Funding
Eikon Therapeutics, a US-based developer of microscopy drug discovery technology, raised approximately $518m yesterday in a series B round featuring insurance firm Harel Insurance. It was joined by T Rowe Price, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, EcoR1 Capital, UC Investments, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s ADIA subsidiary, StepStone Group, Soros Capital, Schroders Capital, General Catalyst, E15 VC, Hartford HealthCare Endowment, AME Cloud Ventures and existing backers The Column Group, Foresite Capital, Innovation Endeavors, Lux Capital and Horizons Ventures.
Electronics producer Leidos added $5m to US-based radio frequency data provider HawkEye 360’s series D round yesterday, increasing it to $150m. The November 2021 first close was co-led by Insight Partners and Seraphim Space Investment Trust and included construction management and consulting firm Jacobs, Tawazun Holding’s Strategic Development Fund, New Vista Capital, Gula Tech Adventures, 116 Street Ventures, New North Ventures and existing backers Advance, Razor’s Edge, NightDragon, SVB Capital, Shield Capital and Adage Capital.
Telecommunications and internet group Softbank’s Vision Fund II led a $110m series D round for Labelbox, a US-headquartered developer of artificial intelligence training technology, yesterday. Enterprise software producer Databricks Ventures also took part in the round, through corporate venturing arm Databricks Ventures, and it included Snowpoint Ventures, B Capital Group, Andreessen Horowitz and private investor Catherine Wood. Labelbox was valued at almost $1bn in the round, according to Forbes.
Ambagon Therapeutics, a US-based biotech startup using small molecules to unlock disordered protein targets, publicly launched yesterday with $85m in series A funding from investors including Merck and Co’s MRL Ventures Fund and fellow pharmaceutical firm AbbVie’s corporate VC unit, AbbVie Ventures. The round was led by Nextech Invest and also featured Surveyor Capital as well as RA Capital Management, Droia Ventures, Inkef Capital and Mission BioCapital – like MRL Ventures and AbbVie Ventures existing backers.
China-based application management software provider UWinTech has raised RMB180m ($28.2m) in a series C round featuring quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group, DealStreetAsia reported today, citing a company statement. Hedge fund manager Hillhouse Capital’s GL Ventures subsidiary led the round, which was also backed by investment and financial services group Fidelity’s Eight Roads unit.
US-based decentralised credit protocol developer Goldfinch received $25m yesterday from investors including Coinbase Ventures and Ideo CoLab Ventures, on behalf of digital currency exchange Coinbase and design agency Ideo. VC firm Andreessen Horowitz led the round, which also featured Blocktower Capital, Kingsway Capital, Helicap, YC Alumni Fund, MSA Capital, Kindred Ventures, Variant Fund, Stratos Technologies, Mercy Corps Ventures, A Capital, SV Angel, Access Ventures, Divergence Ventures, Defi Alliance, Draft Ventures and various individuals.
US-headquartered blockchain gaming platform developer Nifty Island has secured $20m from investors including quantitative crypto trading firm Alameda Research and Solana Foundation, which oversees the Solana blockchain platform, The Information reported yesterday. It also named Arrington XRP Capital, Hashed and Distributed Global as investors, Nifty Island having announced the funding in October 2021 without naming the participants.
Internet and telecoms group SoftBank led a series C round of undisclosed size for China-based payment and treasury management software provider Sunrate yesterday through its SoftBank Ventures Asia unit. Banyan Pacific Capital and TDF Impact Investment filled out the round with existing backers Redpoint China, Jafco Asia, China Growth Capital and K2VC.
VeriSim Life, a US-based developer of artificial intelligence software designed to reduce risk in drug development, completed a $15m series A round featuring biopharmaceutical group Debiopharm’s Innovation Fund as well as Colorcon Ventures and Intel Capital, on behalf of pharmaceutical product services provider Colorcon and chipmaker Intel respectively. The round was led by Morpheus Ventures and also backed by OCA Ventures, Serra Ventures and Susa Ventures.
Zuddl, a US-based developer of online event management software, received approximately $13.4m yesterday in a series A round featuring Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of mobile semiconductor producer Qualcomm. Alpha Wave Incubation led the round, which included GrowX Ventures, Waveform Ventures and unnamed angel investors. The company had previously raised $2m in seed capital from GrowX Ventures and Y Combinator in October 2020.
Japan-based regenerative medicine developer Cellusion closed a ¥1.1bn ($9.5m) funding round today that included pharmaceutical and medical device wholesaler Toho Holding, packaging manufacturer Toyo Seikan Group Holdings and drug development services provider Gemseki. The round was co-led by banking group Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s SMBC Venture Capital unit, DBJ Capital and Keio Innovation Initiative while University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners also took part.
