AAA May 2013 – Page 20

Corporations evangelise Indian start-ups

US-based corporations Google, Microsoft, Verisign have backed a $10m initiative to create 10,000 start-ups in India. India’s National Association of Software & Services (Nasscom) is at the heart of the idea, which will incubate, fund and support 10,000 technology start-ups in India over the next 10 years.  The programme will focus on fostering entrepreneurship, building… Continue reading Corporations evangelise Indian start-ups

Norwest heats up Pepperfry

Venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) India, which invests on behalf of bank Wells Fargo, has re-invested $8m in a second round of funding for Pepperfry.com, an online lifestyle store run by India-based Trendsutra Platform Services.  The company raised $5m from Norwest Venture Partners in December 2011.  The money raised will be used to… Continue reading Norwest heats up Pepperfry

Lilly, BASF-backed Receptos eyes IPO

The corporate venturing unit of life sciences company Eli Lilly and chemicals group BASF, could realise its investment in Receptos, a US-based therapeutics company planning its flotation. Receptos has filed for an $86.3m initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Investment banks Credit Suisse, Leerink Swann and BMO Capital Markets are lead underwriters.   To… Continue reading Lilly, BASF-backed Receptos eyes IPO

InverSur takes on Telefónica

Chile-based venture firm InverSur Capital has become the manager of the Amérigo Chile Early Stage & Growth fund, backed by Spain-based telecoms group Telefónica and the Chilean government. The fund has initially raised $30m and said it plans to raise up to $50m. The group’s executives include Oliver Flögel, previously the Chilean government’s secretary of… Continue reading InverSur takes on Telefónica

Tata backs university fund

Tata Industries, a division of India’s largest conglomerate, has committed $5m to an Israel-based university venturing fund to help commercialise its research. Tel Aviv University’s (TAU) technology transfer company, Ramot, will manage the Technology Innovation Momentum fund, which is targeting $20m in size. The fund will back and develop “commercialization ready” technologies in a wide… Continue reading Tata backs university fund

Myriad drops on RainDance

Myriad Genetics, a US-listed biotech, has joined the $20m series E round for RainDance Technologies, a local gene-sequencing service provider.  All of RainDance’s previous venture capital investors also participated in the round: Mohr Davidow Ventures, Quaker BioVentures, Alloy Ventures, Acadia Woods and Sectoral Asset Management. RainDance previously raised $37.5m in its D round in January… Continue reading Myriad drops on RainDance

Oke joins Intel Capital

Tobi Oke (pictured), an associate director at UK-listed bank Standard Chartered’s Private Equity unit, has joined Intel Capital, as an investment director based in Lagos, Nigeria. Oke will focus on investments in sub-Saharan Africa for US-listed chip maker Intel’s corporate venturing unit. Intel Capital has been investing in Africa since 2011 and has made investments… Continue reading Oke joins Intel Capital

Strategics meld with Expect Labs

Expect Labs, a US-based company developing the MindMeld voice and video application for digital assistants, has raised an undisclosed amount from corporate venturing units Intel Capital, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC), and Telefonica Digital.   In October, Expect Labs raised $2.4m from a consortium including search engine Google and publisher International Data Group’s corporate venturing… Continue reading Strategics meld with Expect Labs