Funding Friday: Techstars’ 2021 funding, Pilgrim’s Pride issues $1B in refi notes

Welcome to Funding Friday, BizWest’s roundup of companies in Northern Colorado and the Boulder Valley kicking off fundraisers.

BizWest reports fundraisers by companies in Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties, as well as Brighton and Westminster through regulatory filings, press releases and other sources. Did we miss a company’s round? Email us at news@bizwest.com.

Notable rounds this week:

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• Techstars raised $146.65 million in its Techstars Accelerator 2021 L.P. fund, surpassing the fund’s initial cap of $100 million, according to disclosures filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week. The Boulder startup accelerator declined to offer more details about how the funds will be used, or about the apparent demand from investors to buy into the fund.
• Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (Nasdaq: PPC) successfully bought back $896.14 million in long-term debt notes out of the $1 billion in bonds that were due in 2025 at an interest rate of 5.75% interest. The Greeley chicken-packing company said on Friday that it closed an issuance of $1 billion in new bonds that accrue at a 4.25% interest rate and come due in 2031, in part to cover the cost of the buyback and to retire any outstanding notes due in 2025. Pilgrim’s previously said those bonds are “sustainability linked” as part of it and parent company JBS S.A.’s plans to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Sustainability bonds have become more popular in recent years as pressure builds on corporations to reduce their inputs on climate change, and often include a clause that increases interest rates or issues some other financial penalty on the issuer if it doesn’t meet a specific emissions goal.

Other rounds this week (Source: SEC)

April 7: Outpost Intros Inc., Boulder, $100,000 raised out of $1.5 million goal

April 7: VonMercier Inc., Louisville, $152,500 raised out of $1.5 million goal

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