If ever there was a sign of a hot market, this is it.
The latest figures gathered by TECHdotMN show that the volume of dollars invested into Minnesota tech ventures doubled year over year, from $60m in 2010 to over $126m in 2011, respectively.
This data includes IT, Web, Mobile, SaaS and hardware companies reporting investment rounds in excess of $25,000 and does not account for unreported or undisclosed transactions.
Notable deals of the year include Ability Network’s $27m round, Cima NanoTech’s $15m D round, 8thBridge’s $10m series B, RedBrick Health’s $5.7m raise, and TST Media’s $3.5m Series B. All in all, 63 unique companies raised capital throughout 2011.
By Leena Rao, TechCrunch
“Code 42 Software, a Minnesota-based online backup company for consumers, businesses and the enterprise, has raised $52.5 million in funding led by Accel Partners with participation from Split Rock Partners.
This is the first major investment from Accel’s recently announced Big Data Fund, which is dedicated to funding infrastructure and application companies in “Big Data.” This is the first round of institutional investing for Code 42.”
Bloomington-based Datacom International has raised $2m equity financing, according to a disclosure recently filed with the SEC.
Founded in 1998, Datacom develops, markets and supports fully-integrated, web-based enterprise ERP, CRM, Accounting, and Supply Chain Management software. The company’s flagship suite, dataSTOR, is targeted at small/mid-sized manufacturers; dataSIGN is customized for sign makers and dataFAB serves metal fabricators.
A historical look reveals that the firm had previously raised close to $1m in 1998.
Gopher Angels may not have website yet (or even a logo), but that’s not stopping David and Sara Russick from announcing their latest dream — to play a role in funding new Minnesota businesses.
Inspired by Thunderbird Angels, an Arizona investment network affiliated with the Thurderbird School of Global Management (David’s alma mater), the husband and wife duo have their sights set on formally organizing a small yet diverse group of accredited Minnesota angel investors. Gopher Angels is not a fund of pooled capital, rather a network of structure, collaboration, and leverage.
“We see both the need and the opportunity,” says Sara. “This is our next endeavor,” David adds, describing their own entrepreneurial past, which includes Bagster, a novel disposal business they started in 2005 and sold to Waste Management two years ago.
As the amount of 2011 tax credits ($12m) available through the Minnesota Angel Investor Tax Credit (AITC) program came to a halt last month, DEED was quick to update a final list of which companies had received what for the year.
The program, created in May, 2010, offers qualified angels (and funds) — whether from Minnesota or not — with a 25% refundable tax credit on investments made towards certified local startups.
At the half, roughly 17 tech companies had seen some $5.5m in investment capital through the program, with approximately .75 cents on every dollar going into ‘high tech’ ventures (IT, SaaS, web, mobile, telecom, etc.) at the time.
With this new data made available, many startups have gained under AITC since we last looked:
Minnetonka-based startup FieldSolutions is raising a $2m round of equity/debt financing with $500k closed, according to a recent SEC filing.
Formed in 2007, the company leverages various proprietary technology tools to provide on demand networks of independent electronics field service technicians to enterprise level customers throughout North America. Field Solutions maintains a database of more than 22,000 technicians, according the the website.
Led by CEO Mac Lewis (right), FieldSolutions has been reporting strong growth in recent years, beefed up management and since expanded international footprint into Mexico.
FieldSolutions announced closing $1.5m first round led by StarTec last August and then went on to see $3.5m more in October; when combined, the firms total capitalization would be $7m.
DelaGet, A Golden Valley-based technology firm that makes multi-unit restaurant SaaS, has raised an additional $300k on top of the $100k reported in August.
The amended SEC filing also notes an increase the size of the target round, from $500k to $900k.
DelaGet’s proprietary software collects data at over 75 points of integration for 7,000 international multi-unit restaurants from 20,000 POS devices daily, according to the rather intuitive website. This “normalized and stored” data then powers real time reports, loss prevention and payroll insights from the store level to the headquarters for operators and executives.
Homegrown edutech startup Naiku has closed on $320k in angel capital from Omphalos, ‘Rainfund’ 3C and other local investors, according to CEO Corey Thompson.
Naiku was launched earlier this year by Thompson, Adisack Nhouyvanisvong and Kevin Sampers to provide automated formative and summative assessment solutions that give teachers information to help students achieve their academic goals. Students can use their mobile devices (laptops, netbooks, iPads, iPods or Android) in place of traditional analog tests, saving valuable classroom time while improving measurability.
Minneapolis startup enStratus has secured $3.5m in series A funding according to a fresh SEC filing.
enStratus is a cloud infrastructure management platform for enterprise-class applications in public/private clouds. The firm has a patented security architecture and an intelligent auto-recovery engine. Growing steadily since 2009 launch, they’ve recruiting some big names in the industry to support strong domestic and international growth.
This disclosure clearly names Jeff Hinck from El Dorado Ventures, a Minneapolis/Sand Hill Road VC, and Vesbridge was also in on the deal. In August, Hinck led on TST Media’s equal sized A round, which he elaborated on in a recent interview.
“We are excited about enStratus and the opportunity to help bring enterprise-level cloud management and governance to their customers,” Hinck said in a press release. “The enStratus solution, as well as a proven management team, were key factors in our decision to lead this round and we are confident in their continued success.
A Rochester startup that specializes in liquid-submersion cooling technologies for high performance computing environments is about to enter fundraising mode (again) according recent to SEC filings.
Hardcore Computer’s technology was originally introduced to the market in 2008, followed by liquid submerged blade servers in spring 2010,and has since expanded to three unique product lines:
- LSS 200 liquid submerged server – desribed as “the world’s first rack-mountable server with total liquid submersion technology – delivering savings and sustainability to the enterprise.”
- Reactor X – a specialty PC targeted towards console gamers.
- Detonator - a workstation for those “professionals who demand exceptional speed, versatility and rock-solid stability,” such as high frequency traders.
Thank you to our sponsors
Watch the latest on TECHdotMN TV
Upcoming Events
- Ehack night
Monday, February 6, 2012
7:00 PM - 10:00 PM - TECH Masters Twin Cities
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
7:40 AM - 9:00 AM - Android Users Group of MN
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Follow TECHdotMN on Twitter
- TST Media Acquires Wisconsin Sports Network (WSN) (via NR): http://t.co/rBNqyrxY #
- TECHdotMN TV episode 2.2 - Quit playing with yourself: http://t.co/fqoFDa4e #
- TECHdotMN TV short - TruSignal: http://t.co/fa5YXxbY #
- MSP Airport will build $15M data center (via Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal): http://t.co/ZyV4SgZj #