Money Moves: Arlington-based Interos is now a unicorn

Unicorn status, unlocked. Following a $100 million Series C round led by San Francisco-based venture capital firm NightDragon, Arlington, Virginia-based supply chain risk management company Interos said it is now valued at over $1 billion. Investors Kleiner Perkins and Venrock also took part in the funding round.

The company’s platform, which was recently updated, monitors for physical and digital supply chain issues, as well as ESG-connected risk factors like emissions and labor practices.

According to Interos, the funding will be used to accelerate its business following a huge growth period. Over the past two years, Interos held a compound annual growth rate of 303%, a 104% increase from the previous year in annual recurring revenue in 2020 and 132% employee growth.

The growth, Interos said, comes even with major supply chain vulnerabilities, as well as shortages.

“COVID-19 and other macro and digital supply chain disruptions over the past year have caused boards of directors and other leaders to awaken to the tremendous impact supply chain disruptions can have on operational resilience, business performance and reputation,” said Jennifer Bisceglie, CEO of Interos, in a statement. “Manual and annual supply chain risk monitoring is urgently moving to automated and continuous, and that can only be accomplished through AI [and machine learning]-based technology. This funding will allow us to accelerate our mission of helping organizations fix supply chain issues before they cause operational disruption.”

Of note, Bisceglie is one of only a few women leading unicorns. According to Crunchbase data cited in the company’s statement, female founders make up only 4% of “unicorn startups valued at more than $1 billion.” The same data says such leaders are even rarer than women Fortune 500 CEOs, who lead “about 7.4% of the country’s largest companies.”

Interos follows Morning Consult as the second D.C.-based company to become a unicorn this summer. In March, McLean, Virginia-based id.me crossed the billion-dollar valuation mark with its own $100M funding round.

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TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, awarded 45 grants to early-stage technology companies in the state that were hardest hit by the pandemic.

The funding is part of its Rural and Underserved Business Recovery from Impact of COVID-19 (RUBRIC) program, which was announced in December 2020 as part of the Governor’s $5 million economic relief package. Individual grant amounts were not disclosed, but grants up to $100,000 were available.

“The RUBRIC program focused on companies that had the highest barriers to traditional financing, but are still expected to scale to the next phase of fundraising,” said TEDCO CEO Troy LeMaile-Stovall, in a statement. “It was important for us to target companies that were considered socially or economically disadvantaged as well as those in the rural areas of Maryland that were hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis.”

Here are the D.C.-area awardees:

• Opal HTM
• OS Therapies
• Azabu Distilling Co
• Blue Sources
• CarrTech
• HBV Tech 
• OncoGone
• Rebu Immunity 
• Shelly News 
• Tao Treasures/Nanobiofab
• Harpcan/CoTripper
• Integrated Pharma Services
• MedApptic 
• Menupoly 
• Neuroparticle Corporation 
• Otomagnetics 
• PediaMetrix
• PepVas 
• PerSoN Clinic 
• Pet Connect
• ProTrakr
• Sparo 
• 99 Ways Entertainment
• Airgility 
• Art Play Learn
• International Products Generated
• Ovalz

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The D.C.-based Revolution Acceleration Acquisition Corp (RAAC), cofounded by Steve Case of D.C.-based venture capital firm Revolution, said it completed a merger with Massachusetts robotics company Berkshire Grey.

RAAC, a special purpose acquisition company founded by Case and former Congressman John Delaney, took Berkshire public in the deal. Following the $413 million acquisition, which was initially announced in February, the combined company began trading on the Nasdaq last week under the ticker symbol BGRY. This is RAAC’s first completed merger since the company went public in December of 2020.

The investment firm side of Revolution also recently led a $13 million Series B Round for Portland’s Sila Security, an API platform that provides payment infrastructure. Revolution Partner Clara Sieg will be joining the company’s board.

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Here are a few more happenings in financing and markets from around the DMV to catch up on:

• In a Series B round led by MedEquity Capital, Reston, Virgina-based Qler Telehealth raised $7.4 million. Relevance Ventures also took part in the round.
• Fairfax, Virginia-based CGI won a contract with the Library of Congress to support its digital transformation worth $150 million over a five-year period. The pair have been partnering and working together for over 20 years.
• Tysons Corner’s Cvent is going public for a second time via an $800 million merger with Dragoneer, as we reported Friday. When the deal closes, the company is expected to be valued at $5.3 million.