Funding
H2 Mobility Deutschland, the Germany-based operator of a hydrogen refuelling station network, raised €110m ($122m) on Tuesday from investors including industrial gases producer Air Liquide, automotive manufacturers Daimler Truck and Hyundai, chemicals producer Linde and petroleum suppliers OMV, Shell and TotalEnergies. The round was led by hydrogen infrastructure investor Hy24’s Clean H2 Infra Fund, which committed €70m.
Computing technology producer Dell led US-based business optimisation software provider Skan.ai’s $40m series B round yesterday through corporate venture capital unit Dell Technologies Capital. The round included Liberty Global Ventures and Citi Ventures – on behalf of mass media group Liberty Global and financial services group Citi – as well as GSR Ventures, Cathay Innovation, Zetta Venture Partners and Firebolt Ventures.
Nclude, the VC fund co-founded by financial services firms Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt and Banque du Caire, has taken part in a $38m series A round for Egypt-headquartered mobile financial services provider Khazna, TechCrunch reported today. Quona Capital led the round, which also featured Speedinvest, Khawarizmi Ventures, Algebra Ventures, Accion Venture Lab and Disruptech.
US-based protein and enzyme developer Arzeda completed a $33m series B round yesterday led by agribusiness Continental Grain Company through strategic investment vehicle Conti Ventures. The round included Bunge Ventures, a subsidiary of fellow agribusiness Bunge, as well as Lewis & Clark Agrifood, Circulate Capital, OS Fund, Casdin Capital, Universal Materials Incubator and Bioeconomy Capital.
Pharmaceutical company Debiopharm’s Innovation Fund co-led a $25m series A round for VivoSense, a US-based developer of digital biomarkers for use in clinical outcome assessments, yesterday. The round was co-led with investment management firm Perceptive Advisors’ Xontogeny Venture Fund.
TransFicc, a UK-based provider of low-latency connectivity and workflow technology for the asset management industry, increased its series A round to $24.8m yesterday with a $17m second tranche featuring financial services firms Citi, HSBC, ING (through ING Ventures) and Commerzbank (through its Main Incubator). VC firm AlbionVC led the extension, which included Illuminate Financial and which followed a 2020 first close backed by all the above investors in addition to The FinLab.
UK-based sales education software provider Sales Impact Academy raised $22m yesterday in a funding round co-led by sales and marketing software producer HubSpot’s strategic investment arm, HubSpot Ventures. The round was co-led with MIT Investment Management Company and included existing backers Stage 2 Capital and Emerge Education.
Pharmaceutical firm Merck Group’s M Ventures subsidiary co-led a $14m extension to US-based neurology diagnostics technology developer Altoida’s series A round with Whitecap Venture Partners yesterday, bringing it to $20.3m. Hikma Ventures, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical company Hikma, also backed the extension along with healthcare provider HonorHealth, Btov, Alpana Ventures, Fyrfly Venture Partners and VI Partners. The first $6.3m came from M Ventures VI Partners, Alpana Ventures, Fyrfly and Grey Sky Venture Partners in 2019.
Anzu.io, the Israel-based creator of a digital platform for in-game advertising, secured $20m in funding yesterday from investors including media group NBCUniversal, consumer electronics producers HTC and Sony (through its Innovation Fund), public relations and marketing group WPP and baseball franchise the Chicago Cubs. They were joined by Alumni Ventures Group, Bitkraft, HBSE Ventures, Goal Ventures and private investor Marc Merrill.
US-based drug discovery and precision medicine startup Zephyr AI completed an $18.5m seed round yesterday featuring healthcare provider MedStar Health and Verily, the life sciences subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet. The round was co-led by Lerner Group Investments and M-Cor Holding and also backed by AME Cloud Ventures, BoxGroup and angel investors Roger W Ferguson, Steve Oristaglio and Allen Y Chao as well as unnamed strategic investors.
Telecommunications firm KPN took part in a $14m series B round for Minut, the Sweden-headquartered creator of an environmental sensor designed for rental properties, through subsidiary KPN Ventures yesterday. Almaz Capital led the round, which included Zenith, Kompas, Verve Ventures, Swiss Immo Lab, Karma Capital and SOSV’s Hax fund.
