Automotive manufacturer Volkswagen Group has acquired a 25% stake in US-based energy storage system developer 24M Technologies, investing an undisclosed nine-figure sum into the company’s series F round. Diversified trading group Itochu led a $56.8m series E round for 24M in May 2021 that included fellow corporates Fujifilm, Kyocera and Global Power Synergy.
Pixis, the US-based developer of codeless artificial intelligence infrastructure that was formerly known as Pyxis One, has raised $100m in a series C round featuring internet and telecommunications group SoftBank, TechCrunch reported today. General Atlantic, Celesta Capital, Premji Invest and Chiratae Ventures filled out the round.
Lummo, the Indonesia-based digital ledger software provider previously called BukuKas, secured $80m today from investors including internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet’s growth equity unit, CapitalG. The round was co-led by Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital India and also featured private investors Santiago Sosa and Max Bittner.
US-based home improvement services provider Curbio raised $65m yesterday in a series B round featuring mass media company Comcast’s corporate venturing unit, Comcast Ventures; home improvement products manufacturer Masco’s corporate venturing vehicle, Masco Ventures; and Second Century Ventures, the investment arm of trading group the National Association of Realtors. Camber Creek, Brick 7 Mortar Ventures and Kayne Partners also took part.
Engitix, a UK-based developer of drug discovery technology, completed a $54m series A round today co-led by pharmaceutical firm Dompé and a vehicle called Netherton Investments. The company has also entered into a strategic collaboration with Dompé to work on treatments for fibrosis and liver-associated tumours.
US-based payroll connectivity platform developer Pinwheel received $50m in series B funding yesterday from investors including online recruitment service Indeed, payment services firm American Express and cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, the last two through American Express Ventures and Kraken Ventures. Venture capital firm GGV Capital led the round at a valuation reported by TechCrunch to be $500m. It also included Coatue Management, First Round Capital, Upfront Ventures and Franklin Templeton.
Metaplex, the US-based developer of a tool to mint and create non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Solana blockchain, secured $46m yesterday in a funding round co-led by trading firm Jump Trading’s crypto unit, Jump Crypto, and investment firm Multicoin Capital. They were joined by Solana’s corporate VC unit, Solana Ventures, as well as quantitative trading firm Alameda Research, digital entertainment and blockchain technology developer Animoca Brands and private investors including Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson.
US-based smart calendar developer Clockwise received $45m yesterday in a series C round featuring enterprise software provider Atlassian’s corporate venturing subsidiary, Atlassian Ventures. Investment management firm Coatue Management led the round, which included Accel, Greylock Partners and Bain Capital Ventures.
Alaiko, a Germany-based developer of automation software for use in e-commerce logistics fulfilment, emerged from stealth yesterday with $30m from a series A round led by Next47, a corporate venturing vehicle for industrial equipment and appliance producer Siemens. The round was filled out by Tiger Global Management and angel investors including Maximilian Bittner, Dan Dershem and Dave Anderson.
Proton.ai, a US-headquartered provider of artificial intelligence-powered sales software for wholesale distributors, completed a $20m series A round yesterday featuring industrial equipment supplier MSC Direct. VC firm Felicis Ventures led the round and was also joined by J Ventures, Battery Ventures, Abstract Ventures and angel investors Ray Grady, Godard Abel, Mike Page, Jonathan Bein, Michael Emerson and Michael Marks.
US-based dermatological treatment developer Dermaliq Therapeutics spun off from pharmaceutical firm Novaliq yesterday with $15m in series A funding from investors including its parent company and medical equipment producer Beijing Whale Technology Corporation. The round also featured VC firm 3E Bioventures Capital.
Chipmaker Intel’s corporate venturing unit, Intel Capital, led a $12m series A round for US-based cybersecurity and continuity software provider Verica yesterday. Mango Capital and True Ventures filled out the round.
Insurance provider Transverse Insurance Group’s Asset Management subsidiary took part in a $12m series A round for US-based digital life insurance provider Amplify Life Insurance. The round was co-led by Greycroft and Crosslink Capital and also backed by Conversion Capital and Anthemis.
Media group Hubert Burda’s growth capital arm, Burda Principal Investments, led an $11m series B round today for BillEase, a Philippines-based buy now pay, later service provider. The round also featured Centauri – a joint venture between telecoms firm Telekom Indonesia’s MDI Ventures unit and financial services group KB Financial’s KB Investment subsidiary – as well as private investor Tamaz Georgadze.
