During the month of June, Chicago startups raised at least $ 706 million in venture capital funding, according to data compiled by Chicago Inno.
The number of mega funding rounds for the month was unusually large compared to the average month-over-month fundraisers, resulting in four Chicago unicorn startups, including G2, ShipBob, Project44, and Bringg.
June financing activity increased compared to May, when startups raised $ 257 million, but June fell short of the significant activity of April, when startups raised $ 930 million.
An analysis by Inno shows that Chicago startup funding for the first six months of 2021 has dwarfed what local businesses raised for the entirety of 2020. So far, Chicago startups have raised more than $ 3.7 billion in 2021, according to Inno’s analysis. During the entirety of 2020, local businesses raised $ 2.8 billion.
The June funds were led by Project44, which raised $ 202 million, and ShipBob, which raised $ 200 million.
Below are 10 Chicago startups and tech companies that raised money in June.
Blockware Mining – Chicago bitcoin mining company Blockware Mining raised $ 25 million in funding. The startup, founded in 2019, has raised $ 32 million to date. Blockware Mining, led by Chairman and CEO Michael Stoltzner, said it will use the funds to scale its mining business with a new facility in Kentucky, where it announced plans earlier this month to invest $ 50 million and hire 20 new ones. employees for the next 24. – 36 months at a new technology center in Paducah, KY.
Bringg: Bringg, a logistics startup that gives companies a more efficient way to manage their delivery operations, raised $ 100 million in funding with a valuation of $ 1 billion. Funding was led by Insight Partners, along with Cambridge Capital, GLP, Harlap, Next 47, Pereg Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Viola Growth. Bringg, which was founded in Tel Aviv but has Chicago as a dual headquarters, says it is the first unicorn tech company in the last-mile delivery and fulfillment cloud technology space.
G2: The B2B software marketplace and review platform raised $ 157 million at a valuation of $ 1.1 billion in a Series D round led by Permira, a London-based private equity firm. Other investors include Accel, Emergence and IVP. To date, the company has raised more than $ 250 million. Founded in 2012, the G2 platform enables users to purchase and review business software. The company says it is home to more than 1.3 million reviews and ratings, with 60 million users visiting the site each year.
Gearflow: Founded in 2018 by Ben Preston and Luke Powers, Gearflow raised $ 3 million in an initial round led by Watchfire Ventures. Other investors also participated, including Newark Venture Partners, Liquid 2 Ventures and Path Ventures. To date, the startup has raised $ 4.6 million. Gearflow has created a parts marketplace that works with suppliers to sell their parts to contractors. The seed funding will be used to hire more engineering workers.
Oak9: Founded in 2019, Oak9 raised $ 5.9 million in a seed round led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Hyde Park Angels and Uncorrelated Ventures. Oak9, founded by Raj Datta, Om Vyas, and Aakash Shah, has built a security platform that integrates with cloud-native applications to continuously monitor security breaches, with the intention of reducing the frequency of breaches.
Project 44: Chicago logistics startup raised $ 202 million in new funding with a valuation of $ 1.2 billion. Goldman Sachs led the round, along with Emergence Capital. Existing Project44 investors, Insight Partners, Sapphire, 8VC, Chicago Ventures and Sozo also increased their investment in the startup with the latest round, the company said. Project44 has raised $ 442.5 million since its launch in 2014. Project44 provides software to third-party shippers and logistics companies to help them track their shipments and communicate with the supply chain in real time.
Rheaply: Rheaply, a Chicago startup that specializes in recycling and scrapping, raised $ 2.2 million from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund and investment arm from MIT Soon metrics the app collects from users, it makes lifestyle recommendations intended to get you better sleep.
ShipBob: The logistics tech company raised $ 200 million in a Series E round that values the company at “well over $ 1 billion.” The startup declined to specify the exact amount, bud added its valuation has more that doubled from its last round. ShipBob, founded in 2014 through Y Combinator, has now raised more than $ 330 million to date. ShipBob, a startup that helps small and medium-sized e-commerce companies ship products with Amazon-like speeds, said it has more than doubled its fulfillment center network since last year, growing from 10 to 24 facilities.
Spotivity: The Chicago startup, which is helping teenagers find after-school activities and jobs, raised a $ 1 million seed round. The funding round was led by CA Ventures, and will be used to expand the platform to more states and countries. Founder and CEO Montana Butsch launched the company to help Chicago teens, ages 13-17, search for and find extracurricular programs, as well as paying part-time jobs. Teens can use Spotivity to find programs at the YMCA and the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, as well as part-time roles at restaurants like Chipotle
