On-demand platform for recruiting raises $25M | T-Rex and geospatial tech

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.

NASHVILLE, TN—Founded in 2017, Phosphorus Cybersecurity pitches itself as providing a platform that eliminates the IoT security gap. The company has banked $38 million in new funding to fuel growth and technology development and enhance its user experience. Chief investors in the Series A round are MassMutual Ventures, which is the venture investment arm of the 170-year-old life insurance company, and SYN Ventures, which is based in West Palm Beach, Florida.

OVERLAND PARK, KS–SnapIT Solutions, a female-owned high-tech services and tech training firm founded in 2015, has scored a government contract with a $50 billion ceiling. The contract will enable the Overland Park-based firm to partner with federal agencies, small businesses, and corporations to deliver technology solutions through its unique SPRNT business model, which has a pending patent.

ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan Institute for Social Research will oversee a $38 million investment from the National Science Foundation to create a new data platform that will help researchers in various scientific disciplines access, collect, store, and secure vital information.

ST. LOUIS, MO—The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) signed a Partnership Intermediary Agreement with the T-Rex innovation and entrepreneur center in St. Louis. The agreement will support NGA’s vision for the development of the next-generation workforce and geospatial technology to address challenges to national security.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN—Qualifi, a startup that has developed an on-demand screening platform for recruiting teams, has closed on a $2.5 million seed round of funding. Qualifi will use the funding to further product development and expand go-to-market efforts. The funding round was led by Rally Ventures in California, with participation from Techstars, Sixty8 Capital, Elevate Ventures, Debut Capital, Flywheel Fund, the Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator, Converge, Service Provider Capital and multiple angel investors.

CARY, NC—Lightforge Games has raised more than $7 million with 17 investors participating, according to an SEC filing. The company, which is led by a former Epic Games employee, Matt Schembari, is building what its developers call a new cross-platform, social video game, one “where players have the power to create worlds and tell stories with unprecedented freedom.”