Funding
Belgium-based precision radiopharmaceuticals developer Precirix closed an €80m ($88m) series B round yesterday backed by pharmaceutical firm Novo. The round was co-led by Inkef Capital, Jeito Capital and Forbion, and additionally included V-Bio Ventures, Gimv, HealthCap, Pontifax Venture Capital, BioMed Partners and all its seed-stage investors, of which only Fournier-Majoie Foundation had been previously identified.
Bear Robotics, a US-based restaurant robotics technology developer backed by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, conglomerate Lotte Group, video game publisher Smilegate, seat frame producer DSC and communications app developer Line, closed an $81m series B round on Tuesday led by alternative investment firm IMM Investment Corp that included venture capital firm Cleveland Avenue and unnamed existing investors. The corporates had joined Vela Partners in Bear’s $32m series A round in early 2020.
Japan-based digital wallet provider Kyash received ¥4.9bn ($41.3m) in series D funding today from investors including AG Capital, Japan Post Investment and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital – subsidiaries of consumer finance provider Aiful, postal service Japan Post and insurer Mitsui Sumitomo respectively – as well as digital payment processor Block (formerly Square) and SMBC Nikko Securities, a brokerage subsidiary of financial services provider Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. They were joined by Altos Ventures, Jafco, Goodwater Capital, Greyhound Capital, StepStone Group (formerly Greenspring Associates), W Ventures and Yitu Capital.
Nautilus Labs, the US-headquartered operator of a digital platform which helps optimise ocean voyages, secured $34m yesterday in a series B round featuring software provider Microsoft’s M12 and Climate Innovation Fund. The round included NSS Advisors, Systemiq Capital, Root Ventures, Quiet Capital, TMV and Amplifier.
Diversified business group Hero Enterprise has invested over $30m in India-headquartered jewellery retailer Bluestone at a $410m valuation, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday. VC firm Accel led the company’s last round, a $2m series E in mid-2020 that included IIFL Seed Ventures Fund, Kalaari Capital, Iron Pillar Fund, Ivycap Ventures and Saama Capital.
Internet and telecoms group SoftBank participated in human resources software provider Bambee’s $30m series C round today. The round was led by VC firm QED Investors and included Alpha Edison, Mucker Capital, Gaingels and private investors Ken Chenault and Damian Maldonado.
NGP Capital, the VC firm funded by communications equipment maker Nokia, led a €25m ($27.5m) funding round yesterday for Spacefill, the France-based operator of a logistics and warehousing software platform. Maersk Growth, the corporate venturing arm of shipping firm Maersk, also participated in the round, along with existing backer Eurazeo and La Famiglia.
Logically, a UK-headquartered company which applies artificial intelligence to combatting disinformation, closed a $24m funding round backed by e-commerce and cloud services group Amazon’s Alexa Fund yesterday. Growth equity firm Vitruvian Partners led the round, which also featured the Mercia Asset Management-managed Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund in addition to XTX Ventures.
Avive Solutions, the US-based creator of an automated external defibrillator for cardiac arrest situations, completed a $22m series A round yesterday co-led by medical services provider Laerdal’s Million Lives Fund. The round was co-led with VC firms Questa Capital and Catalyst Health Ventures.
NSItexe, a semiconductor subsidiary of automotive component maker Denso, led a $21m series B round for US-headquartered edge processing technology developer Quadric yesterday. The round also featured fabless semiconductor producer MegaChips as well as Leawood VC, Pear VC, Uncork Capital and Cota Capital.
Pharmaceutical and chemical producer Merck & Co and petroleum supplier Shell have added ‘a few million dollars’ to the $12m in series A funding raised by US-based cattle tracking system developer Vence in April 2021, AgFunder reported yesterday. VC firm Tyche Partners led the first close, which included financial services firm Rabobank’s Rabo Food & Ag Innovation Fund, Grantham Environmental Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities vehicle, Trailhead Capital and Eniac Ventures.
HV Capital, the VC firm backed by publisher Holtzbrinck, invested an eight-digit amount in Germany-headquartered vegan and vegetarian food brand KoRo Handels on Tuesday as part of a larger funding round of undisclosed size. Five Seasons Ventures and Partech also contributed to the round.
India-based mobile shooter game developer Lila Games has received $10m in funding from investors including video game publisher Krafton, VentureBeat reported yesterday. The round was led by Rainfall Ventures and also featured Bitkraft Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Sequoia Capital and private investors including Ryan Wyatt, Tanay Tayal and Thomas Vu.
Micron led an $8m series A round for Holo|one, the US-headquartered developer of extended reality collaboration product Sphere, through strategic investment vehicle Micron Ventures on Tuesday. Consumer electronics manufacturer Lenovo, Verve Ventures, Forefront Venture Partners and family office Schwarzwälder Bote also contributed to the round.
Brazil-headquartered startup finance provider Kamino has raised $6.1m in pre-seed funding from investors including Propel Venture Partners, the VC firm spun off by financial services firm BBVA, Bloomberg Línea reported on Tuesday. QED Investors’ Fontes fund also took part, as did Global Founders Capital, Picus Capital, Flourish Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Norte Ventures and Gilgamesh Ventures.
Susquehanna Growth Equity, a subsidiary of quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group, invested an undisclosed sum in US-based shop management software provider Tekmetric yesterday. The company had previously closed $1.6m in funding from unnamed investors in 2018, according to regulatory filings.
US-based energy grid data provider Copper Labs has secured $5.5m in a series A round featuring National Grid Partners, the strategic investment arm of energy distributor National Grid. VC firm Clean Energy Ventures led the round, which was also backed by growth equity firm Blue Bear Capital.
