As a result of the pandemic, teaching became either hybrid or fully remote for institutions across the country. CourseKey works with organizations that educate many essential workers and works to increase student retention and graduation rates. Things really took off for them at the onset of the pandemic, and they’ve been able to raise $9 million in a Series B after their ARR grew by 200% in 2020. Read more here.

San Diego-based DTx Pharma, a biotechnology company that uses RNA-based therapies to treat genetic factors of genetic diseases, raised $100 Million in a Series B round.  Their platform, FALCON (Fatty Acid Ligand Conjugated Oligonucleotide), allows the team to look into diseases in skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and the peripheral nervous system.  Read more about the funding here.   

JMI Equity just closed its latest growth equity fund, JMI Equity Fund X, at it’s cap of $1.7 billion.   The San Diego & Baltimore based fund makes investments of $20 million to $200 million in best-in-class software businesses, and is a backer of many late stage San Diego startups including SOCi, Seismic, Classy, and Lytx    This latest growth fund tops their last, JMI Equity Fund IX, which closed in 2018 at $1.2 billion.   Read more about JMI Equity Fund...

Workiz, a software that helps small businesses in the home services space manage teams and more easily communicate with their customers, closed a funding round of $13 million.The round was oversubscribed following double-digit growth in 2020.  Read more about the funding here. 

Pipeline Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on recovering brain function via neural regeneration, just raised $80 million in a Series C. The team plans to use the funds to advance their technology focusing on sensorineural hearing loss and another focused on multiple sclerosis.  Read more here. 

COPAN Diagnostics has increased their COVID-19 test-kit production by over 4,000 percent since receiving $10 million from Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund.    Teams at Apple, COPAN, and over 12 other US companies have partnered to create innovative processes and develop new machinery for COPAN’s Southern California facilities, playing a critical role in the fight against COVID-19.    COPAN has now shipped over 15 million COVID-19 sample collection kits to...

Anzu Special Inquisition I, a blank check company focused on transformative technologies for industrial use, filed with the SEC to raise up to $250 million in an IPO. They will be offering 25 million units at $10 each. At the proposed deal, the company’s market value would be $313 million. Read more about the IPO here. 

Nanome, a San Diego-based startup revolutionizing molecular research with virtual reality, just closed a funding round led by Bullpen Capital for $3 million. This money will help the company establish new business partnerships, build the company brand, and grow their science and engineering teams. Nanome’s innovative technology allows scientists to collaborate virtually and get up-close to three-dimensional molecular structures. With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting access to in-lab...

San Diego-based Equip, raised $13 million in series A financing, supported by F-Prime, Optum Ventures, and .406 Ventures, bringing them to $17 million in total funding. Equip virtually delivers at home care for eating disorders, optimizing Family-Based Treatment. The company has launched in California, Texas, and New York, but they plan to use this round’s funding to expand its geographic reach. They also plan to build out its platform and grow its clinical team. Read more about the funding...

Airspace, which manages shipping of sensitive packages like organs or highly valued parts for machinery, has just raised $38 million in a Series C round of funding. This is its third round of funding so far, raising $70 million in total. Current CEO, Nick Bulcao, says this round will help the company continue to grow not just in the U.S., but also abroad. Read more here.