Funding is way up across the US so far this year - something like near +100%. Chicago area almost has as much funding in just over 3.5 months this year as it did in all of 2020. 2020 wasn't a down year either - most funding for the area in at least 15 years. Will be interesting to see which companies will get new funding vs. further funding (who already got some before). Most likely though, it's probably above $3B as there are also numerous deals always which don't have amounts made public.
By my data, here is the top 10 metro areas right now for funding that I see in the US. This is for all industries - not just typical tech companies. A ton of biotech in and around Boston and San Diego for example.
1. San Francisco MSA: $20,701,560,400
2. NYC MSA: $13,094,152,126
3. Boston MSA: $10,964,623,748
4. San Jose MSA: $6,597,464,107
5. Los Angeles MSA: $6,156,852,834
6. Chicago MSA: $2,773,481,300
7. San Diego MSA: $2,200,950,000
8. Philadelphia MSA: $2,056,727,000
9. Dallas MSA: $1,756,278,130
10. Atlanta MSA: $1,534,520,000
FYI Philadelphia had one company with a $1.2B round and Dallas had a company with a $1.4B round. If not for those, then neither would be in the top 10 so far. From a per capita perspective, the Chicago MSA is 12th out of the metro areas with 1M+ population I've looked at so far. There's a few smaller metros like Madison, WI that are more. And sitting in dead last of the 36 MSAs I've looked at so far with total funding is Indianapolis with just under $30M. Even areas like Madison, WI and Charlottesville, VA have had more funding and more activities than Indianapolis.
ActiveCampaign raises $240 million for marketing automation platform
Quote:
ActiveCampaign, which makes software to help small business automate and customize their marketing and other interactions with customers, raised $240 million from two hedge fund giants.
The funding, which was led by Tiger Global and included Dragoneer, values ActiveCampaign at more than $3 billion, the company said. It’s the second $200 million funding round in as many weeks, and the latest in a flurry of investments of $100 million or more in Chicago companies, which are coming off their best quarter for venture capital in 15 years.
ActiveCampaign is 18 years old, but the company took off five years ago, when it raised outside funding. Since then, the company has grown from 16 employees to more than 850, hiring 300 of them last year. ActiveCampaign says it expects to top 1,000 workers this year.
The subscription-software company raised $100 million in January 2020. Since then it has grown from $100 million in recurring annual sales to $160 million, says CEO Jason VandeBoom. The company declined to say whether it’s profitable.
He says the company will use the funding to continue refining a product that’s now in use in 170 countries and expand into new markets. ActiveCampaign relies on having a product that’s intuitive and low-touch so it doesn’t require a lot of support, which can make servicing the company’s 145,000 customers expensive.
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