Apkudo raised an over-$37M Series C. Here’s what that money and term mean

Apkudo, a Canton-based company that focuses on providing better transparency for all stages of the supply chain around connected devices, recently raised $37.5 million in its latest funding round.

President Chad Gottesman said the Series C money would subsidize growing the company’s technical staff and international reach, among other capabilities and uses of its platform.

“This new funding will be invested in expanding our engineering teams, building out our go-to-market function, expanding from mobility and into [computers] and building a physical presence outside of the US,” he told Technical.ly via email.

The Series C began in October 2022 and closed on Feb. 10, per Gottesman. Apkudo’s lead investors in this latest round were Closed Loop Partners’ Leadership Fund and Piper Sandler Merchant Banking. These entities were joined by MissionOG, Harbert Growth, Grotech Ventures, Lavrock Ventures and Point Field Partners.

This funding round will support Apkudo’s continued mission of empowering businesses to make informed decisions about their devices — from the launch phase through forward logistics (the process of items going from manufacturers to consumers), return processes and, ultimately, the reuse and recycling of devices at their end-of-life.

“Velocity, accuracy, and transparency are required attributes of efficient, effective circular supply chains,” said Josh Matthews, Apkudo’s CEO and cofounder, in a statement.

Gottesman said Apkudo, which Matthews founded in 2011 and is based in the old Broom Factory building, employs 180 people. While most of those workers are concentrated in the US, the company also employs research and development staff in Sydney, Australia and Flensburg, Germany. Tehcnical.ly last reported on the company’s growth in 2022, when a continuation of its Series B funding round led to $14.4 million raised.

According to the Baltimore Business Journal, along with the news of the latest funding infusion, the developer of device-testing platforms plans to go public and is ready for an initial public offering or sale. Although Gottesman declined to discuss possible IPO plans with Technical.ly, he did say the company plans to grow through partnerships, international expansion and more penetration into the computer market this year. He added that the company plans to announce such a partnership in Q2.

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At Technical.ly, we understand that every reader is at a different point in their technological or entrepreneurial career journey. So, we got you covered with a quick crash course on what a funding round is — and what it means for companies of all sizes in Baltimore and beyond:

• Why take venture capital? — Venture capital is a form of funding through private equity provided to startups and early-stage companies with expectations of high growth and return on investment. Compare this with bootstrapping. If you want to scale your tech company fast, VC might be the way to go.
• Why not take venture capital? — Pressure to unrealistically scale and loss of equity are a couple of reasons to avoid VC.
• What do the different funding rounds mean? — Following a seed round — typically the first equity-based funding stage for a company, sometimes preceded by pre-seed funding from family and friends or a founder’s own money — trajectory growth funding involves the continuation of funding Series A, B, C and more equity-based rounds, each typically increasing in capital.
• What’s a lead investor? — A lead investor is the individual or organization leading a funding round for a company. Typically, the lead investor provides the largest amount of money in a round and sets the basic terms of the deal.

Check out more common startup growth terms here.