SPN Team

  • HealthJoy closes $12.5 million series B deal

    HealthJoy closes $12.5 million series B deal

    HealthJoy raised $12.5 million Series B venture financing on March 8, 2019, in a deal led by US Venture Partners, with Chicago Ventures, Sidekick Fund, EPIC Ventures, and the HealthJoy co-founders participating. The company intends to use the funds to expand its team. HealthJoy uses AI-powered guidance to reduce healthcare cost and administrative burden on…

  • The Champaign Report

    The Champaign Report

    Thank you for your responses Champaign. The Champaign community shared their thoughts on their entrepreneurial ecosystem via the SPN community survey last December. To show our gratitude and to highlight the great things currently going on there we put together a few key highlights from their answers. The following report is directly taken from answers…

  • Balto Software helps drive sales and revenue through improved communication

    Balto Software helps drive sales and revenue through improved communication

    St. Louis-based Balto Software, is an AI technology that is truly changing sales. The Balto technology makes sales reps better listeners, clearer communicators, and more empathetic, skilled salespeople – which ultimately helps drive revenue in sales, service, and collection organizations. Marc Bernstein, co-founder and CEO of Balto Software, recounted to SPN the story behind the…

  • Greenfield Robotics innovates in ag with chemical-free weed control

    Greenfield Robotics innovates in ag with chemical-free weed control

    Clint Brauer grew up farming with his dad in Kansas. He did not enjoy farming at all and after graduating from K-State, made his way to Los Angeles to work. After spending 13 years in tech, Clint set out to bring the Wichita area an organic alternative, with the thought that his tech background might…

  • Livly closes $10 million seed round

    Livly closes $10 million seed round

    Livly, based in Chicago, has raised $10 million in seed funding. The company, founded in 2018, closed the deal on March 12. Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Navitas Capital and JLL Spark led the round, with The Related Group, Golub & Company and CA Ventures participating. The company plans to use the funds to develop its…

  • OpsCompass closes early stage round

    OpsCompass closes early stage round

    OpsCompass announced this week its receipt of $1.5 million in an early stage equity deal. Dundee Venture Capital, M25, Invest Nebraska, Nelnet, and the Nebraska Angels participated in the round. OpsCompass is a subscription service business that helps enterprises migrate workload to the public cloud. Specifically, the company has compliance, governance, operations, and cost features…

  • 8QS With a Silicon Prairie Founder: Maggie Schoonover

    8QS With a Silicon Prairie Founder: Maggie Schoonover

      Maggie Schoonover calls herself “an introverted science nerd.”  We call her an inspiring Silicon Prairie Founder, and we’re pleased she chose to share her co-founding story with SPN and our readers.  Here’s what she had to say…. My educational background is heavily focused in the sciences – I earned a B.S. in Meteorology from…

  • Capital Markets Gateway closes $7.5 million deal

    Capital Markets Gateway closes $7.5 million deal

    Capital Markets Gateway (“CMG”), founded in 2015, has closed a $7.5 million funding deal led by StagedotO. Shea Ventures, Franklin Templeton Investments and Greg Ingram also participated in the March 14 Series A venture funding round. The company plans to use the funding to build an integrated capital markets platform. The company offers an integrated…

  • StoneLock raises $2.82 million in angel funding

    StoneLock raises $2.82 million in angel funding

    StoneLock, based in Olathe, Kansas, has raised $2.82 million in angel funding from undisclosed investors. The company, founded in 2011, closed the deal on March 7. The company employs 40. Co-founders are Colleen Dunlap, CEO, and David Dunlap, Senior Vice President of Corporate Planning. StoneLock’s biometric access control solution using Near-Infrared (NIR) technology is designed…

  • AGOGIE wearable resistance pants help improve performance

    AGOGIE wearable resistance pants help improve performance

      “Life is hectic. Finding time to work out shouldn’t be. Imagine burning fat, increasing calorie burn, building muscle, all by living your daily life. Now you can, and it’s as simple as putting on a pair of pants. The AGOGIE wearable resistance pants enable you to work out with every movement throughout the day.”…