These companies are raising a lot of money right now: Investment capital is flowing freely, but entrepreneurs might not need the money.

• Author: Alsever, Jennifer

IT'S NOT EVERY DAY that you're running a $100 million company in the middle of a crushing pandemic, while working from home with four children under the age of four years--including one-month-old newborn twins. Plus there's that whole figuring out how to ease 760 people into work remotely in three days coupled with finalizing a $125 million funding round with investors--the largest round in 2020 for the state of Utah. That was the life of Podium CEO Eric Rea back in March.

Just four months earlier, Rea had been approached by existing investors eager to put more money behind the company, which serves as a review and messaging platform for small businesses. Then the pandemic arrived, kneecapping a frothy tech and investment market, causing VCs to pull out of funding rounds. Entire industries would come crashing to a halt.

Suddenly, Rea was juggling newborns, working from home, handling investor due diligence, and the challenges of COVID-19 lockdown and safety. He was especially anxious about Podium's future: a good chunk of its 55,000 customers had shut down due to coronavirus and Rea worried investors might pull out of the deal. "It was nerve wracking," he says.

Despite COVID, Podium continues to expand after landing the $125 million deal, a capital infusion that pushed its funding to a total of $217.6 million since its start in 2014. The pandemic, in fact, became a turning point for its customers, forcing small brick-and-mortar businesses who long relied on foot traffic to undergo a digital transformation overnight. Podium's software sat in the sweet spot of that transition.

THE PANDEMIC PAUSED FUNDRAISING, BUT ONLY FOR A MOMENT

Last spring, the pandemic killed retail stores, restaurants, museums, and airlines, leaving millions unemployed. Yet consumer spending hit record levels this past summer and other sectors are booming, whether it's canned meat, RVs, or online business software. The same can be said for local companies, though the lockdown initially prompted a cautious pause in VC investing--halting deals and slowing others--the virus hasn't stopped Utah entrepreneurs and investors from proceeding as normal.

Jackson Ostler, CEO of Plenadata, a two-year-old Orem startup that automates accounting says that he was in the midst of raising financing when COVID hit and ongoing funding conversations conducted via Zoom fell through. However by July, Album VC put $1.5 million of seed money behind the four-person startup. "The brakes got pumped...