HPA

OCTOBER 11, 2022

In preparation of speaking at the Michigan Tech Week (MTW) on October 12 and 13, I discovered so many connections to the University of Michigan (U-M) that I decided to dig into what powers U-M’s entrepreneurial success. Seemingly everyone knows that the University of Michigan (U-M) is the world’s leading public research institution. What’s not as widely known is how Ann Arbor has a storied and growing entrepreneurship ecosystem that shows no signs of slowing down.

entrepreneurship

HPA

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

We’re excited to announce that Pimly , a product relationship management tool designed to close the gap in modern e-commerce, has raised $5M in funding. HPA participated in the round , which was led by High Alpha. Pimly is the industry’s first fully Salesforce-native solution making Salesforce the source of truth for critical product information allowing employees, prospects, partners and customers to become experts on product information.

disruption

HPA

MARCH 16, 2023

Congrats to HPA Member Hardik Bhatt for being appointed as CEO at SDI Presence ! Hardik joined SDI in June 2021 as the firm’s President and Chief Growth Officer. In this role, Hardik will leverage his key partnerships with global corporate leaders, public sector leaders, startup leaders, investors, and academia to provide strategic direction to help modernize SDI clients.

incubation

HPA

NOVEMBER 16, 2021

Stagetime announced raising a $1.5M Series Seed round , which was led by HPA. M25 and IU Angel Network also participated in the round. Stagetime is a networking platform for the performing arts industry. Stagetime empowers creatives to create a comprehensive professional story about their past performances and skill sets. Stagetime is an online network where artists, agents, and artistic administrators can grow as professionals and maintain relationships by engaging with industry connections, sh

creativity

HPA

DECEMBER 8, 2021

Food tech startup Aqua Cultured Foods announced a $2.1M Pre-Seed Round. HPA participated in the round, which included participation from other investors including Supply Change Capital, Aera VC, Sustainable Food Ventures, Hanfield Venture Partners, Lifely VC, Conscience VC, Kingfisher Capital, Big Idea Ventures, among others. This funding round was a milestone in the category of seafood alternatives.

culture

HPA

JUNE 2, 2021

Congrats to HPA Member Hardik Bhatt for joining SDI Presence as President and Chief Growth Officer! Most recently, Hardik led Amazon Web Services (AWS)’ public sector startup business, launching startup accelerators and incubators globally. Prior to AWS, Bhatt was the State CIO for the State of Illinois where he built the State’s first $1.2 billion centralized IT organization, the Department of Innovation & Technology.

incubation

HPA

JUNE 2, 2021

Hyde Park Angels participated in oak9’s $5.9M Series Seed round, which was led by Menlo Ventures. Uncorrelated Ventures also participated in the round. The oak9 platform accelerates the delivery of cloud-native applications while providing comprehensive security. The infrastructure-as-code security platform seamlessly integrates into the DevOps pipeline, enabling developers to have security implemented through the development process with no delays.

enablement

HPA

APRIL 13, 2021

Clearcover , a next generation insurance company, today announced a new $200 million Series D round of funding. The financing round was led by Eldridge, with participation from existing investors including Hyde Park Angels; LightBank; American Family Ventures; Cox Enterprises, owner of AutoTrader and Manheim auto auctions; and OMERS Ventures, the venture arm of a Canadian pension fund; as well as additional new investors.

innovation

HPA

JULY 18, 2019

The unicorns in Michigan demonstrate a fertile startup ecosystem with unlimited opportunities. A couple weeks ago, StockX became the state’s newest in a quickly-growing cohort of unicorns, which includes two other startups that also earned the elite status this year. In February, OneStream Software announced that it had not only become a unicorn but that it is profitable as well, an achievement that few startups can claim — even by the time they exit.

startup

HPA

AUGUST 9, 2019

This is the final article in a three-part series on the benefits of giving all startup employees equity. See the first piece here and the second one here. A year after I moved to Chicago, I attended a women’s networking event, where an employee of a recently-acquired startup entered the room. Folks were excited to see her, congratulating her on the exciting news and asking questions about what life was like post-acquisition.

education

HPA

AUGUST 15, 2019

Get to know Ann. Ann Deters is CEO & Founder of Vantage Technology, which has provided cataract services to hospitals and surgery centers throughout the United States for the past 28 years. In addition, she has started several healthcare ventures, such as surgery centers, medical billing services, and software technology. Currently, she sits on four corporate boards, including a New York City technology startup called Xformative, Vantage Technology, Illinois Liquor Control Commission, and La

entrepreneurs

HPA

MARCH 5, 2020

HPA, the most active early-stage investor in the Midwest, is excited to announce its continued growth with a new addition to the team. The firm welcomes Cate LeSourd as HPA’s new Marketing & Community Manager to focus on driving and strengthening the HPA brand. In this role, Cate will invest in HPA’s internal and external communities by managing investor and partner relationships; spearheading all of HPA’s internal and external communications; and developing programming, education, and engag

communities

HPA

MARCH 23, 2020

Over the last couple weeks, HPA has been working diligently to build a resource guide with aggregated content. As an organization, we hope to help keep you informed on the latest news with how COVID-19 is affecting our nation and the marketplace. As we all navigate this unprecedented time, we wanted to equip you with helpful information and important resources as it relates to your business.

