Funding
Self Financial, the US-based operator of an online savings and credit building platform, raised $50m in series E funding yesterday from investors including Conductive Ventures, the venture capital firm backed by electronics manufacturer Panasonic. The round was led by VC firm Altos Ventures and also backed by Meritech Capital, and it boosted the company’s overall funding to $127m. Conductive Ventures, Meritech Capital and Altos Ventures had joined Silverton Partners in Self’s $40m series D round in December 2020.
Sweden-based electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Volta Trucks closed a €37m ($43.6m) series B round yesterday featuring electric bus producer Proterra and supply chain services firm Agility. Hedge fund manager Luxor Capital Group led the round, which included real estate holding company Byggmästare Anders J Ahlström and which followed a $20m convertible note round led by Luxor Capital in January this year. Byggmästare Anders J Ahlström had supplied Volta with seed funding before returning for a series A round, the company said this week.
Open Mineral, the Switzerland-headquartered operator of an online trading platform for minerals, secured $33m in series C funding yesterday from investors including Statkraft Ventures, the corporate VC arm of power producer Statkraft. The round was led by the Abu Dhabi-owned Mubadala Investment Company and also featured Xploration Capital, Lingfeng Capital and Emerald Technology Ventures. The company had received $5.5m in a 2018 series B round backed by mining company Goldcorp, Emerald Technology Ventures and Xploration Capital, following $2.3m in a Goldcorp-backed round earlier that year.
Upstage, a South Korea-based developer of enterprise artificial intelligence technology, raised KRW31.6bn ($27m) on Wednesday in a series A round featuring telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, which invested through SoftBank Ventures Asia, Pulse News reported. Company K Partners, TBT Premier and Stonebridge Ventures also contributed to the round.
Nigeria-based genomics technology developer 54gene received $25m yesterday in a series B round backed by Plexo Capital, an investment vehicle spun off by internet and technology group Alphabet. Investment firm Cathay Capital led the round through its Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund and it also featured Adjuvant Capital, KdT Ventures, Endeavor Capital and Ingressive Capital. The company raised $4.5m in a July 2019 seed round featuring Y Combinator, Fifty Years, Better Ventures, KdT Ventures, Hack VC and Techammer before adding $15m in an Adjuvant Capital-led series A round in April 2020.
Nekuino, the Japan-based remote consultation service also known as Next Innovation, boosted its series B round to ¥2.75bn ($25m) on Wednesday with funding from petroleum and metals provider Eneos Holdings. The round stood at $20.4m as of June this year when mobile game publisher Akatsuki’s Heart Driven Fund invested an undisclosed amount. It has now raised approximately $32m in total and its earlier investors included online data portal All About, insurance provider Nippon Life, mobile game developer KLab and payment services firm Credit Saison.
Growthwell Foods, a Singapore-based developer of plant-based seafood products, has secured $22m in a series A round that included Iris Fund, a joint venture for conglomerate Hanwha and VC firm Iris Capital, AgFunder News reported yesterday. Investment firm Creadev led the round, which was also backed by GGV Capital, DSG Consumer Partners and Temasek, the last two of which had taken part in an $8m round for Growthwell in April 2020.
Japan-based customer engagement software provider Commmune raised ¥1.93bn ($17.6m) on Wednesday from UB Ventures and Z Venture Capital, corporate VC vehicles for business intelligence provider Uzabase and internet group Z Holdings respectively, as well as VC firms DNX Ventures and Jafco Group. The round followed $460,000 from UB Ventures in mid-2019 and $4.3m in series A funding from UB Ventures and DNX Ventures in September 2020.
US-based data-centre architecture developer GigaIO closed a $14.7m series B round yesterday that included semiconductor producer SK Hynix. The round was led by Impact Venture Capital and also featured Mark IV Capital, Lagomaj Capital and Four Palms Ventures, Mark IV having previously led the company’s $4.5m series A round in 2018.
