Last (two) Weeks in Boston Tech Deals

Fifteen Boston Area Companies Raised Over $1B+

Sep 13, 2021

Boston Tech Financing Deals:

Whoop 🏃‍♀️

Fitness wearable maker Whoop has secured a $200M Series F at a $3.6B valuation led by Softbank Vision Fund 2. Other investors included IVP, Cavu Ventures, Thursday Ventures, GP Bullhound, Accomplice, NextView Ventures, and Animal Capital (yes, that’s the fund run by teenage TikTokers).

Alongside the funding news came the announcement of their new Whoop 4.0 strap. It’s a sleeker design with enhanced sensors, a haptic feedback motor for alerts and alarm clock capabilities, and a portable wireless charger so you never have to take it off. More from the Boston Globe.

Drift 💬

Conversational AI juggernaut Drift has sold a majority stake to Vista Equity Partners at a valuation north of $1B, according to the company. They’ve raised ~$100M in total, most recently a $60M Series C led by Sequoia in 2018. Their eyes are still set on going public in the long term, according to CEO David Cancel.

Panorama Education 🏫

EdTech data platform Panorama Education has raised $60M in Series C funding led by General Atlantic, with participation from Owl Ventures, Emerson Collective, Uncork Capital, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Tao Capital Partners. They help K-12 schools achieve better outcomes by making it easier to aggregate data on students.

Centaur Labs 🐎

Medical data labeling startup Centaur Labs just secured $15M in Series A funding led by Matrix Partners, with participation from Accel, Global Founders Capital, Susa Ventures, and YC. The four-year-old company crowdsources opinions on medical imagery from experts and compensates them based on accuracy. These opinions are used to help train ML models. They previously raised a seed round in 2019 led by Accel.

Insurify 🛡️

InsurTech platform Insurify has raised a $100M Series B led by Motive partners, with support from Viola Growth, Fort Ross Ventures, Viola FinTech, MassMutual Ventures, Nationwide, Hearst Ventures, and Moneta VC. Its “virtual insurance agent” helps customers find the amount of coverage that is appropriate for their situation. Users can enter their location and information about their vehicle, home, or life insurance and immediately get relevant rate comparisons.

Deuce Drone 📦

Drone-based last-mile delivery company Deuce Drone just raised an undisclosed amount from Drizzly, the alcohol delivery company owned by Uber. That said, the article makes it seem like this partnership will focus on cannabis delivery, which will remain separate from Uber’s operations.

Emulate 🫁

“Organ on a Chip” developer Emulate just raised an $82M Series E co-led by Perceptive Advisors and Northpond Ventures. They essentially re-create organ systems using customized hardware and software that can be used to mimic human bodily activities. The idea is that, if they can accurately emulate organ behavior on a chip, they can then simulate pre-clinical drugs being introduced to the body in a safe research environment.

Dynamo Software 💰

Watertown-based Dynamo Software just received a strategic growth investment from Blackstone. The company makes cloud software for the alternative investment industry and was already backed by Francisco Partners, who doubled down in this round.

Snyk 🖥️

Boston and London-based open-source cybersecurity platform Snyk just raised a $530M Series F at an $8.5B valuation. The round was co-led by Sands Capital Ventures and Tiger Global, with support from many new investors including: Baillie Gifford, Koch Industries, Lone Pine Capital, T. Rowe Price, Whale Rock Capital Management…Alongside insiders including: Accel, Addition, Alkeon, Atlassian Ventures, BlackRock, Boldstart Ventures, Canaan Partners, Coatue, Franklin Templeton, Geodesic Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Temasek.

Trillbit 📶

IoT device provisioning startup TrillBit has raised $1.5M from Refex Capital and Good Growth Capital. The Bengaluru and Boston-based company is building a “proximity intelligence platform” that uses audio to authenticate devices. I first heard about them in 2020 via the Storied newsletter (fka The Buzz), shortly after they graduated from the Techstars Western Union Accelerator.

aPriori 🛠️

Manufacturing simulation software developer aPriori just raised a $30M Series D co-led PBJ Capital and Omega Venture Partners, valuing them at $280M. They help manufacturers create “digital twin” factories to generate insights into their manufacturing processes.

Marigold Health 💓

Per a new Form D under “Beacon Tech Inc,” it looks like Marigold Health has raised $1.98M in new funding. They’re a text-based substance abuse support network that partners with treatment providers and managed care organizations in the Medicaid market. The company has previously raised ~$2.5M from a series of grants and early investors including MassChallenge, Rough Draft Ventures, K50 Ventures, Bantam Group, Abell Venture Fund, and TEDCO — according to Crunchbase.

RaySecur 📭

According to a new filing, mail-screening device maker RaySecur has raised $11.9M. Back in 2019, they raised a $3M Seed Round from DreamIt Ventures, Junson Capital, Launchpad, and One Way Ventures. RaySecur’s technology is able to detect suspicious powders, liquids, and other threats in extremely small quantities using their MailSecur scanner system.

ZwitterCo 🌊

ZwitterCo, a filtration technology company, has raised $5M according to a new filing. They’re developing “reverse osmosis membrane technology built for industrial water treatment.” The company, which utilizes zwitterionic copolymers, claims that its nanofiltration technology can filter more than 98% of organic molecules.

BlueWave Solar ☀️

Community solar company BlueWave Solar raised $5M, according to a new filing. This is their first publicly disclosed outside financing since being founded in 2010.

Tech Deals by Nick Stuart

Discussion about this post