Funding
Credit Sesame, a US-based financial advice provider backed by cybersecurity software producer Symantec and financial services firm Capital One, secured $51m from investors including Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, Menlo Ventures, ATW Partners, Globespan Capital, IA Capital Group and Inventus Capital. It had received $43m in equity and debt financing from ATW Partners and unnamed existing investors in 2019 to take its total financing to $110m. Its earlier backers included Menlo Ventures, Inventus Capital, Globespan Capital, IA Capital, SF Capital and Syncora Alternative Investments.
China-based small molecule drug developer Genhouse Pharmaceutical has raised more than $31m in series A funding from investors including Legend Star, a corporate venture capital subsidiary of conglomerate Legend Holdings, DealStreetAsia reported today. The round was led by Shenzhen Capital Group and also featured Viva Biotech, IN Capital and existing backer Sharewin Capital, and DealStreetAsia reported that its earlier investors also include Dynamic Capital, Topping Capital, Kefa Capital and Hengbo Tongzhou Venture Capital.
Chemical producer Koch Industries led a $31m series A round for Croatia-based robotics and artificial intelligence technology developer Gideon Brothers today through its Koch Disruptive Technologies unit. The round included Prologis Ventures, a vehicle for warehouse operator Prologis, as well as rail operator Deutsche Bahn’s DB Schenker subsidiary, dock equipment maker Rite-Hite and existing backers including Pentland Ventures, Peaksjah, HCVC and various angel investors. It had raised $756,000 from various individuals in 2018 and $3m from Pentland Ventures, NJF Capital, Linic, HCVC and assorted private investors in a second seed round in October 2019.
France-based quantum processor developer Pasqal received €25m ($30.4m) yesterday in a series A round that included oil and gas producer Eni Group’s investment arm, Eni Next. The round was co-led by Quantonation and the BPIfrance-managed Defense Innovation Fund and also backed by Runa Capital, Daphni and European Innovation Council Fund. The cash will support product development and international growth.
US-headquartered blockchain infrastructure platform developer Blockdaemon completed a $28m series A round yesterday featuring crypto brokerage Voyager Digital, crypto trading platform Uphold and Blockchain.com Ventures, which is sponsored by crypto exchange operator Blockchain.com. It was led by Greenspring Associates and included Goldman Sachs, BlockFi, Warburg Serres, Uphold, Illuminate Financial, Hard Yaka, Boldstart Ventures, Coinfund, Kenetic, CoinShares, Borderless Capital, Lerer Hippeau and Heavybit. The company had raised $5.5m from Blockchain.com, HashKey, CoinShares and Fenbushi Capital in May 2020 following an undisclosed sum from mass media group Comcast’s investment arm, Comcast Ventures, in April 2019.
Investment firm QVIDTVM led a $25m funding round for Nexxiot, a Switzerland-based supply chain technology provider backed by insurance firm Die Mobiliar Versicherungen and financial services provider Credit Suisse, yesterday. Investment firm DiaMedCare had provided $35.2m for the company in May 2019, following $14.7m in series B-1 funding from Credit Suisse’s SVC unit and existing investor Die Mobiliar four months earlier.
TailorMed Medical, a US-based developer of financial navigation technology for medical patients, raised $20m on Monday in a round led by healthcare provider Providence St Joseph Health’s Providence Ventures unit. It included UnityPoint Health Ventures, which invested on behalf of care provider UnityPoint Health, as well as Almeda Ventures, Bridges Israel, Discount Capital, Accelmed, Sanara Ventures and Triventures. The company had secured $6m in a March 2019 round led by Triventures and backed by Sanara Ventures that took its total funding to $8m, and it also identified Accelmed as an existing investor.
Super Studio, the Japan-based operator of an e-commerce support platform, received ¥1.8bn ($16.5m) today from mobile game publisher Akatsuki’s Heart Driven Fund and financial services firms Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – through Mizuho Capital and SMBC Venture Capital respectively – in addition to All Star SaaS Fund and Pavilion Capital. It had previously secured an undisclosed amount from Pola Orbis Capital, a subsidiary of cosmetics producer Pola Orbis Holdings, in March 2020.
Cancer diagnostics technology provider Epredia has led the €12.6m ($15.4m) first close of a series B round for Finland-based intelligent pathology technology developer Aiforia with a €25m target for its close. The tranche included Aktia Nordic Micro Cap and undisclosed existing investors and came after Aiforia (then known as Fimmic) raised $1.7m from investors including Tekes and private investors Marten Mickos and Jukka Tapaninen in 2015, and $5.9m in series A funding from Ascend Capital Partners, Acme Investments and STO-Rahoitus two years later.