Business and financial consulting services firm ATIF Holdings paid an undisclosed amount for a 15% stake in US-headquartered consumer product provider iDea Electronics on Tuesday. ATIF is also consulting iDea as it prepares for an initial public offering planned for later this year.
Blockchain game developer Animoca Brands co-led China-headquartered stablecoin swap service Wombat Exchange’s $5.25m series A round with Hailstone Ventures yesterday at a $70m valuation. The round included cryptocurrency exchanges GSR and Binance (through its BNB Chain subsidiary), crypto derivatives trader Eureka Trading and blockchain media platform CryptoWesearch as well as TPS Capital, Zokyo, Lunar Station, Silverstone and Unanimous Capital.
US-based summarisation software provider Agolo closed an undisclosed amount of series A funding from investors including software producer Microsoft’s M12 subsidiary yesterday. Lytical Ventures led the oversubscribed round, which was also backed by Tensility Venture Partners and Ridgeline Partners.
Liveblocks, a creator of software which facilitates the development of multiplayer experiences, received $5m in seed capital from investors including project management software provider Atlassian yesterday. Boldstart, Kima Ventures and Seedcamp also participated in the round along with unnamed others.
Mobile app developer SecretLab supplied $4m in seed funding for US-based in-vitro diagnostic test provider BioCoach yesterday. The transaction valued BioCoach and its affiliates at $100m and came 10 months after it raised $1m from SecretLab at a $5m valuation.
Aptatek BioSciences, a US-based developer of in-home health monitoring technology for chronic disease patients, closed a $4m seed round featuring in-vitro diagnostics test producer Canterbury Scientific yesterday. IP Group led the round, which was also backed by National PKU Alliance.
Financial exchange operator London Stock Exchange Group invested an undisclosed sum in Floww, the UK-based owner of an online platform which connects startups to investors, on Tuesday. The company had raised a total of $6.7m from family offices and angel investors as of late 2020.
Energy utility EWE has co-led a €2m ($2.2m) funding round for Solytic, the Germany-based developer of a performance monitoring system for solar photovoltaic plants, Tech.eu reported yesterday. The round was co-led with SpeedUp Energy Innovation, a vehicle for fellow energy utility PGE Capital Group’s PGE Ventures subsidiary.
MetaBlox, the Canada-based creator of a digital identity management tool, received over $2m in seed capital yesterday from investors including emotion-mapping technology developer Future Life. The round was co-led by Synergis Capital and CollabCurrency with additional backing from SNZ Holdings, Slope, NFT Technologies, CrowdCreate and undisclosed family offices.
Eizper Chain, the creator of a blockchain role-playing game, secured $2m from investors including on Tuesday in a seed round and private non-fungible token sale. The $1.6m equity portion was led by quantitative trading firm Alameda Research and backed by cryptocurrency exchanges Huobi and Crypto.com – through Huobi Ventures and Crypto.com Capital – blockchain game studio Nyan Heroes, Solar Eco Fund, PetRock Capital, Return On Knowledge Capital and individuals including Jack Teoh, Ivan lam and Arnold Poernomo.
Digital currency exchange KuCoin provided an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday for MojitoSwap, the creator of a decentralised exchange focused on the company’s KuCoin Community Chain. The cash was invested through corporate VC subsidiary KuCoin Labs.
US-based traffic and crash data provider Tnedicca completed a $1.75m series A round on Tuesday that included insurance firm Grange Insurance. Tengro Ventures led the round, which also featured fellow VC firm Pixel Perfect Ventures.
US-based dental laboratory operator Burbank Dental Laboratory raised an undisclosed amount of funding from peer Frontier Dental Superholdings yesterday. Burbank provides products such as crown and bridge cases, implants, occlusal guards and dentures to more than 1,000 dental practices.
Japan-based digital marketing agency Dotz secured ¥180m ($1.5m) today from online beauty product retailer I-ne and advertising and media agencies CyberBuzz, Gaprise, Irep and Trenders. The capital will go to product development and recruitment.
India-based radiology services provider 5C Network has received an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including Tata 1mg, a healthcare subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Tata, VCCircle reported yesterday. The corporate was joined in the round by angel investors Vikram Vuppala, Om Manchanda and Viren Prasad Shetty.
M&A
Enterprise software provider TechSophy exited US-based cognitive intelligence software provider Decooda in an acquisition of undisclosed size by digital transformation consulting firm North Highland yesterday. Decooda had secured an undisclosed amount of series A funding from the corporate in 2017.
Private equity firm Capital D, investment bank Morgan Stanley’s Expansion Capital subsidiary, Keyhaven Capital Partners and unnamed family offices paid an undisclosed sum for a 64% stake in Phrasee, the UK-based customer communication software provider backed by marketing agency Next Fifteen, yesterday. The corporate had joined Albion Capital and Galvanise Capital in a $4m series A round in 2018, pushing its overall funding to $5.3m.
Funds
US-based venture capital firm MedTex Ventures closed its Biotex Medical Device Fund I at $50m earlier this month, it revealed yesterday. The vehicle is a joint venture between the firm and medical device maker Biotex and will focus on investments in medical device developers at seed and series A stage.
Digital transformation services provider Atos, design software producer Dassault Systèmes, mobile network operator Orange, carmaker Renault and electronics manufacturers STMicroelectronics and Thales have launched an incubator called Software République in France that will concentrate on mobility technology startups. Its first five portfolio companies are Wattpark, Geoflex, Vianova, Angoka and Parcoor.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles. Photo courtesy of Precirix NV.
