WI Watchlist: E-Scooters, CUNA Incubator, Curate Funding & More

[Updated 7/23/19, 8:48 am CT. See below.] It’s time to catch up on some recent Wisconsin innovation headlines: —CMFG Ventures, the venture capital arm of Madison-based CUNA Mutual Group, announced today that it’s creating a financial technology incubator in partnership with the nonprofit Filene Research Institute, a consumer finance think tank. The incubator is seeking … Continue reading “WI Watchlist: E-Scooters, CUNA Incubator, Curate Funding & More”

Scale Computing Snags $34.8M to Advance “Alternative” IT Platform

Scale Computing, an Indianapolis IT startup serving smaller businesses, distributed enterprises, and retailers around the world, has raised $34.8 million in a Series F funding round. Co-founder and CEO Jeff Ready says technology hardware giant Lenovo was the largest contributor to the round, which included participation from Allos Ventures and unspecified “existing investors.” Since the … Continue reading “Scale Computing Snags $34.8M to Advance “Alternative” IT Platform”

OneCause Snags $4M Investment, Plans to Expand Fundraising Platform

OneCause, an Indianapolis-based fundraising platform formerly known as BidPal, has experienced a few changes over the past year: It has a new name, acquired Great Feats in April, and raised $4 million in venture funding last month. “As we grew, we wanted to send a message to our clients and team by putting ‘cause’ first [in … Continue reading “OneCause Snags $4M Investment, Plans to Expand Fundraising Platform”

Emplify Bags $7.5M to Give Employers Better Staff Engagement Data

Emplify, the Fishers, IN-based startup focused on software to improve employee engagement, today announced that it has raised a $7.5 million Series A funding round. Since it was spun out of Bluebridge in 2016, co-founder and CEO Santiago Jaramillo says Emplify has experienced swift growth—customers include Harley-Davidson and Terminus—and now has 65 employees. “We’re bigger … Continue reading “Emplify Bags $7.5M to Give Employers Better Staff Engagement Data”

Bolstra Raises $1.5M to Grow SaaS Customer Management Platform

Carmel, IN-based Bolstra, a startup focused on customer success management software, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. Contributors to the round include Elevate Ventures, 4G Ventures, Allos Ventures, Collina Ventures, and VisionTech Angels. Bolstra CEO Haresh Gangwani says his company differs from competitors in its dedication to customer engagement. Because customer success management, which … Continue reading “Bolstra Raises $1.5M to Grow SaaS Customer Management Platform”

After Quadrupling in Size, Lessonly Raises $8M Series B

Lessonly, the Indianapolis-based startup focused on team training software, this week announced it has raised an $8 million Series B funding round. Led by Boston’s OpenView Partners, the round also drew contributions from Rethink Education, High Alpha Capital, and Allos Ventures. Max Yoder, Lessonly CEO and co-founder, says the company has quadrupled in size over … Continue reading “After Quadrupling in Size, Lessonly Raises $8M Series B”

Fuzic Closes on $3.5 Million Seed Round, Plans to Expand Reach

Fuzic, the Indianapolis-based marketing tech startup, announced this week that it has closed on a $3 million seed funding round, bringing the total amount of money raised since inception to $3.5 million. Fuzic’s backers include High Alpha, Allos Ventures, and Hyde Park Venture Partners, as well as local angel investors. “We are very impressed with … Continue reading “Fuzic Closes on $3.5 Million Seed Round, Plans to Expand Reach”

Plymouth Growth Partners Snags MIRA Award for Investor of the Year

A few years ago, when Ann Arbor, MI-based Plymouth Growth Partners was searching for new places to invest the $61 million in its third venture fund, the firm decided to look outside the Great Lakes State. “We were pretty heavily invested in Chicago and Michigan already,” recalls Jeff Barry, a partner at the firm formerly … Continue reading “Plymouth Growth Partners Snags MIRA Award for Investor of the Year”

BidPal Raises $6M to Support Growth, Hiring, and Product Development

Indianapolis-based BidPal, a startup focused on mobile bidding and fundraising software for nonprofits, announced this week that is has raised new capital: $3.5 million in new cash from returning investors MK Capital and Allos Ventures, and $2.5 million available to borrow at any time from Square 1 Bank in California. “All of it represents working … Continue reading “BidPal Raises $6M to Support Growth, Hiring, and Product Development”

Bluebridge Sells Business Units for $8M to Focus on Emplify’s Growth

Bluebridge, a Fishers, IN-based software company specializing in mobile apps for churches, employers, and tourism entities, announced last week that it sold off two of its business units in order to devote its energy to Emplify, its fast-growing employee engagement app. PushPay‘s e-church division, based in Redmond, WA, acquired Bluebridge Churches, while Tucson, AZ’s Simpleview … Continue reading “Bluebridge Sells Business Units for $8M to Focus on Emplify’s Growth”

BidPal’s Online Tools Help Nonprofits on Giving Tuesday and Beyond

BidPal, the Indianapolis-based startup behind mobile bidding and fundraising software for nonprofits, has established an online resource center just in time for upcoming #GivingTuesday campaigns. (More on Giving Tuesday below.) Since its inception in 2008, the company has helped 2,800 organizations connect with more than 1 million donors to raise more than $1 billion. Karrie … Continue reading “BidPal’s Online Tools Help Nonprofits on Giving Tuesday and Beyond”

Under Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Purdue Pumping Out Startups

[Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories examining tech transfer and innovation initiatives at Indiana colleges and universities.] During the 2012-2013 school year, Purdue University counted eight new startups built on technology licensed from the school. The next year, that number tripled. That’s a significant increase in university spinouts almost overnight, and … Continue reading “Under Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Purdue Pumping Out Startups”

