#8: (6/3/24) Early & Growth Stage Tech Startup Funding Recap!
Check Out This Week's Venture Capital Investment Summary Spanning Early & Growth-Stage US Based Environmental Technology & Enterprise Software Startups!
Every Monday, the team here at Bearhug Recruiting aggregates, researches, and publishes a recap of the prior week's fundraising activity within the early and growth-stage Environmental Technology & Enterprise Software startup ecosystem.
This research not only allows us to keep our finger on the pulse of the markets we serve, but also benefits others who, like us, enjoy analyzing the latest trends that signal investor confidence AND startup growth within what we believe are the most exciting and impactful segments!
We also hope the people and companies we feature enjoy both a virtual fist bump from the team at Bearhug, plus benefit from some additional free market exposure to amplify their mission. Make sure you reach out to any that are interesting/relevant that you might be able to help!
Here’s this week’s startup funding recap:
TraceAir, led by Dmitry Korolev and Maria Khokhlova, has raised a $25 million Series B funding round. The round was led by PeakSpan Capital (Phil Dur), with participation from Flashpoint Venture Capital (Anton Fedorov), among other existing investors. TraceAir is a provider of construction site analysis and management solutions for land development and homebuilding. Its platform captures 3D project data and empowers construction teams by saving time and reducing the risk of errors and delays. [Link] #ConTech #PropTech #Construction #Construction Acceleration #Land Development #Sitework #Drone Data #Drone Management #Predictive Analytics #Environmental Technology #ClimateTech #Sustainability
Sagetap, led by Sahil Khanna, has raised a $6.8 million Seed funding round. The round was led by NFX (James Currier) with participation from Uncorrelated Ventures, Emergent Ventures (Ankur Jain), and from 15 of Sagetap’s active enterprise customers. Sagetap provides a B2B SaaS buying network that uses AI to match tech executives working on AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, DevOps, cloud and data infrastructure, with the optimal software vendors. Tech executives from organizations like Nvidia, JP Morgan Chase, Kaiser Permanente, and AirBnB use it to find new SaaS tools to adopt. Vendors on the platform can pay to set up campaigns to target specific buyers, conduct meetings, and request buyer feedback, which is provided asynchronously on the platform. [Link] #B2B SaaS Marketplace #Internet Marketplace Platforms #Artificial Intelligence
Rain AI, led by William Passo, has raised a $8.1 million Series A Extension funding round. The round was led by Epic Venture Partners. Rain AI creates energy-efficient AI hardware using in-memory compute technology, enabling advanced AI models to run locally on various devices. The company is addressing this core problem via its in-memory compute proprietary technology that will bring the AI technologies of tomorrow, from personalized robotics to putting models the size of ChatGPT on your phone. [Link] #Computer and Electronic Manufacturing #Computer Hardware Manufacturing #Hard Tech #Artificial Intelligence #Machine Learning
Kintsugi AI, led by Pujun Bhatnagar, has raised a $6 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Link Ventures (Lisa Dolan) Venture Highway, Kyber Knight (Linus Liang), Plug and Play, DeVC and other angel investors. Kintsugi AI aims to automate sales tax compliance with its comprehensive platform, covering real time nexus monitoring, AI-enabled product categorization, rooftop-level tax calculation and validation, sales tax registration, filing, exemption certificates handling, and back-tax compliance. Kintsugi is secure, encrypted, GDPR-compliant and SOC 2 Type II compliant. The company complies with the Trust Services Criteria’s advanced protocols for Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. [Link] #Sales Tax Software #FinTech #Artificial Intelligence
Maven AGI, led by Jonathan Corbin, has raised a $20 million Series A funding round. The round was led by M13 (Anna Barber) and participation from Lux Capital (Bilal Zuberi), E14 Fund (Habib Haddad), and executives from OpenAI, Google, HubSpot, and Stripe. Maven AGI is an AI startup enabling enterprises to incorporate Generative AI into their customer support, without losing the human element. Using its native Gen AI platform, AI Agents, and in-house technology, Maven AGI says it autonomously resolves over 93% of customer inquiries, cutting support costs by 81% while enhancing the overall customer experience. [Link] #Artificial Intelligence #Conversational AI #Generative AI #Business Intelligence Tools #Customer Support Software #Customer Experience Software
