The software sector is seeing serious growth following a range of new investments. Tech companies across the board pulled in hefty funding rounds to innovate their unique software programs. Learn more about them in the Built In SF Weekly Refresh.
Bright Machines raised $132M. Specializing in software-defined manufacturing automation, Bright Machines secured a $100 million equity investment led by Eclipse Ventures and a $32 million debt facility co-led by Silicon Valley Bank and Hercules Capital. Bright Machines will expand into new industry verticals and develop more software and service offerings with its fresh capital. [Business Wire]
Alation pulled in $123M. Based in Redwood City, Alation develops data intelligence solutions for enterprises, offering tools for data governance, analytics, digital transformation and more. The company’s Series E financing co-led by Thoma Bravo, Sanabil Investments and Costanoa Ventures will be used to fuel product innovation ahead of Alation’s global expansion. [GlobeNewswire]
SF Tech Quote of the Week
ORO got $25M. Backed by Series A capital, the developer of procurement workflow automation solutions is expanding its customer base and building out its product. ORO wants to help businesses manage and deepen relationships with suppliers to gain a competitive advantage. As it builds new workflows, ORO is adding sales talent to its team. [Built In SF]
Five Bay Area tech companies raised $718M in October. Last month’s largest venture capital sums went to companies in various tech sectors. The top round, raised by travel tech company TripActions, was a bulky Series G sum. With several nine-digit raises taking place in the San Francisco tech scene last month, find out what other sectors are seeing new developments. [Built In SF]
Zevvy was featured in Built In’s Future 5 series. Combining the founder’s lifelong love of cars and affinity for greentech, Zevvy works to make driving EVs more accessible. While the upfront cost of an EV is higher, in the long term, drivers save several cents per mile on maintenance and fuel. Looking to partner with dealerships like Ford and GM, Zevvy plans to grow its 100-vehicle fleet by 10x over the next 12 months. [Built In SF]
In other VC funding news: Artificial intelligence model development company Galileo announced an $18 million Series A funding round to expand its platform and engineering and go-to-market teams. [TechCrunch]
SparkPlug, a solution that helps businesses reward hourly workers, secured an $8 million Series A to expand its geographic reach and grow into new business verticals. [Built In SF]
