Heartland Ventures closes $52M investment fund
The Ohio-based venture firm, which gets its funding from Indiana and Ohio companies, invests in tech startups developing products that can benefit those Midwestern investors.
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Indianapolis-based franchising-tech firm Woven Brands lands $1.5M investment
Established in 2017, Woven Brands had been self-funded until now. The company’s software platform helps franchisee operators and multi-unit independent operators more easily manage their staff and operations.
Q&A with Titi Obasanya, a Nigeria native helping Hoosier entrepreneurs
Obasanya was living in Lagos, Nigeria, and planning to move to the United States when a LinkedIn ad for a job at Elevate Ventures caught her eye.
Business accelerator Gener8tor announces members of latest cohort for agbioscience accelerator
This year’s cohort for Gener8tor’s gBETA agbioscience accelerator includes companies working in everything from cold storage to aquaculture. The program wraps up later this month.
Indianapolis-based ed-tech firm Willo acquired by textbook retailer Follett
Follett, an educational services company with about 6,000 employees nationwide, said it plans to keep Willo’s employees, local Indianapolis presence and brand name. Plans also call for expanding Willo’s 15-person staff.
High Alpha startup Humankind closes on $4.2M seed round
Humankind is a software-as-a-service company whose platform allows retailers to make personal connections with online shoppers. Indianapolis-based venture studio launched the company last fall, and it now has 16 employees.
Indiana-based ag-tech startup lands $3M in seed funding
Carmel-based Hageman Group, Indianapolis-based Allos Ventures and Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures Inc. all participated in the funding round.
Belgian tech startup Unbox to set up U.S. HQ in Indianapolis
The software company Unbox says it plans to establish its U.S. headquarters in Indianapolis as well as a software development, research and testing hub in West Lafayette. The company said it hopes to have up to 380 Indiana employees within the next few years.
ClusterTruck spins off its software platform into a standalone business
The spinoff, Empower Delivery, is targeting independent restaurant chains that have between five and 50 locations in a market but haven’t yet gotten into delivery in a big way.
New (Ind)Venture collaboration features three local VC events
The Venture Club of Indiana, TechPoint, 50 South Capital and Elevate Ventures are hosting three back-to-back events next week for investors and Indiana founders. By working together, the organizations hope to gain more traction than they could separately.
Newest High Alpha company helps brands collaborate
Colaboratory offers a platform that helps brands identify potential partners and collaborate with them. The company, which has been operating in stealth mode since January, has now publicly launched.
Indiana’s tech firms saw strong venture investment activity in 2Q
Indiana-based tech firms attracted a combined $166 million in investments last quarter, according to a report released this week by Indianapolis-based TechPoint. The quarterly total was up sharply from the first quarter, despite the nationwide tech slowdown.
Serial entrepreneur Wechsler launches Spokenote tech startup
John Wechsler, who will step down as CEO of both Launch Fishers and the Indiana IoT Lab next month, will turn his attention to his latest venture: a startup that makes it easy to create and share videos via QR codes.
New High Alpha startup Holder aims to tap potential of Web 3.0
Holder, the latest startup to launch out of Indianapolis-based venture studio High Alpha, offers a marketing platform built for the emerging era of blockchain technology.
IBJ Podcast: Is a funding slowdown hitting the local tech sector?
IBJ tech reporter Susan Orr talked with local tech firms and venture funders about the trends and tells host Mason King about their concerns and expectations.
Indianapolis-based tech firm Encamp lands $30M investment
Encamp’s software helps its customers fulfill environmental reporting and compliance issues. The company has attracted $47.2 million in investment since its launch in 2017.
Indianapolis tech firm ShipSigma plans expansion, 125 new jobs
Founded in 2018 as Parcel Optimization Technologies LLC, ShipSigma said the new jobs will offer an average wage of nearly $42 per hour.
Indianapolis-based ed-tech startup XR Technologies to launch teacher licensure program
Indianapolis-based XR Technologies, which hires math teachers with non-traditional backgrounds and places them in classrooms around the state, has received approval to launch a teacher licensure program that the company says will help it scale its reach beyond the state’s borders.
Marketing-tech startup Prodport lands $3.6M investment
Prodport’s CEO and cofounder is Ohad Hecht of Carmel, who formerly led marketing-tech firm Emarsys until leaving that company last year.
Med-tech startup Prevounce, a newcomer to Indy, has big growth plans here
Prevounce Health, which launched in 2019 in Los Angeles, relocated its operations to Indianapolis last fall and just landed $4.5 million in investment funding which the company says will help it expand and double its workforce in coming months.