Let’s get caught up with the latest innovation news in Texas.
—GrainChain, a blockchain agtech company based in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, has raised $2.5 million in funding from Medici Ventures, a blockchain accelerator owned by Overstock.com (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OSTK]]). Medici has a 10 percent ownership in the startup and has an option to increase that stake by another 10 percent at a later date, according to a press release. Five-year-old GrainChain, which is based in McAllen, TX, digitizes a typically manual process of weighing and documenting agricultural yield by using Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
—Chargify, a San Antonio software-as-a-service company that helps businesses with recurring billing, is acquiring Atlanta, GA-based ProRata, another SaaS business that helps users automate revenue recognition in conjunction with accounting software. Chargify is making the acquisition as the standards by which private companies report recurring revenue—particularly for subscription billing, one of Chargify’s areas of focus—are changing (new standards are set to be implemented for private companies Dec. 15). Chargify, which is owned by investment firm Scaleworks, didn’t disclose terms of the deal. Tom Rotem replaced Chris Cochran as Chargify’s CEO in September.
—Q2, an Austin-based fintech company has acquired Gro Solutions. The Atlanta-based firm makes account and digital sales and marketing software for banks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, according to a press release. Q2 (NYSE: [[ticker:QTWO]]), which makes software so that financial institutions can offer banking services online and via mobile apps, acquired San Mateo, CA-based Cloud Lending in August. Q2 was founded 14 years ago and went public in an $110 million IPO in 2014.
—Hypergiant Sensory Services, a Dallas-based maker of artificial intelligence software, has raised “more than $5 million” in a first round of funding, according to a press release. The startup declined to detail the names of its investors. Hypergiant Sensory Sciences makes software that combines sensor networks, deep learning, and modeling software to create AI-powered digital copies of real world scenes, the company said in the release.
—Austin-based Firefly Aerospace and Houston-based Intuitive Machines were awarded by NASA a Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract, according to press releases from the companies. The two Texas tech companies will compete for contracts to send small rockets and deliver supplies to the moon. Other companies include: Astrobotic Technology in Pittsburgh, PA; Deep Space Systems and Lockheed Martin Space, both in Littleton, CO; Cambridge, MA-based Draper; Masten Space Systems in Mojave, CA; Moon Express in Cape Canaveral, FL; and Orbit Beyond in Edison, NJ.
