Sirrus and Assurex Health both raised $7 million of funding during the first quarter of 2014, according to a report released Friday
The funding rounds, which the companies had not previously publicly disclosed, were among five local deals highlighted in the PwC/NVCA MoneyTree Report based on data from Thomson Reuters. CincyTech, which makes seed-stage investments into Southwest Ohio technology startups, invested in four of the deals.Sirrus was previously called Bioformix.
The report also disclosed a new CincyTech investment into Petbrosia, which is raising $1.25 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange filing. Petbrosia’s investors also include the North Coast Angel Fund.
Nationally for the quarter, venture capitalists invested $9.5 billion into 951 deals, according to the PwC/NVCA MoneyTree Report. The software industry had $4 billion of investments, with the biotechnology industry second at $1.1 billion. Seed and early stage financing fell, while expansion stage investing rose 34 percent.
“This was to be expected when you consider the domination by seed and early stage deals in 2012 and 2013,” said Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of NVCA in a release.
The investments weren’t the only big news for local startups and investors during the first quarter. In March, Akebia raised $100 million in its initial public offering. The Boston-based company, which is working to develop and commercialize small molecules that treat anemia, was developed from Procter & Gamble technology.
Akebia’s investors include Triathlon Medical Ventures, CincyTech, Blue Chip Venture Co., the Queen City Angels and Fort Washington Capital Partners Group.
A closer look
First quarter venture capital activity in Southwest Ohio.
• Sirrus (formerly Bioformix), chemical company: $7.35 million. Round includes Arsenal Venture Partners, Braemar Energy Ventures
• Assurex Health, personalized medicine company: $7 million. Round includes CincyTech
• Workflex Solutions, software and services company: $3 million. Round includes CincyTech
• ConnXus, online services company: $1.7 million. Round includes CincyTech
• Petbrosia, premium dog and cat food tech company: $1.2 million. Round includes North Coast Angel Fund, CincyTech
Source: PwC/NVCA MoneyTree Report