Funding
Equity crowdfunding platform operator OurCrowd took part in a $35m extension of a series A round for US-based insurance brokerage marketplace Sayata, after it had raised $17m in August 2021. The extension was co-led by Pitango Growth and Hanaco Ventures and also featured Team8 Capital, Vertex Ventures and Elron Ventures.
Chipmaker Intel’s corporate venturing unit Intel Capital led a $32m series B round for Spectrum Labs, a US-based provider of artificial intelligence-backed software that detects and shuts down toxic exchanges in online communities. Insurance provider Munich Re’s subsidiary Munich Re Ventures and equity crowdfunding platform operator OurCrowd also took part along with Gaingels, Wing Venture Capital, Greycroft, Ridge Ventures, Super{set}, Global Founders Capital and private investor Harris Barton.
Bijak, an India-based agricultural product marketplace, secured $19.4m in series B funding led by media company Bertelsmann, VCCircle has reported. Sequoia Capital India also took part through its Surge Ventures programme, along with Better Capital, RTP Global Advisors and Omidyar Network India.
India-based workforce management software developer Zuper raked in $13m in series A funding from investors including marketing software provider HubSpot subsidiary HubSpot Ventures, TechCrunch has reported. Fuse led the round and was joined by Sequoia Capital India and Prime Venture Partners.
Japan-based retail and product distribution digitisation service AdInte has received ¥2.86bn ($25.1m) from money processor manufacturer Glory and Sony Innovation Fund by IGV, a vehicle for consumer electronics conglomerate Sony, bringing its total funding to ¥5.23bn ($46m).
HoneyComb, an Israel-based real estate insurance platform, raised $15.4m in a series A round led by Ibex Investors and backed by insurance providers SiriusPoint and Phoenix Insurance, as well as insurance broker NFP’s subsidiary Distributed Ventures, IT services provider IT-Farm and Sure Ventures.
Japan-based proteolysis inducer screening platform developer Fimecs has raised ¥1.175bn ($10.3m) in series B funding from insurer Nippon Life’s Nissay Capital vehicle, Kyoto University’s Innovation Capital unit, University of Tokyo’s Innovation Platform’s AOI fund 1 and venture capital firm Anri.
Internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s early-stage fund Emerge took part in a $2m funding round for Germany-based minimalist interface smartphone manufacturer Blloc, which was led by Speedinvest.
Man-Machine Synergy Effectors, the Japan-based humanoid robot developer spun out of Ritsumeikan University, has secured an undisclosed amount of pre-series B1 funding from electric material and optical fibre provider Tatsuta Electric Wire.
M&A
Digital payments services provider Razorpay is in talks to acquire India-based mobile payments platform Ezetap, VCCircle has reported, potentially providing an exit for payment services provider American Express.
