CRYPTOCURRENCY STARTUP GETS $18M, WILL LAUNCH NEW PLATFORM

Dallas-based cryptocurrency startup Hedera plans to launch a new virtual currency platform called Hedera Hashgraph thanks to an $18 million funding round. 

The Hedera funding round included Digital Currency Group, and the launch of the new platform is expected to occur in the second half of 2018, according to Forbes.

The Hedera platform will be able to process hundreds of thousands of transactions each second.

The Hashgraph platform is not built on blockchain, the technology behind most cryptocurrency networks, Forbes said. Instead, it uses an alternative mathematical approach known as directed acyclic graph, which was developed by Hedera co-founder Leemon Baird. In Hashgraph, every node can spread signed information on newly-created transactions and transactions received from others, to its randomly chosen neighbors. 

Header CEO and co-founder Mance Harmon told Forbes that the Hedera platform will be able to process hundreds of thousands of transactions each second. Forbes said in comparison, that Ethereum can process less than 25 transactions per second and that Bitcoin can process fewer than 10 transactions per second.

Harmon and Baird also are co-founders of Richardson-based Swirlds, which uses licenses hashgraph to its enterprise clients. 

CAREVIEW COMMUNICATION COMPLETES $2.05M DEBT-ONLY ROUND

Lewisville-based CareView Communications Inc. announced it had raised all $2.05 million in a recent debt-only funding round.

In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CareView did not specify for what the money will be used. Crunchbase reported that CareView has raised $47.6 million in various funding rounds.

The company offers a video-monitoring system that allows nursing staff to maintain visual contact with remotely-located patients.

Paññã ANNOUNCES $1M IN SEED FUNDING FOR AI RECRUITING TECH

Plano-based Paññã announced that it has raised $1 million in seed funding.

The AI recruiting technology company said it raised the money in two separate $500,000 rounds this year.

Paññã — pronounced Panya — said its focus is to help recruiters and interviewers simplify the applicant screening process with one seamless platform that requires no downloads.

Paññã’s digitally recorded video interview platform allows clients to use the company’s AI pre-built questions or to create their own. Candidates can then be hired based on interview score ratings, Paññã said.

JUNCTION AI RAISES $50K FOR TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY

Gabriel Killian

Junction AI, the travel technology company founded by Dallas entrepreneur Gabriel Killian, announced that it has raised $50,000 in what the Form D filing said was convertible equity.

Killian also serves as Junction AI’s chief business development officer.

Junction AI’s technology allows marketers to individualize promotions for travel experiences, offers, perks, and amenities to each customer.

INNOTECH SERVICES RAISES $250K IN FUNDING ROUND

Frisco-based Innotech Services Co. said it raised $250,000 in a recent funding round.

Innotech, a technology company, registered last year in the state of Texas as a Foreign For-Profit Corporation.

EVERTHREAD RAISES NON-EQUITY ASSISTANCE

Nicole Mossman

Dallas-based EverThread announced it has raised an undisclosed amount of non-equity assistance.

EverThread offers a cloud-based product visualization platform. CEO and Founder Nicole Mossman earned her master’s degree in innovation in entrepreneurship in 2015 from the University of Texas at Dallas.

In February, she was named the winner of $50,000 from the UT Dallas Seed Fund. EverThread was the third alumni-founded company to be awarded seed funding from UT Dallas’ program.

EverThread has been chosen as one of nine women-led entrepreneurial companies for The New York Fashion Tech Lab accelerator program for this year.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

AXXESS ACQUIRES MAINE PROVIDER OF DATA ANAYLISIS SOFTWARE

Axxess CEO John Olajide [Photo Courtesy Axxess]

Dallas-based home health technology company Axxess has acquired Home Health Gold, a Waterville, Maine-based provider of data analysis and scrubbing software.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, the Dallas Business Journal reported. David Merk will remain president and CEO of Home Health Gold, however.

Merk founded Home Health Gold in 1997 to offer home-health providers with reports that combine operational, clinical, and financial data, the Business Journal reported. Axxess was founded in 2007 by CEO John Olajide. It offers home-health providers with software for everything from illness and wound care, to billing and paperwork.

TRENDATA, PREDICTIVEHR FORM ALLIANCE IN HUMAN DATA ANALYTICS

TrenData, a Plano-based developer of AI-driven people analytics software, has formed an alliance with Boston-based PredictiveHR, a human capital data analytics company.

PreditiveHR said the alliance includes a technology license agreement, an infusion of operating capital, and a collaborative go-to-market strategy. TrenData has operated in the human resources space for more than 20 years.

“PredictiveHR has a deep consultative knowledge of the analytics space that is delivering quantifiable ROI to their larger, complex clients,” TrenData CEO and co-founder Tom McKeown said in a release. “We are excited to make this investment in technology and capital in PredictiveHR, and believe it will greatly accelerate the momentum the company has already demonstrated.”

CRITICAL START BUYS ADVANCED THREAT ANALYTICS

Plano-based security company Critical Start announced Thursday that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Plano-based Advanced Threat Analytics, a next-generation security analytics platform.

Critical Start, the largest cybersecurity company based in Texas, said it was acquiring the company for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock. The deal should close within the next 30 days. 

The deal should close within the next 30 days. 

Critical Start said it has built its business on security strategy, assessment, and implementaion services, but expanding in 2016 into managed security services because of customer demand.

“We have won major enterprise deals against the largest legacy MSSPs because the combination of our CyberSOC, expert analysts, and the ATA platform offer our clients something unique — managed security services delivered in a completely transparent process using a mobile-first, zero trust platform,” Critical Start CEO Rob Davis said in a release.

MORE NEWS

AZZ Inc., announced this week that it won the bid to acquire some assets through a 363 bankruptcy sale from Lectrus Corp. AZZ is a Fort Worth-based global provider of metal coatings services, welding solutions, specialty electrical equipment, and highly engineered services to the power generation, transmission, distribution, and industrial markets. Lectrus, a privately-held Tennessee corporation, designs and manufactures custom metal enclosures and provides electrical and mechanical integration.

AZZ said that Lectrus’ Chattanooga, Tennessee facility is included in the assets acquired. AZZ announced in February that it had acquired Rogers Brothers Co., a privately held Illinois company.

Ken Lavelle, President of AZZ’s electrical segment commented, “The opportunity to purchase certain strategic assets from Lectrus through a 363 bankruptcy sale process is a result of the consolidation that is occurring within the metal enclosure industry in the U.S., which is particularly challenging for smaller, less well-capitalized operators. AZZ is well positioned to remain an opportunistic acquirer of strategic assets that will further enhance AZZ’s market share and improve operations.” 

Dallas-based Lantern Capital Partners is one of the bidders for the assets of The Weinstein Co., the troubled Hollywood movie studio that has been at the forefront of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment in the workplace. The bid would be Lantern Capital’s first attempted foray into investing in the movie business, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Dallas-based investment bank Allegiance Capital Corp. facilitated an investment in its client, Pinnacle Manufacturing LLC, from Turning Basin Capital and Vigeo Investments. Allegiance Capital specializes in midmarket deals. No terms of the deal were disclosed. Boaz, Alabama-based Pinnacle makes and refurbishes tanks and containers for the storage, transportation, and disposal of hazardous and nonhazardous solids and liquids, Allegiance said.

Dallas-based Dakota Capital Partners was one of three investors in a $6 million funding round for SmartCare, a Las Vegas-based SaaS platform. The software platform helps child-care centers modernize their relationships with parents and business operations, Crunchbase reported.

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