Ohio company acquired for $510M | Iowa Fintech fund closes at $250M | $20M for dairy innovation

What is fueling Fast Future Country innovation? In this weekly feature, we share a variety of announcements covering funding, acquisitions, exits, grants and everything in between. Got something to celebrate? Click here to share your story.

• CINCINNATI, OH—In a massive startup exit, Mason, Ohio-based VNDLY, a provider of cloud-based workforce management tech, will be acquired for $510 million. California-based tech company Workday Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the company before Jan. 31, 2022.

• DES MOINES, IA—Curql Collective, a venture capital fund that focuses on financial services tech companies in the credit union industry, announced its Curql Fund I has officially closed to investors at just over $250 million. The fund was launched in 2020 by credit union partners of Members Development Company and Des Moines venture capital firm Next Level Ventures.

• DAYTON, OH—The University of Dayton Research Institute has been awarded a $88 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory for research and development to advance, evaluate and mature Air Force autonomous capabilities.

• KNOXVILLE, TN and MADISON, WI—The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced $20.2 million in investments in dairy business innovation efforts. Included in the investments are current initiatives at the University of Tennessee and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

• MEMPHIS, TN—Tech startup Bite Ninja announced the close of its seed funding round. Owl Ventures led the $4 million round, in addition to AgFunder, Manta Ray and TRAC Unicorn Fund.

• ST. LOUIS, MO—Plastomics, the biotech company that wants to improve crops using a cell called the chloroplast, has secured $7.1 million in Series A funding led by Lewis & Clark AgriFood.

• SOUTH BEND, IN—FloWaste, Inc., a startup focused on reducing food waste has closed on a $1.1 million pre-seed round of funding. FloWaste’s platform uses machine learning to track data for customers about the amount of food being discarded on their premises. The company plans to use the funding to address the challenges of creating a hardware system from scratch.