Symbridge Holdings, the US-headquartered operator of a digital asset exchange, received $9m in funding from investors including metals and commodities trader Traxys North America. The corporate intends to use the deal to diversify into new trading areas.
Financial services firm Credit Suisse’s Next Investors subsidiary led an $8m series A round yesterday for ReadyWorks, the US-based operator of a digital software conductor platform. The cash will be used to boost technology development and its go-to-market activities.
Future Fertility, a Canada-based provider of diagnostic software that informs decision making in in vitro fertilisation, secured an undisclosed amount yesterday in a series A round led by pharmaceutical firm Merck Group’s M Ventures unit. The round also featured VC fund Whitecap Venture Partners.
Meez, the US-headquartered operator of a mobile app where professional chefs can log recipes, has raised $6.5m from investors including casual restaurant operator Aurify Brands, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. The round was led by Struck Capital and also featured Craft Ventures, Relish Works, Food Tech Angels, Branded Strategic Ventures and angel investors such as Bobby Lo and Krystle Mobayeni.
Sarcophagus DAO, the US-based creator of a decentralised dead man’s switch, completed a $5.4m funding round yesterday featuring blockchain technology provider Arweave. It participated alongside Placeholder, Greenfield One, Inflection Ventures, Infinite Ventures, Lattice Ventures, LD Capital, Lo Enterprises, Compound VC, Hinge Capital, Blockchange and undisclosed angel investors.
Drone data technology producer Aerodyne agreed on Wednesday to invest an undisclosed amount in Synapse Innovation, a Malaysia-based developer of machine learning-focused data analytics technology. The corporate will acquire a principal stake in Synapse, a spinout of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, in return for the capital.
Blockchain game publisher Animoca Brands led a $3m funding round on Wednesday for Neptune Mutual, a China-headquartered provider of stablecoin liquidity for cryptocurrency investors. Pacific Century Group, Genesis Block Ventures, Fundamental Labs, GSR Capital and Cambium Grove Capital also participated in the round together with undisclosed additional funds.
Kejora-SBI Orbit, the joint venture formed by financial services provider SBI and investment firm Kejora Capital, supplied $2.5m in seed capital for Indonesia-based point-of-sale technology startup Olsera today. The cash will be allocated to recruitment, technology development and merchant acquisition.
Logistics provider Supack Industries co-led a $2.35m pre-series A round for India-based sustainable product vendor Bambrew yesterday. The round was co-led with Blue Ashva Capital and also featured Mumbai Angels and undisclosed individuals.
E-commerce marketplace IndiaMart InterMesh has provided $2m in series A funding for India-based inventory management software developer EasyEcom, VCCircle reported on Wednesday. The deal gives IndiaMart a 26% stake in the company.
On-demand delivery service Delhivery supplied an undisclosed amount yesterday for Falcon Autotech, an India-based developer of logistics automation software. The companies plan to collaborate on transportation and warehousing automation technology.
Alvin, the Kenya-headquartered creator of a personal finance management app, has secured $740,000 in pre-seed funding from investors including consulting firm Tahseen Consulting, Disrupt Africa reported on Wednesday. VC fund Ingressive Capital led the round, which was also backed by Forum Ventures – which invested $100,000 – Zephyr Acorn, Voltron Capital, Future Africa and angel investors including Shola Akinlade and Tony Nicalo.
M&A
Analytics automation technology provider Alteryx agreed yesterday to buy US-based data management software producer Trifacta for $400m in cash, a deal which will enable corporates Telstra, NTT Docomo, BMW, Google, Infosys, ABN Amro, Deutsche Börse, Ericsson and New York Life to exit. Trifacta had raised a total of $224m as of a $100m funding round in 2019 valuing it below $1bn.
Direct healthcare provider Nomi Health revealed yesterday it has acquired healthcare analytics provider Artemis Health, a US-based healthcare analytics provider backed by media group Hearst. The corporate’s Hearst Health Ventures unit joined investment and financial services group Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital unit, Bessemer Venture Partners, Maverick Ventures and Rose Park Advisors in the company’s $25m series C round in 2019, boosting its overall funding to approximately $51m.
Spatial data technology producer Matterport closed the purchase of Enview, a US-based 3D automation software provider backed by power producer Statkraft, yesterday, for $35.5m in cash and 1.59 million shares (currently valued at approximately $24.8m). Enview had secured a total of $18m as of a $12m round in May 2020 led by BrightCap Ventures that included Statkraft unit Statkraft Ventures, Ahoy Capital, Crosslink Capital and Toivo Annus.
Funds
China-headquartered venture capital firm Ince Capital announced today it has closed $700m in capital across its Ince Capital Partners II and Ince Opportunity Fund, the finance coming from limited partners including managed care consortium Kaiser Permanente. The other LPs named were Duke University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, Dietrich Foundation, Commonfund, Unicorn Capital, Axiom Asia and Siguler Guff.
