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 development groups, and other community support.  Around the rest of the region, Chicago continues to produce the most funded companies, but this week was a good one for Milwaukee with PAXAFE getting an outside round of capital.

Large Rounds (10+ million)

There were no large rounds in the Silicon Prairie for the week of November 4^th.

Medium Rounds ($2-$10 million)

PureCycle Technologies – Chicago – $2.35 million – PureCycle Technologies a leader in recycling materials into useful ultra-pure recycled polypropylene (UPRP) raised $2.35 million last week from undisclosed investors.  “We continue to see an increasing global need for recycled resin with virgin-like properties.  With our first plant in Ohio already being sold out more than two years before the plant will be producing commercial scale volumes, this showcases the intense demand resulting in an accelerated built out for our next plant in Europe.” Said Mike Otworth, CEO of PureCycle Technologies, in a recent press release – https://purecycletech.com/2019/07/purecycle-technologies-signed-agreement-with-loreal-for-the-supply-of-ultra-pure-recycled-polypropylene/

LulaFit – Chicago – $2.34 million – LulaFit is an amenities management program for high end condominiums and apartment complex.  The company stresses the importance of building experiences to encourage whole body wellness – including massage, exercise, and diet.  According to CEO & Founder Colleen Werner (pictured at right) in an article in A Sweat Life – “We’re really an experience company, and the customer experience is the most important thing for us.” https://lulafit.com/press/

Small Rounds (Less than $2 million)

PAXAFE – Milwaukee, WI – $.9 million – PAXAFE protects the shipment of high-value products using an IOT-enabled, reusable, traceable, and secure packaging solution.  PAXAFE is a gener8tor graduate and has appeared on Startup Milwaukee’s 25 Startups to Watch in 2019.

Briteseed – Chicago – $.3 million – Briteseed is creating innovative surgical (primarily laparoscopic and robotic surgical) tools that make operations safer by alerting a surgeon before an unsafe “cut” is made.  The company has strong ties to Northwestern University – including founders from multiple disciplines at the school, and in fact, the company’s first financial award took place in 2013 through various business plan competitions include the Rice Business Plan Competition – where the team won $273k.  The company originated from the Northwestern University NUvention: Medical Innovation course.

Integrated Vital Medical Dynamics – Madison, WI – $.19 million – There have been significant movements recently in the Midwest to help ensure that low-cost drugs are considered by doctors.  Integrated Vital Medical Dynamics is a company started by the University of Wisconsin Hospital and neurosurgery professor Joshua Medow.  In a recent interview Medow stated: “We are able to improve the quality of medications that are being used to reduce costs…Sometimes a doctor just uses a drug because they like it, but it happens to be a really expensive drug.  [The software] allows organizations to prioritize drugs that are less expensive and actually reduce costs.” https://badgerherald.com/news/2018/02/20/technology-developed-by-uw-hospital-professor-could-revolutionize-decision-making-process-of-doctors/

Edammo – Iowa City, IA – $.17 million – Edammo is a SaaS platform that helps businesses by providing near real-time predictive analytics.  This provides deep business intelligence to improve decision making in enterprises.  Edammo is part of a group of seed companies that utilized the MERGE incubation space in downtown Iowa City during its inception.  The company has received a variety of awards and feedback – including being recognized by the AI Parma Tech Outlook as a leading provider of new technology in health care.  https://artificial-intelligence.pharmatechoutlook.com/vendor/edammo-reinventing-predictive-analytics-with-realtime-learning-cid-352-mid-40.html

Zebra Analytix – Fayetteville, AR – $.13 million – According to Crunchbase, Zebra Analytix develops and commercializes miniature gas chromatography systems based on microelectromechanical systems technology.  The technology was licensed from Virginia Tech University to help improve food safety and decontaminate other liquids.  This week’s raise is the company’s fourth round of outside capital having previous been provided risk capital from VIC Technology Venture Development.  In addition, the company announced in May that it had secured funding for an SBIR grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. https://www.prweb.com/releases/zebra_analytix_receives_phase_i_sbir_award_from_the_national_institutes_of_health/prweb16283895.htm