Each week, we’ll round up startup news from the UNC journalism students behind North Carolina Business News Wire. To read all of the students’ work covering public and private companies around the state, sign up for the daily newsletter.
Wilmington-based Lapetus Solutions raises $3.4 million
By Chris Roush
A science technology company based in Wilmington, North Carolina, has raised $3.4 million in a private equity offering, according to a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lapetus Solutions Inc. raised the money from four investors, according to the filing. It earlier raised $1.2 million in April 2015.
The Wilmington-based company has developed software such as detection of gender, face age, BMI, and smoking as well as age progression software for companies such as life insurers.
For example, its software can tell if an applicant for life insurance is a smoker by the lines on their face, based on their age.
The company’s name comes from Lapetus, who was was the Greek god of mortality. Its first platform, Chronos, is named after his brother, the Greek god of time.
Jay Olshansky is a cofounder of the company and its chief science officer.
Olshansky was formally trained as a demographer with additional background in the biological sciences. He has served as an advisor to numerous companies and countries on their mortality forecasting methods and assumptions.
He helped create field of biodemography, which is a merging of the biological/demographic/actuarial sciences for the purpose of explaining why people live as long as they do.
Olshansky is a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Research Associate at the Center on Aging at the University of Chicago and at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
His cofounder is Karl Ricanek, a professor of computer science at University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he founded the world renowned Face Aging Group Research Lab.
Companies relying on a Reg D exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what’s known as a Form D electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities.
Winston-Salem based Impathiq raises $350,000
By Chris Roush
A Winston-Salem company that has developed health information systems has raised $350,000 in a private equity offering, according to a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company raised the money from one investor, according to the filing.
Proceeds will be used for working capital, which may include compensation to executive officers, the company stated.
Impathiq believes that its system helps clinicians make smarter decisions, reduce health care spending, and improve patient outcomes.
By connecting electronic medical record data with data collected directly from providers, its IQ Engine system helps hospitals and clinicians to implement evidence-based clinical pathways into web applications rapidly.
The company has also developed the HEART Pathway app, a decision tool for patients who present to the emergency room with chest pain.
Its chief executive officer is Iltifat Husain, who has been an assistant professor at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Impathiq was formerly known as Decision Point Informatics, which was the winner of a 2016 NC IDEA award, a $50,000 grant to help accelerate growth of the company.
Companies relying on a Reg D exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what’s known as a Form D electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities.
Durham-based RevBoss raises $325,000
By Chris Roush
A Durham-based sales development software company has raised $325,000 in a private equity offering, according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
RevBoss Inc. raised the money from six investors, according to the filing.
The company had also raised $1.1 million in November 2015.
RevBoss has a product that helps sales teams grow pipeline and win more customers through outbound sales development. RevBoss builds prospect lists, messaging, and to-do lists so that its customers can spend more time talking to customers, building relationships, and closing deals.
Our investors include Silicon Valley-based venture capital fund Sovereign’s Capital and angel investors associated with Fulcrum Venture Partners, US Venture Partners, and Automated Insights.
Eric Boggs is the company founder and chief executive officer. He started RevBoss in 2014.
Prior to RevBoss, he was the founder & CEO at social media management platform provider Argyle Social and employee No. 1 at email marketing service provider Bronto.
He completed his undergraduate studies at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2002 and earned an MBA at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business school in 2009.
Companies relying on a Reg D exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what’s known as a Form D electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities.
Durham-based Mati raises another $2.5 million
By Chris Roush
Energy drink company Mati Inc. has raised another $2.5 million in a private equity offering, according to a filing Tuesday from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The offering raised money from 58 investors, according to the filing.
The Durham-based company said that other than the payment of salaries and other compensation and benefits, no executive will receive any payments from the proceeds of this offering.
Mati had raised $2.5 million in April and $2 million in August 2016, according to SEC filings.
The company was founded by former Duke University student Tatianna Birgisson. She made Inc.’s 30 Under 30 list in 2016.
Mati Energy drink is a blend of juices mixed with Guayusa, the second-most caffeinated plant behind coffee. Birgisson began making a version of the drink in her dorm room and went on to found her company in 2012.
Today, the company’s energy drinks are sold in more than 400 retail outlets in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. It recently began selling in the Sam’s Club in Durham.
Companies relying on a Reg D exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what’s known as a Form D electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities.
Durham-based Idea Fund Partners raises $230,000
By Chris Roush
A Durham-based firm that invests primarily in startup companies has raised $230,000 in a new investment fund, according to a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Idea Fund Partners raised the money for its Co-Investment Fund 1.
Idea Fund Partners invests in early stage companies, specifically those up to $5 million in revenue. The company looks for strong management in a company with potential for leadership through the use of new technology or business models.
The company typically invests in technology companies headquartered in North Carolina and Florida, as well as in other areas of the Southeast. It is specifically focused on investing in new information technology infrastructure, materials technologies, medical devices and diagnostics and software firms.
Some of the company’s investments include Spiffy, FilterEasy, CloudTags, Automated Insights and Switchboard.
Last month, Idea Fund Partners was part of an investment group that put $6.9 million into Raleigh-based FilterEasy.
John Cambier is a founding general partner at Idea Fund Partners. He currently serves as a director on the board of Antenna, CloudTags and Sarda Technologies.
The company claimed a Rule 506 (b) exemption for the filing. Companies relying on the Rule 506 exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what’s known as a Form D electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities.
Raleigh-based Medicom Technologies raises $5.2 million
By Chris Roush
A Raleigh-based company developing software to improve medical care has raised $5.2 million in a private equity offering, according to a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Medicom Technologies Inc. raised the money from 11 investors, according to the filing. The company said it will use the money for working capital.
The company had earlier raised $250,000 in June and another $275,000 in July 2016, according to filings.
Medicom is a web application for the medical industry that provides fast and secure file transfers.
The company was founded in 2015 by Malcolm Benitz and his two partners, Michael Rosenberg and Chase Ballard. The three met while attending North Carolina State University.
The three have developed technology with military-grade encryption that is HIPAA compliant and allows physicians and health care providers to quickly share files through a peer-to-peer connection versus through the cloud.
Private companies similar to Medicom, which rely on a Reg D exemption, aren’t required to register securities offerings with the SEC, but instead they must file a Form D electronically with the SEC after they sell the securities.
