Here Are the New Jersey Tech Startups That Received Funding in October of 2021
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) has a web page that shows the funding that has been received by New Jersey startups at all stages of growth, as well as the mergers and acquisitions that have been happening all over the state.
It’s good to see how many startups in the Garden State are receiving backing. In October, for example, more than $545 million in investments were raised by 11 companies in the Garden State. Most of these investments come from out-of-state angels, venture funds, private equity, family offices, strategic investors, etc.
NJTechWeekly.com has decided to publish the angel and VC investment information in tech, healthtech, cleantech and other tech-related companies as it becomes available. This article includes the startup funding for October 2021.
This is a useful place for entrepreneurs to see which investors are investing in companies like theirs, and for entrepreneurs to learn the scope of that funding. For those interested in economic development, remember that these are the companies that will likely be bringing jobs to New Jersey.
All the information, including the listings on biotech and pharma companies, is available on the Angel and VC Investments website, here. As the NJEDA says, the list isn’t meant to be exhaustive.
The listings of the deals are compiled from outside sources, including Pitchbook and Crunchbase, as well as other sources that are available to the public. The NJEDA has marked with an asterisk the companies that it has helped, if any. If we have covered the company within the last couple of years, we’ve added a link.
Company: Celsius Network
Location: Hoboken, NJ
Sector: Cryptocurrency | Celsius Network offers curated financial services that are not available through traditional financial institutions.
Deal Synopsis: Celsius Network announced on October 12th that it has raised $400 million of Series B venture funding.
Investor(s): Deal led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and WestCap Group
Pitchbook Profile Page: https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/224501-05
News Release: https://www.ft.com/content/b47c9499-f4a6-46f4-991b-e8f7f20d49e2
NJ Tech Weekly: https://njtechweekly.com/at-propelify-alex-mashinsky-of-celsius-describes-the-regulatory-minefield-for-cryptocurrency-lending-and-trading-companies/
Company: HR Acuity
Location: Florham Park, NJ
Sector: Computer Software | HR Acuity offers employee relations case management solutions by equipping organizations with built-in expertise to achieve consistency in the way they track, investigate, and analyze employee issues.
Deal Synopsis: HR Acuity announced on October 19th that it received has $47 million in private equity.
Investor(s): K1 Investment Management
Crunchbase Profile Page: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/hr-acuity
News Release: https://k1capital.com/hr-acuity-secures-47-million-investment-from-k1-to-scale-its-cloud-solutions-for-employee-relations/
Company: Duality Technologies
Location: Newark, NJ
Sector: Cybersecurity | Duality Technologies offers a platform designed to empower organizations to securely apply advanced analyses and Artificial Intelligence to data while it is encrypted.
Deal Synopsis: Duality Technologies announced on October 5th that it has raised $30 million in Series B funding.
Investor(s): Round led by LG Technology Ventures. Commitments also came from Euclidean Capital, the National Bank of Canada’s corporate venture capital arm NAventures, Intel Capital, Hearst Ventures and Team8.
Pitchbook Profile Page: https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/234579-61#overview
News Article: https://member.fintech.global/2021/10/06/data-security-solution-duality-technologies-hits-series-b-close-cybertech/
NJ Tech Weekly: https://njtechweekly.com/new-jersey-based-duality-technologies-raises-16-million-from-intel-capital-and-others/
Company: Eos Energy Storage
Location: Edison, NJ
Sector: Clean Technology | Eos Energy Storage develops and manufactures Znyth® aqueous zinc battery that is designed to overcome the limitations of conventional lithium-ion technology.
Deal Synopsis: Eos Energy Storage announced on October 5th that it has entered into a $25 million equipment financing agreement.
Investor(s): Trinity Capital, Inc.
Pitchbook Profile Page: https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/54113-50
News Release: https://investors.eose.com/news-releases/news-release-details/eos-energy-enterprises-announces-25-million-equipment-financing
*Eos Energy Storage previously benefited from the NJEDA’s Angel Investor Tax Credit Program, NOL Program, and Edison Innovation Green Growth Fund (EIGGF).
Company: Swft (Also known as Rideswft)
Location: Edison, NJ
Sector: Computer Software | Swft operates as an electric mobility startup.
Deal Synopsis: Swft announced on October 14th that it has raised $10 million in seed financing.
Investor(s): Round was led by Martin Lauber, Mark Joseph, and David Zwick.
Crunchbase Profile Page: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/swft
News Release: https://www.finsmes.com/2021/10/swft-raises-10m-in-seed-funding.html
Company: Volante Technologies
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Sector: Financial Services, Computer Software | Volante Technology provides cloud payments and financial messaging solutions to accelerate digital transformation.
Deal Synopsis: Volante Technologies announced on October 20th that it has received $10 million in growth funding.
Investor(s): Wells Fargo Strategic Capital
Crunchbase Profile Page: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/volante-technologies
News Article: https://thepaypers.com/online-mobile-banking/volante-technologies-gets-usd-10-mln-investment-from-wells-fargo–1252251
Company: ContainIQ
Location: Hoboken, NJ
Sector: Information Technology | ContainIQ offers its customers Kubernetes software designed to focus on monitoring, cost optimization, and support. The company’s software offers a backend dashboard, third-party integrations, slack channel, monitoring key metrics, Kubernetes event monitoring and alerting, and other related services.
Deal Synopsis: ContainIQ announced on October 12th that it has closed on a $2.5 million round of seed funding.
Investor(s): Backers included Lachy Groom Fund, Y Combinator, Taurus Ventures, Pioneer Fund, ACTAI Ventures, and entrepreneurs including John Kim of SendBird, Michael Grinich of WorkOS, Rohit Mittal of Stilt, and others.
Pitchbook Profile Page: https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/458698-69
News Release: https://www.finsmes.com/2021/10/containiq-raises-2-5m-in-seed-funding.html
Company: Ladder (US)
Location: North Brunswick, NJ
Sector: Education Technology | Ladder offers an online professional community platform designed to grow the career of students and professionals.
Deal synopsis: The company announced on October 28th that it has raised $3.7 million in funding.
Investor(s): Round led by Forerunner Ventures and included Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, Pear VC, Scribble Ventures, and Script Capital. Notable angel investors include Tony Xu (CEO of DoorDash), Josh Buckley (CEO of Product Hunt), Harry Stebbings (20VC), Matthew Dellavedova (NBA Player), Josh Elman, and executives from a16z, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Uber, and Robinhood.
Pitchbook Profile page: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ladder-129d
News Release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ladder-announces-3-7-million-in-funding-led-by-forerunner-with-participation-from-alexis-ohanians-seven-seven-six-301410606.html
Company: Kiswe
Location: Murray Hill, NJ
Sector: Information Technology & Services | Kiswe makes live-streaming technology for sports, entertainment and video. Its cloud production platform delivers picture-in-picture viewing experiences, which allows digital viewers to switch in and out of alternative audio feeds presented by guest commentators.
Deal Synopsis: Kiswe announced on October 29th that it received an undisclosed amount in Series B1 venture funding.
Investor(s): Sony Innovation Fund
Pitchbook Profile Page: https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/101542-42
News Article: https://venturebeat.com/2021/10/29/sony-investment-pushes-video-startup-kiswe-beyond-46m-in-funding/
*Kiswe previously benefited from New Jersey’s Angel Investor Tax Credit Program.
NJ Tech Weekly: https://njtechweekly.com/sweldens-talks-about-entrepreneurship-and-video-innovation-at-kiswe-during-princeton-tech-meetup/
