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Welcome to Last Week In Venture, a weekly roundup of funding rounds raised by interesting companies that you may have missed.

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A lot of other stuff was underway. and ; if are to be believed, the U.S. executive branch appears to have delaminated itself from its titular executive; people burned their sneakers because a shoe company on ; and that , the beleaguered blood testing company featured in the recent best-selling book , plans to . What a week!

In spite of all that, though, investors continued to funnel staggering amounts of capital into startups. It鈥檚 easy to overlook what companies outside the unicorn spotlight are contributing to startup ecosystems around the world. But that doesn鈥檛 mean their stories aren鈥檛 worth sharing.

Here we go!

Market Hot Spot: Chicago

have been on a fundraising tear, and the past week’s headlines potentially point to an uptick of investor interest in the Windy City.

Here are some highlights from the past week:

• Crunchbase News broke the story that , which says it’s North America’s largest parking reservation marketplace, raised an additional $10 million from . A representative from the company characterized the deal as a “top-up” of the company’s last fundraise, but CEO pointed out that his company’s valuation was “up significantly” from its last funding round.
• The following day, rival firm announced , which was led by NewSpring Capital and had participation from , , and .
• Separate and apart from the parking industry, a Chicago-based food industry startup closed a big round this week. Crunchbase News covered ‘s , which was led by . The company, which has self-serve kiosks offering fresh salads and wraps throughout Chicago and Milwaukee, intends to use its new capital to expand to cities throughout the Midwest.
• In the logistics business, there’s , which “provides Amazon-level logistics to small to mid-sized businesses.” The company announced it raised $40 million in led by Silicon Valley-based .

And that’s just the past week. Recently, Crunchbase News covered construction technology startup IngeniousIO’s $4 million fundraise. Other companies, including , , , , and , have also closed funding within the past month.

Other Rounds From Interesting Companies

In this weekly roundup, we also like to share a selection of other funding rounds that may have flown under the radar.

Let鈥檚 see what鈥檚 on deck.

• Some folks are lucky enough to have a vegetable patch in the backyard. Others may work in an office with plant-laden walls. is an Estonian startup seeking to capitalize on recent interests in indoor and vertical farming and fresh vegetables to create what it describes on its website as “kitchen gardens” for home and commercial applications. Picture a fridge crossed with a greenhouse. Natufia Labs raised with investors including and .
• , a marketplace for brick-and-mortar storefront space, raised , led by , which had participation from , , , and independent angel investor . The company asserts that “brands truly stand out once they grow from dot com to zip code.” Previously online-only brands (like , , and ) are opening physical locations, so this company may be early to an emerging trend.
• raised . Myki is a Lebanese cybersecurity company building password generators and managers, and an authentication system for over 250,000 users worldwide. It raised from a number of Middle Eastern investors, including and (both based in Beirut), as well as (based in Dubai). According to announcing the round, the company is intending to use this fresh capital to build out operations in the U.S.

For those of you who made it to the end, a little gift we’re abuzz about: bumbling about around the hive entrance. Here鈥檚 to hoping your weekend is the bee鈥檚 knees! ?

Last Week In Venture graphic created by . Cover and thumbnail photo by on Unsplash.