Wisconsin startups raised $20 million across seven deals during the first quarter of 2019, the lowest amount raised in a quarter for the state since the first quarter of 2017, according to PitchBook, a Seattle-based firm that tracks venture capital and private equity deals.
The 2019 figure is a dramatic drop from the three previous quarters, when Wisconsin startups reported capital investments of $104 million, $50 million and $101 million.
Startups directly based in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis metropolitan area raised $9.37 million over three deals, the report shows. That figure likely includes the $8.5 million raised by Bright Cellars, the Milwaukee-based e-commerce company that matches consumers with wine types using data analytics and algorithms.
Bright Cellars announced in March it raised the Series A round, which was led by Washington, D.C.-based Revolution Ventures with participation from existing investor CSA Partners of Milwaukee. Bright Cellars will apply the funding to scale operations and add to its data-science and artificial intelligence team, the company said. Read the full story here.
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