StockX raises a $275 Series E
Plus a trio of deals in Ohio, a flurry of fundraising in Texas, 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 📊
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ICYMI: the Excoastal Investors Airtable sheet:
Midwest Venture Capital Firms and Angels
Venture Capital Deals
📍 Detroit
StockX, the online marketplace for coveted sneakers and accessories, raised $275 million in Series E funding at a $2.8 billion post-money valuation. The rounds was led by Tiger Global and was joined by Altimeter Capital, Sands Capital, Whale Rock Capital Management, Battery Ventures, DST Global, Detroit Venture Partners, Galaxy Interactive, GGV Capital, GV, General Atlantic, and Marcy Venture Partners.
📍 Ohio
Homebuyer, a Cincinnati-based maker of software for digital mortgages to first-time home buyers, raised $1.4 million in seed funding. Investors included BetterLife Group, Techstars,and Saturn Five. Term Sheet
BoxCast, a Cleveland-based event live streaming company, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Updata Partners.
Aware, a Columbus-based enterprise social security platform, raised $12 million in Series B funding. Spring Mountain Capital led, and was joined by Blue Heron Capital and Allos Ventures.
📍Pittsburgh
IRALOGIX, a Pittsburgh, Penn.-based provider of software for IRA accounts, raised $7.5 million in Series B funding. Great North Labs led the round and was joined by investors including Trog Hawley Capital, Riverfront Ventures, and Circadian Ventures. Term Sheet
📍 Boulder/Denver
Boom Technology, a supersonic aircraft company, is raising $50 million in new funding led by WRVI Capital. The valuation is reported to be above $1 billion.
📍 Texas
Self Financial, an Austin-based startup that helps consumers establish and build a credit history, raised $40 million in Series D funding. Meritech Capital Partners led, and was joined by Altos Ventures, Conductive Ventures, and Silverton Partners.
PLNAR, an Austin-based company using A.I. and V.R. in home insurance and inspections, raised $3.5 million in Series A funding. Investors included Dallas Venture Capital. Term Sheet
Bestow, a Dallas-based startup that offers a platform that uses AI to manage life insurance products raised $70 million in Series C funding from Breyer Capital, Valar Ventures, NEA, Core Innovation Ventures, Morpheus Ventures, and Sammons Financial.
Austin-based Uhnder raised $45 million in a round led by Sensata Technologies. The company is a developer of digital radar software intended to replace traditional analog frequency modulation.
Aceable, an Austin-based online provider of a mobile-first ed-tech platform offering driver's education and real estate certification courses, raised $50 million in Series C funding led by HGGC.
Now Insurance, a Houston-based small business insurer, raised $1.125 million in seed funding led by The MFO Group
📍Arizona
Truyo, a Chandler-based data privacy management software startup, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Intel Capital.
Private Equity Deals
Vista Equity Partners has agreed to acquire Pluralsight, a Utah-based provider of workforce development software for IT professionals.
Tailwind Capital bought ArrowStream, a Chicago-based provider of supply chain management software for the foodservice industry, from Diversis Capital. Axios
The Blackstone Group made a minority investment in ISN, a Dallas-based provider of third-party contractor and supplier management software, at a valuation north of $2 billion. Axios
EQT agreed to buy a majority stake in Storable, an Austin, Texas-based provider of software to the self-storage industry, from Cove Hill Partners. Axios
Liberty Hall Capital Partners acquired Comply365, a Wisconsin-based provider of automated compliance management software from Drive Capital and Luminate Capital.
M&A
SteelSeries, a Chicago-based gaming peripherals company acquired KontrolFreek, a gaming accessories maker that was seeded by firms like BLH Venture Partners and Advanced Technology Development Center. Axios
Huntington Bancshares and TCF Financial, two regional banks based in Ohio and Michigan respectively, agreed to merge in an all-stock deal valuing the duo at $22 billion.
New Funds
Periscope Equity of Chicago raised $225 million for its second fund.
What I’m Reading
Roadmap: Enabling Entrepreneurship
The State of Technology for the Deskless Workforce
Inside the implosion of the $35 million startup meant to fix the Democratic Party
The Year in Deals Can Be Summed Up in 4 Letters
Startup/VC Twitter
Podcast Addiction
Acquired x Indie Hackers - Acquired FM
Culture Break
📚Read- The Quiet Americans by Scott Anderson
🎬Watch- The Mandalorian on Disney +
🎧Listen-
🧐Think- Get Rich Selling Used Fashion Online—or Cry Trying
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