What all happened this week? We’ve got a quick round up on the big stories, funding rounds, and other ecosystem news you need to know from across the Southeast.
Big Story On Hypepotamus
Cox Cleantech, the latest startup accelerator to set up shop in Atlanta, just announced its first class. Five companies — which includes three Southeast-based companies — will be part of the 12-week program created in partnership with Cox Enterprises, gener8tor, and the Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub. Meet the first cohort here.
Startup Funding News
Chattanooga-based startup Totem, which creates peer-to-peer compasses for festival goers, raised a $1.3 million pre-seed round from a group of global angel investors. We spoke to Totem’s Carter Fowler about what the raise means for Chattanooga and the future of EventTech. More on Totem’s pre-seed round here.
Atlanta-based Valor Ventures announced it is backing Memphis-based Visalaw.ai, a startup platform for the immigration law industry. Press release here.
Durham, North Carolina-based AI-enabled risk adjustment platform Keebler Health has raised $6 million in seed funding. Freestyle Capital, MBX Capital, New Stack Ventures, Underdog Labs, Everywhere VC, Ludlow Ventures, Primordial, the Tweener Fund, the Hustle Fund, Deb Liu and Bong Koh participated in the round. More details on the funding round here.
Atlanta-based SteelSky Ventures, the world’s leading women’s health fund, has made a strategic investment in Posterity Health, a technology-driven platform focused on optimizing the fertility process. This investment represents a crucial step forward in taking a holistic approach to fertility care, as Posterity both improves fertility outcomes and benefits women by minimizing unnecessary invasive treatments and the high costs associated with IVF. Press release here.
Other News Across The Ecosystem
Battery giant Duracell announced it will establish its new Global Headquarters for Research and Development at Science Square in Atlanta, creating 110 jobs and investing approximately $56 million. Duracell currently has a manufacturing facility in LaGrange, Georgia, that has been in operation since 1980 and a logistics and distribution plant in Fairburn, Georgia, that began operations in 2020. More from the Governor’s press release here.
Dentira, the leading intelligent spend management platform for the dental industry, today announced it acquired North Carolina-based Series B company CureMint, a major player in dental procurement. Details here.
Innovate Alabama has announced the third round of designees of the Innovate Alabama Network. The newest designees include 58 organizations representing all three Innovate Alabama pillars: Talent Development, Lifestyle & Recreation, and Access to Resources. Details here.
Emory University’ Goizueta’s Start:ME Accelerator kicked off its 2025 cohort last month, welcoming its largest cohort of entrepreneurs yet. This year, more than 300 entrepreneurs applied to be part of the program. Of that pool, the program accepted 77 ventures. Read more about the program here.
Tampa’s Embarc Collective is expanding its coaching program to support growth-stage companies. The organization announced new coaches include:
- David Willbrand – Venture Funding & Corporate Growth Authority
- Rissa Reddan – Growth-Focused Marketing Leader
- Holly N. O’Driscoll – Human-Centered Innovation & Design Thinking Expert
Atlanta-based FlowPath (previous Hypepotamus profile here), a leader in CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) software for education, municipal, and commercial facilities, has launched its AI Assistant, one of the first AI-driven tools of its kind in the CMMS industry. This cutting-edge addition to their platform transforms how facility teams manage tasks, assets, inventory, and workflows by automating routine processes and providing real-time, data-driven insights. More details here.