In covering the D.C. innovation economy comes the inevitable: funding news. Trust us, there's a lot of it floating around the D.C. metro area. Here's a roundup of all of the major funding news from the region in March:
Quad-C
- Charlottesville, Va.-based private equity firm Quad-C raised $1.1B for its latest fund, Quad-C Partners IX, according to Fortune's Term Sheet newsletter on March 6. The fund exceeded the firms $800M target, and the new fund will invest in companies ranging in size from $75M to $40oM in revenue, Crain's Pensions and Investments reports.
ID.me
- McLean, Va.-based startup ID.me closed a $19M Series B round led by FTV Capital, which was announced on March 8. With the new funds, the startup plans to focus on growing its sales, marketing and product development teams.
Weather Analytics
- Silver Spring, Md.-based Weather Analytics closed a $17M round, according to a recent SEC filing on March 9. The data company helps insurance companies, businesses and organizations impacted by weather see potential risks through weather forensics, modeling and risk analysis.
Dolcezza Gelato
- More money for coffee and gelato is never bad. Dolcezza Gelato raised $25K of a new $1M funding round, according to an SEC filing on March 10. Dolcezza has a new location slated to open in The Wharf development in Southwest, so this could be related to the costs of opening up that shop.
MomentSnap
- Arlington-based MomentSnap raised $1.6M of a projected $2.4M round, according to a recent SEC filing on March 15. The company develops employee engagement software for the retail, hospitality, and restaurant industries. Through its technology, MomentSnap hopes to help companies like Olive Garden and Walmart reduce the cost of employee trainings.
CrossLead
- D.C. software company CrossLead raised $850K of a potential $2.1M round in debt and equity, according to a recent SEC filing on March 16. Founded in 2016, the leadership and management system allows team members to quickly gather, interpret and share information across different networks within their company.
PlanetRisk
- McLean, Va.-based PlanetRisk closed a $3.85M round, according to an SEC filing on March 16. The enterprise risk analytics company uses big data to recognize hidden patterns, detect anomalies and forecast future conditions.
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
- Richmond, Va.-based Hardywood Park Craft Brewery raised close to $500K, according to an SEC filing on March 16. The brewery opened in Richmond in 2011, and the group plans to open a brewery and taproom in Charlottesville later this year. In 2018, Hardywood also plans to open a new $28M brewing facility and beer campus in Goochland, Virginia.
Bayshore Networks
- Per Fortune's Term Sheet newsletter, Bethesda, Md.-based Bayshore Networks raised an additional $4.5M in Series A funding, closing its $11M round on March 21. Benhamou Global Ventures is a new investor in the provider of cyber protection for industrial infrastructure. Samsung NEXT Ventures led the latest contribution to its Series A, according to Crunchbase. Bayshore Networks raised its first $6.6M of the round in May 2016.
Tuition Coin
- Leesburg, Va. startup Tuition Coin, a tech-enabled student loan and investment refinancing company, confirmed they are raising a $500K seed round to "to bring an innovative approach to a neglected segment of the student loan market" on March 22.
MPOWER
- In other student loan fintech investment news, MPOWER Financing, a provider of educational loans to "high-promise" international students, received investment support from VARIV Capital and Chilango Ventures to expand its presence in Latin America on March 22. The geography makes sense; MPOWER notes in a release that "Latin American students already represent 25 percent of MPOWER’s outstanding loan portfolio, with Mexico representing the third-largest student population currently studying in the U.S. through MPOWER’s financial support."
Green Leaf Medical
- Green Leaf Medical, a Maryland medical marijuana company, raised $4M to go towards the group's buildout and operations. The round should close in the next two weeks. According to WBJ, the funding will support ongoing construction of a medical marijuana cultivation facility that will eventually be able to grow up to 5K plants at a time. The facility will be in Frederick, Md. and construction should be completed in the next two months.
Echo360
- Reston, Va.-based edtech company Echo360 raised $5.6M of a $6.7M round, according to a recent SEC filing on March 24. According to its Crunchbase profile, the company has raised $163.7M since 2007. The company builds an active learning platform. I have reached out for comment and will fill y'all in as I learn new info.
Little Arms Studios
- Manassas, Va.-based Little Arms Studios raised $32.5K of a potential $167.5K debt/equity round, according to a recent SEC filing on March 29. Little Arms Studios is a software development company that specializes in creation and customization of drone simulation software, game production, mobile apps, and a lot of other related items.
