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YourCause exits in $157M acquisition by Blackbaud
Plano-based YourCause, a leader in enterprise philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, and employee engagement technology, announced it has been acquired by Charleston, South Carolina-based Blackbaud, a leading cloud software company that empowers social good, in a deal valued at roughly $157 million.
The deal closed on Jan. 2.
YourCause is an innovative, flexible, and scalable software provider with a diverse customer portfolio, including Fortune 500 companies and small businesses, according to a release.
Roughly 8 million people can engage with YourCause’s solution, which processes more than $245,000 in donations every business hour and has coordinated, tracked, and rewarded more than 30 million volunteer hours, the company stated.
YourCause said its Plano-based team of 155 employees will join Blackbaud.
“Joining Blackbaud, the leader in the social good software space, will enable us to connect enterprises, individuals, and nonprofits to more efficiently support social causes of every size, anywhere in the world,” YourCause CEO Matthew Combs said.
FUNDING
Viziv Technologies raises $1.372M in two funding rounds
Waxahachie-based Viziv Technologies announced in two new filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it raised $1.372 million in new funding.
One filing detailed Viziv had raised $837,000 of a $5 million offering. The second showed it raised all of a $535,001 offering.
Viziv, formerly Texzon Technologies, is a pioneer in the field of electromagnetic wave propagation, power storage, and electricity distribution via wireless power systems. It proposes utilizing an electromagnetic phenomena known as the Zenneck surface wave, which is long theorized but as yet undemonstrated—to distribute electric power around the world.
In June 2018, Viziv announced it had raised $576,000 in an equity only raise targeted at $15 million. Earlier that month, Viziv raised $500,000 in another equity funding round, the company announced in a new filing with the SEC. In May 2018, Viziv filed a Form D reporting it had raised $500,000 in an equity financing offer.
In April 2018, Viziv said that it had raised $720,000 of the $15 million offering, and it finished a VC funding round in December 2017, raising $641,562.
Floafers gets steady influx of funding for EVA foam loafers
Floafers, a Dallas-based shoemaker and retailer of water loafers received a $200,000 investment last month to support its line of water loafers.
The company said its shoes combine the versatility of waterproof Ethylene Vinyl Acetate foam with the design of a loafer shoe, and were created by entrepreneur Hayes Brumbelow as an affordable alternative to boat shoes and driving loafers, the Dallas Business Journal reported.
The $200,000 comes on top of $137,000 raised from backers in a 2018 Kickstarter and another $450,000 in the fall of 2017, according to the DBJ. The outlet reported that partnering with several manufacturers and retailers such as Gander and Dallas-based Neiman Marcus could increase interest in the business. Find out more about the shoes and the funding here.
Envy Gaming nets $20M infusion of ‘external funding’
Envy Gaming, the Dallas-based esports team, raised $20 million in external funding, Sports Business Daily reported. The funding will help with Envy’s attempts to monetize its fan base across the Overwatch League and eight other titles, the report stated.
The identities of the investors were not disclosed, but the report said they were described as “a mix of prominent local investors and Texas families, as well as a select set of national investors.”
Pieces Technologies raises $10.925M in equity funding
Dallas-based AI and predictive analytics startup Pieces Technologies said in a December filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had raised $10.925 million of a $15 million equity funding round.
Pieces Technologies’ team of physicians, engineers, and researchers has built solutions that make complex health-care decisions easier since 2007, the company said. Pieces grew out of the Parkland Health & Hospital System’s Center for Clinical Innovations and is led by CEO Ruben Amarasingham, M.D.
Its cloud-based clinical decision support tools allow health-care organizations to utilize algorithms to reduce the length of hospital stays, prevent readmissions, lower medical risks, and avoid unnecessary hospitalizations.
Payer Compass announces ‘significant’ investment
Plano-based Payer Compass, a health-care reimbursement technology and price transparency solutions provider, said it received a significant investment but did not disclose the amount.
According to FinSMEs, the round was led by Spectrum Equity with participation from Health Enterprise Partners. Payer Compass said it intends to use the funding to continue expanding its product offerings.
Baicells gets investment from Qualcomm Inc. for 5G tech
Plano-based small cell technology company Baicells has received an investment from Qualcomm Inc. that it will use to further the development of 5G technologies, according to FinSMEs. The amount was not disclosed.
The investment was made through Qualcomm Ventures LLC, the report said.
Baicells provides technically innovative LTE wireless broadband access solutions that support fixed wireless and mobile small cells. FinSMEs said Baicells’ solutions can be used by mobile operators, broadband access operators, governments, cable operators, mobile virtual operators, and enterprise private networks.
KonaTel raises all of $1.3M million funding round
Dallas-based U.S. wireless service reseller KonaTel Inc. announced in a Form D filing in December that it had raised all of a $1.3 million equity offering.
The company was founded in 2014 and provides voice and data solutions for agents, consumers, and businesses in retail and wholesale markets nationwide.
Its offerings include mobile voice services, such as wholesale-priced minutes, text, and data to mobile resellers; post-paid cellular services to medium and small businesses; and Internet of Things or wireless data services, according to Bloomberg.
PumpJack Dataworks reports $250K in seed funding
Dallas-based sports technology services company PumpJack Dataworks Inc. has raised $250,000 in seed funding, Crunchbase reported.
The company was founded in 2018 and has offices in New York and Madrid. It helps sports teams and venues refine their digital strategies to help lower user-acquisition costs and increase revenue per user.
Crestline closes on secured credit facility for behavioral health company
Fort Worth-based Crestline Investors said it recently closed a Senior Secured Credit Facility for SUN Behavioral Health Inc. to support the company’s growth initiatives as well as refinance existing indebtedness.
