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Weekly Funding Report
The Silicon Prairie had an excellent week as deals appear to be closing before the holiday rush. St. Louis and Minneapolis had strong weeks. And we had a big round in Oklahoma. The Zero Card of Tulsa which provides an interesting software solution to healthcare costs received significant outside funding – including participation from the…
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Funding Roundup for the Week of November 18th & 25th
This week we are writing a funding roundup that really covers one and ½ weeks to cover Thanksgiving week plus the week previous. During this time period, Chicago received a disproportionate amount of the funding dollars in the region. However, Omaha and Oklahoma City both had companies close out fund raising campaigns. Also, the region…
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The Combine Receives SBA Award
In September 2019, Invest Nebraska announced its new incubator program, called the Combine. This program is a statewide initiative to support high growth companies in food and agriculture. The program provides support to help companies commercialize nascent technologies that are being developed in the state – including those at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.…
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FinTech Company, FinLocker, Raises Big Round
According to SEC filings, St. Louis based FinLocker has raised a $10.389 million round from the St. Louis Arch Angels and other undisclosed investors. FinLocker is a software tool for individual consumers seeking to improve their financial position and literacy. The company specifically helps aggregate a consumer’s financial data and then analyzes and recommends mortgage…
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Funding Roundup for the Week of November 4th
The Silicon Prairie had a dry week when it comes to outside fundings. So, the winning cities really appear to be Fayetteville, Arkansas and Iowa City, Iowa. While neither city had huge deals, they both participated in the creation of ground breaking technologies that have received multiple mechanisms of support from the universities, local economic…
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Interview with an Entrepreneur: Karen Linder
I have known Karen Linder for many years, and she is an incredible entrepreneur. Many people do not realize that she has been growing a 3D printing company in Nebraska, called Tethon 3D, for the better part of this decade. The company is one of the leading suppliers of porcelain and hard to produce ceramic…
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St. Louis-Based Genomics Company, PierianDx, Raises a Big Series B Round
St. Louis continues to have strong biotechnology startup fundings. The most recent funded company is PierianDx, a clinical genomic informatics company. This week the company announced that it has raised $27 million from ATW Partners and SJF Ventures. In addition to these funders, other existing investors participated in the round, including Health Catalyst Capital, Inova…
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Funding Update for the week of October 14
Chicago had another strong week. Overall the Silicon Prairie more than one hundred million in fundings this month, including some large rounds in Chicago and in biotechnology. Large Rounds (10m+) Apervita – Chicago – $22.56 million – Apervita is a healthcare technology company that provides health insights using machine learning and artificial intelligence. The company…
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Margot Is Creating the Premier Wedding Planning Software
Having spent significant time with Omaha founder, Candace Kalasky, the process of building good wedding planning software opened my eyes to the complexities presented by “the big day”. Ms. Kalasky started her first business, Lovestruck Events (www.lovestruckevents.co) in 2011. It started humbly as a way to help friends with their weddings. According to Kalasky, this…
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Silicon Prairie Podcasts: A List
In honor of the IO Summit, which was born out of the IO Podcast, Silicon Prairie News has compiled a list of some of our favorite podcasts from the Silicon Prairie: The Inside Outside Podcast – http://insideoutside.io/ – With over 168 episodes bringing together entrepreneurship and corporate innovation, this podcast is a regional leader in…