Parallax Announces $12M Raise
Minneapolis-based software company Parallax on Thursday announced it has closed on a $12 million Series B raise, a rare feat in today’s tight investment market.
The raised came from a combination of existing and new investors, according to a news release issued Thursday. The company specializes in predictive forecasting and planning software. It plans to primarily use raise dollars to fuel product innovation initiatives, expand its teams, and further scale its operations to meet growing demand. The completion of this round brings Parallax’s total funding to date to $24.5 million.
Private equity and venture capital firm Baird Capital, which tailors its investments to tech firms, led the funding round. Other participants included Grotech and local VC firm Rally Ventures.
“Through our own investments in professional services businesses across the Baird Capital portfolio, we’ve witnessed firsthand the importance of effective resource management and its impact on workforce utilization and profitability,” said Jim Pavlik, partner with Baird Capital’s Venture team, in the release. Pavlik was also appointed to the Parallax board.
Parallax and its founder Tom O’Neill were recognized in TCB’s 2020 Tech 20. O’Neill launched the company in 2018, with the goal of helping digital consultancies prepare for the cyclical nature of creative work. The Parallax platform is designed to help companies better forecast growth and manage their resources accordingly.
In a statement included in the news release announcing the raise, O’Neill said the investment will further refine Parallax’s product and “fast-track the expansion of AI and prescriptive analytics” in its platform. “As we chart our course for the next three years, we’re more committed than ever to our mission: transforming businesses by unlocking the potential of people. We are grateful for Baird Capital’s confidence in our vision,” he said.
There have been fewer raise announcements this year as both founders and investors tighten their belts in anticipation of a possible recession. If the fundraising pace from the first quarter of this year continues through the rest of the year, it would mean the lowest total capital raised since 2017, TCB reported earlier this year.
A couple of years ago, when Parallax was raising its Series A round, O’Neill told TCB the market for raising money was much different. Companies were getting fairly high valuations that “were maybe unrealistically high,” he said.
But for Parallax, “We had guidance from our early investors to not follow that trend and not to get too crazy with our early investments and not try to over promise too much and that put us in a better position than some,” he said.
This round, O’Neill said he thinks the company could have raised three times as much money “selling some wild dream, but that’s just not our approach.”
