It's unlikely that any Lincoln startup is going to approach the nine-figure venture capital haul of Hudl over the past five years, but a local medical device company is giving the sports video firm a run for its money.
Virtual Incision, which designs and builds small robots capable of conducting less-invasive abdominal surgeries such as colon resections, announced in January that it had received $20 million in a second round of venture capital funding.
Existing investors Bluestem Capital and PrairieGold Venture Partners led the raise, which brings the total investment in Virtual Incision to more than $50 million since 2010.
The company, founded by professors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, has its headquarters at Nebraska Innovation Campus. It said it plans to use the money to push for commercialization of its surgical robots.
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Just three weeks after Virtual Incision's announcement, another local medical-related company announced its own $20 million investment.
Adjuvance Technologies, a biotech firm that makes an ingredient that helps improve flu and other vaccines, said it got a $20 million Series A investment from Morningside Venture Investments Limited.
Series A denotes a first round of venture capital funding from outside investors. Morningside is a firm founded by a Hong Hong family with offices in the U.S. and abroad. It has invested in dozens of startup companies, the vast majority in the medical industry.
Speaking of Hudl, the company continues to use its nearly $103 million in venture capital investments to expand.
The company bought two competitors in 2019, solidifying its hold on anything that has to do with sports video and analytics.
In May, Hudl announced the acquisition of Krossover, a company with similar products that focuses on basketball.
Then in July, Hudl acquired Wyscout, an Italian company offering video analysis tools used in soccer.
Financial details for the two acquisitions, which were Hudl's eighth and ninth since 2011, were not disclosed.
Sports marketing firm opendorse, which helps athletes and sports organizations increase their social media presence and connect with potential sponsors, raised $3.125 million from a number of existing and new investors, including Nelnet.
Opendorse also announced the rollout of a new software platform that offered its users more customization and expanded distribution, among other features.
BasicBlock, a Lincoln-based company that offers a mobile app that helps truck drivers get paid faster, announced in August that it had received an initial round of investment.
BasicBlock said it secured $675,000 in pre-seed funding led by Global Financial Group, one of the largest factoring companies in the U.S.
Other participants in the early financing round included well-known angel investor Jason Calacanis; Jenny Fielding, managing director of startup accelerator Techstars NYC; and Invest Nebraska.
BasicBlock also was one of three companies to receive a $25,000 LaunchLNK grant from the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development last year.
Speaking of LaunchLNK grants, the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development announced the 2020 awards in January.
Four local firms — Layer, Pawlytics, FileFuse and BrandPlan — received the $25,000 grants, which also include a host of free professional services.
Nebraska Innovation Campus got a new tenant in October in the form of the Combine Incubator, a space dedicated to helping ag- and food-related startup companies.
The 2,000-square-foot space in the Rise Building is operated jointly by Invest Nebraska and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.
After only about a month of operation, the Combine won the Small Business Administration's Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, which included a $50,000 cash prize.