real estate

HPA

MARCH 22, 2024

We are thrilled to share that Packback , an AI-driven writing and discussion platform within the HPA Portfolio, has received a strategic majority investment by PSG Equity , a prominent growth equity firm. Packback’s proprietary AI technology provides inquiry-based online discussion and long-form writing support. The company’s mission is to harness the power of AI to help educators implement high quality pedagogy at scale.

investing

HPA

MARCH 12, 2024

CHICAGO, Illinois – March 13, 2024: Hyde Park Angels (HPA) is excited to announce the promotion of four outstanding investment professionals. Bess Goodfellow , Stephen Ross , and Michael Sachaj have been promoted to Partners, while Michelle Rogoff has advanced to an Associate role. Collectively, Goodfellow, Ross, and Sachaj have been pivotal in shaping HPA’s distinctive People First approach to early-stage investments over the past decade.

leadership

HPA

JANUARY 19, 2024

HPA is excited to announce our participation in Alphathena’s $4M Series Seed Round , which was led by ETFS Capital. The investment will fund Alphathena’s mission to empower advisors with accessible and customizable direct indexing solutions. Alphathena introduces a robust AI-driven direct indexing platform empowering RIAs to craft distinctive personalization strategies for their clients.

strategy

HPA

MAY 5, 2023

HPA is excited to announce our participation in Bloomfilter’s $7 Million seed round , which was led by Magarac Venture Partners. The funding included $5.5M of equity financing and $1.5 of venture debt. Bloomfilter is a process intelligence platform for software development , designed to measure and improve the software development lifecycle. The platform helps organizations develop a shared understanding of what the product team is building, when it will be delivered, and how much it costs.

frameworks

HPA

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

We’re excited to announce that NanoGraf , an advanced battery materials company and enabler of the world’s most energy-dense lithium-ion 18650 cell, raised $65 million in Series B funding. HPA participated in the Series B round, which was co-led by Volta Energy Technologies and CC Industries (CCI) with participation from GIC, Emerald Technology Ventures, Material Impact, Arosa Capital, Nabtesco Technology Ventures, and TechNexus.

energy

HPA

MARCH 3, 2022

We are excited to announce that our portfolio company Catalytic will be acquired by PagerDuty , a global leader in digital operations management. Catalytic is the no-code workflow automation platform for efficient and digitized operations. HPA has been an investor in Catalytic since the Series Seed investment in 2016. We’d like to thank HPA Deal Lead Andy Bokor and HPA Managing Director Pete Wilkins, who served as a Board Observer, for their contributions and counsel to the company through

accelerator

HPA

NOVEMBER 17, 2021

Cohesion , a leader in smart building and digital twin SaaS technology, announced raising $15M in a Series A round co-led by HPA and Morgan Stanley Next Level Fund. By creating one of the world’s largest repositories of commercial real estate data, Cohesion will lead the industry’s transformation to autonomous buildings. The company will use the new funding to focus on strategic channel growth and for product and market expansion including its digital twin technology for optimizing building envi

real estate

HPA

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

HPA is excited to announce that NOCD , a telehealth app focused on providing care to people with OCD, announced it raised a $33M Series B Round. The round was led by F-Prime Capital, an investor in digital health, and included participation from other investors such as Eight Roads and Kaiser Permanente Ventures. HPA first invested in the $4M round that NOCD completed in 2019 and invested again in the $12M Series A in 2020.

health

HPA

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

HPA is excited to announce that NOCD , a telehealth app focused on providing care to people with OCD, announced it raised a $33M Series B Round. The round was led by F-Prime Capital, an investor in digital health, and included participation from other investors such as Eight Roads and Kaiser Permanente Ventures. HPA first invested in the $4M round that NOCD completed in 2019 and invested again in the $12M Series A in 2020.

health

HPA

AUGUST 17, 2021

Branch , a startup that helps businesses accelerate payments to empower working Americans , announced it has secured over $540 million to fuel its momentum in delivering flexible workforce payments. Hyde Park Angels is excited to announce our participation in Branch’s $48M Series B round, which was led by Addition Capital. Participation from other investors include Drive Capital, Crosscut Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, Matchstick Ventures and other investors.

accelerator

HPA

JUNE 29, 2021

ShipBob , the leading cloud-based ecommerce logistics platform, announced $200 million in funding at over $1B valuation. The Series E financing was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Hyde Park Angels, SoftBank, Menlo Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. After record growth, ShipBob now operates a global logistics network with 24 fulfillment centers across five countries, including the United States, Canada, England, Ireland and Australia.

