From Ann Arbor to Idaho, Texas Back Up to Indianapolis
It was a big week of fundraising across the country.
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 📊
Last Week’s Open Rate: 36%
Last Week’s Views: 180
ICYMI: the Excoastal Investors Airtable sheet:
Midwest Venture Capital Firms and Angels
A break in the regular programming.
Excoastal will be off for a while. I am swamped with writing projects this semester and curating the newsletter each week is now competing for my time in a way that it hasn’t in the past. Expect an update on the newsletter in a few weeks time. Thanks as always for reading!
Venture Capital Deals
📍 Detroit/Ann Arbor
Detroit-based Autobooks, a small business payment and accounting services platform, has raised $25 million. MissionOG led, joined by Renaissance Venture Capital, Detroit Venture Partners and Draper Triangle.
Refraction AI, an Ann Arbor-based delivery robot startup, raised $4.2 million in seed funding. Pillar VC led and was joined by investors including eLab Ventures, Osage Venture Partners, Trucks Venture Capital, Alumni Ventures Group, and Invest Michigan. Term Sheet
📍 Chicago
M1 Finance, the automated investing, borrowing, and banking products app, raised $75 million in Series D funding. Coatue led.
AeroPay, a digitial platform powering bank transfer payments for businesses, raised about $5 million led by Chicago Ventures.
📍 Indiana
Advise Health, a Bloomington-based Medicare agency, raised $100 million. Oak HC/FT led, joined by Adams Street Partners and Hamilton Lane.
Ossium Health, an Indianapolis-based therapeutics company focused on blood and immune diseases, raised $63 million in Series B funding. General Catalyst and Vivo Capital led the round and were joined by investors including First Round Capital, Manta Ray Ventures, and XYZ Capital. Term Sheet
📍 Minnesota
75F, a building management system, raised an additional $4.8 million in Series A funding led by WIND Ventures.
Minneapolis-based Gravie, a defined contribution healthcare company, raised $28 million in Series D funding. AXA Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including FirstMark Capital, Split Rock Ventures, and Revelation Partners. Term Sheet
📍 Toronto
Trufan, an audience engagement startup, raised $2.3 million in seed funding. Moneta Ventures led, joined by GP Ventures, Protocol Ventures, and Athlete Technology Group.
📍 Pittsburgh
Honeycomb Credit, a crowdfunding platform for providing loans, raised $1.8 million in seed funding. The American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact led.
📍 Arkansas
Fayetteville-based AcreTrader, a platform for investing in farmland, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Jump Capital led and was joined by Narya Capital, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, RZC Investments, and Revel Partners.
📍 Kansas City
TripleBlind, creator of a privacy and API-focused virtual exchange solution, raised $8.2 million in seed funding. Dolby Family Ventures led and was joined by Okta Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, Operator Partners, Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health, AVG Basecamp Fund, Anorak Ventures, and Quiet Capital. Term Sheet
Torch.AI, a machine learning firm focused on data processing, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by WestCap Group.
📍 Oklahoma
HeraSoft, a Bartlesville-based blockchain startup focused on cybersecurity, raised $5 million in Series A funding led by United Capital Management of Kansas. Axios
📍 Tennessee
Porter Road, a Nashville-based sustainability-focused animal butcher, raised $10 million in Series A funding. L37 Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including River Park Ventures, Middleland, FJ Labs,Kelvin Beachum, MAX Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, and Slow Ventures. Term Sheet
Copy.ai, a Memphis-based developer of copywriting tools for business customers, raised $2.9 million. Craft Ventures led, and was joined by Atelier Ventures and Sequoia Capital. Axios
📍 Denver/Boulder
Boulder-based Copper Labs, which offers wireless energy management solutions, raised $2 million in funding. National Grid Partners led the round.
Flatfile, a Denver-based provider of data onboarding software, raised $35 million in Series A funding. Scale Venture Partners led, and was joined by Workday Ventures and insiders Afore Capital, Gradient Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures.
AgentSync, a Denver-based insurance industry infrastructure company, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Elad Gil and Craft Ventures led the round, joined by Caffeinated Capital, Operator Collective, and Nine Four Ventures. Term Sheet
Denver-based GloveBox, maker of a self-service app for insurance policy holders, raised $3 million. Mercato Partners led, with participation from Heffernan Insurance Brokers.
Denver-based Strive Health, a startup aiming to slow the progression of kidney disease, secured $140 million in a Series B round led by Alphabet’s CapitalG.
SafeGraph, a Denver-based geospatial data company, raised $45 million in Series B funding. Sapphire Ventures led the round. Term Sheet
Even, a Denver-based provider of solutions for medication-induced nutrient depletions, raised $1.5 million in seed funding from Align Ventures, Spring Street Group and GAN Ventures.
📍 Silicon Slopes
SLC-based Keto Natural Pet Foods, a pet food startup, raised $2 million in seed funding led by Corazon Capital.
DeepSee.ai, a SLC-based automation platform, raised $22.6 million in Series A funding. ForgePoint Capital led, and was joined by insiders Allegis Cyber Capital and Signal Peak Ventures. Axios
📍 Idaho
Tackle.io, a Boise-based software company focused on cloud marketplace, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by investors including Bessemer Venture Partners. Term Sheet
📍 Texas
Addison-based Securonix, maker of a log management and security response platform, raised $24 million in funding from Capital One Ventures.
AgencyMVP, an Austin-based P&C insurance sales lead platform, raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Silverton Partners.
DocJuris, a Houston-based maker of contract negotiating tool for in-house counsels and procurement teams, raised $3.2 million in seed funding. RTP Seed led the round and was joined by investors including Watertower Ventures, Crossbeam, Seed Round Capital, and Remote First Capital. Term Sheet
Austin-based SchooLinks, a college and career planning platform, raised $8.3 million in a Series A round. LiveOak Venture Partners led.
Nano Cures, an Austin-based clinical stage biotech and infectious disease immunity company, raised $90 million in funding. Opulence Capital Management led the round with $20 million. Term Sheet
Private Equity Deals
Vista Equity Partners invested in AlertMedia, an Austin-based provider of emergency communication software and threat intelligence solutions. Term Sheet
Vista Equity Partners agreed to buy ARCOS, a Columbus, Ohio-based provider of resource management software, from The Riverside Company. Axios
Silver Lake will make an investment in Relativity ODA, a Chicago-based provider of legal and compliance software, at an enterprise value of around $3.6 billion.
New Funds
High Alpha Capital, the Indianapolis-based software oriented venture firm, closed a $110 million fund focused on enterprise cloud companies.
BrandProject, a Toronto-based VC firm focused on consumer brands, raised $54 million for its debut fund.
What I’m Reading
Next Stop For The Great Tech Migration: Tulsa
Dundee Raises $25M to Fund Tech Startups in the ‘Mighty Middle’
Corporate Accelerators that Work: Insights from Four Kauffman Fellows
Strategy Session: Active Capital Bets on Startups Outside Silicon Valley
Startup/VC Twitter
Two tweets this week, one serious, the other not.
Podcast Addiction
[REWIND] SuperRare // creating a tokenized digital art marketplace - Upside FM
Culture Break
📚Read- Why We Drive by Matthew B. Crawford
🎬Watch- Amend on Netflix (haven’t been watching much TV lately but I enjoyed this six-part series on the Fourteenth Amendment)
🎧Listen-
🧐Think- Who Is Making Sure the A.I. Machines Aren’t Racist?
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