HEARD AROUND VIRGINIA

Alexandria venture capital firm Columbia Capital has indicated in regulatory filings that it has raised $977 million to keep investing in companies in the communications and technology fields. Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 15, 2023, show the investment firm has reached its fundraising goal for two separate funds. The firm raised $654.7 million across a main fund and parallel fund for what it’s dubbed Columbia Capital Equity Partners VIII. Separate documents filed concurrently show that it pulled in $322.3 million for Columbia Capital Opportunities Fund I, also across a main fund and parallel fund.
(Washington Business Journal)

Roanoke-based banking data analytics startup KlariVis closed an $11 million Series B funding round, the fintech firm announced Jan. 12. KlariVis provides data analytics solutions for community banks and credit unions. La Jolla, California-based technology-focused equity firm Blueprint Equity led the funding round. The $11 million will be used for advancing KlariVis’ engineering, product development, customer success, and sales and marketing. KlariVis has doubled its revenue and customer count year-over-year and has 100 clients, according to a news release. CEO Kim Snyder, former chief financial officer of Valley Bank, founded KlariVis in 2019, launching the company in early 2020. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

PaintJet, a robotics and material sciences startup, is moving from the Nashville, Tennessee, metro area to Virginia. On Dec. 20, 2023, it announced a $10 million Series A, led by Outsiders Fund and featuring Pathbreaker Ventures, MetaProp, Builders VC, 53 Stations and VSC Ventures. The round follows a
$3.5 million seed led by Dynamo Ventures and brings PaintJet’s to-date funding up to $14.75 million. The move to Virginia is “to support our entry in the marine business and increasing engineering headcount to scale our technology stack for wider distribution,” according to CEO and cofounder Nick Hegeman. (TechCrunch)

Arlington County-based software company PerformYard, founded a decade ago to make the employment performance management process easier for companies and managers alike, has scored its first major outside investment. On Jan. 8, Updata Partners announced it made a $95 million equity investment in PerformYard. Carter Griffin, a general partner with the D.C. growth equity firm, will join PerformYard’s board. PerformYard’s clients include Paytronix, Berkshire Grey and Mitsubishi Chemical America. (DC Inno)

Norfolk-based ReAlta Life Sciences has received Food and Drug Administration clearance for a Phase 2 trial of the company’s dual-targeting anti-inflammatory peptide in patients with Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (AECOPD). ReAlta is a biotech firm focused on treating life-threatening acute inflammatory and rare diseases through its proprietary therapeutic platform. ReAlta was originally formed in 2018 to develop and commercialize promising research work conducted under a joint venture between Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Eriko Life Science Ventures and Eastern Virginia Medical School. (News release)

PEOPLE

Erica Cole, founder and CEO of Richmond-based adaptive apparel manufacturer No Limbits, was named to Forbes magazine’s 30 under 30
list in its December 2023/January 2024 issue. Cole, who appears in the list’s retail and e-commerce category, started her company, which specializes in clothing products for people with prosthetics and similar special needs, after losing a leg in a car accident. Her clothing is sold by Walmart, QVC and Moosejaw. No Limbits has raised $1.8 million and is planning a Series A funding round in 2024. (Forbes; VirginiaBusiness.com)