Plenful, led by Joy Liu, has raised a $17 million Series A funding round. The round was led by TQ Ventures (Andrew Marks), with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners (Andrew Hedin), Mitchell Rales (Co-founder and Chairman of Danaher), Susa Ventures, and existing investors. Plenful is a healthcare technology startup dedicated to transforming pharmacy and healthcare operations through advanced workflow automation and AI. Built by healthcare operators and technologists, It is committed to empowering pharmacies with solutions that enhance efficiency, compliance, and revenue growth. Available for health system pharmacies, specialty pharmacies, long term care pharmacies, compounding pharmacies, specialty providers, and more, Plenful reduces manual work and can identify millions of dollars in savings opportunities. [Link] #Artificial Intelligence #Health Tech #Pharmacy Revenue Cycle Software #Payer Rates & Inventory Optimization Software #340B Audit & Capture Software #Compliance Management Software #Administrative Workflow Automation Software
Wavelogix, led by Luna Lu, has raised a $3 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Rhapsody Venture Partners (Jason Whaley). Wavelogix is a Purdue University Spinout that has developed a proprietary IoT sensing and data analytics platform, the REBEL concrete strength sensors, for infrastructure quality testing. The technology provides real-time measurements of in-place concrete strength, allowing construction engineers to make accurate, data-driven decisions about materials selection, scheduling, budgets, and resource allocation. Once embedded, the sensors are able to measure in-place strength directly, without any information about the concrete mix. [Link] #Data Analytics Platform #Internet of Things #Environmental Technology
Claros Technologies, led by Michelle Bellanca, has raised a $22 million Series B funding round. The round was co-led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund (Sasha Brown) and American Century Investments, with participation from Capita3, Children’s Minnesota, Kureha America Inc., Open Door Foundation, F. R. Bigelow Foundation, other corporate investors, several individual investors alongside incumbent investors Groundswell Ventures and the University of Minnesota. Claros Technologies is harnessing green chemistry and advanced material science to solve the global human health PFAS pollution crises. The company offers a PFAS contamination solution that permanently destroys ALL types of PFAS (long, short and ultrashort chain). PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance or “forever chemicals”) are a family of over 15,000 chemical compounds used in everything from semiconductor manufacturing to the production of clothing, furniture and food packaging. PFAS chemicals are ubiquitous and linked to cancer, thyroid disease, kidney dysfunction, birth defects, autoimmune disease and other serious health problems. [Link] #Environmental Technology #Sustainability #GreenTech #Advanced Materials #Advanced Manufacturing #Nanotechnology
SmartPM, led by Michael Pink, has raised a $5.5 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Building Ventures (Jesse Devitte), with participation from GS Futures (Aaron Toppston) and existing investors The Nemetschek Group. SmartPM is a provider of schedule controls software, specializing in data-driven tools and analytics for the commercial construction industry. By leveraging AI and machine learning, the platform empowers contractors, project managers, and stakeholders to harness real-time data, predictive analytics, and actionable insights, ensuring projects are completed on time, within budget, and according to the highest quality standards. [Link] #Artificial Intelligence #Environmental Technology #Predictive Analytics #Schedule Controls Software #Commercial Construction #ConTech #PropTech
Reibus, led by Jared Rowe, has raised a $30 million Debt Financing round. Backers included Canaan (Hrach Simonian) and Nosara, with HSBC as its banking partner. Reibus provides an independent technology platform for the procurement and sale of industrial materials in North America. Leveraging industry expertise and advanced technology, the marketplace simplifies complex procurement processes by offering real-time data, analytics, and logistics support, reducing lead times and inventory costs for thousands of buyers, suppliers, and service centers across North America. [Link] #Environmental Technology #Supply Chain Management #Internet Marketplace Platforms #E-Commerce #Procurement Software #Logistics Software
*Note: The companies we feature in our weekly recap are a very small subset of a much larger batch, carefully chosen based on our team's assessment of how each company aligns with our GTM search practice. It’s worth noting that most startups raise funding rounds privately, often long before the news is announced publicly!