The fourth quarter of 2017 finished the year strong with over $105 million in publicly announced investments and acquisitions involving Indiana tech and tech-enabled companies. This funding fueled a year rich with venture capital investments and acquisitions. $105,830,000 was pumped into Indiana tech companies from firms and investors located all throughout the country — a theme consistent with the growth of TechPoint’s Winners’ Circle event in 2017 that featured 35 venture capital firms from 16 different states.

Six Indiana tech companies were acquired this year according to published reports with most not disclosing deal amounts. In addition, Indiana tech companies were the acquirers of at least two companies in 2017. Overall, publicly announced investments and deals accounted for $235,830,000 in the calendar year.

Below is a list of public investments and acquisitions involving Indiana technology companies that occurred in 2017.

First Quarter 2017

Education tech startup and High Alpha portfolio company ClearScholar announced that it raised $1.25 million from Elevate Ventures and Simon family members. The company launched last fall through a partnership with Butler University.

Behavioral marketing platform SmarterHQ announced that is raised $13 million from Boston-based Spring Equity Partners, Battery Ventures and Simon Venture Group. The company plans to use the funding to expand operations and its client base.

Healthx, a cloud-based digital engagement solutions integrator for healthcare payers and stakeholders, announced a strategic growth investment from JMI Equity for an undisclosed amount of money.

Blue Pillar, an internet of things (IoT) company focused on the energy industry, announced a $10 million raise from new investors GXP investments and Elevate Ventures alongside EnerTech Capital, Allos Ventures, Arsenal Venture Partners and Claremont Creek Ventures.

Boosterville, an offers and loyalty platform that seamlessly connects merchants with cause-driven buyers, announced a $830,000 raise co-led by 316 Investments and VisionTech Angels with a matching investment from Elevate Ventures.

Manufacturing software company Lumavate announced a $2 million raise led by former Interactive Intelligence CEO Don Brown. Funding will be used to explore product development opportunities with the internet of things.

Curvo Labs, which provides software solutions to manage clinical expenses for hospitals, announced a $900,000 raise led by Elevate Ventures and recently-appointed advisors. To date, the company has raised $2.1 million after launching in 2013.

Kinney Group, a cloud solutions integrator serving the Global Fortune 2000, IT-centric mid-market companies, announced the close of a $6 million raise led by Plymouth Ventures and Elevate Ventures.

Second Quarter 2017

PolicyStat, a compliance technology company that provides cloud-based, industry-leading policy management solution for healthcare, was acquired by New Jersey-based iContracts. Based in Carmel, PolicyStat has 65 employees and is expected to grow after the merger.

High Alpha Studio launched Quantifi, its sixth portfolio company. The SaaS-based marketing R&D platform for digital ads company announced seed funding of $2.3 million from High Alpha Capital, Router Ventures and a number of strategic angel investors and industry veterans.

Torchlite, a gig economy startup for freelance marketers, announced on June 15 their raise of $2 million which brings total funding raised to $4 million. Torchlite has already marked several milestones off their list since launching in June 2015. Their annual recurring revenue is over $2 million and they plan to add 140 new high-wage jobs over the next three years.

Vibenomics (formerly Fuzic), a marketing tech startup, announced their close of a $3 million raise from High Alpha, Allos Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners. Fuzic is rapidly growing in Fishers, Indiana with their custom audio messages and licensed music for businesses.

ClearObject, an Internet of Things (IoT) Systems Innovator, announced it has received a multi-million dollar line of credit from Silicon Valley Bank. The news comes less than a month after it was announced ClearObject had been named to the 2017 Solution Provider 500 list, CRN’s annual ranking of the largest technology integrators, solution providers and IT consultants in North America by revenue.

Tenant Tracker, which simplifies tenant coordination for commercial real estate developers and landlords with cloud-based software, closed a $600,000 seed round through VisionTech Angels. The investment was matched by Elevate Ventures.

Third Quarter 2017

Archway Technology Partners LLC, an investment management software company based in Indianapolis, was acquired by Pennsylvania based SEI for $80 million. Jason Brown, CEO of Archway Technology Partners, will stay on with the newly named SEI Archway in the same role.

T2 Systems, Inc., a parking management software and solution firm in Indianapolis, acquired ParkingSoft LLC of Atlanta, Georgia for an undisclosed amount. ParkingSoft, LLC is a leading innovator and manufacturer of cloud software, automated hardware, and IT and Support solutions in the parking technology industry.

