Funding
Blaize, a US-based developer of edge artificial intelligence technology, completed a $71m series D round yesterday co-led by Franklin Templeton and Temasek that included automotive component manufacturer Denso. Formerly known as ThinCI, the company had raised an undisclosed amount from Denso, peer Magna International and unnamed individuals in 2016, before Denso and its NSitexe subsidiary joined Temasek, carmaker Daimler, an undisclosed electronics producer, Mirai Creation Fund, GGV Capital, Wavemaker Partners and SG Innovate in a $65m series C round two years later.
Aristea Therapeutics, a US-based developer of treatments for inflammatory orphan diseases, secured $63m yesterday in a series B round featuring pharmaceutical firms Novo and Arena Pharmaceuticals. Investment and financial services group Fidelity led the round, which included funds managed by Tekla Capital Management and which came after the company received $15m in series A funding from Novo in 2018.
Eco, a US-based crypto wallet developer backed by digital currency exchange Coinbase, is raising $60m in a funding round co-led by Activant Capital and L Catterton that included Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z Crypto fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LionTree Partners, Valor Equity Partners and undisclosed others, it revealed yesterday. Coinbase subsidiary Coinbase Ventures took part in a $26m round for Eco in March this year led by a16z Crypto and backed by Activant Capital, Founders Fund, Slow Ventures, Tribe Capital and Valor Capital Group.
Colvin, a Spain-based online florist backed by media group Mediaset, has received €45m ($53.1m) in a series C round led by investment firm Eurazeo that included VC firm Capagro, TechCrunch reported today. The company had secured $15.7m from Milano Investment Partners, P101 and Samaipata Ventures in June 2020 to boost its overall funding to near $29m, P101 and Samaipata having joined Mediaset subsidiary Mediaset Spain, Javier Etxebeste and Hugo Arévalo in a $6.9m round in 2018.
Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC has led a $53m primary and secondary funding round for Ixigo, the India-based operator of an online travel booking platform, that included classified listing operator Info Edge’s investment arm, Info Edge Ventures, as well as White Oak, Bay Capital, Orios VenturePartners, Trifecta Capital and Malabar Investments, the Economic Times reported yesterday. The primary portion was sized at $36m and followed $15m in series B funding from Fosun Kinzon Capital, a VC firm backed by conglomerate Fosun, and Sequoia Capital in 2017, and an undisclosed sum from electronics producer Micromax Informatics in 2018. Ixigo had received an undisclosed amounts from BAF Spectrum in 2008 and Micromax in 2015, and $10m from Sequoia Capital India in 2016.
Replicated, the US-based developer of a container platform for software deployment, completed a $50m series C round yesterday led by Blue Owl Capital’s Owl Rock division and backed by Lead Edge Capital, Headline, Two Sigma Ventures, Amplify Partners, BoldStart Ventures, Ridgeline Partners and Heavybit. The company had raised $25m in an October 2020 series B round featuring Plexo, a fund spun off by internet technology group Alphabet, and backed by Two Sigma Ventures, Amplify Partners, BoldStart, Heavybit, Ridgeline, Mucker Capital and Preston-Werner Ventures to take its total funding to $31.5m.
Joyo Pharma, a China-based proof-of-concept drug developer backed by pharmaceutical chemical manufacturer Cisen Pharmaceutical, has raised over $46m in a series B round co-led by Sequoia Capital China and SDIC Venture Capital, DealStreetAsia reported, citing a company announcement today. LC Ventures and R Fund also contributed to the round, and DealStreetAsia named Yuexiu Industrial Fund, Oriasset Investment Management and Shanghai Lianhe Investment as earlier investors along with Cisen.
UK-headquartered flowery delivery service Bloom & Wild received £30m ($41.7m) in equity funding from investors including media group Hubert Burda’s Burda Principal Investments unit, General Catalyst, Index Ventures and MMC Ventures today along with $27.8m in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank and Barclays. The company had raised $102m in series D funding from Burda Principal Investments, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Novator, Latitude Ventures and D4 Ventures in January this year to take its total funding past $130m.
Japan-based website translation service Wovn Technologies secured ¥3.6bn ($32.7m) today from investors including printing services firm Toppan. The round was led by growth equity firm Tybourne Capital Management and included banking firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s SMBC Venture Capital subsidiary, financial services and investment group Fidelity’s Eight Roads Ventures Japan unit, Incubate Fund, MPower Partners Fund and an unnamed asset manager. Wovn’s total funding stands at almost $50m, including $13m in a mid-2019 round.