networking

HPA

JUNE 8, 2021

Hyde Park Angels participated in Market Wagon’s $5M Series Seed round, which was led by Hyde Park Venture Partners. This investment is focused on expanding Market Wagon’s presence to more than 50 markets by the end of the year. Market Wagon is an Indianapolis-based startup that is an online farmer’s market. By deploying an innovative direct supply chain, Market Wagon focuses on helping farmers get their products to local consumers.

innovation

HPA

MAY 17, 2021

Hyde Park Angels and Valor Equity Partners, through their Valor Siren Ventures fund, led Sifter’s $4.6M Series Seed round. Sifter is a personalized nutrition data and technology platform that helps consumers find and buy products that match their specific dietary, medical and lifestyle priorities. This personalization drives value for the retailer, brands and consumers.

health

HPA

MARCH 23, 2021

Leaf Trade , the leading wholesale cannabis ecommerce platform, announced their Series A financing. Hyde Park Angels participated in the $5.5 million round, which was led by Artemis Growth Partners. Leaf Trade connects licensed wholesale cannabis retailers and suppliers and standardizes operational practices that enable them to scale in a rapidly-expanding industry.

board

HPA

MARCH 24, 2021

FourKites , the #1 real-time supply chain visibility platform, today announced a new $100 million Series D financing round. The growth financing is led by Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL), with participation from Qualcomm Ventures, Volvo Group Venture Capital AB and Zebra Technologies, as well as existing investors Hyde Park Angels , August Capital, CEAS Investments, Hyde Park Venture Partners and Bain Capital Ventures, bringing total capital raised to over $200 million.

transportation

HPA

OCTOBER 8, 2020

NOCD is a burgeoning telehealth company that specializes in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) identification and treatment. The online therapy app announced a Series A fundraising round of $12 million. Hyde Park Angels participated in the round, which was led by Health Enterprise Partners (HEP) , a healthcare-focused fund based in New York. Previous investors also participating in the round include 7Wire Ventures and Chicago Ventures.

health

HPA

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

We are excited to share that Hyde Park Angels participated in K4 Mobility’s $5.6M equity round, which was led by Hyde Park Venture Partners and included other notable investors. K4 Mobility is a digital platform that provides Off-Grid Internet (OGi) solutions with an initial focus on the maritime market. In-flight WiFi maker Gogo brought the internet to the skies and K4 Mobility is providing internet connection to ships.

innovation

HPA

JULY 18, 2019

Get to know John. John Higginson is the CTO at Enova, a large publicly-traded Chicago FinTech company that’s extended over $20B in credit to customers worldwide. At Enova, John is responsible for driving the company’s technology strategy to leverage advanced digital experiences and data science to deliver on its mission to help hard-working people access fast, trustworthy credit.

culture

HPA

AUGUST 12, 2019

In the future, when we analyze moments in time when true innovation transformed an industry, we’ll remember an event that happened just a couple of weeks ago: Livongo’s IPO. By the end of its trading debut — which left the company valued at $3.4 billion — Livongo proved two things: that it’s possible to empower people to live healthier by focusing on their whole being and that combining technology-driven solutions with a human touch is a successful business model in healthcare.

hospitality

HPA

MAY 27, 2020

When the Hyde Park Angels Board of Directors and Pete Wilkins made the decision to start a Managing Director transition plan, we certainly did not anticipate a global pandemic. HPA, and the portfolio, were both in a great position, especially as we were coming off an incredible year. In 2019, we invested a record $17.4 million and returned more capital to investors than in the previous decade combined.

board

HPA

JUNE 7, 2023

HPA is excited to announce our participation in Blumira’s $15M Series B Round , which was led by Ten Eleven Ventures, and joined by Mercury Fund, RPS Ventures, and Duo Security co-founder Jon Oberheide. Blumira has seen tremendous momentum over the past year with 100% year-over-year customer growth , including an 8x growth in the MSP channel , with customers in every vertical, including manufacturing and healthcare industries, as well as credit unions, colleges, universities, and municipalities.

consulting

HPA

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Congrats to Divey Gulati and Dhruv Saxena, the co-founders of ShipBob, for being listed in the 40 Under 40 Class of 2022 list from Crain’s Chicago Business. Gulati and Saxena created ShipBob in 2014 as they saw a need for more efficient shipping for ecommerce businesses. After raising a $200M Series E round last year, the leading cloud-based ecommerce logistics platform became a Chicago unicorn.

founder

HPA

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

HPA is excited to announce that NOCD , the world’s leading provider of obsessive compulsive-disorder (OCD) treatment, raised $34M in new funding. The round was co-led by Cigna Ventures and 7wireVentures, with participation from new investor Longitude Capital and other existing investors. HPA first invested in NOCD’s $4M round in 2019 and in the $12M Series A in 2020.

health

HPA

MARCH 14, 2023

We’re excited to announce that Elate , a cloud-based strategic planning software, raised $4.9M in funding. HPA participated in the Series A round, which was led by WestWave Capital. Additional new investors included The Pritzker Group and Capital Midwest Fund, with support from previous investors Elevate Ventures, Serra Ventures, M25, and the Flywheel Fund.

strategy