Chicago tech companies raised $73 million in funding in April, down from $100 million in March. The month’s largest funding round went to Uptake, which more than doubled its Series B with an additional $50 million. With one round standing for more than two thirds of the month’s total funding, April marked a definite slowdown after 2017’s funding-heavy first quarter.
Read on to learn more about this month’s biggest rounds.
5. SA Ignite, $2.1M, April 12
Investors: Undisclosed
Bio: SA Ignite makes cloud-based quality reporting software for the healthcare industry. Its platform helps providers dig into the statistics down to the level of individual physicians, allowing them to ensure regulatory compliance and improve the level of care for their patients.
4. Popular Pays, $3.2M, April 10
Investors: GoAhead Ventures, Hyde Park Angels, Pallasite Ventures
Bio: Popular Pays is a marketplace that connects brands with social media users who create content about their products. Content generated through the platform has been used for everything from social media posts to Time Square billboards.
News: April’s $3.2 million funding closed out the company’s $5.2 million Series A. In the past year, Popular Pays has pivoted to focus more on its platform’s potential for content creation, and it has seen a lot of growth as a result.
3. PhenixP2P, $3.5M, April 3
Investor: KB Partners
Bio: PhenixP2P provides real-time video streaming technology that lets content creators reach millions of viewers at broadcast quality with a delay of less than half a second.
News: At the time of the funding, Phenix chief operating officer Tripp Welge said the company is working on pilot programs with “some really big names” including major media companies, sports leagues and movie studios.
2. Narrative Science, $11M, April 21
Investors: Jump Capital and Sapphire Ventures
Bio: Narrative Science uses advanced natural language generation to translate data sets into plain English. Its Quill platform is used by companies like Deloitte to automatically generate financial reports, and has integrations with Microsoft Power BI, Qlik and Tableau.
News: Narrative Science’s $11 million Series D comes in the month of the company’s seventh anniversary, and brings the company’s funding total to $43 million.
1. Uptake, $50M, April 7
Investors: Undisclosed
Bio: Uptake is a provider of predictive data analytics for major industrial players. The company’s solutions are used in a broad swath of industries including healthcare, agriculture and energy.
News: April’s $50 million funding was an add on to the company’s $40 million Series B, which was initially announced in February. The $90 million Series B brings the company’s funding to $135 million.
Images via Shutterstock and listed companies.
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