Japan-based virtual space provider oVice completed the ¥1.4bn ($12.8m) first tranche on Wednesday of a series A round expected to reach ¥1.8bn. The tranche was led by investment and financial services firm Fidelity’s Eight Roads Ventures Japan fund and backed by internet company Digital Garage’s DG Incubation unit, Jafco, One Capital and Miraise. The company had raised $960,000 in seed capital from One Capital and Miraise in December 2020, and they joined DG Ventures for a $1.4m pre-series A round in May this year.
SCB Abacus, the digital lending platform spun off by Thailand-based financial services firm Siam Commercial Bank, has secured $12m in a series A round led by VC firm Openspace Ventures, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday, citing a company announcement. Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and CAI Partners also contributed to the round, and the company aims to close a series B by the end of 2022.
Ophthalmology-focused pharmaceutical company Théa agreed yesterday to provide €10m ($11.8m) in equity funding for Coave Therapeutics, a France-based developer of treatments for ocular and central nervous system disorders. The investment was made through a licensing, co-development and commercialisation agreement and it came two months after Coave increased a series B round featuring Théa’s Open Innovation unit and Sham Innovation Santé – part of mutual insurer Sham – as well as Seroba Life Sciences, EureKare, Fund+, Omnes Capital, V-Bio Ventures, Kurma Partners, Idinvest and Go Capital to $39m, following $4.9m in earlier funding.
Floating Point Group, a US-based developer of cryptocurrency software, disclosed on Wednesday it had recently raised $10m in series A funding from investors including Coinbase Ventures, the corporate VC arm of digital currency exchange Coinbase. The round also featured Tribe Capital, Borderless Capital, CapitalX, Formulate Ventures, Gettlylab’s Fast platform and angel investors including Anthony Scaramucci. Floating Point received $2m in seed funding from professional services firm Seabury Group’s Seabury Global Markets subsidiary, BoxOne Ventures, PIF.vc and various angel investors in May 2020.
UK-headquartered cryptocurrency regulation technology developer Coinfirm completed an $8m series A round yesterday co-led by Six Fintech Ventures, the strategic investment arm of financial markets technology provider Six Group. The round was co-led with FiveT Fintech and included MiddleGame Ventures, Mission Gate and CoinShares. The company’s earlier backers include Alfabeat, Gauss Ventures and G1 Ventures.
Foxquilt, a Canada-based provider of customised insurance products for small businesses, secured $8m from investors including small business insurance provider AmTrust Financial yesterday. VC fund Luge Capital led the round, which also featured Extreme Venture Partners and Side Door Ventures. It came after Extreme Venture Partners led a $920,000 seed round for the company in 2018, before unnamed investors supplied a further $2.6m in seed capital in July 2020.
PetFriendly, the US-based operator of a subscription service for flea and tick protection products, raised $6m on Wednesday in a seed round featuring Emil Capital Partners, the US investment affiliate of retailer Tengelmann. The round was led by an affiliate of private equity firm McCarthy Capital and backed by Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and Invest Nebraska.
Binance Labs, a subsidiary of cryptocurrency exchange operator Binance, has co-led a $6m series A round for LayerZero, a US-based developer of blockchain interoperability technology, Blockworks reported yesterday. Multicoin Capital co-led the round, which included Sino Global Capital, Defiance, Delphi Digital, Robot Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, Spartan, Protocol Ventures and Gen Block Capital. The company said it had previously raised $2m in seed funding.
OnLoop, the Singapore-based creator of a workplace review software platform, has secured $5.5m in a funding round co-led by insurance firm Massachusetts Mutual’s corporate venturing arm, MassMutual Ventures, The Business Times reported yesterday. VC firm Square Peg Capital led the round, which also featured Hustle Fund, XA Network and angel investors including Aliza Knox, Andrew Macdonald and Bambos Kaisharis.
Japan-based drone developer WorldLink & Company received ¥560m ($5.1m) on Wednesday from investors including autonomous robotics technology provider Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory (ACSL)’s ACSL1 fund. The round was led by asset manager Sparx Group’s Mirai Creation Fund 2 and backed by Digital Transformation Fund, a vehicle for financial services group Bank of Saga and its Sagin Capital & Consulting unit.
