RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Cary-based startup ProAxion – which touts itself as a “global predictive maintenance company” focusing on the internet of things – pitched from the CED Venture Connect stage this morning, sharing an update on their current fund raising.
The round is being led by Venture South. ProAxion CEO Eric Murray said that Charlie Banks, Managing Director of Venture South, has been a crucial partner during the round.
ProAxion CEO Eric Murray, right, with Charlie Banks, Managing Director of Venture South at Venture Connect Summit 2022. (Photo by Sarah Glova)
“He is a walking example of smart money,” said Murray. “And that’s rarer than you think.”
Murray is a serial entrepreneur; ProAxion is the fourth early-stage company he’s worked with.
Murray participated in the Venture Connect Online event in 2020 but said he is glad to be back in person this year.
“My experience is, you can’t dream up a great strategy in a vacuum,” said Murray. “And you sure can’t execute it in a vacuum, right? No matter who you are.”
He also described CED and local investors as crucial to ProAxion’s success.
“It’s one of the great things about meeting people here, like Charlie, and some of the other people here helping our team, which is a very small team,” said Murray. “We hit, punch way outside our weight. We’ve got national contracts with some of the biggest global players. You don’t get that as a three-person company.”
Founded in 2014, ProAxion won an NC IDEA grant in 2016 and has since raised three rounds of funding: $752,930 in a 2017 equity round, $95,441 in a combination of debt and options in 2020, and nearly $1.7 million in equity announced last month.
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