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 July:
Emocha
Baltimore-based Emocha raised a $1 million seed funding round on July 5 from Propel Baltimore Fund, Kapor Capital, Sand Hill Angels, Baltimore Angels and Blue Jay Syndicate. The mobile health platform focuses on patient engagement.
Caribé Juice
Sterling, Va.-based juice company Caribé Juice landed a $2 million investment on July 5. The tropical juice startup founded in 2015 is distributing in 160 stores and is planning to expand into an additional 150 by the end of the summer. The new investment from a few Dominican investors will be used to help Caribé open a juice processing and co-packing facility in the U.S.
NormShield
McLean, Va.-based cybersecurity company NormShield raised $3 million on July 5. NormShield sells software that not only detects possible threats to your organization's network, but they also display an aggregation of that data on a dashboard, allowing you to easily digest the information. So far, they've raised some money from their founders, plus $50,000 from the cyber accelerator Mach37. NormShield is aiming to bring in more than $2 million in revenue by the end of 2017.
Aquicore
D.C. energy startup Aquicore has big plans for new products and a possible funding round in the second half of 2017. As The Washington Business Journal reported on July 7, people close to the funding were saying the company had raised about half of what will be a $4 million round. Aquicore's CEO would not confirm the report with the Business Journal; however, he did say the company is starting to focus on how they can take advantage of the Internet of Things market.
Canvas
Reston, Va.-based startup Canvas has been quickly, yet quietly, expanding all over the globe. In early July, the startup quietly closed a $6 million Series D funding round. Canvas designs apps for companies that are aimed at automating some of the more annoying processes involved in doing business (i.e., paperwork, invoices, etc). They have over 6,000 users in 70 different countries.
ZeroFox
Baltimore, Md. social cybersecurity intelligence startup ZeroFox closed a $40 million Series C round on July 12. Redline Capital Management and Silver Lake Waterman led the round, while existing investors NEA, Highland Capital Partners and Core Capital also participated.
Framebridge
Washington, D.C.-based startup Framebridge closed a $17 million round, the company announced on July 13. On top of bringing in some more capital, Framebridge is also adding Crate and Barrel co-founder Gordon Segal and former Rent the Runway president and COO Beth Kaplan to its roster of investors. Vice President of Marketing Matt Carrington said the new funds will be used in all aspects of expansion — from new hires to improving their tech to increasing their marketing efforts.
The Mentor Method
D.C. startup The Mentor Method is raising a $550,000 seed round, as of July 17. The startup, which completed its tenure in SEED SPOT D.C.'s first cohort a few weeks ago, works with companies on all fronts to up their diversity program game. They offer products such as designing diversity and inclusion programs, pairing company employees with mentors and mentees and building a pipeline of qualified job candidates from diverse backgrounds. The new round will go towards The Mentor Method's software product and hiring a chief technology officer.
Insilico Medicine
Baltimore-based biotech company Insilico Medicine raised $2.75 million on July 18. The group is aimed at finding solutions for cancer, aging and age-related diseases using big data analytics and genomics. They raised a $10 million venture round in February 2017.
Protenus
Baltimore-based Protenus raised an additional $3 million for its Series A round, according to a press release on July 19. The round now sits at $7 million, led by Kaiser Permanente Ventures with participation from F-Prime Capital Partners. Protenus, which presented at the Northern Virginia Tech Council's 2017 Capital Health Tech Summit, is working to find a way to make your medical documents more secure. By studying how patients and medical staffs interact with a patient’s records, Protenus can create a profile to base its customized security technology on. The startup started in early 2016, and they’ve partnered with more than 150 hospitals, including Planned Parenthood clinics, Johns Hopkins University hospital system, Duke University health system, Inova Health System and Yale New Haven Health. The new funds will be used to amp up the startup's product and sales efforts.
DocASAP
Broadlands, Va.-based DocASAP raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Cohen Private Ventures on July 20. If you've ever scheduled a doctor's appointment online, then chances are you're aware of DocASAP. The startup previously raised a $800,000 seed round in September 2013.
Binary Fountain
According to an SEC filing on July 21, patient-focused health tech company Binary Fountain raised $19.9 million of a possible $25 million round. The company last raised a $16 million Series A round in October 2015.
REAN Cloud
Herndon, Va.-based cloud services provider REAN Cloud closed a $10 million round, according a SEC filing on July 24. The company provides cloud consulting services, mitigation enterprise IT and more. The recent funding supports REAN Cloud's acquisition of AWS consulting partner 47Lining. As a part of it, BV Investment Partners increased its investment in REAN Cloud by leading this new round of funding in an effort to support the new acquisition, according to a company press release.
Bricata
Columbia, Md.-based Bricata raised a $8 million Series A round on July 25 to fund marketing and research and development efforts for its threat-detection platform. Edison Partners led the round. The cybersecurity company moved from Virginia to Maryland in 2016 as a part of a $100,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and a $250,000 loan from the Howard County Economic Development Authority. This year, Bricata plans to add 30 new employees.
Signal Vine
Alexandria, Va.-based Signal Vine closed a $2 million Series A round, the startup announced on July 26. Signal Vine is an enterprise text messaging platform that serves higher education institutions, and the new funding will go towards product expansion, marketing and hiring for its engineering, product, sales and finance departments. New Markets Venture Partners led the round.
