In the interest of keeping tabs on fundings on the Silicon Prairie, this week we are providing a simple funding round-up. For this round-up, we used Form Ds, Pitchbook, and Crunchbase to provide us with a list of companies that received early stage funding, venture capital funding, or grants. We have provided information regarding the company name, reported funding amount, and location.
If you have received funding recently and you have not seen an article about your company on Silicon Prairie News, please let us know.
Here is a list of reported funding rounds from the Silicon Prairie for the week of September 23rd:
Funding Round of $10 million plus
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Booksy – $28.5 million from Des Plaines, Illinois
From the Press Release: Booksy is focused on disrupting the fragmented beauty booking market. Beauty services are a $90 billion market in the U.S., but less than 5 percent of beauty services are booked online today. The company has consistently ranked as one of the top lifestyle apps on iOS and Android; has more active daily users than any other app in the beauty category; and, has more than many other lifestyle apps including Houzz, OpenTable, and TaskRabbit. Booksy partners with Facebook, Google, Instagram, and Yelp creating a seamless booking experience directly on their platforms.
“Innovation in technology comes from the edges. While online booking for beauty services is a deceptively simple concept, no company has yet been able to create a successful marketplace for these providers, until now,” said Zach Coelius. “There are more than 4 million beauty professionals in the U.S. alone, and many are independent owners who will directly benefit from a solution that takes care of the business minutia for them. I believe Booksy is well-poised to become the world’s largest destination marketplace for all appointment-based businesses.”
Seed CX – $17.71 million from Chicago, Illinois
Paro – $10 million from Chicago, Illinois
From the Press Release: Paro, a Chicago-based startup disrupting how companies handle their finance and accounting functions on a global scale, announced today that it has raised $10 million to support the company’s continued growth.
The technology company secured funding from Sierra Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley, which led the round of financing, with existing investors, including Washington D.C.-based Revolution Ventures, KGC Capital, and Tom Williams participating.
Paro plans to use the funds to expand its suite of workflow automation tools for finance professionals, continue its acquisition of larger enterprise clients who want to work with the best finance talent in the country, and continue disrupting the old guard: accounting firms, temp agencies, and staffing agencies.
“The freelance economy is beginning to specialize by vertical and Paro has become the leader in providing on-demand finance teams to middle market and enterprise companies,” said Mark Fernandes, Managing Director at Sierra Ventures. “Paro is capitalizing on a multi-decade shift in how companies find, source, and work with talent, and their exceptional growth is a clear indicator of this trend.”
Funding Round of more than $1 million but less than $10 million
Geneoscopy – $7.95 million from St. Louis
iSite Media – $7.6 million from St. Louis
Conservis – $6.36 million from Minneapolis – This is an ag-tech company with a relatively active blog. https://conservis.ag/farm-management-software-company/news_blog/
Balto Software – $4.2 million from St. Louis – https://spnewsnjt.wpengine.com/2019/03/balto-software-helps-drive-sales-and-revenue-through-improved-communication/
Fyllo – $2 million from Chicago – A cannabis advertising software that helps ensure compliance. https://www.forbes.com/sites/martyswant/2019/09/26/cannabis-tech-startup-fyllo-announces-new-funding-as-advertising-execs-join-the-board/#527d5c385a0b
Imbed – $1.5 million from Fitchburg, Wisconsin – A wound care company based out of the Greater Madison region of Wisconsin. Here is an article from earlier in the year from Madison.com. https://madison.com/wsj/business/million-investment-boosts-coffers-of-imbed-biosciences/article_438eb495-7f37-507a-a52e-0bee5617b99c.html
Mito Material Solutions – $1.5 million from Stillwater, Oklahoma.
From a recent Stillwater News-Press Article: MITO Material Solutions, a tenant of the Meridian Technology Center for Business Development, was recently awarded a $ 729,982 Small Business Innovation Research phase two grant from the National Science Foundation.
This grant, along with two recent grants from the Oklahoma Center for Advanced Technology, total $1.1 million in funding to help MITO advance product research.
MITO’s product, a nano-additive named the “MITO T-Series,” can be mixed with an epoxy or resin to toughen composite parts. https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/mito-material-solutions-awarded-m-in-funding/article_ec971218-cb45-11e9-8d7a-37228e53cea8.html
Seed round funding of less than $1 million
Crafty – $760k from Carol Streams, Illinois
Mortarr – $650k from Albert Lea, MN
From a 2018 article about the company in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: On Mortarr, construction companies and design firms can register as subscribers and share images of their best work. These professionals can tag the images with brand sources for products like office chairs or lighting. Free users can search by keywords and type of space to find images. http://www.startribune.com/albert-lea-based-mortarr-offers-online-showcase-for-office-design/498700821/
Psyonic – $550k from Champaign, Illinois
Varuna – $150k from Chicago, Illinois
Finley’s Barkery – $140k from Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Olimp – $120k from Chicago
