Among April's top five fundings were two companies whose technology enables mass communication in emergencies and uses machine learning to thwart attacks on IoT systems. Scroll on to see more.
5. AlertMedia, $4M, April 25
Investors: Silverton Partners, ATX Seed Ventures
Bio: AlertMedia’s emergency communication platform serves tens of thousands of subscribers in more than 80 countries.
News: The three-year-old Austin startup is also the company behind SafeSignal, a tether that connects to the headphone jack of a smartphone and summons emergency support for workers in high-risk situations when removed. Read more here.
4. Schoold, $4.5M, April 1
Investors: Undisclosed
Bio: The Austin-based startup’s app offers free college and career planning.
News: The app tallied 500,000 downloads in its first month in the Google Play and iOS app stores. The timing was critical; April 1 is the last day by which college admissions decisions are expected by millions of anxious high school students awaiting word about where they’ve been accepted. Students generally have until May 1 to decide and commit to a college.
3. eRelevance Corporation, $4.5M, April 4
Investors: Rally Ventures, Chicago Ventures, Miramar Venture Partners and Rothernberg Ventures
Bio: eRelevance offers a novel Progressive Patient Engagement Service for healthcare providers and health systems. The company was founded in July 2013 by Robert Fabbio, Lance Obermeyer, and Timothy Smith, who have been collectively associated with over 12 startups that have created over $1.5B of shareholder value at time of exit.
News: According to a statement from co-founder and CEO Bob Fabbio at the time of the deal, the company nearly matched all of its 2015 revenue in the first quarter of this year.
2. SparkCognition, $6M, April 26
Investors: CME Ventures, Verizon Ventures, The Entrepreneurs’ Fund (TEF) and Alameda Ventures
Bio: SparkCognition’s cybersecurity product uses natural language processing to analyze unstructured data to anticipate attacks in IoT systems. The service then uses machine learning to recognize patterns and form automated insights to thwart similar attacks in the future.
News: Last year, SparkCognition was named the hottest startup in Austin by SXSW and the Chamber of Commerce for its combination of cognitive AI with a data analytics platform to provide insights and security for consumer and industrial electronics, including nascent Internet of Things (IoT) systems ripe for exploitation. Read more here.
1. RigUp, $15M, April 15
Investors: Founders Fund, Box Group, Great Oaks, FreeS VC, Moore Capital and GE Ventures
Bio: RigUp’s software provides a marketplace for the oil industry that supports bidding, invoicing and compliance.
News: The Wall Street Journal reported the company has seen its business grow even as oil prices drop because crews are turning to software like Rig Up’s to cut the time and cost of starting drilling projects.
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