Funding
US-based multiplex biomarker assay producer Ultivue has closed a $50m series D round featuring Applied Ventures, the investment arm of semiconductor manufacturing equipment producer Applied Materials. The round included Ally Bridge Group, Pura Vida Investments and Tao Capital Partners as well as Arch Venture Partners and Northpond Ventures, both of which took part in Ultivue’s $22m series C round in mid-2019 alongside Applied Ventures, Yonghua Capital and 6 Dimensions Capital, which was co-founded by pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec.
Leasing services provider Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company, energy utility Shikoku Electric Power Company and diversified conglomerate Sumitomo have combined to provide an undisclosed amount of series E funding for renewable power producer Sunseap. The company last raised money in February 2020 when another energy utility, Banpu, supplied $72m in series D4 financing to take its overall funding to approximately $368m. Its earlier backers include conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Shell Technology Ventures, a subsidiary of oil and gas supplier Shell.
Plus One Robotics, a US-based developer of vision software for use in the logistics sector, has raised $33m in a series B round that included carmaker BMW’s corporate venturing unit, BMW i Ventures. The round was co-led by McRock Capital and Translink Capital and also featured Kensington Capital Partners, Perot Jain, Ironspring Ventures, CEAS Investments, Lerer Hippeau, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Zebra Ventures. Plus One had secured $2.4m in seed capital from Schematic Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, FF Ventures, First Star Ventures and Dynamo in May 2018, and they joined Pritzker Group VC and TCL Ventures for an $8.3m series A round six months later.
Arturo, the US-based operator of an aerial imaging service focusing on property insights, has secured $25m in series B funding from investors including insurance firm IAG’s corporate venture capital vehicle, IAG Firemark Ventures. The round was led by growth equity firm Atlantic Bridge Capital and included RPS Ventures and Crosslink Capital. The company was spun off by insurer American Family with an undisclosed amount of seed funding in mid-2019 before IAG Firemark Ventures and Crosslink Capital supplied $8m in an April 2020 series A round.
Qover, a Belgium-headquartered digital insurance technology provider backed by banking software producer Callatay & Wouters, has received $25m in a series B round led by VC firm Prime Ventures that included Cathay Innovation, Anthemis and Alven. The company secured $1.6m in seed capital from Callatay & Wouters and Belacube in 2016 and $5.9m in an Anthemis-led series A round the following year before Anthemis returned for a $9.1m round co-led by Portag3 Ventures and Alven in mid-2019.
ZenGo, the Israel-based creator of a mobile wallet intended for retail investors, has raised $20m in series A funding from investors including Samsung Next, a subsidiary of electronics producer Samsung, and technology holding company Elron. The round was led by Insight Partners and also featured Distributed Global, Austin Rief Ventures, Benson Oak Ventures, Collider Ventures and FJ Labs. It came a year after Samsung, Elron and Benson Oak Ventures provided $4m in seed capital, and ZenGo also named Collider Ventures and FJ Labs as existing investors.
M12, the corporate venturing arm of software producer Microsoft, has led a $16m series A round for US-based customer intelligence software developer Databook that was also backed by enterprise software provider Salesforce’s investment arm, Salesforce Ventures, as well as Threshold Ventures, Haystack and Firebolt – the three investors that supplied $5m for Databook’s seed round in February 2020.
US-based edge computing services provider Section has completed a $12m series B round led by enterprise edge technology producer Lumen Technologies and backed by Andreas Family Office, Foundry Group and Next Frontier Capital. The company joined Techstars Boulder Accelerator in 2016 before closing a $2.2m round in 2017 featuring Tahoma Ventures. It added $4m in a Foundry Group-led series A round in 2018, and $3.8m from unnamed investors in March 2020 according to a securities filing.
Gridtential Energy, a US-based developer of absorbent glass mat batteries, has secured $12m in financing from investors including battery manufacturers East Penn Manufacturing and Crown Battery. The round was led by 1955 Capital and also featured Silicon Valley Bank, Roda Group and private investors David Marquardt and Yumin Liu. It came after an $11m round in 2017 also led by 1955 Capital and backed by East Penn Manufacturing and Crown Battery as well as peers Leoch International and Power-Sonic, Roda Group and Gridtential chairman Ray Kubis, taking the company’s total funding to $13.6m.
