Welcome to Excoastal, a newsletter covering deals, startups, venture capital, and more from Chicago to Boulder, Detroit to Columbus, and beyond. I’m Evan Lonergan, a native Midwesterner.
You can connect with me on Twitter @evanjlonergan, on Medium, and send deals/jobs/intel to evanlon92@gmail.com.
Whats New
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New Section: Deal of the Week
Allos Ventures has raised $52 million for their third flagship fund, Allos III. The firm is based in Cincinnati and Indianapolis.
What they do: “Allos Ventures invests in high-potential tech companies in the heart of the Midwest.” They’ve recently invested in Indianapolis-based Docket (meeting collaboration software) and Indiana-based Emplify (employee engagement measurement).
Who they are: The firm is led by managing directors Don Aquilano, David Kerr, and John McIlwraith, along with CFO Julie Whitehead.
Why it matters: Allos is an active investor in the midwest, particularly in Indiana and Ohio, and especially in the enterprise software/SaaS category. With their new fund, they’ll be able to continue backing high growth companies in flyover country.
ICYMI: the updated the Excoastal Investors Airtable sheet:
Midwest Venture Capital Firms and Angels
Now to the good stuff…
Venture Capital Deals
Samya.ai, a Chicago-based provider of revenue growth software with product and R&D offices in India, raised $6 million in seed funding led by Sequoia India.
Neocova, a St. Louis-based core banking startup, raised $9.5 million in Series A funding from Coastal Community Bank, Bank of St. Elizabeth, First Financial Bank, Kearny Bank, Provident Bancorp, and Sunwest Bank. Axios
Toronto-based Tealbook, an online knowledge management platform for suppliers, raised $5 million in “seed plus” funding. Refinery Ventures led the round, with participation from Grand Ventures, Workday Ventures, Stand Up Ventures and BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund.
Private Equity Deals
Thompson Street Capital Partners and Sandbox Insurtech Ventures will acquire Data Dimensions, a Janesville, WI-based provider of outsourced document handling and workflow solutions for the P&C insurance, financial services and government industries. Term Sheet
Gryphon Investors acquired Ncontracts, a Nashville-based provider of integrated risk management software for the financial services industry.
M&A
No notable tech M&A deals this week.
New Funds
Allos Ventures, a Cincinnati and Indianapolis-based venture capital firm, and an active investor in Midwestern startups, has raised $52 million for its third flagship fund, Allos III.
Konvoy Ventures, a Denver-based firm focused on e-sports and gaming infrastructure, raised nearly $11 million for its debut fund, per an SEC filing.
Chicago-based Wynnchurch Capital has closed its fifth flagship private equity fund with around $2.28 billion in commitments, on a $1.6 billion target.
IPOs
Jamf, a Minneapolis-based provider of enterprise software that helps manage Apple products, has confidentially filed for an IPO that would value the business at around $3 billion, according to Bloomberg. Jamf is currently owned by Vista Equity Partners.
What I’m Reading
Venture Returns With Abe Othman of AngelList
In 2020, retail is moving back to Main Street
Changing How You Think About Budgets
Startup/VC Twitter
Podcast Addiction
An Outside Perspective with John Garry of High Alpha
Culture Break
📚Read- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (to be followed by the film)
🎬Watch- The Farewell (such an enjoyable watch, highly recommend)
🎧Listen-
🧐Think- You Are Now Remotely Controlled
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