Investment
Leave it to technology to solve problems not everyone has noticed yet. Problems some people have gone out of their way not to notice. Problems some people would have noticed if only the problem had been framed differently. On that last point, consider this: a Winthrop University survey from December 2018 found that only 50%…
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Raising an investment round for a startup is never easy. Try doing it during a global pandemic. But it is possible with a combination of bold leadership, committed VCs and a good idea. Just ask Ryan Gerhardy, CEO and co-founder of Des Moines startup Pitchly. Earlier this month, the data-driven productivity platform announced it had…
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Lizz Whitacre is co-founder of Pawlytics, a cloud-based operations software provider for animal shelters and rescues working to develop electronic health records for pets and build the world’s largest pet database. SPN recently spotlighted the company and its socially driven mission to use data to save as many animals as possible. It’s a mission that…
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Pawlytics founder Lizz Whitacre has four dogs, three cats, one ferret and two horses. The serial entrepreneur joked that the office of her Lincoln-based tech startup could double as a petting zoo. “Everything I’ve ever done has been related to trying to save animals, while trying to figure out how to make a bunch of…
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This week Bushel announced that it raised $19.5 million in a Series B funding. The Fargo, North Dakota based company has consistently attracted money from around the country that is seeking to participate in the growing ag-tech market. Fargo is one of the leading communities launching ag-tech startups in the region – including the Farm…
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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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The Silicon Prairie had a strong funding week — more than twenty deals and many large ones. Oklahoma and Manhattan, Kansas with some noteworthy +1mm raises. Chicago continues to be a leader, but the deals are spread throughout the entire region. Large Rounds (10+ million) Vyriad – $24.38 million – Rochester, MN – Vyriad is…
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Stackify has raised another round of capital. Stackify filed paperwork on November 20, 2019 that they had raised $4.132 million dollars. In conversations with the company, they revealed that they had actually raised a little more than $6 million in the form of both debt and equity. The round included $2 million from Cypress Growth…
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Two Silicon Prairie companies will be moving to Buffalo in the upcoming weeks, thanks to a program created by 43North. The program announced seven winning companies last week – including Strayos (St. Louis) and Peanut Butter (Chicago). As part of the program, both companies must move their CEO and a majority of staff to Buffalo.…
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It was a strong week for Minnesota. Between Total Expert and ShiraTronics, Minnesota based companies brought in more than $85 million in Venture Funding. There was a little more diversity than in previous weeks with companies in Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin also raising substantial funds. These fundings are aggregate lists created from Crunchbase, SEC…
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