Last (Two) Weeks in Boston Tech Deals

Boston Companies Raised Just Shy of Two Billion

Sep 28, 2021

Happy Tuesday

I’ve been posting on more of a bi-weekly cadence lately, not for a lack of activity in the ecosystem! Just a lack of time 🙂. In fact, Boston startups saw an influx of over $2.9B in funding over the last two weeks. Not to mention Toast is a $27B company as of today, putting it alongside the largest Boston tech exits of the last twenty years. Ginkgo is right behind at $26B. Plenty to be excited about!

AngelList Venture has been keeping me busy. If you’re interested in learning more about the platform and how it can help your startup or fund raise capital — shoot me a message! Keep an eye on our blog this week, as we have some very exciting things happening.

Stuff I’m Reading: 📚

Boston Tech Financing Deals:

Thrasio 🛒

Thrasio went and did it again. This time, the eCommerce aggregator giant has raised a $650M debt facility with $12M in equity tacked on. At this point, I’ve completely lost track of marketplace acquirer funding activity. Thrasio has now have over $2.3B in debt/equity funding to date. I’ve written about the FBA aggregator phenomenon a few times now, much of which took off here in Boston:

Devoted Health 💓

Waltham-based Devoted Health has secured a $1.2B Series D at an $11.5B valuation, according to a recent filing. The senior-focused healthcare provider has now raised over $2B since its founding in 2017.

Eleos Health 👂

Boston and Israel-based digital health company Eleos Health has secured $6M in Seed Funding in a round led by aMoon Fund, with participation from lool ventures. The company is using AI to garner insights on speech patterns picked up during therapy sessions. It claims to be able to pick up on how effectively a clinician is building relationships with patients, implementing solid treatment techniques, and boosting patient morale.

SmartLabs 🧪

SmartLabs, a six-year-old WeWork for laboratories, just raised a $250M Series B led by ArrowMark Partners, with support from Winslow Capital Management, Onex Falcon, Conversion Venture Capital, Breed’s Hill Capital. They help researchers outsource lab infrastructure so they can focus on making scientific discoveries.

FreightFlows 🚢

MassChallenge alum FreightFlows raised $620K, according to a new filing. They provide maritime market intelligence to help traders, shippers, and brokers improve operations and hedge against risks.

Kolide 🔐

“Transparency-first” endpoint security provider Kolide just raised a $17M Series B led by OpenView, with participation from Matrix Partners — bringing total raised to $27M. They integrate with Slack to provide user-focused endpoint security alerts, taking the burden off IT teams alone.

Caresyntax 👩‍⚕️

I last wrote about Caresyntax right before covid hit, when they raised $45.6M from DDG Fund, IPF Partners, Relyens, and Whiz Partners in the same week that they acquired Syus. The surgical data platform provider just announced a $30M Series C extension from BlackRock at an undisclosed valuation.

SmarterTravel 🛫

SmarterTravel, formerly known as HopJump, just raised a $9.5M Series B from Link Ventures and Second Alpha. The company provides personalized travel recommendations and travel content to its seven million newsletter subscribers.

6K ⚛️

Advanced materials company 6K just closed a $51M Series C led by Volta Energy Technologies. The company is building an advanced materials production platform called “UnitMelt.” It centers around the use of microwave-based plasma technology for synthesizing nano and micro sized powders.

Micronotes 👋

Thirteen-year-old Micronotes, which develops chat bot technology for banks, just raised $1.3M according to a new filing. They last raised a $5M Series B in 2018 led by TTV Capital.

Everon24 🔋

Stealth energy storage company Everon24 just raised $21.9M, according to a new filing. I’ve written about the company a handful of times since they started raising money. It appears that they’re working on a rechargeable battery technology that uses aluminum salt as an electrolyte.

Cofi 💰

Cofi, which helps create invoices for multi-party co-management payments, raised $2M per a recent filing. The year-old company previously raised $775M in seed funding, per older Form D filings.

Battery Resourcers 🔋

After raising a $20M Series B back in April, Battery Resourcers just announced a $70M “mid-round” from Hitachi Ventures, Orbia Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures, Doral Energy, At One Ventures, TDK Ventures and Trumpf Ventures. They turn old batteries into nickel-manganese-cobalt cathodes that can be sold back to battery manufacturers.

Hydrow 🚣‍♀️

After SPAC talks apparently fell through, “Peloton for rowing” startup Hydrow has raised nearly $200M from a group of investors including Lizzo and Justin Timberlake. The connected rowing machine maker previously raised from Kevin Hart (who is their Creative Director).

BitSight 🔍

Cybersecurity risk rating platform BitSight just received a majority investment of $250M from Moody’s and announced their acquisition of VisibleRisk. The deal will value the company at $2.4B.

Paperless Parts 🏭

Machine shop software company Paperless Parts just raised a $30M Series B led by OpenView. They offer a platform for manufacturing facilities to manage operations more efficiently — mainly for things like CRM, ordering, and invoicing.

Locus Robotics 🤖

After raising a $150M Series E from Tiger Global and Bond Capital in February (at a $1B valuation), Locus Robotics has raised a new $50M round from Tiger once again. They make robots that interact with humans (“co-bots”) in eCommerce fulfillment warehouses to increase productivity and reduce the human workload.

Retain Health 🧠

If you’re a long-time reader, you know I’ve been fascinated by the rise of digital therapeutics companies coming out of Boston. Can we treat ADHD with video games and depression with apps? This $2M filing from Retain Health piqued my interest. There’s not much online about the company, other than founder Mark McInnis’s Linkedin — which says he’s building a digital therapeutic for prevention of Alzheimer's Disease via evidence-based mobile care.

Tour24 🏘️

Tour24, a mobile application that lets property managers set up self-guided tours, raised $400K per a new Form D. The Medfield-based company integrates with keyless access entry systems used in modern buildings and uses audio and visual cues to help prospective renters tour a facility solo.

Tech Deals by Nick Stuart

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