There was a lot to love about the Valentine’s Day week. We saw startups raise big VC rounds, add new C-Suite talent, and land new big corporate partnerships. To start off the week, we are rounding up the big headlines from last week across the Southeast. Here is what you need to know to catch up on all the big news:
WHO RAISED
- Document Crunch, a Florida and Georgia-based startup, closed its $9 million Series A. The company looks to streamline the complicated construction process — and all its paperwork — through its SaaS system. You can read more about the startup in Hypepotamus’ coverage of it last year.
- HighArc, a North Carolina-based construction software startup, raised a $53 million Series B round from lead investors Pillar VC and Spark Capital, per Crunchbase. You can read about HighArch more on our last Hypepotamus article about the team here.
WHO IS IN GROWTH MODE
- Innovate Alabama, the first state-wide public-private partnership focused on entrepreneurship, technology and innovation, has hired three new team members. Last week, the organization announced the following new employees:
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- Shannon Allen – Program Director, HBCU Engagement: Allen brings a wealth of experience from her previous role as the director of special projects and strategic initiatives at the Birmingham Business Alliance. As the program director for HBCU Engagement, she will lead talent attraction and retention efforts, overseeing external program partnerships, including those that focus on technology and AI education for high school students and innovative experiences for summer interns.
- T.C. McLemore – Executive Director of Outdoor Recreation Programs: With a background in public affairs and previous experience as the executive director of Red Mountain Park, McLemore is well-equipped to drive Innovate Alabama’s outdoor recreation initiatives. His role involves empowering communities with the resources needed for outdoor recreation growth, making Alabama an even more attractive destination for talent.
- Kelly McNair – Executive Assistant: An Alabama native with a diverse career in e-commerce, technology, and sales, McNair has joined as the executive assistant to the CEO. Her focus on organizational maturity and operational benchmarks will contribute to the seamless functioning of Innovate Alabama.
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2. North Carolina-based Digital.ai, an industry-leading technology company that helps Global 5000 enterprises automate software delivery through its AI-powered DevSecOps platform, announced the appointment of Keith Stewart as Chief Customer Officer. In his role, Stewart will be responsible for managing sales engineers, professional services, and customer support.
3. Switchyards, the neighborhood work space concept that started in Atlanta, is in expansion mode once again. Switchyards announced last week it is heading up to Charlotte, North Carolina next. The team had previously opened up in Nashville, its first outpost outside of the Metro Atlanta area.
4. Atlanta-based Verusen announced that it has joined the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Accelerate Program, a co-sell program for AWS Partners that provides software solutions that run on or integrate with AWS. You can learn more about what Verusen does through Hypepotamus’ previous articles.
5. Today, local Birmingham-based fintech company, Quantalytix, the provider of cloud-based Enterprise Bank Management (EBM) software and its Enterprise Data Management (EDM) platform for financial institutions, announced it has partnered with three new state banking associations including Texas Bankers Association, Tennessee Bankers Association, as well as Illinois Bankers Association. These connections enable Quantalytix to extend its platform to reach nearly 1,025 community banks across the country.
