Midwest Funding Report: Zero Hash Closes $106.4M

The Funding Roundup is a weekly note about companies that raised venture capital.  We use four sources – 1) those that are sent to us via press release (hello@mug.news), 2) Form D filings in the sixteen states that we cover, 3) Databases to which we subscribe (particularly Pitchbook, Crunchbase), 4) Other sources (such as SBIR grant database).  The goal of the funding roundup is to provide a quick synthesis of companies that are actively raising money.  This is not a value judgment placing VC backed companies over bootstrapped – only a recognition that VC backed companies often file paperwork that puts them on our radar. 

2022 is off and running.  We are going to be offering a little bit more to our weekly funding reports in 2022.  First, we are going to try to do more updates via social that include data and company names.  This may include some videos, reels, and maybe even a TikTok.  Second, we are going to be providing a running count of deals by MSA and State.  This is an often cited and discussed item that we have provided over the years in various forms.  Lastly, we’d love to hear from more founders.  One incentive is that after a year, we have an action plan for how to push out and publicize press releases of fundings.  Please send them to tchapman@mug.news.  We will include them in the weekly count – but we will also publish them on the site on the community pages (which you should check out by hitting the Community Tab).

On to the fundings, as seems to happen, Chicago is just chugging along whereas all the other communities look like they may be sleeping in, until February.  Five deals in the Windy City, with three of them being large rounds for Zero Hash, Leap, and Unitary.  Zero Hash provides a means to integrate crypto into your platforms.  Leap is a company that has shown up on our list a bunch over the last couple of years (three deals since 2019).  The company provides a software platform that helps enable retail stores to have omni-channel tools and delivery. Unitary is a credit intermediation company based in Chicago.  We have seen a gradual shift in company fundings to be inclusive of many more crypto and fintech companies from the Midwest.  This trend appears to have been started on the coasts and is now starting to appear more heavily in the funding report and in company creation – more bitcoin, decentralized financial transactions, and Non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  As such, it is not a surprise to see more of that in this week’s report.  

The Running Count for 2022 (please credit mug.news if you use this for an article or other piece)