Japan-based wellness media and brand provider Tential raised ¥500m ($4.6m) on Wednesday from MTG Ventures, a subsidiary of brand developer MTG, as well as mobile game publisher Akatsuki, payment services firm Credit Saison (through Saison Ventures), accounting software provider Money Forward (through Money Forward Venture Partners), textile trader Toyoshima’s corporate VC fund and Nanto CVC Fund 2, part of financial services group Nanto Bank. The company has now received a total of $10m in equity and debt financing, including an undisclosed amount from MTG Ventures, Saison Ventures, Akatsuki and Yoshihito Nishioka in July 2020.
Ijigen Group, the Japan-based digitalisation technology developer formerly known as Local Group, secured an undisclosed amount on Wednesday from Asahi Medialab Ventures and Dogan Beta – on behalf of newspaper publisher Asahi Shimbun and investment and consulting services firm Dogan – VC firm Future Venture Capital and Howa Bank, which supplied debt financing. Ijigen raised $2.3m from SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services firm SBI, in July 2019 to take its total funding to about $3.9m, adding an undisclosed sum from Saison Ventures, a vehicle for payment services firm Credit Saison, two months later.
Algo Arts, a Japan-based provider of artificial intelligence algorithm technology and consulting services, closed a ¥428m ($3.9m) series A round in July this year led by University of Tokyo’s Edge Capital Partners unit and backed by internet company DeNA, it disclosed on Wednesday. The company, a spinout from University of Tokyo, intends to raise additional cash for the round later this month.
NEC Capital Solutions, a subsidiary of IT services provider NEC, invested an undisclosed amount in Japan-based disaster prevention technology developer Spectee yesterday through its CVF vehicle. Spectee had raised funding from energy utility Chugoku Electric Power earlier this month, two years after receiving a similarly undisclosed sum from electronics producer Sony’s Business Solutions subsidiary. It had previously raised over $2.3m from investors including corporates Fuji TV, CBC, Yahoo Japan, Fuji Sankei, Kyodo News Images and Mizuho Bank.
Japan-based virus detection kit developer Mican Technologies raised ¥189m ($1.7m) today from investors including education services provider Globis, which took part in the round through its Alumni Growth Investment (G-Growth) fund. It also featured Real Tech Holdings, 360IP Japan as well as financial services firm Kobe Shinkin Bank’s Kobe Shinkin Step-Up Fund and Kyoto City’s Startup Support Fund, both of which are co-run by VC firm Future Venture Capital.
Life sciences and technology investment firm NetScientific agreed yesterday to provide £1m ($1.4m) for Martlet, the corporate venturing arm of UK-headquartered aerospace manufacturer Marshall of Cambridge. The investment is envisaged as the first part of an overall commitment of £12m.
Enabler, a Japan-based developer of satellite and mobile network technology, received an undisclosed amount of funding from construction and civil engineering firm Toda Corporation today. The company’s technology combines satellite positioning and mobile communication technology and is being developed for use in areas such as transport and robotics.
Eneos Innovation Partners, a vehicle for petroleum producer Eneos, invested $910,000 to lead a ¥126m ($1.1m) funding round today for Sound Power Generation, a Japan-based developer of wave power generation technology. Renewable energy maintenance provider Green Power Development Corporation of Japan and incubator and investment firm Edge Labs also took part in the round.
Japan-based beauty salon sharing service Reco raised tens of millions of yen (¥10m = $92,000) in seed funding on Wednesday from investors including TechAt, the operator of direct-to-consumer cosmetics retailer NewMe. The corporate was joined by multiple unnamed angel investors.
M&A
Postal service Swiss Post paid an undisclosed amount on Wednesday to increase its share of Switzerland-based e-commerce app developer Bring Labs to a majority stake. Bring had raised a total of $7.8m as of a $4.1m series B round in May 2020 featuring Swiss Post subsidiary Swiss Post Ventures as well as G+J Digital Ventures and Swisscom Ventures, respective subsidiaries of publisher Gruner + Jahr and telecoms firm Swisscom. Its other backers included Swiss Founders Fund, Investiere and individuals including Dominique Locher.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