Pactum, the US-based creator of a software platform that uses artificial intelligence to automate the negotiation of supply contracts, has received $11m in a funding round led by Atomico that included fellow VC firm Project A, Fortune reported yesterday. Project A had led a seed $3m round in June 2020 that also featured electronic signature software provider DocuSign, following $1.15m in pre-seed funding from individuals including Jaan Tallinn, Taavet Hinrikus, Ott Kaukver and Sten Tamkivi nine months earlier.
Internet technology provider Google has participated in a $6.1m series A round for Instreamatic, the US-based developer of a smart customer conversation analytics and monetisation system, through its Google Assistant Investments vehicle. The round was led by merchant bank Progress Partners’ early-stage investment subsidiary, Progress Ventures, and included VC firm Accomplice.
Alcatraz AI, a US-based developer of access control systems that work without touch, has raised $6.1m from undisclosed investors in a round it said took its total funding to $20m. Automotive and building safety equipment producer Johnson Controls’ JCI Ventures unit took part in its last round, in April 2020, when it secured $6m from a consortium also including Hardware Club, Hemi Ventures, Ruvento Ventures and private investor Ray Stata. It had received $4m from JCI Ventures, Hardware Club and Stata in early 2019.
France-based antibody-drug conjugate developer Mablink Bioscience has closed a €4m ($4.8m) seed round that included Sham Innovation Santé, the VC arm of mutual insurer Sham. The round was led by VC firm Elaia Partners and also featured financial services firm Crédit Agricole’s Création vehicle, Pertinence Invest 2, Fondation Fournier-Majoie and Simba Santé.
Energy utility National Grid has led a $4.6m round for AccuKnox, a US-based cybersecurity software developer formed in partnership with Stanford Research Institute (SRI), through its National Grid Partners (NGP) subsidiary. NGP director Raghu Madabushi will join AccuKnox’s board of directors in connection with the round, which also featured SRI, Z5Capital and Outliers VC.
Financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank’s SuMi Trust Innovation Fund has invested an undisclosed sum in Japan-based open innovation platform developer Creww. The company had received an undisclosed amount from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s SMBC Venture Capital unit in June 2020 following a total of $3.7m from broadcaster Nippon TV, financial services firm Orix, Incubate Fund and Mistletoe between 2012 and 2015.
Pendle Finance, the creator of a secondary market for decentralised finance (DeFi) yields, has secured $3.7m from investors including DeFi services provider BitLink, digital wallet developer ImToken and HashKey, the blockchain investment vehicle affiliated with automotive components producer Wanxiang. The round was led by Mechanism Capital and also featured Crypto.com Capital, Spartan Group, CMS, DeFi Alliance, Lemniscap, LedgerPrime, Parataxis Capital, Strategic Round Capital, Signum Capital, Harvest Finance, Youbi Capital, Sora Ventures, D1 Ventures, Fisher8, Origin Capital, Bitscale Capital and angel investors Taiyang Zhang and Hongbo.
Philippines-based esports and gaming entertainment producer Tier One Entertainment has raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-series A round featuring record company Warner Music Group and internet company Kayac, e27 reported today. VC firm Gobi Partners led the round, which was also backed by family office Octava and VC firm Atlas Venture. Tier One will use the cash to increase headcount and move into new Southeast Asian markets.
Japan-based robotics technology developer Mira Robotics has rebranded to Ugo having received ¥225m ($2m) in a series A round featuring building maintenance firm Taisei, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Yokohama Capital – on behalf of financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ and Bank of Yokohama respectively – and science park operator KSP’s KSP6 fund. It has now raised about $3.5m in total, including $1.1m from Taisei, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Makers Boot Camp’s MBC Shisaku unit in May 2020.
Osaka University Venture Capital has provided ¥100m ($920,000) in funding for SK Fine, a Japan-headquartered provider of ceramic molding parts and ceramics 3D printers. SK Fine was incubated by rotogravure printer services provider Shashin Kagaku and had raised $690,000 from Osaka University Venture Capital in 2018.
M&A
Family communication platform developer Life360 has signed a non-binding term sheet to potentially purchase Jiobit, a US-based location tracking system developer backed by networking technology provider Netgear, for $37m in stock and debt financing. The size of the deal could reach $54.5m depending on post-acquisition performance metrics and it follows more than $10m in funding as of 2018, from Netgear, Math Venture Partners, Techstars Ventures, Wakestream Ventures, Sandalphon Capital, Inflection Equity and Lior Ron.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
