FUELING THE FUTURE: M25 announces new fund; Benson Hill goes public; Sixty8 Capital
- CHICAGO—Recently M25, a venture capital firm focused on investing in the Midwest, announced a new fund worth $31.8 million. Partner Mike Asem talks about the round and why the firm thinks the Midwest is the place to deploy capital and generate large returns.
- INDIANAPOLIS—Sixty8 Capital, an Indianapolis-based, seed-stage venture capital firm supporting Black, Latinx, women and LGBTQ+ led startups, announced the first close of its new $20 million venture fund. Investors include The Indiana Next Level Fund, 50 South Capital, Bank of America, Eli Lilly and Company, First Internet Bank and the Central Indiana Community Foundation.
- ST. LOUIS—Benson Hill, which leverages an AI-driven proprietary food innovation engine called CropOS, will become publicly listed through a business combination with Star Peak Corp II. Fast Future spoke to Jason Bull, Benson Hill’s CTO, in January. You can read the interview here.
- MINNEAPOLIS—Cybersecurity and automation software company HelpSystems has signed an agreement in which Harvest Partners, LP will lead a minority investment.
- LEXINGTON, KY—VividCharts, a data visualization company for ServiceNow customers to keep their data in-platform, closed a $2M seed round.
- PITTSBURGH—Metafy, a platform that enables online players worldwide to monetize their talents through one-on-one coaching and courses, adds $5.5 million to its seed round.
- KANSAS CITY, KS—Torch.AI announced plans to make an economic investment in the Kansas City region as part of a $27 million tax incentive package awarded by the Kansas Department of Commerce. Torch.AI, which uses machine learning to enable ultra-high performance data processing, expects to create nearly 500 full-time jobs over the course of five years.
- BEAVERCREEK, OH—Oculii, a developer of high-resolution imaging radars for autonomous systems raised a $55 million round. The money will allow for continued investment in the company’s tech and will allow for the expected scaling and hiring.
- MORRISVILLE, IN—JupiterOne, a security company that helps other companies manage their cyber assets, has closed on $30 million in new funding and will soon move into a new headquarters in Morrisville, IN.