Philly’s Biggest Venture Capital Deals of 2015

Local companies raised $539 million in 2015, the most since 2008.

By Jared Shelly· 1/15/2016, 1:37 p.m.

Whether they’re startups or well-established in their fields, companies of many shapes, sizes and categories were on the hunt for venture capital funding in 2015 — and business in biotechnology, software and medical devices cashed in big time.

Venture capitalists made more than $539 million in investments in Philadelphia-area companies 2015 — the most since 2008 ($675 million.) It represents a 15 percent increase from 2014, when $465 million was raised. The numbers come from the newly released PwC/NVCA MoneyTree Report based on data from Thomson Reuters.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, VCs invested $121 million — but that’s an 18 percent drop from Q4 of 2014, when $148 million was invested.

The fourth quarter was led by a $37.1 million raise by Galera Labs, a Malvern, Pa.-based company that’s developing new treatments for cancer patients. Accolade, a Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based consumer health engagement platform for large employers and insurers, raised $16.1 million in the quarter.

Companies based in Philadelphia proper raised nearly $50 million in investment dollars in 2015, with $14 million coming in Q4. The largest raise was nearly $8 million by Sidecar Interactive Inc., which provides an automated online marketing platform for e-commerce companies.

Check out the following tables for more details:

Largest Greater Philadelphia VC Investments in 2015

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Company	Amount	City	Industry	Business Description
SevOne Inc.	$47,078,000	Wilmington	IT Services	Provides IT performance management software.
Aclaris Therapeutics Inc	$38,199,600	Malvern	Biotechnology	Specialty pharmaceutical company.
Galera Labs LLC	$37,103,000	Malvern	Biotechnology	Develops drugs targeting the oxygen metabolic pathways.
Intact Vascular Inc.	$35,309,000	Wayne	Medical Devices and Equipment	Develops minimally invasive peripheral vascular products.
Neuronetics Inc.	$34,342,900	Malvern	Medical Devices and Equipment	A medical device company.
Coredial LLC	$27,500,000	Blue Bell	Software	Offers software-as-a-service platform.
CloudBees Inc.	$22,976,000	Lewes	Software	Provides a continuous delivery platform as a service.
Accolade Inc.	$22,500,000	Plymouth Meeting	Healthcare Services	Provides healthcare-related information services.
InfaCare Pharmaceutical Corp.	$20,000,000	Trevose	Biotechnology	Operates as a specialty pharmaceutical company.
PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals Inc.	$19,100,000	Malvern	Biotechnology	A biopharmaceutical company.

Showing 1 to 10 of 10 entries

Largest Greater Philadelphia VC Investments in Q4 of 2015

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Company	Amount	City	Industry	Business Description
Galera Labs LLC	$37,103,000	Malvern	Biotechnology	Develops drugs targeting the oxygen metabolic pathways.
Accolade, Inc.	$16,100,000	Plymouth Meeting	Healthcare Services	Provides healthcare related information services.
Velicept Therapeutics Inc.	$11,329,000	Malvern	Biotechnology	A clinical development company.
Sidecar Interactive Inc.	$7,999,900	Philadelphia	IT Services	Provides an automated online marketing platform for e-commerce companies.
Phenom People Inc.	$6,830,000	Horsham	Software	Phenom People is a talent relationship marketing company.
Agilence, Inc.	$6,000,000	Mount Laurel	Software	Offers cloud-based reporting solutions.
Freedompay Inc.	$5,600,000	Wayne	IT Services	Engaged in offering payment technology.
ReliefBand Technologies LLC	$5,000,000	Jenkintown	Medical Devices and Equipment	A therapeutic technology company.
Ella Health Inc.	$4,608,000	West Chester	Healthcare Services	Provides services, including mammography and physical therapy.
Journey Sales, Inc.	$3,400,000	Conshohocken	Software	Provides customer engagement solutions for sales professionals.

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Metro Philly VC Funding by Category

Industry	2013 Total	2014 Total	2015 Total
Biotechnology	$153,110,000	$191,902,000	$160,898,600
Business Products and Services	$0	$52,541,000	$9,000,000
Computers and Peripherals	$0	$100,000	$250,000
Consumer Products and Services	$6,950,000	$530,000	$5,875,000
Electronics/Instrumentation	$0	$3,205,000	$2,055,200
Financial Services	$0	$13,506,000	$50,000
Healthcare Services	$36,100,000	$5,075,000	$45,307,800
Industrial/Energy	$1,285,000	$54,790,100	$11,725,100
IT Services	$79,110,100	$19,513,100	$70,696,900
Media and Entertainment	$2,888,900	$4,025,200	$2,100,000
Medical Devices and Equipment	$19,823,000	$14,625,000	$122,284,700
Networking and Equipment	$200,000	$0	$500,000
Other	$0	$0	$75,000
Retailing/Distribution	$100,000	$400,000	$0
Semiconductors	$350,000	$565,000	$0
Software	$95,114,200	$104,727,200	$106,288,000
Telecommunications	$100,000	$150,000	$2,200,200
TOTAL	$395,131,200	$465,654,600	$539,306,500

Showing 1 to 18 of 18 entries

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Largest Greater Philadelphia VC Investments in 2015

Largest Greater Philadelphia VC Investments in Q4 of 2015

Metro Philly VC Funding by Category

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