Livongo Health reels in massive funding round
Wednesday, Livongo Health announced it has raised $105 million in a round led by General Catalyst and Kinnevik, the same firms that led the company’s last funding round, which clocked in at $52.5 million. The funding will go toward accelerating product development and hiring additional data scientists. Livongo Health is headquartered in Mountain View, California, but has a sizable Chicago office where its CEO, Glen Tullman, is based. [PR Newswire]
Billionaire donates $10M to CPD tech initiative
Ken Griffin, the richest man in Illinois, has donated $10 million to the Chicago Police Department to help fund the department’s “Strategic Decision Support Centers.” The centers are run in collaboration with the University of Chicago Crime Lab and staffed by analysts who use data from cameras and gunshot sensors to more accurately and quickly direct cops to shooting scenes. The funding will allow the CPD to operate its Strategic Decision Support Centers through 2019. [Chicago Sun Times]
Edovo lands sizable Series A
Edovo closed a $9.8 million Series A last week, pushing the edtech company’s total funding to $12.3 million. The company, which builds educational tablets designed for prison inmates to help reduce recidivism, will use the funding to accelerate product development. The company is looking to develop tools that make it easier and cheaper for inmates to communicate with loved ones. Edovo will also be hiring for its customer satisfaction, data analytics and engineering teams. [Built In Chicago]
BallotReady announces seed round
BallotReady announced it has closed a $1.5 million seed round on Wednesday. The digital voting guide platform will use the funding to help expand its reach, with a goal to be in all 50 states by the time the 2018 fall midterm elections come ‘round. Fun fact: BallotReady was one of one of our 50 startups to watch way back in 2016. [Chicago Inno]
Machinio eyes Asia after hitting growth milestone
Machinio now has 2,000 clients, which are dealers of used industrial equipment and machinery, on its platform. The milestone comes hot on the heels of a successful 2017 that saw the company grow in size by 87 percent. Machinio’s platform now connects over 70,000 buyers and sellers around the world each month. The company also announced it’s establishing a team in Asia. [Press release]
