Funding
UK-based sales enablement software provider Highspot completed a $248m series F round yesterday featuring Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of enterprise software producer Salesforce. The round was co-led by B Capital Group and D1 Capital Partners and included Iconiq Growth, Madrona Venture Group, Sapphire and Tiger Global Management. It increased Highspot’s valuation from $2.3bn in its $200m series E round in February 2021 to $3.5bn post-money.
Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank has invested $146m in Qraft Technologies, a South Korea-headquartered developer of artificial intelligence-based asset management technology, providing both primary and secondary funding. The capital will support expansion in China and the United States as Qraft prepares to open offices in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong.
UK-headquartered sales intelligence provider Cognism raised $87.5m yesterday in a series C round that included investors Axa Venture Partners and Swisscom Ventures, which represented insurance firm Axa and telecommunications firm Swisscom respectively. The round was led by hedge fund manager Viking Global Investors and also backed by Blue Cloud Ventures and Volution.
US-based healthcare access intelligence provider DexCare secured $50m in series B funding yesterday from investors including healthcare providers Mass General Brigham, Kaiser Permanente and Providence Health, the last two through Kaiser Permanente Ventures and Providence Ventures. Growth equity fund Transformation Capital led the round, which was also backed by Define Ventures, Frist Cressey Ventures and SpringRock Ventures.
Brazil-based daily fantasy sports operator Rei do Pitaco received $32m yesterday in a series A round featuring media company Grupo Globo’s corporate venturing unit, Globo Ventures. The round was led by D1 Capital Partners and included Kaszek, Bullpen Capital, Left Lane Capital, Tom Stafford and Nick Brito – both partners at investment firm DST Global. It reportedly followed a $6m seed round in May 2021.
Diversified conglomerate Hanwha took part in a $30m series B round for Virnect, a South Korea-based developer of extended reality technology for use in the industrial sphere, on Wednesday. KB Financial Group’s KB Investment subsidiary also contributed to the round, as did KTB Network, KDB Investment Bank, Stic Ventures and Lotte Ventures.
WorkStep, the US-based creator of a software platform which helps hire and retain frontline, secured $25m yesterday in a series B round backed by Prologis Ventures, the strategic investment arm of warehouse operator Prologis. Investment firm NewRoad Capital Partners led the round, which included FirstMark Capital, Social Capital, Quiet Capital, Latitude Ventures and Engage VC, boosting the company’s overall funding to $42m.
Conduit, the remote-based creator of a decentralised finance app, received $17m in funding yesterday from investors including internet technology provider Google’s artificial intelligence fund, Gradient Ventures, as well as Jump Crypto, a subsidiary of proprietary trading firm Jump Trading Group. The round was led by Portage Ventures and also backed by Diagram Ventures, FinVC, Gemini Frontier Fund, Core Innovation Capital, Inovia Capital, Gaingels, Discovery Ventures and individuals including Mark Britto, Gary Marino, Asiff Hirji, Simon Taylor, Nik Milanović and Rex Salisbury.
Aulisa Medical USA, the US-based developer of a wearable monitor for vital signs, completed a $13m series A round yesterday. The investors were not disclosed but the company is a spinoff of Taiwan-headquartered medical technology producer Taiwan Aulisa Medical Devices Technologies.
Seashell, the US-based creator of a high-yield finance app, emerged from stealth yesterday with $6m in seed capital from investors including cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s venture capital vehicle, Coinbase Ventures. The round was co-led by Khosla Ventures and Kindred Ventures and it also featured angel investors Mark Cuban, Vlad Tenev and Elad Gil.
Automotive manufacturer BMW led a $4.7m seed round for HeyCharge, a Germany-based provider of electric vehicle charging systems, through strategic investment subsidiary BMW i Ventures on Wednesday. Statkraft Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of power producer Statkraft, also took part, as did First Momentum Ventures and Vireo Ventures.
Singapore-based e-commerce services provider SELLinALL has secured approximately $3m in funding from investors including online advertising services firm DA Consortium, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. VC fund Catalyst One supplied up to $2.58m to lead the round.
MSU Federal Credit Union’s credit union service organisation subsidiary, Reseda Group, has invested an undisclosed amount in Pocketnest, the US-based operator of a financial wellness promotion service, to increase its seed round to $1.95m. ID Ventures co-led the round’s $1.2m first tranche with The Impact Seat in January 2021.
Japan-based livestreaming platform developer Showroom raised funding from consumer electronics retailer Bic Camera today. The company secured a similarly undisclosed amount from corporates Air Works, MBS Media Holdings, Dwango, Bandai Namco and Lawson Entertainment last month and from entertainment group Hybe in May 2021, following a mid-2020 round that boosted its overall funding to almost $41m.
M&A
Electronics manufacturers Panasonic and Matsushita, cybersecurity software producer Symantec and Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of chipmaker Intel, exited US-based internet-of-things cybersecurity software provider Mocana yesterday in an acquisition of undisclosed size by digital security technology provider DigiCert. The company had raised over $103m as of 2019 and its backers had included GE Ventures, the now defunct investment vehicle for power and industrial technology producer General Electric.
Blockchain gaming technology provider Forte bought N3twork, a US-headquartered mobile gaming technology developer backed by internet and technology group Alphabet’s GV unit and video game publisher Blue Planet Software, for an undisclosed sum yesterday. Blue Planet joined Griffin Gaming Partners, Galaxy Digital Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Korea Investment Partners, Table and Ocean Road in a $40m series C round in 2019 that took the company’s total funding to at least $52m.
Life insurance provider Ethos closed its acquisition of Tomorrow Ideas, the US-based developer of an online platform for living will creation, yesterday, allowing insurance brokerage NFP and insurance groups Allianz and MS&AD to exit. The company had raised $8.9m in 2019 according to a securities filing, following an undisclosed amount from NFP unit NFP Ventures the previous year. It had already received a total of $8.5m from investors including Allianz subsidiary Allianz Life, and MS&AD vehicle MS&AD Ventures lists it as a portfolio company.
On-demand logistics provider Delhivery exited India-based e-commerce aggregation service Rocketbox today in an acquisition of undisclosed size by e-commerce shipping services firm Shiprocket. Delhivery had reportedly supplied an undisclosed amount of series A funding for the company in 2015.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