France-based quantum processor developer C12 Quantum Electronics completed a $10m seed round yesterday that included Airbus Ventures, the strategic investment arm of aerospace manufacturer Airbus. The round also featured BNP Paribas Développement, a vehicle for financial services firm BNP Paribas, as well as 360 Capital, BPIfrance’s Digital Venture Fund and angel investor Octave Klaba.
Lumenaza, a France-based energy management software provider backed by energy utilities EnBW and Eon, secured €6.5m ($7.9m) yesterday in a series B round led by First Imagine that also featured New Kraftwerk Technology, Future Energy Ventures and IBB Ventures. It came after Eon led a $2.9m round for the company in 2018 that included EnBW subsidiary EnBW New Ventures and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft, the two investors that had combined to invest an undisclosed amount in the company two years earlier.
Financial services firm Citigroup has co-led a $6m series A round for Singapore-based digital bond exchange operator BondEValue with MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia, a corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance firm MassMutual, DealStreetAsia reported today. Diversified digital media group Potato Productions and family office Octava took part in the round as existing investors according to DealStreetAsia, and the company has now raised $10m in total.
Certificial, a US-based developer of certificate of insurance (COI) issuance and compliance management software, closed a $5.8m series A round yesterday that included financial services firm Nationwide. The round was led by fintech investment firm IA Capital and also backed by Cofounders Capital, Fin VC and Cameron Ventures.
Indonesia-based financial wellness platform developer Wagely received $5.6m from investors including diversified holding group Triputra Investindo Arya today. VC firm Integra Partners led the round, which also featured Asian Development Bank’s ADB Ventures vehicle, Global Founders Capital, Trihill Capital, 1982 Ventures and private investor Willy Suwandi Dharma.
Info Edge Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of classified listings operator Info Edge, has co-led a $5m series A round for India-based telemedicine platform developer Truemeds with Asha Impact and Indian Angel Network Fund, Entrepreneur India reported on Monday. Info Edge Ventures had reportedly paid approximately $490,000 for a 17.8% stake in the company in May 2020.
US-based men’s grooming brand Faculty has secured $3m in a seed round led by cosmetics producer Esteé Lauder, Hypebeast has reported. The corporate was joined in the round by actress Maisie Williams and rapper Iann Dior, and the cash will be used to expand the size of the company’s product range.
Razorsecure, the UK-based creator of a cybersecurity software platform tailored for the rail industry, has raised £2m ($2.8m) from port operator Mainport’s Innovation Fund II and Breed Reply, a subsidiary of internet-of-things technology provider Reply, as well as Wentworth and Enterprise M3 Growth Fund. The company had received a total of $5.2m as of a $3.4m round in January 2020 featuring Mainport Innovation Fund II, Wentworth and existing investor Breed Reply.
Sivira, the Japan-based creator of a blockchain-enhanced identity verification tool, closed a ¥300m ($2.7m) pre-series A round today featuring marketing firms Ceres and Dentsu in addition to Airu, a provider of business process automation technology. The company had previously received $920,000 from Airu, Ceres and IT services provider Nextware in 2017.
Stemly, a Singapore-based supply chain software developer spun off by financial services firm ING’s Singapore Innovation Lab, announced $2.5m in funding from investors including the bank’s ING Ventures subsidiary yesterday. The round included Elev8 and the Singapore Economic Development Board’s New Ventures vehicle in addition to undisclosed others.
India-headquartered mobile commerce platform developer QuickSell received $2m in pre-series A funding today from Info Edge Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle run by classified listings operator Info Edge, and VC firm Beenext. The cash has been earmarked for product development and increasing headcount.
Mobile game publisher Phoenix Games invested an undisclosed amount in UK-based mobile game studio Midoki yesterday through a deal that gave it the rights to a Midoki role-playing game called Knighthood. Phoenix will also allow the company to access tools to help it strengthen its user acquisition, monetisation and live operation capabilities.
Japan-based pet insurance provider Anipos secured ¥110m ($1m) today in a pre-series A round featuring education services provider Globis, internet group Digital Garage’s DG Ventures unit and Monex Ventures, a subsidiary of currency exchange operator Monex, as well as financial services firm Hiroshima Bank and Yamaguchi Financial Group, through Hiroshima Venture Capital and Yamaguchi Capital respectively. The round included unnamed individuals and came after an undisclosed amount of seed funding from DG Ventures, Hiroshima Venture Capital and angel investor Kensuke Naitō in March 2020.
Public relations firm Vector participated in a ¥80m ($730,000) funding round today for Alliance Cloud, the Japan-based developer of a software platform that helps sales staff acquire better leads. The corporate invested alongside undisclosed others.
Supply chain services firm Qima has led a £300,000 ($420,000) pre-seed round for Kavida.ai, a UK-headquartered developer of digital supply chain technology, BDaily reported on Monday. Supply chain manager PDS Multinational Group also participated in the round, as did angel investors Sri Sharma, Pradeep Menon and Rohan Haldea.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
