Henna goes high-tech // CommonBond gets its data whiz // Brooklynites get buzz [Startup Roundup]

Who’s raising money?

Fort Greene’s Radico, Inc. raised $1.8 million on an offered $2 million Series A Equity round, according to an SEC filing. The company makes organic hair care products, henna and hair coloration products, but also appears to be exploring new technologies on the supply side, as they move production of primary goods in house.

On the Radico website, it reports the firm will soon be acquiring its own land for production, adding, “We shall use a micro irrigation system which deploys a grid system of pipes and supplies water only to the roots of plants in sufficient quantity and hence just utilizes one fourth the amount of water in comparison to traditional irrigation systems. So it will not only conserve water but increase the yield one and a half times. We also plan to gradually develop solar powered facilities for our own factories as well as schools and hospitals for local villagers in order to help raise the socio-economic and environmental standards for all.” While the SEC filing reports its year of incorporation as 2013, its website describes a history going back to 1992. This is the first fundraising effort that it has reported to the SEC, which may reflect this new production initiative.

Who’s making moves?

CommonBond hired John Birge as its Chief Risk Officer, completing a search that CEO David Klein told us about earlier this year. Formerly, he was director of new accounts at American Express.

Who’s getting buzz?

Akwaaba, a B&B in Bed-Stuy, is featured on the roadtripping YouTube show, START UP.

Dumbo’s workplace sharing platform, Honey, got a shoutout in a post about employee retention, on Mashable.

While unnamed, this piece about a new community biolab in Seattle, recognizes our borough, pointing out that the first one opened up here in 2010. We wrote about GenSpace in August.