5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed In August: Laundry, Space And Allergy Startups See Cash

This is a monthly column that runs down five interesting deals every month that may have flown under the radar. Check out last month’s entry here.

Summer vacations and the laid-back nature of this time of year may have caused some to miss the intriguing startups that raised cash in August.

Don’t worry, we have a short list here that includes everything from space mining to a developer of new and improved wood.

Big bucks for dirty laundry

We don’t talk about laundry here much, so let’s clean that up.

This month New York-based Cents locked up a $40 million Series B led by Camber Creek. The startup provides a business management platform for all who take part in the dirty business of cleaning clothes — including laundromats, dry cleaners and even shared laundry rooms.

The company launched in 2021 and helps cleaners streamline all aspects of their business, including payments, delivery and even marketing.

Now backend platforms that help run business are nothing new, but one dedicated just to laundry is interesting. However, maybe it shouldn’t be surprising, considering it’s a critical errand we all must somehow do — even if that means sourcing it out.

Perhaps that’s why Cents has raised big bucks. The startup has now raised more than $77 million, per the company, and also announced it has acquired Laundroworks — a hardware-based payments system for paying  at laundromats and shared laundry rooms.

Cents says its platform is currently used by more than 2,700 retail laundries — or about 1 in 14 laundromats in the U.S. — and more than 3,500 shared laundry rooms.

It would seem its investors are optimistic they won’t be taken to the cleaners.

Allergy protection in your pocket

In the U.S., approximately 33 million individuals manage food allergies, so going out to eat likely can cause some anxious moments.

Allergen detection company Amulet has something that may help. The Madison, Wisconsin-based startup raised a $5.8 million in Series A financing led by HealthX Ventures.

The startup has created the Allergy Amulet, a small device (that kinda looks like a USB drive)  that allows people to test for food allergens on the go. The device has portable sensors containing rapid, on-site molecular detection technology that can find allergens, toxins and contaminants.

The startup also has another commercial device for restaurants, suppliers and manufacturers to identify food toxins and environmental contaminants.

If you have allergies, not knowing what’s in your food can be scary. Perhaps carrying this in your pocket can give a little peace of mind.

Space mining

Let’s face it, space is cool — so space startups make this list a lot.

This time it’s AstroForge, which locked up a $40 million Series A led by Nova Threshold.

The Southern California-based startup launched its first mission last year and plans its second later this year.

The new cash will be used for a third mission in which the company is hoping to dock a 440-pound spacecraft on a metallic asteroid next year. If that happens, it will be the first privately funded mission to land on a celestial body beyond the Earth-Moon system.

The company is looking to pioneer off-Earth mining to help address resource depletion.

AstroForge has now raised $55 million, so clearly investors believe that may just happen.

Not just for hangovers

Wellness is a growing sector in tech, as people look to live healthier and hopefully happier lives.

That includes the probiotics field, as ZBiotics’ recent $12 million Series A led by Spring Tide Capital raise can attest. The San Francisco-based startup is looking at ways ancient bacteria can help with health problems that are the result of modern diets and living — looking to develop genetically engineered probiotics that address the diets and toxic byproducts of modern living

If ZBiotics sounds familiar, it’s because the company made waves a few years ago when it unveiled its first product — its Pre-Alcohol Probiotic Drink. The drink breaks down acetaldehyde in the gut and lessens the hated day-after effects of alcohol.

The company says it has more than doubled sales every year of that product and is profitable. ZBiotics will use the fresh cash to transition from a single-product company to a portfolio of genetically modified organism probiotics for health.

Better wood

When a startup is called InventWood and says its goal is to create “superwood,” it gets our attention.

The Frederick, Maryland-based startup locked up an $8 million round this month from investors that included the Grantham Foundation and Builders Vision as it works on its proprietary technology that turns wood into a new high-performance, climate-resilient building material.

What is superwood? The company says it believes it can create a material that is stronger and lighter than steel with higher durability. The technology actually transforms wood’s nano-cellulose structure — nature’s strongest material — into something that can “offer fire, insect, and rot resistance with bulletproof hardness.”

The company is planning its commercial launch in early 2025.

Illustration: Dom Guzman