Funding
Channel Talk, a South Korea-based customer service platform backed by telecommunications firm KDDI, has raised ¥2.8bn ($25.5m) in series C funding from Pavilion Capital, a subsidiary of Singaporean government-backed Temasek Holdings. The company previously closed a $2.3m in March 2020 backed by Atinum Investment, KB Investment and Laguna Investment. KDDI Open Innovation Fund, formed by telecommunications firm KDDI, and Colopl Next, a vehicle for game publisher Colopl, had injected $3.9m in 2017.
Segari, the Indonesia-based operator of a farm-to-table grocery service, has picked up $16m in series A financing led by Go-Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of ride-hailing company Gojek, DealStreetAsia reported today. Technology and quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group also backed the round, as did retailer Alfamart, food and agriculture conglomerate Gunung Sewu Group and Saison Capital, the investment unit of payment services firm Credit Saison. Beenext and AC Ventures filled out the round, which comes six months after a seed round of undisclosed size led by Beenext and featuring Saison Capital, AC Ventures and private investors.
Borneo, the US-based cybersecurity app formerly known as Securezapp, has secured $15m in a funding round backed by Prosus Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of internet group Prosus, according to DealStreetAsia. Vulcan Capital led the round, while Lytical Capital, Wavemaker Partners and undisclosed others also contributed. Wavemaker previously injected $900,000 in February 2019, before Seeds Capital, the investment unit of state-owned Enterprise Singapore, led a $1.8m round six months later with participation from angel investors.
China-based laser and optoelectronic technology developer Ultron Photonics has attracted $15m in a series A round led by consumer electronics producer Xiaomi’s Shunwei Capital unit, DealStreetAsia reported on Friday. The round also included Qitang Changhou Investment, a fund set up by display control solutions company Chipone Technology and government-owned entity Beijing E-town International Investment & Development. Venture capital firms Sinowisdom and Langcheng Capital also took part in the round. The report identified the latter two as returning investors, and early backers seemingly also included laser machine manufacturer Micromach, Lime Capital, Hangzhou Oushi Investment and CasStar, a vehicle for Chinese Academy of Sciences, although further details could not be ascertained.
Japan-based cooking robot developer TechMagic has received ¥1.5bn ($13.6m) in a series B round from investors including leasing services firm JA Mitsui Leasing, food manufacturer Nisshin Foods Holdings, telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Deepcore unit and financial services firm SBI subsidiary SBI Investment. VC firm Jafco and private investor Tomoyoshi Nishiyama filled out the round, which took its overall funding to ¥2.3bn ($20.9m). TechMagic attracted an undisclosed amount of series A funding in July 2020 from kitchen equipment manufacturer Fujimak, following a seed round also of undisclosed size in September 2019 backed by Jafco.
BP Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of oil and gas company BP, has ploughed €10m ($11.9m) into ThinxNet, a Germany-based provider of in-car digital payments technology called Ryd. The investment forms part of a strategic partnership to deploy Ryd at BP’s petrol stations beginning in the fourth quarter of this year. The company does not appear to have released details about prior funding.
Health and wellness services platform CureFit has contributed to a $10m funding round for SugarFit, an India-based digital health company focused on diabetes, according to Business Standard. The round also attracted Endiya Partners and Tanglin Venture Partners.
Japan-based headset hardware and software provider Bonx has secured ¥700m ($6.4m) in series D funding from property developer Mori Trust as well as Globis Capital Partners and JR East Start Up, respective corporate venturing subsidiaries of education services provider Globis and rail operator JR East. Bonx previously closed a ¥310m ($2.9m) series C round in April 2020 featuring IT services firm TIS, electronics manufacturer Kaga, trading group Kanematsu, Keio Innovation Initiative (KII), Innovation Engine and Hack Ventures. The company had previously raised $10m across three rounds between 2017 and July 2018, from Kaga, KII, adtech provider Adways, office equipment manufacturer Ricoh, acoustics technology producer Rion, Sansei Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Edge Labs and INCJ’s IP Bridge unit.
Unleash Live, an Australia-based artificial intelligence-powered video analytics platform, has procured A$8m ($6m) in a series A round led by human resources technology supplier SafetyCulture. Angel investor Roger Allen was also a participant in the round. Smarter Capital had contributed to a $3.5m round together with angel investors in December 2018, with that transaction having also been dubbed a series A.
Bloomberg Beta, the venture capital firm sponsored by media group Bloomberg, has contributed to a $6m series A round for US-based podcast platform RedCircle. The round was co-led by Epic Ventures and Refinery Ventures, and also attracted SignalFire, MathCapital and angel investors. Bloomberg Beta had led a $1.5m seed round in October 2018.
Singapore-based cloud communications provider Toku has obtained $5m in a series A round led by DX Ventures, the investment arm of food delivery service Delivery Hero, according to DealStreetAsia. The round also attracted Tembusu Partners and Neptune Invest Asia.
United Immunity, a Japan-based nanoparticle immunity delivery system spun out of Kyoto University and Mie University, has raised ¥500m ($4.5m) in series B funding from chemicals trading group Kisco and University of Tokyo’s Edge Capital Partners unit. Axil Capital injected $670,000 in December 2020, having already joined Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ, to back a June 2019 round of undisclosed size.
Singapore-based digital assets manager Cabital has picked up $4m in a seed round co-led by technology and quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group, Dragonfly Capital and GSR Ventures. Cabital previously raised $3m in angel funding, according to FinSMEs, but further details could not be ascertained.
Tickitto, a UK-based business-to-business marketplace for ticketed events, has procured $4.5m in a seed round led by Vorwerk Ventures, the corporate venturing division of conglomerate Vorwerk, with participation from TriplePoint, SeedCamp, angel investors and unnamed others. SeedCamp had led a $700,000 pre-seed round in June 2020.
Geniemode, an India-based cross-border sourcing and supply chain technology developer, has raised a $2.3m seed round co-led by Info Edge Ventures, the investment arm of internet company Info Edge, and Temasek, according to Business Standard. The round also featured assorted angel investors.
Troopers, a Malaysia-based part-time employment management platform, received MYR4m ($950,000) in funding from marketing services provider Shopper360 at the end of last month, according to Tech in Asia. Troopers will use the cash to support technology development and marketing activities, and to further grow its reach across Malaysia.
UK-based peer-to-peer lending platform Plend secured £700,000 ($970,000) in pre-seed funding from investors including NBS Ventures, the investment arm of building society Nationwide, according to Sifted. Tomahawk VC led the round, while Ascension, Haatch and chairman Luke Lang also took part in the round.
Indonesia-based audio content platform Noice has locked down a seven-figure pre-series A round co-led by ride-hailing company Gojek’s Go-Ventures unit and Alpha JWC Ventures, according to Tech in Asia. Kinesys Group and Kenangan Fund also joined the round.
Frozen side dish manufacturer Yamadai Food has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire a stake in Quali, the Japan-based operator of banana drink store chain Banana Juice Tokyo.
M&A
Frozen food group Nichirei Corporation has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire Me:New, a Japan-based operator of automated menu creation app Conomeal Kitchen, providing exits to electric utility Tepco Energy Partner subsidiary Tepco Frontier Partners and video rental group Culture Convenience Club’s CCC Marketing unit. The company had also received backing from financial services firm Tomato Bank, which supplied an undisclosed amount in May 2018. Tepco injected an undisclosed sum in December 2018, joining CCC for a round also of undisclosed size in July 2019.
