FUELING THE FUTURE: Ohio tops $2B in VC funding | TripleBlind lands $24M

  • KANSAS CITY, MO—TripleBlind, the private data sharing company that offers a proprietary cryptographically-enforced solution, has received $24 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding led by General Catalyst and Mayo Clinic. This round follows TripleBlind’s pre-seed raise of $8.2 million announced in March 2021.

  • PLYMOUTH, MI—The red-hot electric vehicle sector just keeps getting hotter. Electric truck maker Rivian filed paperwork to go public and is expected to be the largest IPO of the year. Rivian’s IPO is expected to round out a number of IPO and SPAC deals from electric vehicle companies over the past year or so.
  • DETROIT, MI—As the service industry begins to embrace the benefits of automation, RoboTire has raised a $7.5 million Series A round for its tire-changing tech. The tech is capable of changing a set of tires in less than 15 minutes. The round was led by The Reinalt-Thomas Corporation, the major tire retail brand behind Discount Tire and America’s Tire.

  • DURHAM, NC—SWIR Vision Systems, which develops image sensor solutions for industrial automation and autonomous vehicles, has closed a $5 million Series A financing round. The company’s technology enables the highest resolution and smallest form factor wavelength infrared sensors for key industrial, defense and emerging large market applications.

  • GOLDEN VALLEY, MN—2021 has been a record year for Medical Alley’s early-stage companies. Currently, 28 companies have raised almost $200 million in the quarter, powered by large raises from GeneMatters, Francis Medical, and Flywheel Exchange. It wasn’t just large established startups making news as 45 companies have completed sub-$1M raises year-to-date, the most since 2017. We interviewed Medical Alley’s Frank Jaskulke in March about becoming “the Silicon Valley of health tech.” Sounds like they’re well on their way.
  • ST. LOUIS, MO—Deck Commerce, a company that helps retailers manage and optimize the entire order lifecycle, closed $7.8 million in Series A funding led by Plymouth Growth, a growth equity firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This new partnership will allow Deck Commerce to enhance its product offering to feature more direct-to-consumer capabilities for leading brands.