Bloomington-based Cheddar (formerly ChedderGetter) landed $1.25 million through a syndicate venture capital raise funded by several Midwestern firms including M25 Group, Harbor Street Ventures and Warhawk Ventures of Chicago; SixThirty and Cultivation Capital of St. Louis; Connetic Ventures of Covington, Kentucky; Little Engine Ventures of Lafayette and Indianapolis based Elevate Ventures. The billing technology software solutions company hopes to add 10 to 11 jobs in the next year.

Social media research firm Fizziology was acquired by MarketCast LLC of Los Angeles for an undisclosed amount. MarketCast plans to keep its location at The Hatch in the Broad Ripple area of Indianapolis. The company won a Mira Award in 2017 for Tech Service of the Year.

Sigstr announced a $5 million Series A raise led by Hyde Park Venture Partners of Chicago and including Battery Ventures, Charmides Capital, High Alpha and Grand Ventures of Grand Rapids Michigan. Notably, Grand Ventures  was introduced to Sigstr at TechPoint’s own Winners’ Circle event held in June. HubSpot, an inbound marketing and sales platform provider from Cambridge, Massachusetts, also participated in the round. The companies then announced a new integration between the two products that allows Sigstr email signature banners to easily link to HubSpot landing pages.

The Bee Corp secured Series A funding for its real time bee hive monitoring software used in beekeeping. The Bloomington-based company secured an undisclosed amount from Jane Martin of Village Ventures, Scott Dorsey of High Alpha Ventures, Elevate Ventures and other angel investors.

Indianapolis-based Upper Hand raised $1.1 million through Elevate Ventures and past investors to increase its sales team and bolster software development of its sports management platform. Upper Hand won the inaugural Mira Awards People’s Choice Award for Best Tech Space in 2017.

Newly launched startup Costello, housed in downtown Indianapolis’s Union 525 building, announced it has secured $1 million in funding led by Dundee Venture Capital with participation from Elevate Ventures, M25 Group and Service Provider Capital. Read more about the company in our profile here.

LeadJen, an Indianapolis-based B2B  appointment setting and lead generation company, was recently acquired by Acquirent of Evanston, Illinois for an undisclosed amount.

Fourth Quarter 2017

KAR Auction Services of Carmel acquired the remaining shares of Nth Generation Software, Inc. (known as “TradeRev”) for $50 million in cash and an additional $75 million that could be paid out over the next four years based on undisclosed terms and the overall performance of TradeRev.

250ok, an Indianapolis based email analytics and deliverability company, secured a $2.6 million Series A raise led by Arthur Ventures of Fargo, North Dakota. The company plans to invest the money in product expansion and hiring.

On Target Laboratories landed $40 million in financing led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC, Inc.) with participation by other existing investors. The company is developing tumor-targeted fluorescent dyes that aid surgeons in pinpointing cancerous tissues. On Target Laboratories is based in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette.

Lessonly raised an $8 million Series B led by OpenView of Boston, MA. Rethink Education, High Alpha Capital, and Allos Ventures also participated in the funding round. Based in Indianapolis and founded in 2012, Lessonly creates modern training software that helps sales and support teams do better work.

Emu Technology (also known as “Emu Solutions”) of South Bend and New York City completed a $5 million Series A-2 funding round in late November. The round included Samsung Ventures Investment Corporation of Seoul, South Korea and San Jose, CA; along with Blu Ventures Investors of Vienna, VA and IrishAngels of Chicago. Emu Technology develops hardware and software technologies for big data analytics processing.

WebLink of Carmel  was acquired by Atlanta-based MemberClicks for an undisclosed amount.  Founded in 1996, WebLink makes membership management software specifically designed for trade associations and chambers of commerce.

Indianapolis-based Formstack acquired the Fast Forms business unit from Visual Antidote of Toronto, Canada for an undisclosed amount. The Fast Forms app has been readily available on the Salesforce AppExchange and is now known as Formstack for Salesforce.

To see how 2017 compared to 2016, be sure to read Indiana’s 2016 VC funding and acquisitions report.

Each quarter we report public investments in Indiana technology companies. Interested in sharing your funding deals? Email roger@techpoint.org.