Crestline said it was the administrative agent and sole lead arranger on the facility. The amount of the facility was not released.
SUN Behavioral Health is based in Red Bank, New Jersey and was founded in 2013. It is a national operator of freestanding psychiatric hospitals with facilities in Houston, Columbus, Ohio; Erlanger, Kentucky, and Georgetown, Delaware.
MORE MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Motorola Solutions acquires VaaS International Holdings
VaaS International Holdings Inc., a data and image analytics company based in Fort Worth and Livermore, California, has been acquired by Chicago-based Motorola Solutions Inc. for $445 million in a combination of cash and equity, Motorola Solutions announced.
VaaS, a video-analysis-as-a-service firm, is a global provider of data and image analytics for vehicle location. Its image capture and analysis platform, which it said includes fixed and mobile license plate reader cameras driven by machine learning and artificial intelligence, provides vehicle location data to public safety and commercial customers.
“Automated license plate recognition is an increasingly powerful tool for law enforcement,” Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO Greg Brown said in a release. “With this acquisition, VaaS will expand our command center software portfolio with the largest shareable database of vehicle location information that can help shorten response times and improve the speed and accuracy of investigations.”
Trinity Consultants acquires Ohio-based consulting firm
Dallas-based international environmental, health, and safety consulting firm Trinity Consultants Inc., announced it has acquired The Redstone Group, a specialty consulting firm headquartered in Dublin, Ohio.
Redstone is a provider of chemical regulatory advisory services including registration and compliance with the European Union’s REACH initiative, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, the U.S. Toxic Substance Control Act, and compliance with international chemical control laws, according to a news release.
Also, Redstone supports clients’ EHS initiatives related to compliance and permitting, operational assessments, auditing, and mergers and acquisitions, the release said.
Dallas’ Munck Wilson Mandala merges with LA law firm
Dallas-based technology-focused law firm Munck Wilson Mandala has merged with Los Angeles-based Hecker Law Group, adding an office in California city, according to a release.
Hecker Law Group is an intellectual property and entertainment boutique firm.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for firms like ours, midsized, with a specialty being tech-focused.”
William Munck
The merger bolsters Munck Wilson’s patent attorney count to nearly 40, a report from Law.com said. Gary Hecker and three other lawyers from Hecker Law Group will join Munck Wilson Mandala, the report said. Munck Wilson Mandala has 70 lawyers in Dallas, Austin, Marshall, and Los Angeles.
Munck Wilson Managing Partner William Munck told Law.com that LA wasn’t on the firm’s radar screen, but that after meeting Gary Hecker and realizes the two shared synergies, a deal seemed to make sense.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for firms like ours, midsized, with a specialty being tech-focused,” Munck told Law.com. “We’ve got to constantly be on the move—constantly morphing.”
Private equity firm buys Dallas-based Aimbridge Hospitality
Advent International, a Boston-based global private equity investor, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority ownership interest in Dallas-based Aimbridge Hospitality.
Advent bought Aimbridge from Lee Equity Partners, a U.S.-based private equity firm, and General Atlantic, a global growth investor.
According to a release, Aimbridge’s senior management team will continue to lead the company and will retain a meaningful equity stake in the business. The transaction is expected to close by February, and no financial terms of the transaction were released.
ClearView Risk Holdings acquired by The Amynta Group
Dallas-based ClearView Risk Holdings has been acquired by The Amynta Group, a portfolio company of Madison Dearborn Partners.
No financial terms of the deal were announced, according to a report in PEHub.
Amynta is a group of warranty, managing general agent and specialty risk companies, while ClearView Risk Holdings is a differentiated habitational Managing General Agent and a specialized transactional Wholesale Brokerage, that controls over $200 million of premium.
Worley acquires Dallas-based Replacement Source of America
Dallas-based Replacement Source of America Inc. has been acquired by Indiana-based Worley Claims Services, backed by Aquilline Capital Partners, according to a report in the PE Hub Network.
No financial terms were released about the deal.
Replacement Source of America is a provider of contents evaluation and replacement services for insurance carriers and their policyholders nationwide.
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R E A D N E X T
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North Texas-based Lender Compliance Technologies Closes $4.15M Series A to Mitigate Regulatory Risks
The provider of compliance solutions for automotive, RV, marine, and powersports lenders will use its investment to "set a new standard" for solving lender compliance issues.
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A fleet of 16 autonomous robots from San Francisco-based Starship is now rolling across the SMU campus, delivering food from nine campus eateries. The app-controlled, on-demand robots have Mustang branding and can deliver up to 20 pounds of food in "minutes." Starship, co-founded by a former Skype founding engineer, has made over 2.5 million autonomous deliveries worldwide.
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The University of North Texas is partnering with two Dallas-area startups on breakthrough mobility solutions—with part of an estimated $600K in total funding provided by the NTCMT. One startup is developing an airspace hazard identification and alerting service to ensure safe unmanned aircraft flights. The other is working on object detection technology to keep bicyclists safe from vehicle collisions.
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Dr. Deborah Birx—one of the highest-ranking infectious disease experts in the world, who served George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump—is ActivePure's new chief medical and scientific advisor. She aims to assist the company in helping people return to their normal routines with ActivePure Technology, which can destroy more than 99.9 percent of airborne COVID-19 viruses in three minutes.
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Dallas-based Hunt Perovskite Technologies, part of Hunt Consolidated Inc, is one of the 22 selected for a new program from the DOE dedicated to making perovskite photovoltaic devices commercially available. If validated, the tech could make solar cells more efficient at a lower cost—but first, the projects have to overcome the issue of it being too unstable to commercially use.
