Midwest Funding Report: May 9th- May 15th

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 ([email protected]), 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.

It was a light week in the Middle regarding funding.  However, there was some big news.  CivicPlus of Manhattan, Kansas was capitalized by a private equity group to do strategic acquisitions – for $290 million.  This did not fit our technical definition of a funding round – but it is big news for the Little Apple.  In addition, interesting companies such as Upsie and Forecastr were funded this week. Upsie provides warranties on all of your devices – creating a digital tool for keeping track of those annoying pieces of paper that you get in virtually every product.  Forecastr is a useful product for virtually every company reading this blog – as it helps small companies build forecasts and tools for financial reporting.  Finally, Brookings, South Dakota based Query.Ai announced a significant funding round this week.  Collectively this was a low week for fundings, but between Query.AI and CivicPlus, small communities in the Middle had a banner week, outperforming their larger community kindred.