Weekly Refresh: Fyllo Raised $10M, Trala Got $3.5M, and More

by Joe Erbentraut
August 17, 2020
chicago tech news
Photo: Shutterstock

Kin Insurance raised $35M, plans to hire 100 people. The insurtech startup’s Series B round was led by Commerce Ventures and brings the four-year-old company’s total funding to $86 million. It is now hiring for both technology and sales roles. [Built In Chicago]

High Definition Vehicle Insurance raised $16M. Led by the co-founder of Esurance, the Chicago company uses software to monitor truck drivers’ safety and operational compliance, with the ultimate aim of lowering accident numbers and decreasing insurance costs. The insurtech startup plans to spend its Series A round on new engineers, product developers and data scientists to build out its tech. [Built In Chicago]

Fyllo raised $10M in Series A2 round. The cannabis tech startup has extended its Series A round and brought its total funding to $26 million. This round was led by JW Asset Management and K2 & Associates, both existing investors. The company plans to use the funding to expand its tech into other highly regulated industries. [PR Newswire]

Inc. magazine named the city’s five fastest-growing companies. What do an edtech agency, beauty and wellness marketplace, alternative energy company, greentech startup and digital consultancy have in common? They’ve all grown revenues nearly 1,300 percent over the last three years. [Built In Chicago]

P33 launched an open-source COVID-19 tracker. The Chicago tech advocacy group aims to raise millions to build a platform researchers across Illinois can use to treat coronavirus patients. P33 has partnered with healthtech accelerator MATTER and the Open Commons Consortium on the project, which it hopes will help safety-net hospitals treat Black, Latinx and other disproportionately affected communities. [Built In Chicago]

Discovery Partners Institute launched an accelerator. Through I-Corp, 11 university and tech teams will work with the National Science Foundation to move their tech from lab to market. Startups also will “significantly increase” their chance of receiving a federal grant to develop their business. [Built In Chicago]

Trala raised a $3.5M seed round. The company’s app offers violin lessons that use “signal processing” technology to offer instant feedback while you play. The round was led by Next Play Ventures, a new VC company from former LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. [Chicago Inno]

Relativity’s board of directors adds Andrea Zopp. Zopp, the president and CEO of World Business Chicago, is joining the legal and compliance tech company’s board. Zopp has previously served on the Chicago Board of Education, the U.S. and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Offices and is the former CEO and president of the Chicago Urban League. [PR Newswire]

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