund. The group will now be called Topmark Partners and is halfway to raising a $75 million fund. The company is actively looking for new investments, specifically stating the pandemic has caused new opportunities for innovation. Get all the details.
• BodiData Inc., a St. Petersburg-based company that compiles a data set of body measurements from over 1 million body scans, received $2 million. According to SEC reports, two investors participated in the funding. The company received $1M in 2019 and with the latest investment, has raised over $9M to date.