Octiv Snags Backing from GE Ventures, Plans to Continue Expansion

Octiv, the Indianapolis-based startup working on productivity tools for sales teams, announced last week that it has secured investment capital from GE Ventures, which has offices in Boston, San Francisco, and other cities across the country. The amount contributed by GE Ventures, the venture capital arm of General Electric (NYSE: [[ticker:GE]]), was undisclosed. The funding … Continue reading “Octiv Snags Backing from GE Ventures, Plans to Continue Expansion”

App Developer Bluebridge Spins Out Emplify for Employee Engagement

As mobile app developer Bluebridge grew from a three-person shop to a staff of three dozen, CEO Santiago Jaramillo discovered there’s more to business success than satisfied customers: employee engagement also matters. So last summer, a group of his best and brightest started brainstorming ways to improve the worker experience at Fishers, IN-based Bluebridge. They … Continue reading “App Developer Bluebridge Spins Out Emplify for Employee Engagement”

Scott Dorsey Reflects on ExactTarget & the Rise of Indianapolis Tech

The expertise and guidance of a savvy mentor can change the fortunes of a startup. Bob Compton was that person for ExactTarget, says co-founder and former CEO Scott Dorsey. Compton—an IBM veteran, successful investor, and one of the godfathers of Indianapolis’s burgeoning tech community—was ExactTarget’s lead investor and its chairman in the early 2000s, when … Continue reading “Scott Dorsey Reflects on ExactTarget & the Rise of Indianapolis Tech”

OpenView Backs Corporate Training Software Startup Lesson.ly

As companies grow, employees naturally amass a treasure trove of useful habits that help them do their jobs better. But spreading that tribal knowledge across the company isn’t always easy or efficient. That’s one of the problems Lesson.ly has been trying to solve with Web-based learning automation software that centralizes a company’s policies and best … Continue reading “OpenView Backs Corporate Training Software Startup Lesson.ly”

7Signal Obtains $4,000,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=64fb58a3-6e4f-4bac-94fc-ec3f973ec738 Date 10/15/2013 Company Name 7Signal Mailing Address 526 S. Main Street Akron, OH 44311 Company Description 7signal Ltd. is a United States-based network technology start-up with a mission to make healthcare and other mission-critical enterprise wireless LAN networks work – reliably. The 7signal solution is an innovative hardware/ software wireless quality … Continue reading “7Signal Obtains $4,000,000 Series B Financing”

Scale Computing Obtains $12,000,000 Series D Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8ae1e4c1-47b0-48dd-a632-0a2bed5b3de9&Preview=1 Date 10/23/2012 Company Name Scale Computing Mailing Address 5225 Exploration Drive Indianapolis, IN 46241 Company Description Scale Computing was founded to reduce storage costs, increase your control, and make managing storage much more convenient. We call it the Three Cs. Others call it the emergence of Third Generation storage. Our customers … Continue reading “Scale Computing Obtains $12,000,000 Series D Financing”

AssureRx Health Secures $12,500,000 Series C Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=398a14ef-288f-42ac-ad9a-8e9129bd7212&Preview=1 Date 5/31/2012 Company Name AssureRx Health Mailing Address 7264 Columbia Road Mason, OH 45039 Company Description Cincinnati-based AssureRx Health, Inc. is a personalized medicine company which specializes in pharmacogenetics and is dedicated to helping physicians determine the right drug at the right dose for individual patients suffering from medical conditions. Website … Continue reading “AssureRx Health Secures $12,500,000 Series C Funding”

Blue Pillar Receives $7,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=905fc378-0bdf-4a26-8ee3-1ebcea2f6715&Preview=1 Date 5/2/2012 Company Name Blue Pillar Mailing Address 9025 North River Road Indianapolis, IN 46240 Company Description Blue Pillar delivers campus-wide energy asset security, efficiency and financial return through precision monitoring, diagnostics, and control in one platform. Website http://www.bluepillar.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $7,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Blue Pillar Receives $7,000,000 New Financing Round”

BidPal Network Garners $5,600,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=cb18d01d-4131-4d5b-8b55-e817d29482c5&Preview=1 Date 9/29/2011 Company Name BidPal Network Mailing Address 8425 Woodfield Crossing Indianapolis, IL 46240 Company Description BidPal Network has developed an innovative solution that wirelessly automates and accelerates the auction process. BidPal’s system enables guests to place bids on silent auction items at any time and from anywhere during the event. … Continue reading “BidPal Network Garners $5,600,000 Series B Financing”

AssureRX Health Secures $11,000,000 Series B Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fb5c0ce1-d9b1-4c5e-853b-59b0760428f4&Preview=1 Date 3/25/2011 Company Name AssureRX Health Mailing Address 7264 Columbia Road Mason, OH 45039 Company Description Cincinnati-based AssureRx Health, Inc. is a personalized medicine company which specializes in pharmacogenetics and is dedicated to helping physicians determine the right drug at the right dose for individual patients suffering from medical conditions. Website … Continue reading “AssureRX Health Secures $11,000,000 Series B Funding”

Michigan Venture Funds: A List of Recent Closings and Firms Raising Money Now

It’s not exactly a secret that this isn’t the greatest time for venture capital. Returns over the past decade have gone negative after the heady dotcom bubble years, and with the recession lingering many funds have either closed or found themselves significantly smaller as it became harder and harder to attract capital. These national trends … Continue reading “Michigan Venture Funds: A List of Recent Closings and Firms Raising Money Now”