Follow the Money: Craftwork Coffee Raises $932.5K, Selery Fulfillment Pulls in $850K

From Trinity Hunt Partners and Appspace Holdings to KwikBoost and Ennis Inc., here's a look at recent funding and acquisitions involving companies and firms with North Texas ties.

Craftwork

CRAFTWORK COFFEE RAISES $932.5K OF $3M OFFERING

Fort Worth-based Craftwork Coffee Co. announced in a new government filing that it has raised $932,500 of a $3 million equity offering.

Craftwork Coffee is led by President Trevor Hightower and founder and CEO Riley Kiltz. In the filing, Craftwork said that it expects to pay salaries to each of its two executive officers of $120,000 in 2018-2019, $130,000 in 2019-2020, and $150,000 in 2020-2021. It said part — possibly all — of the salaries may be paid from the proceeds of the offering.

Craftwork Coffee announced in June that it had acquired Houston-based WorkFlourish and had initiated an expansion strategy placing coworking and coffee spaces in urban multifamily residential developments.

SELERY CONTINUES FUNDING SUCCESS WITH $850K RAISE

Carrollton-based Selery Fulfillment Inc., which specializes in inventory fulfillment and warehousing for e-commerce companies, said in a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that is has raised $850,000 of a $1 million offering.

In November, Dallas-based family office venture capital firm JF2 Capital Partners made Selery its first investment, with the amount falling into the firm’s target range of $250,000 to $500,000 per company. That investment came on the heels of investments earlier in 2017 totaling $1 million from Deep Space Ventures’ Stephen Hays, Mark Cuban, and angel investors.

Selery was founded in 2014 by Jason Taylor and Justin White.

TRINITY HUNT PARTNERS NEARS CLOSE OF $300M FIFTH FUND

According to a report in the Dallas Business Journal, Trinity Hunt Partners, the Dallas-based private equity fund tied to the Lamar Hunt family, said in a filing that it is has raised $289.6 million of the $300 million goal for its fifth fund.  

According to the DBJ, Trinity Hunt Partners usually invests in companies valued between $5 million and $25 million, and is looking to build new platform companies specializing in IT services, automation, logistics, and physical therapy.

APPSPACE RAISES $375K IN EQUITY OFFERING

Dallas-based Appspace Holdings said in a new SEC filing that it has raised $375,002 of a $750,003 equity and option offering.

Appspace, which offers a platform to help companies communicate with their teams, was founded in 2002 and also has offices in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia. It has more than 600 customers, according to its website.

STONELAKE CAPITAL RAISES $325M FOR REAL ESTATE INVESTING

Dallas-based private equity firm Stonelake Capital Partners raised more than $325 million to close its fifth fund for inveseting in Texas real estate.

The DBJ reported that Stonelake has surpassed $1 billion raised from investors since its 2007 founding by real estate advisers Kenneth Aboussie and John Kiltz.

Stonelake is targeting investments in industrial, multifamily, and office buildings in Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Aboussie told the DBJ that the fund has five deals in the works, but he couldn’t disclose any details at this time.

ATAIA MEDICAL GETS $300K FROM DALLAS EARLY STAGE VC FIRM

Ataia Medical, a graduate of Dallas startup accelerator Health Wildcatters, has raised $300,000 seed investment.

The funding round was led by Dallas-based early-stage venture capital firm Green Park & Golf Ventures and its principals, Clay Heighten and Carl Soderstrom.

Ataia, which was founded in 2017 in Atlanta, told Dallas Innovates that the funding will help it launch its flagship product — a medical communications device — and will allow it to bring on Amy Foertsch, co-founder and chief operating officer, as a full-time employee. The company is still based in Atlanta, but has a base of operations in Dallas. 

TEAMSUPPORT GETS GROWTH INVESMENT FROM LEVEL EQUITY

TeamSupport, the Dallas-based provider of customer support software, announced it has received a significant growth investment from New York City-based Level Equity.

The funding will enable the company to accelerate the expansion of its customer support, technology, sales, and marketing initiatives.

The amount of the investment was not released.

 “We have seen tremendous growth over the past several years and as a result have had a great deal of interest in our business,” TeamSupport CEO and co-founder Robert C. Johnson said in a release

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

MIDLOTHIAN PRINTING COMPANY ACQUIRES OREGON BUSINESS

Midlothian-based printing specialist Ennis Inc., a publically traded company, has acquired privately owned Portland, Oregon-based Wright Business Graphics in a stock merger between the companies that is expected to close by Sept. 30.

“With this acquisition, we will continue to be the preeminent provider of all types of printed products and services to the West Coast,” Ennis Chairman, President, and CEO Keith Walters said in a statement. “The addition of packaging, statement processing, and direct mail will add to the overall capabilities of our existing operations, which should help us to continue to penetrate additional markets throughout the United States.”

Ennis said the undisclosed purchase price would be paid 55 percent in cash and 45 percent in stock that will be based on the weighted average share price of its stock for the previous 30 trading days.

KWIKBOOST ACQUIRES ITS COMPETITOR, BRIGHTBOX

Dallas-based KwikBoost, a mobile device charging company, has acquired its competitor, Brightbox, whose products will add a “smart” charging solution as part of KwikBoost’s Lock & Charge product family. 

KwikBoost offers a variety of solutions to charge mobile devices that fit in any space. 

The company said that its Lock & Charge solutions individually store, charge, and secure phones, tablets, iPads, and laptops. It said that all lockers under the KwikBoost Lock & Charge family can be customized with an organization’s branding and deployed in any location.

OAKLAND BUSINESS ACQUIRES STREETLANE

Streetlane, the Dallas-based provider of property management services, has been acquired by Roofstock, an Oakland, California operator of an online market place for single family rental investment properties.

No details of the deal were released. 

Roofstock said it would retain Streetlane’s existing management contracts.

OTHER FUNDING

Richardson-based RealPage announced the issuance of $20,756,220 in common stock in connection with the exercise of a put option for “certain outstanding units of NovelPay,” related to a transaction that closed April 19 in which RealPage acquired ClickPay. NovelPay, which merged with ClickPay in 2013, is a platform that offers a secure way for property owners, management companies, and homeowners’ associations to get paid online.

According to a filing, Dallas-based energy company Fort Trinidad Investors has raised almost $35 million from investors. The DBJ said that the oil and gas exploration firm is reaching out to landowners to find leases. 

Colleyville-based Service Fusion, a provider of management software applications to HVAC, plumbing, electrical, IT, and other service businesses, announced it raised $10 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Five Elms Capital, a Kansas-based firm that invests in bootstrapped B2B SaaS and technology companies outside Silicon Valley, according to Crunchbase.

SRS Distribution, a McKinney-based roofing company has raised $10.3 million for a potential acquisition, according to a SEC filing. The company counts Boston private equity firm Berkshire Partners and Los Angeles investment firm Leonard Green & Partners among its investors. The DBJ reported that SRS operates as 23 local roofing brands in 42 states.

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