VC firm Columbus Venture Partners has added €1.5m to a seed round for Spain-based gene writing tool developer Integra Therapeutics now totalling €6m ($6.7m). The company, a spinout from Pompeu Fabra University, raised the earlier funding in December 2021 from pharmaceutical firm Takeda’s investment arm, Takeda Ventures, as well as Advent France Biotechnology and Invivo Capital.
Cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital led a $5m seed round for ZKLend, the China-headquartered creator of a money market protocol, on Tuesday. The round was anchored by blockchain cryptographic technology provider StarkWare and cryptocurrency hedge fund manager Three Arrows Capital.
US-based agriculture automation technology startup Koidra secured $4.5m million in seed financing on Tuesday from investors including Cavallo Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of agribusiness Wilbur Ellis. The round was led by VC firm Ospraie Ag Science and also featured Amritam Holdings and Foothill Ventures.
Jaguar Gene Therapy, a US-based developer of gene therapy treatments for severe genetic diseases, raised an undisclosed amount on Tuesday from investors including Samsung Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of electronics manufacturer Samsung. The corporate provided the capital alongside venture philanthropy vehicle JDRF T1D Fund.
UK-headquartered metaverse protocol developer Caduceus, completed a $4m series A round co-led by quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group and cryptocurrency technology provider BlockFills. The round included conglomerate Bin Zayed Group, digital asset protocol developer Qredo, blockchain data provider TokenInsight, payment technology producer Nukkleus, digital asset execution platform Digital RFQ, Luna Venture Capital and former professional footballer John Terry.
US-headquartered repellent surface product developer Adaptive Surface Technologies has raised an amount indicated by a securities filing to be at least $3.8m from investors including paint and coating producer AkzoNobel, semiconductor producer Tokyo Electron and chemicals producer BASF. The round was also backed by Anzu Partners while Tokyo Electron and BASF invested through Tokyo Electron Ventures and BASF Ventures respectively.
Professional services firm Accenture supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based enterprise data software provider Inrupt on Tuesday through strategic investment vehicle Accenture Ventures. Inrupt had last raised money in a $30m series A round in December 2021 that included insurance firm Allstate and digital content delivery service Akamai and VC firm Glasswing Ventures.
Seekho, the India-based creator of an online career development platform, received $3m in funding on Tuesday from investors including equity management technology provider Trica. The round was also backed by VC firm Sequoia Capital India’s Surge fund and the family office for wealth management firm JM Financial Group as well as LetsVenture, Supermorpheus and Yuj Ventures.
Insurance and financial services cooperative Co-operators invested an undisclosed amount in Canada-based flood modelling software developer Geosapiens on Tuesday. The deal represents Geosapiens’ first external funding and will support the nationwide deployment of its technology later this year.
AltaClaro, a US-based provider of digital legal training technology, raised $2.5m in seed financing from investors including law firm Orrick’s Legal Technology Fund on Tuesday. The round was led by investment firm Bryce Catalyst and also featured education technology-focused fund LearnStart.
Netherlands-based sustainable seaweed producer The Seaweed Company secured an undisclosed amount from retail chain operator Colruyt Group on Tuesday. The company said the round was its third and largest, describing Colruyt as an existing investor.
Pharmaceutical product manufacturer Bharat Serum and Vaccines has led a $700,000 seed round for India-based advertising analytics tool developer Digimaze, YourStory reported on Tuesday. The corporate was joined by 10 undisclosed angel investors.
M&A
NGP Capital, the venture capital firm funded by communications equipment maker Nokia, exited Israel-based web isolation software developer Hysolate yesterday through an acquisition of undisclosed size by email and cloud cybersecurity software producer Perception Point. The company had disclosed a total of $26m in funding, including an $18m series B round in 2018 featuring NGP Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Innovation Endeavors, its other investors including Team8 and Planven.
Customer analytics provider ChartHop bought US-based automated workflow software developer Gather yesterday for an undisclosed sum, allowing telecoms and internet group SoftBank to exit. SoftBank has not revealed when it invested in the company but its SB Opportunity Fund identifies Gather as a portfolio company on its website.
Funds
Biopharmaceutical company MSD has led the limited partners in India-based venture capital firm HealthQuad’s second fund, which has closed at $162m, VCCircle reported yesterday. The other LPs include unnamed corporate backers, financial investors, development finance providers and funds of funds.
Photo courtesy of H2 Mobility Deutschland.
