MakuSafe  has announced a $3m seed round, bringing its total funding to date to ~$4.5m. EMC Insurance and Next Level Ventures participated in the round.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Feb. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — MakuSafe (“MakuSafe” or the “Company”), the safety technology leader, announced that the Company closed its nearly $3 million seed round.

This brings the total funds raised by the Company to nearly $4.5 million. Funding has come from a number of capital groups, including EMC Insurance Companies, Next Level Ventures, and The Best of the Midwest. The Company plans to use the capital to hire key personnel and to scale the manufacturing of MakuSafe’s proprietary technology.

MakuSafe has developed a sophisticated system for gathering real-time environmental and human motion data to identify workplace risk. The MakuSmart cloud platform uses machine learning to process millions of data points gathered by wearable armband devices invented by the Company. Jason W. Gross, Vice President of Strategy & Business Transformation at EMC Insurance Companies stated, “Our agents and policyholders count on EMC to provide insurance products and, at the same time, help policyholders mitigate and manage their risks. That’s why we are investing in and partnering with companies like MakuSafe that are leveraging new technology and analytics to make our workplaces and workers even safer.” 

Each day, more than 1,000 employees worldwide lose their life to a workplace accident. In the United States alone, well over $1 Billion is paid out each week in worker’s compensation claims. With the data gathered from the wearable devices, MakuSafe customers can gain deeper insights into their workforce and operations, resulting in mitigating workplace risks and reducing worker compensation claims.

“For several years we’ve been conducting tests in facilities around Central Iowa and using the results of those tests to fine-tune our product,” said MakuSafe CEO and co-founder Gabriel Glynn. “We’re truly excited about the progress we’ve made and are looking forward to getting through the manufacturing process so we can begin to provide product to awaiting customers.” Scott Hoekman, Principal of Next Level Ventures commented, “Next Level Ventures could not be more excited to invest in MakuSafe. In addition, MakuSafe is creating a product which incorporates hardware, software, worker safety, and insurance. This intriguing combination really resonates with Iowa’s growing startup ecosystem as well as two of Iowa’s core industries – manufacturing and insurance. And with this financing we are eager to see MakuSafe accelerate its growth and bolster its innovative solution.”

This past Fall, MakuSafe was selected to pitch at The Best of the Midwest, an angel capital event that took place in Des Moines, IA. Accredited investors from around the Midwest pooled money together and collectively picked which participating startups would receive investment. MakuSafe was selected for investment from the group. “Plains Angels and the Angel Capital Association – The Best of the Midwest group, is proud to invest in MakuSafe.  They not only have a great business outlook but their product will save lives and limit accidents,” said Mike Colwell, Co-Manager of Plains Angels.

“Access to Angel and Venture Capital is a vital part of a healthy startup ecosystem, especially for startups tackling large-scale problems that require extensive engineering,” said Glynn. “We are delighted to have found financial support from investors here in Central Iowa and around the Midwest. Raising nearly $4.5 million dollars is no small task, but in doing so we can serve as yet another example of a growing and maturing startup ecosystem in the Heartland.”

About MakuSafe

MakuSafe is a Software as a Service (SaaS), Data, and Analytics company based in America’s Heartland. Our mission is to improve worker health, safety, and productivity while reducing worker’s compensation claims and mitigating workplace risks. Founded in West Des Moines, Iowa in 2016 by Gabriel Glynn and Mark Frederick, MakuSafe has developed proprietary wearable technology that gathers real-time environmental and motion data from workers. Our cloud platform, MakuSmart, then uses machine learning to identify high-risk trends in the facility. The portal auto-records near-miss leading indicators, proactively targets loss control resources to specific conditions & occurrences, and streamlines compliance reporting. Learn more at https://youtu.be/vy8VB8stx4A(video) and https://makusafe.com/news

MEDIA CONTACT: Eric Olson 
515.453.2105 
[email protected]

BirdDogHR CEO Named The SaaS Report’s Top 50 CEO

Todd Skokan receives nationwide recognition for leading outstanding company growth and culture

DES MOINES, Iowa – August 22, 2018 – BirdDogHR™, the leader in talent management solutions for the construction, engineering and skilled trades industries, announced today that CEO, Todd Skokan, has been named to The SaaS Report’s (TSR) Top 50 SaaS CEOs of 2018.

According to TSR this elite group of CEOs were selected largely based on the detailed reviews they received from their respective employees and industry colleagues. TSR received nearly 5,000 nominations on behalf of hundreds of CEOs. CEOs were assessed across a number of key areas including integrity, intelligence, energy, company culture, and company growth, among other areas.

Leading the BirdDogHR team since 2013, Skokan’s leadership and innovation have cultivated incredible success. Since that time, Skokan has grown the BirdDogHR team from 12 employees to over 60, earning the company a spot on the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Businesses list for four consecutive years since 2015. Skokan has also received the 2017 Inaugural Joe Rosenfield Leadership Award from Next Level Ventures, was a semi-finalist for the 2016 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and was a finalist for the 2016 Technology Association of Iowa CEO of the year.

“Being recognized as a TSR Top 50 SaaS CEO is truly humbling. The BirdDogHR team works hard to achieve ambitious goals, and our growth and customer retention is a testament of their efforts,” said Skokan. “I’m honored to lead this team. We have a very bright future ahead.”

