be part of this class. MassChallenge says the chosen entrepreneurs come from 11 countries and 12 U.S. states, and that a third of them are women. The accelerator kicks off in April and runs through August, after which the startups will pitch for the chance to win a portion of up to $500,000 in grant funding.
—Venture capital firm ATX Seed Ventures said in an SEC filing that it’s raised $17.8 million of a planned $75 million fund entitled ATX Seed Ventures II. The firm, which raised an initial fund of $5.5 million in 2014, has invested in several Austin startups, including RoverPass, PrideBites, and Everfest, among others.
—DrillingInfo, an oil and gas startup in Austin, has added another $8.7 million to an existing round of funding, bringing the total size of the round to $22.9 million, according to the Austin Business Journal. Crunchbase reports that the 19-year-old company has now raised nearly $200 million.
—Umuse, a startup that develops software that combines chat and e-mail in a single interface, announced it has closed a $5 million seed round from Shasta Ventures, Next Coast Ventures, and Floodgate Capital. The funding will be used to further test the beta release of its technology. The startup was founded two years ago and is based in Austin.
—Phlur, the perfume e-retailer based in Austin, announced it has raised $2.5 million as part of a financing round, according to an SEC filing. Symrise, a German fragrance company, led the funding round, which Phlur said could increase to as much as $6 million. The company, which uses a chatbot that engages with customers after a purchase, says it added more than 35,000 customers in 2017.
Xconomy National Correspondent David Holley contributed to this report.
