UK-based industrial conglomerate Marshall Group’s seed stage corporate venturing unit, Martlet, is reportedly close to investing in three local companies. News provider Cabume said the potential deals included wireless communication provider Neul, medical device maker Pneumacare and lighting efficiency provider Isotera, with each potentially receiving between £25,000 and £100,000.
Month: May 2011
Mitsui gives and takes
Mitsui’s corporate venturing unit has joined the consortium investing $45m in clean-tech firm BioAmber and floated Boingo Wireless.
First deal for Inkef
The $22m round for ProFibrix was co-led by venture capital firm Vesalius Biocapital and Inkef Capital, a quasi-corporate venturing joint venture between pension funds ABP and Omers in its first deal after being set up in June last year.
SustainX takes $20m total
In March, SustainX raised $14.4m from seven investors, including GE Energy Financial Services and VC firms Cadent Energy Partners, Polaris Venture Partners and Rockport Capital Partners, as part of a then-planned $17m round.
Pfizer plans Shanghai Pharma pipe
Four investors have agreed to back Shanghai Pharmaceuticals with $550m to support its initial public offering. Pfizer and Bank of China will each invest $50m, Singapore state-backed Temasek will buy $300m of shares and Malaysia-based conglomerate Guoco Group the remaining $150m.
LinkedIn to ring NY bell
After more than three months of deliberations, LinkedIn, a social network for 100 million business people, has picked New York Stock Exchange for its flotation.
Futures Ventures oversubscribed
News provider VCCircle said, outside of Biyani subsidiaries, Pantaloon Retail (India) was the largest shareholder of Future Ventures with 18% that will fall to 9.5-10% post issue.
RenRen to list this week
Shareholders will sell 10.2 millions ADSs, each representing three class A shares, and RenRen issue 42.9 million ADSs. A further 8 million ADSs are available if demand is strong enough with an estimated company valuation of about $4bn.
IDG moves quickly for Agile
TC Meenakshisundaram and Hemir Doshi of IDG Ventures, which is raising its second India-focused fund, will join the board of Agile.
Intel backs two in China
Intel Capital’s $500m Intel Capital China Technology Fund II backs United Information Technology and B-Soft.
Profile: Motorola Solutions Venture Capital
A novel business approach – divide and conquer a successful corporate venturing team to create two active teams with close links.
Corporate venturing begins its golden age
This feature is part of a 12-month overview highlighting the best practices in the industry, which will form a supplement at the Global Corporate Venturing Symposium and Banquet on May 18 – see related content.
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