Todd is in excellent company this year as The SaaS Report’s Top CEOs of 2018 includes CEOs from Cvent, Salesforce and Slack. View the entire list online.

About The SaaS Report

The SaaS Report (TSR), based out of New York City, provides executives and investors with a comprehensive source for SaaS-related news and investment activity. Each year, TSR releases its Top 50 SaaS CEOs rankings based on five primary factors — company growth, work culture, product technology, financial performance and professional experience. Visit TSR online at www.thesaasreport.com.

About BirdDogHR

BirdDogHR offers comprehensive talent management software and managed services — everything you need to guide the entire employee lifecycle. The cloud-based talent management system is straightforward and easy to use, so you can safely focus on implementing strategy — not learning new software or worrying it won’t keep up with changing regulations. Managed services operate as an extension of your HR department and deliver the expertise and focus you need. Organizations can see ROI in effective growth management, bottom line results and compliance peace of mind. BirdDogHR specializes in high-consequence and government contracting industries because they have unique needs. Companies from other industries can use the BirdDogHR talent management solution — and they do — but the solution is built with the most rigorous compliance needs in mind. BirdDogHR is a platform company for leading HCM provider, Arcoro. Visit BirdDogHR online at www.birddoghr.com.

Disruptive lending platform puts credit unions in competitive position to dominate local markets

DES MOINES, IA (April 17, 2018) — Fintech startup LenderClose today announced it has secured the funding it needs to add 25 employees to the fast-growing company. A credit union service organization (CUSO), LenderClose launched in 2016 when lending technology pioneer Omar Jordan saw an opportunity to upend the underwriting process.

Since its launch in March 2016, LenderClose has added 100 lenders to its client list. February 2018 marked a record month of revenue for the startup, followed by another record month in March. That same month, the startup became a CUSO with direct investment from two Iowa credit unions, Collins Community Credit Union and Serve Credit Union. It also added two key executives to its team: Chief Operating Officer Ben Rempe and Vice President of Business Development Brian Storey. The pair brings a combined 30 years of financial services experience to LenderClose.

LenderClose’s latest round of funding was led by Next Level Ventures, which is a venture capital firm that invests in growing companies based in Iowa. Its portfolio includes fintech firm Dwolla, which also counts credit unions and CUSOs among its early investors.

“This team has done some pretty impressive things with limited resources,” said Scott Hoekman, co-founder and principal of Next Level Ventures. “This investment is gas in the tank that will allow LenderClose to do much more. LenderClose has a product that works, clients who have validated the solution and a growing team supporting the vision for rapid scale. You put more money alongside that momentum, and you’ve got something pretty exciting.”

“The digital transformation of the credit union industry hinges on the availability of technology that streamlines all those behind-the-scenes processes that can get in the way of exceptional member service,” said Scott Frost, chief lending officer of Collins Community Credit Union. “Megabanks see the opportunity, too, and are snatching up fintechs and digital platforms, vertically integrating them in a way that makes them completely inaccessible to community lenders. Because we are a part of a collaborative movement, we feel a calling to help make this technology accessible to as many other community lenders as possible. That’s why we’ve chosen to invest in, support and advocate for LenderClose, which we see as a digital game changer for community lenders.”

The LenderClose platform is a loan officer’s digital hub. With API connections to every vendor it takes to originate a mortgage or HELOC, LenderClose gives credit unions immediate access to a comprehensive suite of reports and services – from credit scores and flood determinations to notary signing and county recorder services. The result is a streamlined and vastly accelerated underwriting process, which is, according to Jordan, an increasingly essential capability for credit unions.

“Borrowers have always wanted a fast ‘yes’ from lenders,” said Jordan, who consistently led the nation in mortgage originations while serving as AVP, sales branch manager for Household Finance, now HSBC. He has since built and sold two lending technologies companies. “But that demand for urgency has been cranked to 11 today.”

Rempe added, “Consumers are used to getting what they want, how they want it, right now. Starbucks has your custom-ordered coffee ready before you even get there; Indochino has a made-to-measure suit on your doorstep in a couple days. Lenders understand expectations are changing, and they want to give borrowers that ‘yes’ right away. But, they have massive checklists that have to be addressed first. The LenderClose platform helps loan officers drive through the checklist, so they can deliver ‘yes’ faster than ever before.”

A positive and fast borrower experience is critical as market pressures increase. In Fannie Mae’s Q1 2018 Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey, “competition from other lenders” set a new survey high for the fifth consecutive quarter as the key reason cited for lenders’ lower profit margin outlook.

Credit unions that have added LenderClose to their lending programs report significant improvements in their operations. Some even credit the platform with launching entirely new products for their institution’s lending effort.

“Our home equity program was essentially nonexistent prior to joining LenderClose,” said Billy Hernandez, chief lending officer of California Bear Credit Union. “Our core system wasn’t set up to take on home loan applications, and we were getting frustrated trying to satisfy a growing demand for these products from our members. Since adding LenderClose, we’ve had a tremendous amount of success with our home equity program. We’ve even hired a loan officer to keep up with the demand.”

Credit union leaders can see LenderClose up close at the NACUSO Network Conference on April 18 in Anaheim, Calif. Jordan and Rempe will demonstrate the platform to attendees of the event’s 2018 Next Big Idea Competition.