By all accounts, 2015 has been a fantastic year for Colorado tech companies. In total, the state’s tech companies have pulled in over $1.15 billion in venture capital in 2015. While we saw companies of all sizes raising capital, a couple of companies pulled in truly massive rounds.
Of course, these numbers reflect companies that have large offices in Colorado, and is not limited to companies headquartered here. We do, after all, benefit from funding that goes to corporate offices somewhere else — so long as they have a large presence here.
Anyway, without further ado, here were the 5 largest rounds of 2015.
5. , $45 million, July 1st
Investors: Mercato Partners and Disney
Bio: Sphero makes app-connected toy robots, including the BB-8 droid starring in the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens film.
4. , $51 million, June 4th
Investors: North Bridge Venture Partners and Evolution Media Partners
Bio: Layer3 TV calls themselves the ‘next generation cable operator.’ Other than that, they've been pretty quiet about what they're up to. A couple of months back, The Donohue Report found a Layer3 TV-branded set top device in an FCC test report. We’ll keep you posted.
3. , $85 million, October 28th
Investors: Iconiq Capital, Insight Venture Partners and Meritech Capital Partners
Bio: Alteryx makes data blending and predictive analytics software for huge data sets. They also just moved into a huge new graffiti covered office in Broomfield.
2. , $110 million, April 6th and December 21st
Investors: Google Ventures and others
Bio: Gusto, previously ZenPayroll, is bringing the HR world into the 21st Century. The company’s software allows companies to manage payroll, health benefits, and the like online. Gusto’s Series B round was first announced back in April, but the company decided to take advantage of investor interest in December and added $50 million onto the round.
1. , $110.8 million, February 24th
Investors: Accel Partners and Matrix Capital
Bio: Xero is an alternative to QuickBooks. The company makes online accounting and bookkeeping software. Their CEO, Rod Drury, also has a hilarious Twitter profile. His profile photo is an image of him holding a giant axe in front of a terrified employee.