Hubble Protocol, the US-based creator of a decentralised finance lending platform based on the Solana blockchain, secured $10m yesterday from investors including cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital and cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com’s corporate venturing unit, Crypto.com Capital. They were joined by ParaFi, DeFi Alliance, Mechanism Capital, Decental Park Capital, CMS, Spartan Group, Three Arrows, Digital Currency Group, DeFiance Capital and Jump Capital.
Easelink, a Germany-based developer of wireless electric vehicle charging technology, completed an €8.3m ($9.4m) series A round today featuring EnBW New Ventures and Smartworks, the respective corporate venturing units of energy providers EnBW and Wien Energie. VC firm SET Ventures led the round, which included private investor Hermann Hauser.
Internet and technology group Alphabet’s GV unit and Toyota Ventures, a subsidiary of automotive manufacturer Toyota, took part in a $5m second tranche of US-based autonomous agriculture technology developer Agtonomy’s seed round, increasig it to $9m. The tranche included Flybridge, Hampton VC, E²JDJ, Momenta and Grit Ventures and followed $4m from GV, Grit Ventures and Village Global in September 2021.
Yuvo Health, a US-based provider of administrative and managed-care contracting services, completed a $7.3m seed round yesterday backed by AV8 Ventures, a corporate venturing vehicle for insurance group Allianz. VC fund AlleyCorp led the round, which also featured New York Ventures, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and angel investors including Melynda Barnes.
India-based pet food producer Khanal Foods has received Rs 500m ($6.7m) from pharmaceutical firm Mankind Pharma and VC firm Sixth Sense Ventures, VCCircle reported today. It had secured $300,000 from angel investors including Renu Balyan and Jyotsna Bapat in 2016 and $7m in pre-series A funding from Sixth Sense Ventures in November 2021.
Digital entertainment and blockchain technology developer Animoca Brands and non-fungible token and crypto consultancy firm Emfarsis have taken part in a $6m funding round for IndiGG, an India-based NFT-based play-to-earn subsidiary of gaming guild Yield Guild Games, Financial Express reported today. Other investors in the round included Sequoia Capital India, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Jump Capital, Variant Fund, Dune Ventures, Griffin Gaming Partners, Transcend Fund, Play Ventures, Backed, Sfermion, IVC and angel investors Alexis Ohanian and Alan Howard.
US-based digital ticketing service True Tickets secured $5m yesterday in a seed round led by online ticketing platform debeloper Logitix. The investment was made in connection with a strategic partnership.
Singapore-based micro-location infrastructure and mapping technology developer UNL raked in $4.5m today in a pre-series A round that included mapping and location data provider Here Technologies. It was joined by Elev8.vc, SGInnovate, Venturerock and private investor Fernando Herrera.
Defence and aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin made an investment of undisclosed size in ultra-short vertical takeoff and landing aircraft developer Electra.aero yesterday. The corporate is leading a series A round of undisclosed size for the company.
Japan-based accounting software provider Fast Accounting received ¥400m ($3.5m) today in a series C round featuring mapping technology developer MyNavi and telecoms firms KDDI and SoftBank, the latter through its Deepcore fund, as well as food delivery service Ride On Express Holdings’ Ride On Astart fund. It also included Astart, All Star SaaS Fund, Beenext and Scrum Ventures, and took the company’s funding to approximately $12.2m in total.
Schrocken, a US-based blockchain-based enterprise software provider, raised an undisclosed amount of bridge funding today from investors including human resources and tax management software provider Quentelle. The round was co-led by Quentelle subsidiary Five Gardens and ThinKuvate.
Japan-based government administration digitalisation technology developer XID has secured ¥200m ($1.7m) from digital signage provider Scala as well as Saison Ventures and Sompo Light Vortex, respective subsidiaries of payment services group Credit Saison and insurer Sompo Holdings.
Japan-based peristaltic pump robot developer Solaris secured ¥160m ($1.4m) today from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, respective vehicles for insurer Mitsui Sumitomo and financial services group Mitsubishi UFJ. They joined Japan Science and Technology Agency and the round pushed its total funding to approximately $3.2m.
Japan-based on-demand rental service Unito raised ¥120m ($1m) from investors including marketing group Vector, real estate developer Sula Holdings, diversified space rental service Space Market and brokerage Okasan Securities Group’s Okasan Capital Partners unit today. VC firm IT-Farm also contributed to the round, which took the company’s overall funding to about $2.6m.
Transplant Connect, a US-based provider of medical software for organ, tissue and eye donations, received an undisclosed amount from medical software provider InVita Healthcare Technologies yesterday.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
