Following May’s less-than-optimal month of fundings, Austin tech has ferociously bounced back, raising nearly double what it did last month in just two weeks. As of Friday, the local tech sector has collectively secured over $82 million in funding across 11 deals, with an average investment totaling $7.4 million. Here are the top five rounds of a blazing start to June.
5. Knowingly, $7.5M, June 13
Investors: Undisclosed.
Bio: Co-founded by software veteran Byron Reese in 2015, Knowingly is an Austin-based publishing startup that owns Gigaom.com, Correctica.com and news website iForetold.
News: Knowingly did not issue a statement about the recent funding news. The investments were split across three deals, two under Knowingly Corp. and one for $6.3 million filed under Knowingly Holdings, according to filings with the state.
4. Ambiq Micro, $11.4M, June 14
Investors: 23 undisclosed investors.
Bio: Ambiq Micro develops energy-efficient batteries for wearable devices that use up to 13 times less power than standard batteries.
News: The company has historically remained mum when new fundings come through, and June’s investment was no exception. Since 2010, the company has raised over $94 million, according to SEC filings.
3. 101 Commerce, $12.7M, June 5
Investors: Next Coast Ventures, 3L Capital, HomeAway founder Brian Sharples and RetailMeNot founder Cotter Cunningham.
Bio: New startup 101 Commerce purchases and invests in Fulfillment by Amazon businesses, and helps them grow even larger through implementing its own technology and big data marketing and analytics. FBAs are small retail businesses that store and ship their products in Amazon fulfillment centers.
News: June’s Series A marks the e-commerce startup’s first funding round. Richard Jalichandra, formerly the CEO of BodyBuilding.com, iSocket, MapMyFitness and Technorati, launched the company earlier this year.
2. ALTR, $15M, June 6
Investors: A group of private investors and firms from the IT, financial services and cybersecurity sectors.
Bio: As blockchain practices become more widely accepted and adopted, ALTR capitalizes on the enterprise market by offering a secure data access and storage platform. Its solution prevents attacks by tokenizing data, which replaces sensitive data with identification symbols that mask the information.
News: This funding marked ALTR’s launch from stealth mode and will be used to increase its market footprint and product offerings. The company is currently hiring.
1. Medici, $22M, June 12
Investors: Natie Kirsh of Jetro; Ken Griffin of Citadel; Barry Sternlicht of Starwood Capital; Howard Jenkins of Publix Super Markets; Amit Bhatia of Swordfish; Brett Moody of Moody National; Antonio Gracias of Tesla; and local investor Tom Meredith, formerly of Dell.
Bio: Medici’s mobile app makes it possible for health patients to ditch the in-office visits and instead meet with their doctors virtually over a secure, HIPAA-compliant platform.
News: June’s funding puts Medici’s total investor backing to just shy of $50 million since its 2016 launch. CEO Clinton Phillips said it will be used toward enhancing its tech platform and on hiring.
