Funding
Computing
US-based animation creation platform operator LottieFiles raised $37m in a series B round yesterday featuring M12, a corporate venturing vehicle for software provider Microsoft. Square Peg Capital led the round, which included XYZ Venture Capital, GreatPoint Ventures and 500 Startups. M12 had already led the company’s $9m series A round in January 2021, which came after an undisclosed sum of seed funding in 2020 that included participation from application delivery software provider Adobe’s Fund for Design.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain
US-based cryptocurrency media group Decrypt secured $10m in funding yesterday at a $50m post-money valuation from investors including conglomerate SK Group and blockchain technology groups ConsenSys, Mask.io, Nexo and Protocol Labs. Dcentralised autonomous organisations Global Coin Research DAO, Honey DAO, Orange DAO and Own.fund also took part in the round. Decrypt announced the funding as it spun out of blockchain accelerator ConsenSys Mesh, and the deal also featured VC firms Canvas Ventures, Hack.vc, Hashkey Capital, IOSG Group, SKH Group and XBTO Humla Ventures as well as angel investors and syndicates Alex Bamberger, Audrey, Don Ho, Jordan Garbis, Richard Dai, Steven Fingerhood, Terry McDonell and William Mougayar.
Switzerland-headquartered blockchain-fuelled precious metal transaction platform aXedras Group received an undisclosed amount of series B funding today from the gold industry’s market development association World Gold Council.
Financial services
Xepelin, a Chile-based business-to-business payments platform for small and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America, received $111m in series B funding on Monday from investors including law firm Gunderson Dettmer and PayPal Ventures, a vehicle for digital payment processor PayPal. VC firm Kaszek and investment group Avenir Growth Capital co-led the round, which featured backers including Wellington Partners, DST Global, Battery Ventures, MSA Novo, Endeavor Catalyst, FJ Labs, Picus, Amarena, Carlos Garcia, Cathay-Seaya Latam and Gilgamesh Ventures. Xepelin had already completed a $230m series A round in July 2021 (that consisted of $30m in equity financing and $200m in credit facilities) led by Kaszek Ventures and backed by DST Global and unnamed firms and angel investors. LatAm and US-based asset managers and hedge funds — including Chilean pension funds — supplied debt financing, and the company’s overall funding stood at more than $36m in equity and $250m in asset-backed facilities.
Scalapay, an Italy-based buy now, pay later technology provider, was valued at $1bn after yesterday securing $27m from postal services provider Poste Italiane in a series B extension. The deal came after the company’s $497m series B close in February 2022, co-led by internet group Tencent. Scalapay has raised more than $700m to date.
Gaming
AccelByte, the US-based startup that makes backend service creation tools for video game developers, received $60m in a series B round yesterday led by internet and telecommunications firm SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. It brings the company’s total funding to $70m. Sony Interactive Entertainment, a subsidiary of consumer electronics producer Sony, and game developer NetEase contributed to the deal, as did VC firm Galaxy Interactive, the latter two having taken part in a $10m series A round in September 2021 that included game publishers Krafton and Dreamhaven.
Healthcare
Dianthus Therapeutics, a US-based antibody therapeutics developer, completed a $100m series A round yesterday co-led by financial services and investment firm Fidelity Management & Research Company. Venture capital firm 5AM Ventures and investment group Avidity Partners also co-led the round, which included Wedbush Healthcare Partners, Fairmount, Tellus BioVentures and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners.
Robotics
Slamcore, a UK-based drone and robotics algorithm developer, raised $16m today in a series A round co-led by Robo Global Ventures and Presidio Ventures, respective subsidiaries of automation and healthcare technology group Robo Global and diversified trading firm Sumitomo. Fellow corporate VC units Samsung Ventures and Toyota Ventures – representing consumer electronics provider Samsung and carmaker Toyota respectively – joined the round alongside shipping firm Yamato Holdings, and the participants were filled out by Amadeus Capital, Global Brain, IP Group, MMC Ventures and Octopus Ventures. Slamcore had last raised funding in a $5m mid-2020 round that included Toyota Ventures (then known as Toyota AI Ventures), which had already chipped into a $5m round two years before.
Funds
Vivo, a Brazilian part of Spain-headquartered telecoms firm Telefónica, formed a $64.5m corporate venturing arm called Vivo Ventures last month, having teamed up with sister unit Telefónica Open Innovation. The newly formed subsidiary will target local startups developing business-to-consumer technologies and services, especially in areas such as entertainment, smart home, marketplace, healthcare, finance and education. Over the next five years, the fund will identify between 12 and 20 companies at the series A or B stage, with an average cheque size of $4m, taking up to 20% stake per investment.
