Data spotlight: Innovation Works, NEA, Canaan rank as most active investors in September

A lot of southwestern Pennslyvania startups got some coin in September.

That’s according to Thomson Reuters data, which showed that Innovation Works, a Pittsburgh seed-stage investor focused on providing capital to the local region, was the most active venture investor nationwide in September.

Innovation Works invested $750,000 in 10 seed and pre-seed startups during the month, according to the data, as compiled by VCJ researcher Paul Centopani. The roster covered a range of sectors, as Innovation Works invested in such deals as biodiesel developer Optimus Technologies, gaming-industry startup Strix and lingerie designer Trusst Lingerie.

Communications Director Terri Glueck said in an email that the organization makes about 26 first-time investments per year from its two accelerators and its seed fund. It also makes follow-on investments in a dozen or so of its companies from its existing portfolio each year.

After Innovation Works, New Enterprise Associates and Canaan Partners tied in their ranking as the second most active investors in the month, with each backing eight startups.

NEA, which is investing from a $2.8 billion main fund raised last year, put more than $46 million to work in September, backing such companies as Boku, Folloze and Solace Therapeutics.

Canaan Partners, which has opened a San Francisco office and made a number of personnel moves recently, invested nearly $25 million in September, including Dicom Grid and Kustomer.

The list of active investors changes month to month, based on when the firms disclose the deals they make. Some investors, such as Innovation Works, report new deals in batches.

In August, Philadelphia-based Dreamit Ventures, which recently announced its fall 2016 class, backed 13 companies, making it the most active U.S. venture investor in that month, according to Thomson Reuters. They were followed in order by Obvious Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and NEA.

Downloadable Data: most-active-vcs-in-september

Photo of a stack of pennies courtesy of Reuters/Mike Blake