Minneapolis, Minnesota Downtown Skyline at Sunrise. Photo via Getty Images.
Startups in Minnesota raised approximately $1.2 billion across 132 deals in 2019, up from $814.4 million the year prior – likely a record for the state.
So how are they starting out 2020?
Currently, Digital River leads the way for the largest funding round of 2020. The company announced in late February that it had received $50 million in growth equity from its owners.
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Read Minne Inno’s past monthly funding roundups here.
Digital River
- E-commerce company Digital River Inc. received $50 million in growth equity from its owner, Siris Capital Group. The round of fundraising also had participation from Digital River’s other investors.
Cardionomic
- Med-tech startup Cardionomic closed on nearly $16 million in funding. No new investors took part in the round. Previous investors in the company include New Enterprise associates, GreatBatch, Ascension Ventures and the Cleveland Clinic. The company's technology was developed and licensed from the Cleveland Clinic.
Soona
- Startup photo studio Soona closed on a $3.5 million seed round led by St. Paul-based Matchstick Ventures and Chicago, Ill.-based Starting Line. The company, which now has 17 employees, has seen dramatic growth in recent months. It took over 200,000 photos in 2019 and more than half of those were in the fourth quarter of the year. January was its strongest month in both of its studios.
Civic Eagle
- Twin Cities political tech startup Civic Eagle closed on a $1.3 million round of seed funding to help the company grow ahead of its program launch. Civic Eagle’s seed round was led by Chicago-based venture capital firm M25 Ventures. Founded in 2015, Civic Eagle aims to use technology to improve transparency in public policy and legislative affairs.
Exits, IPOs and Other Moves
- The founders of Joshin, a local tech company that provides on-demand disability care, sold their first company, Josh’s Place to REM Minnesota, an organization serving adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- Jamf, the Minneapolis-based maker of software for managing Apple devices, confidentially filed for an initial public offering, according to Bloomberg. Bloomberg reports that Jamf, backed by the buyout from Vista Equity Partners, will seek to be valued at about $3 billion in a listing, according to a person familiar with the matter.
- Google awarded funding to five Minnesota nonprofits as part of its Impact Challenge. The following organizations each received $175,000: First Children's Finance, Genesys Works Twin Cities, Hmong American Farmers Association, Tech Dump and The BrandLab. Genesys Works was selected as the people's choice winner and walked away with an additional $125,000 in funding.
