Young CEO has big plans for employee-training software firm
Upstart Lesson.ly, an Indy-based developer of training software, is run by a 25-year-old and is trying to cut into a $42 billion market dominated by titans such as IBM and Oracle.
Venture Capital
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Legacy Travel Club lands members but still pursuing big investors
A proposed membership-based airline that had hoped for a 2013 launch has signed up lots of members but has yet to pull in the big investors it needs to put its own plane in the sky.
Data startup snags $2.1 million venture investment
Perceivant, on the receiving end of a venture capital infusion, was founded in 2012 by veterans of iGoDigital and ExactTarget.
Allos attracts Ohio investor
Carmel-based Allos Ventures has secured more money for a $40 million investment fund from an Ohio investor.
Symbios collapse snares local investors
Symbios Medical Products LLC filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, costing numerous Indianapolis-area angel investors large sums.
Venture capitalist Neff replacing Evans as AIT chief
It’s the latest in a string of leadership changes at the testing lab. Neff is coming from CHV Capital, the venture capital arm of Indiana University Health, where he had been CEO.
Life sciences venture capital dips again
Venture capital surged in the first half of 2012, to $51.6 million in Indiana. But the pace of activity here fell off sharply in the second half of last year, and remained sluggish into 2013.
Indiana minority investment fund deemed small but promising
New fund is one of few in the nation focused on minority businesses.
Centerfield rounds up $171M for new fund
An Indianapolis private investment firm has raised one of the largest-ever funds in the state. Centerfield Capital Partners pulled in $171 million that it plans to invest in about 20 companies. Its two previous funds totaled $60 million and $116 million.
New seed fund aims to make Indiana a hotbed for digital health startups
Infuse Accelerator hopes to make early-stage investments in 12 to 15 companies a year.
Venture capital favoring later-stage firms
Getting $50,000—often from friends and relatives—to develop a product and set up a company still is easy enough in Indiana, small-business leaders and venture capitalists say. But once a firm needs a few million dollars to grow into a revenue-generating operation, the area can’t compete with Silicon Valley’s magnetism for venture capital.
Pace of venture capital funding slows in Indiana, Midwest
Seven Indiana companies attracted $16.4 million in venture capital during the first quarter. Nearly all the money was paid out to Carmel-based ChaCha Search Inc., which secured a $14 million investment in January.
Urban biz accelerator giving leg up to startups
Indianapolis-based startup Dreamapolis is finalizing the details of its first Dreamapolis Accelerator class, a 12-week crash course designed to help high-potential urban businesses get up to speed quickly.
Allos Ventures raises $40 million for early-stage tech firms
Allos Ventures has raised $40 million from local tech industry luminaries and others to invest in early-stage tech companies in the Midwest, a segment that has seen funding dry up. The fund, Allos II, aims to invest $3 million to $7 million each in about a dozen early-stage companies—not upstarts but those already generating solid revenue streams.
’12 worst year for life sciences since 1990s
To understand why Indiana’s life sciences entrepreneurs are frustrated with the flow of venture capital, look no further than this statistic from a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report: 2012 was the slowest year for first-time life sciences investment since 1995.
ChaCha secures $14M investment to expand services
The latest round of funding will enable ChaCha to make “significant” investments in new products to expand both mobile and online services, CEO Scott Jones said. Internally, the project is dubbed “Go Big.”
Indiana firms see big drop in venture funding
Venture capital investments in Indiana dropped off in 2012, but local investors see the market here steadily gaining strength.
IEDC seeks $30M fund to stoke life sciences firms
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. is looking to renew its commitment to life sciences by creating a $30 million venture fund. The amount dedicated to one sector would be equal to the state’s allocation for all high-tech startups over the past two years.
Nico raises $6.5 million more from existing investors
Indianapolis-based Nico Corp. wants to use its new round of capital to develop brain surgery products to address diseases that were often considered inoperable, such as metastatic brain cancer and intracerebral hemorrhages.
VC funds hope to help early-stage life sciences firms
Early-stage venture capital has been harder and harder to come by for life sciences companies in recent years, but two Indianapolis investors are working to raise sizable funds to help fill the gap.