Life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities took part in a $25m series A1 round for IgGenix, the US-headquartered developer of an antibody-based approach to food allergies, yesterday through VC arm Alexandria Venture Investments. The round was co-led by Khosla Ventures and angel investor Matthias Westman with backing from ShangBay Capital and AllerFund. The company had previously closed a $10m series A round in August 2020 led by Khosla Ventures and backed by Parker Ventures.
US-based data management software provider Spectro Cloud closed a $20m series A round yesterday featuring telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile subsidiary, which invested through its T-Mobile Ventures unit. The round was led by growth equity firm Stripes and included Alter Venture Partners, Sierra Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, WestWave Capital and Firebolt Ventures, all four of which took part in Spectro’s $7.5m seed round in March 2020.
Rodo, the US-based creator of an instant quote software tool for the automotive industry, completed an $18m series B round yesterday co-led by car dealership group Holman Enterprises. Investment firm Evolution VC Partners co-led the round, which also featured internet holding company InterActiveCorp (IAC), HartBeat Ventures and private investors Mack McLarty, Franklin McLarty and Ken Schnitzer. The company had secured $3.6m in seed financing from and Lead Edge Capital in 2017 and an amount indicated by a securities filing to be $23.2m from IAC the following year.
ImiDomics, a US-headquartered developer of treatments for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, closed a $16.5m series A round yesterday that included pharmaceutical firm Bristol Myers Squibb. The round was led by family office DNS Capital and also featured The Pritzker Organization and Tao Capital, and it comes after the company relocated to the US earlier this year having been incubated within Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, Spain.
Argentina-based cryptocurrency exchange operator Lemon Cash has received $16.3m in series A funding from investors including digital currency exchange Coinbase’s corporate VC arm, Coinbase Ventures, Coindesk reported yesterday. Kingsway Capital led the round, which also featured banking holding company Grupo Supervielle, Draper Associates, Valor Capital, Cadenza Capital Management and Draper Cygnus. The company had raised $1.1m in seed funding from Draper University, Draper Cygnus, Silent Unicorn and Amagis Capital across 2020, according to Coindesk.
Telecoms and internet group SoftBank has led a $15m series B round for China-based enterprise chatbot developer Tanma through its SoftBank Ventures Asia subsidiary, EqualOcean reported yesterday. The round included Shunwei Capital and it came after Tanma secured an eight-figure yuan amount (RMB10m = $1.6m) in May this year from Legend Capital, the VC firm spun off by conglomerate Legend Capital, as well as Blue Lake Capital and K2VC.
Brazil-based open finance platform developer Celcoin has raised R$55m ($10.8m) in a funding round led by Torq Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of financial software provider Sinqia, Startupi has reported. Financial services firm BTG Pactual’s BoostLab vehicle also took part in the round, as did Vox Capital, which had supplied $1.5m for Celcoin in May 2019 before leading a $4.6m round in October 2020 also backed by BoostLab.
Neuro42, a US-based developer of robotic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, completed a $6.5m series A round yesterday led by Zepp Health, the health technology provider formerly known as Huami. The round also featured ShangBay Capital and angel investors Krishna R. Bhupal and Philip Dolan, and Neuro42 said it followed a $1.3m seed round closed in 2020.
Internet technology provider Google’s Gradient Ventures fund led a $3.8m seed round yesterday for Norby, the US-based creator of a marketing software platform designed for creators. Bungalow Capital, BBG Ventures, Charge VC and Notation also contributed to the round, which will support the further development of Norby’s software platform.
M&A
Medical technology producer BD purchased Tepha, the US-based developer of a resorbable polymer for tissue repair, yesterday in a deal of undisclosed size allowing pharmaceutical firm Novartis to exit. Tepha had raised just over $50m between 2003 and 2012 according to press releases and securities filings, including $4.3m in a 2004 round led by The Vertical Group and backed by Novartis subsidiary Novartis Venture Fund and Integra Ventures, and all three joined Westfield Life Sciences Fund in a $10.7m round in 2007.
Versaterm Public Safety, a provider of software for the emergency services, has acquired Spidr Tech, a US-based developer of automated customer service software for public safety agencies, for an undisclosed amount, enabling internet and technology group Alphabet to exit. Alphabet subsidiary Sidewalk Labs joined Birchmere Ventures, Stage Ventures, Kairos Association, Heartland Ventures and No Name Ventures in a $2.5m round for Spidr in 2018, following $3.4m in equity funding in 2017 and preceding $650,000 in debt financing in 2019.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
