Hoosier companies land $26M in VC as activity heats up

Indiana had its most active venture investing quarter in 16 years, led by a mix of relatively new startups and young companies in expansion mode.

Venture capitalists pumped $26.1 million into Hoosier companies in the second quarter of 2016, according to the latest MoneyTree report released Friday by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.

That was a better than the $24.4 million clip in the first quarter this year. But the more-recent sum came on nine fundraising rounds, the most deals in a period since the second quarter of 2000 saw 10.

The stats don't suggest VC funding is on fire in Indiana. The $2.9 million per-deal average isn't a terribly robust figure—even by historical standards here—and the state is still a far cry from the days when then-private companies like Angie's List Inc. and ExactTarget Inc. were helping attract hundreds of millions in venture dollars annually.

But for a state that only saw $23.4 million invested on 13 deals in all of 2013, things appear to be heating up. The total so far for 2016 is $50.5 million on 12 deals.

Leading the pack this quarter was beer-management firm SteadyServ Technologies Inc., which pulled in $5.4 million from undisclosed investors. (SteadyServ recently announced plans to move its headquarters from Carmel to Fishers.) CloudOne Corp. and Bluebridge LLC were some of the other so-called "expansion stage" firms that made the list with multi-million investments.

Some of the younger companies on the list include Indianapolis-based medical device firm Animated Dynamics Inc., which raised $1.7 million, and digital marketing upstart DemandJump LLC, which raised $1.8 million.

The MoneyTree Report, now in its 22nd year, has not always captured every venture investment in Indiana, partially due to its methodology. Upperhand Inc., a sports-management-software firm that raised a $1 million in June, is one example of a firm not included on its list.