Money Moves: Eye-catching VC rounds from HawkEye 360, Territory Foods and Arcellx

Money Moves is a column where we chart the funding raises of tech companies across the region. Have a tip? Email us at dc@technical.ly.

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Herndon, Virginia-based HawkEye 360 has fresh funding that will help it widen a constellation of satellites for radio frequency data tracking from space.

The space startup raised $55 million in a Series C funding round, which was led by San Francisco-based venture capital firm NightDragon. Existing investors Advance, Razor’s Edge Ventures, Shield Capital, Dorilton Ventures, Adage Capital and Esri International also participated. The company has now raised a total of $155 million, including a $70 million Series B in 2019.

With satellites that identify and process a range of radio frequency signals, HawkEye 360 aims to “reveal hidden and previously uncharted activities across land, sea and air” for governments and other organizations, according to its website. This intel can be applied for national security, maritime and environmental means.

“Satellite technology is the next frontier in today’s digital world,” said NightDragon founder Dave DeWalt in a statement. “This is about cyber meeting space, using HawkEye 360’s tools for better management and protection of critical infrastructure.”

The funding will allow the company to expand the scope of its satellites, as it seeks to develop three new clusters of satellites that will be deployed in space. It is aiming to have a total of nine constellations deployed by the end of 2022. Additionally, the new funding will help to set up ground infrastructure, communications and software for data processing and other applications here on Earth.

This is the second round led by NightDragon for a Virginia company this week: The firm led a $45 million growth investment round that mixed equity and debt funding for Charlottesville-based SaaS risk protection platform SafeGuard Cyber.

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Data-driven, Arlington-based food meal delivery service Territory Foods is looking to grow its menu with a $22 million investment round.

The round was led by Silicon Valley-based U.S. Venture Partners, which is also an investor in GoPro, Trunk Club and HotelTonight. It also had participation from Upfront Ventures, Lewis & Clark Ventures, DF Enterprises, S2G Ventures, Gaingels, Middleland Capital, Finistere Ventures and Rethink Food Capital, as well as athletes Abby Wambach and Vernon Davis.

The nine-year-old company delivers prepared meals that it says are nutritionist-designed and made by chefs. It touts a tech-enabled model to deliver personalized meals, and partners with local chefs in areas that it serves. With the new funding, it will look to grow its chef community and the options available to users.

“This new round of funding will allow us to expand our chef community and provide our customers with even more options,” said Ellis McCue, CEO of Territory Foods, in a statement. “We go to great lengths to create optimized, personalized meals for each consumer and empower our chefs with data about our customer’s taste and nutritional preferences so they can tailor each meal, ultimately providing more variety than other delivery options out there.”

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In Maryland biotech news, Gaithersburg-based biopharmaceutical company Arcellx raised $115 million in a Series C round ahead of key trials of its cell therapy treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

The company is working in an area of medicine that involves transplanting human cells to fight disease. For a treatment called CART-ddBCMA, the company is eying 2022 for key clinical trials. Its pipeline also has treatments for multiple myeloma and acute myelogenous leukemia that will see development funded through the round.

The financing was led by Samsara BioCapital and CAM Capital. They were joined by new investors Adage, Asymmetry, CaaS Capital, Cambrian Bio, Sixty Degree, Soleus Capital, Surveyor Capital, Suvretta and Terra Magnum Capital Partners. Existing investors NEA, Novo Holdings, SR One, Takeda Ventures, LG Tech and Clough Capital also participated.

The company is one of a number of life sciences companies that are growing a footprint in suburban Maryland, and bringing an infusion of VC funding to the region as they do so.