Excoastal Issue 58
A packed issue, deals, recommendations, and more...
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
What’s New
Excoastal Stats 📊
Subscribers: 180
Last Week’s Open Rate: 51% 📈
Last Week’s Views: 307 📈
Kenosha
Obviously this newsletter is focused on a very niche subject- startups, technology, investors, operators, and founders between the coasts. However, I feel it is impossible to continue without acknowledging the cause of so much pain for so many throughout the country. And especially now, in the Midwest. Racial injustice is an epidemic every bit as real as the coronavirus. Unfortunately, unlike the virus, it’s been with us far longer and it continues to metastasize. It will be exceedingly difficult for us to make progress as a democratic republic without directing all our efforts to casting off the yoke of racism in this country. At this moment, within this niche, progress can begin with those who have the power to wire, hire, and elevate.
My heart goes out to the families of the three people killed by America’s racism in Kenosha. Rest in Power.
ICYMI: the Excoastal Investors Airtable sheet:
Midwest Venture Capital Firms and Angels
Venture Capital Deals
📍 Chicago
Keeper Security secured its first equity investment, a $60 million minority stake by Insight Partners. Founded in 2011, the company provides a cybersecurity platform for preventing password-related data breaches and cyber threats.
CoPilot, a platform for high-value purchases, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Next Coast Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including SciFi Ventures, Arthur Patterson, and Chicago Ventures.
AWH, a cannabis company, raised $68.2 million (!!). The investors were not disclosed.
📍 Ohio
Perishable Shipping Solutions, a Youngstown-based e-commerce market for perishable cold and frozen food fulfillment logistics, raised $8.7 million in Series A funding. SJF Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Grotech Ventures and Supply Chain Ventures. Term Sheet
📍 Nashville
Bridge Connector, an interoperability company for health care, raised $25.5 million in Series B funding. Axioma Ventures led.
📍 Iowa
PowerPollen, an Ankeny-based agricultural pollination startup, raised $13 million in Series B funding. Ag Ventures Alliance led and was joined by investors including the Iowa Corn Growers Association.
Moov Financial, a Cedar Falls-based open-source embedded banking platform, raised $5.5 million in seed funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Canapi Ventures, Commerce Ventures, Gradient Ventures, RRE Ventures, and Uncorrelated Ventures. Term Sheet
📍 Pittsburgh
Rimsys Inc., a regulatory software maker designed specifically for use with medical technology companies, raised $1.5 million in funding. Allos Ventures led the round.
📍 Toronto
Synapse, a corporate remote training platform, raised $2 million in seed funding. Investors include BDC Capital as well as existing investors Generation Ventures, Differential Ventures and Ripple Ventures. Term Sheet
Verta Health raised $2 million in seed funding. MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund led, and was joined by Verstra Ventures and Amplify Capital. Axios
ACTO, an education and engagement platform for life sciences, raised $11.5 million in Series A funding. Resolve Growth Partners led and was joined by Salesforce Ventures and Panache Ventures.
📍 Silicon Slopes
Clene Nanomedicine, Inc., a Salt Lake City-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, raised $42.5 million in Series D funding. SymBiosis II led the round. Term Sheet
📍 Austin, Texas
SpyCloud, a provider of account takeover prevention and fraud investigation tools, closed on $30 million in Series C financing led by Centana Growth Partners.
Aerin Medical has secured $48 million in new financing led by Questa Capital with OrbiMed and existing investor KCK Group also participating. The Austin-based startup develops non-invasive medical procedures for chronic nasal airway conditions.
Icon has raised $35 million in a Series A round led by Moderne Ventures. Other backers in the round include Citi, Vulcan Capital and CAZ Investments. The startup uses 3-D printing technology to build houses.
Fetch, a delivery startup solving the last-mile problem in apartment complexes raised $18 million in Series B funding. Iron Gate Capital and Pando Ventures led the round and were joined by investors including Signal Peak Ventures, Silverton Partners, Seamless, and Venn Ventures.
Fox Robotics, a developer of robotic forklifts, raised $9 million in Series A funding. Menlo Ventures led, and was joined by return backers like Eniac Ventures, SignalFire, and Famiglia.
Triumvira Immunologics, a cancer therapies developer, raised $55 million in Series A funding. Bayer and Northpond Ventures co-led, and were joined by Oceanpine Capital, Viva Biotech Holdings, Bloom Burton & Co., and the Centre for Commercialization of Cancer. Axios
Restream, a multiplatform live streaming tool, raised $50 million in Series A funding co-led by Sapphire Ventures and Insight Partners. The company provides a service, Restream Studio, that lets customers broadcast live content to viewers across more than 30 social platforms.
📍 Arizona
Tempe-based software and data company Persefoni, developer of an AI-enabled carbon footprint management platform, has raised $3.5 million in a seed round led by Rice Investment Group. The startup’s software helps companies track their carbon footprints and generate sustainability reports.
Private Equity Deals
Flexis Capital has led a consortium to acquire Austin-based Waterloo Sparkling Water, with participation from Eurazeo and Moore Strategic Ventures, as well as JW Levin Management Partners and investors from Waterloo Capital. Waterloo Sparkling Water was backed by CAVU Venture Partners.
Roark Capital Group made an investment in Kentucky-based Divisions Maintenance Group, a provider of tech-based facilities management services for warehouses, retail chains, grocery stores, and other locations.
Waystar Health, a Louisville, KY-based portfolio company of EQTand CPPIB, agreed to buy eSolutions, an Overland Park, Kansas-based provider of revenue cycle management software, for around $1.3 billion from Francisco Partners, per the WSJ.
M&A
Smartsheet will acquire Brandfolder, a Denver-based digital asset management platform, for $155 million in both cash and stock. Brandfolder has raised over $10 million in VC funding from firms including Telescope Partners, Techstars, and Right Side Capital Management.
Bionano Genomics acquired Lineagen, a Salt Lake City-based developer of genetic diagnostics, for $9.6 million. Lineagen had raised over $50 million from firms like Sanderling Ventures, HealthQuest Capital, Mountain Group Partners, PrairieGold Ventures, and Signal Peak Ventures.
Sovos Brands will acquire Birch Benders, a Denver-based producer of pancake and waffle mixes.
New Funds
McCarthy Partners Management closed its seventh flagship fund on $535 million, topping a target of $425 million. Based in Omaha, McCarthy is a lower-middle-market growth firm that was founded in 1986.
Andros Capital Partners, a middle-market energy investor based in Houston, has closed its first fund on $250 million.
Others
What I’m Reading
The Workplace Operating System War
Agtech Sector Blooms As More Dollars and Startups Rush In
TCT Exclusive: Kate Coughlin Stern
22 stunning pieces of public art in Chicago
Everybody hates digital calendars, so everybody’s trying to build a better one
Startup/VC Twitter
Podcast Addiction
How To Start and Grow a Newsletter with Lenny Rachitsky and Nadia Eghbal - Venture Stories
Culture Break
📚Read- Race Against Time by Jerry Mitchell (every once and a while, I’ll read a book that stands apart from the others. This was one of those books. So far it seems to be flying under the radar, which is surprising considering its relevance to current moment. This book took decades of work and the end result is a masterpiece of investigative journalism)
🎬Watch- Detriot (Film)
🎧Listen-
🧐Think- Un-Adopted
If you like Excoastal and want to help it grow, please share this newsletter with your colleagues, followers, and friends. If you hate it, then send it to your enemies. Have a great week!