DURHAM – Adwerx has secured more than $2.8 million in additional capital from 10 total investors, and the Durham-based real estate technology company could raise more.
Adwerx disclosed the funding in two separate securities filings on Monday. But the company is not officially announcing the funding round, Michael Collins, the company’s CEO, told WRAL TechWire on Wednesday.
That’s because Adwerx is continuing to raise capital, said Collins. “We are in a multistep process of bringing capital into the company,” he said, noting that additional details would be coming later this spring.
Despite venture deals slowing, NC deal making expected to be resilient in 2023, VCs say
What’s happening
In one filing, the company noted that it had raised $1,286,001 in equity financing from eight investors, and in another filing, the company noted it had raised $1,536,683 through an “Option, Warrant or Other Right to Acquire Another Security” from two investors.
The first filing notes that the company could raise up to $3 million with that specific equity offering.
Earlier this month, the company announced that it was under new leadership, as Collins became the firm’s chief executive officer. The firm, which was spun out of Reverb Nation by Jed Carlson, confirmed to WRAL TechWire in January that Carlson is no longer involved in any of the day to day work of the company.
“I am a very big believer in the digital ad space for SMBs,” said Collins. “It’s untapped, it is a space that has not yet defined its winners, and there will be many winners.”
And he told WRAL TechWire that he joined Adwerx because the company is competing “in a wide open space, where there is a lot of opportunity to become a winner, with a very effective distribution model.”
Positioning
Last year, Adwerx was one of the first Triangle-area tech firms to make job cuts, laying off about 40 workers in July. A spokesperson for the company told WRAL TechWire at the time that the rationale behind the cuts was to refocus the firm on its core businesses, due to macroeconomic uncertainty.
But Collins told WRAL TechWire on Wednesday that the company is performing well, even as the tech landscape and advertising industry are changing.
Now, it is in the process of reformulating its base, said Collins, “to position ourselves for stronger growth later this year.”
Adwerx raised $14.5 million in late 2021, according to prior WRAL TechWire reporting. That funding round initially included $2 million in debt, though an amended filing signed in January 2022 notes that $2.35 million in debt financing came from 11 investors.
And even though the venture capital markets have shifted somewhat in late 2022, local investors remain optimistic about the funding environment for North Carolina startups in 2023.
Durham’s Adwerx raises $14.5M, looks to further grow ad platform business
