Molekule, a tech startup born out of University of South Florida research, has closed another multimillion-dollar investment round.
The San Francisco-based company with a focus on clean technology raised $58 million this week.
“The air purifier market is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world right now, and there is an incredible need for companies like Molekule to bring innovation to the space,” Samantha Wang, founding general partner at RPS Ventures, said in a statement. “We look forward to leveraging RPS’ deep relationships globally to support the company’s growth and usher in a new era of clean air across the world.”
The funding brings the company’s total funds to $96.4 million. It raised a $10.1 million Series A in July 2017, followed by a $25 million Series B round in November 2018.
Molekule’s chief scientist Yogi Goswami, who also serves as director of the University of South Florida Clean Energy Research Center, says the latest round of funding will be used to focus on technology innovation and product expansion. The company, which recently launched on Amazon, will also be looking at other channels for possible expansion.
While the Molekule headquarters is based in California, the company has a long Florida history. The technology was developed by scientist Yogi Goswami at the University of Florida and finalized the research at USF. Co-founders Rao and Dilip Goswami were both University of Florida grads. It also opened its first U.S. factory in the Tampa Bay region in Polk County.
The Series C round was led by Palo Alto-based RPS Ventures, joined by IAC and Founder’s Circle Capital. Foundry Group, Crosslink Capital, Uncork Capital and TransLink Capital had previously all invested in Molekule and returned to back the latest funding round.
via Molekule raises $58M in Series C round – Tampa Bay Business Journal
