Venture capital funding slowed a bit last month in the D.C. tech scene. The top five tech companies raised a collective $260.7 million in July, down from $605 million in June. While funding might be slowing down, these companies certainly aren’t stalling in innovation by any means.
In July, investors seemed to focus on D.C. companies making a positive social impact. Many of the top funding rounds went to companies fighting climate change, improving education resources and providing financial solutions help to lower income populations. Read on to learn about the top five funding rounds from last month and how companies are putting their new capital to use.
#5. $1.8 million, July 25
Based in Reston, Frolick is a meal delivery company offering hot, chef-prepared meals for under $10. Unlike most meal delivery platforms, the company doesn’t charge any fees or have order minimum requirements. In July, Frolick raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding for hiring, marketing and geographic expansion. Angel investors in the round included current and former executives from Delivery Hero and Gopuff.
#4. $2.4 million, July 25
DC-based fintech company EQL Finance raised $2.4 million in seed funding from Zeal Capital Partners. The company offers $300 interest-free loans to those struggling to make ends meet. In order to make money, EQL Finance plans to sell financial education tools and ads on its platform. The company is currently hiring for two engineering roles.
#3. $6.5 million, July 27
Charlottesville-based geospatial data company Astraea raised $6.5 million in Series A funding co-led by Aligned Climate Capital and Carbon Drawdown Collective. The company’s EarthAI platform leverages data from over 1,000 satellites to give companies insights that help fight climate change. Astraea plans to use its new funds to support business development, hire new data scientists and expand partnerships with satellite data providers.
#2. $100 million, July 7
Blockchain protocol company Rubix raised $100 million from LDA Capital. The company’s peer-to-peer data transfer and cryptocurrency transaction protocol is a low-energy computing network. Rubix plans to use its funds to hire new talent, accelerate Web3 transition and expand its green blockchain community.
#1. $150 million, July 18
Richmond-based edtech public benefit corporation Great Minds PBC raised $150 million from A-Street. The company develops digital curricula intended to make content-rich education accessible to more children. Great Minds plans to use its new funds to grow its digital experience offerings and make all of its existing materials available through high school, some of which are already available at a high school level.
