Funds
Canada-based venture capital firm Radical Ventures has raised most of the capital for its C$550m ($373m) fund, from backers including media group Advance Publications. Financial services firm Toronto-Dominion Bank also contributed, as did Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, Temasek, Geoffrey Hinton and Fei-Fei Li.
US-based, climate risk-focused venture capital firm Buoyant Ventures reached a $76m close for its first fund alongside another $5.7m for co-investments, having secured capital from limited partners including software provider Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund and utilities Xcel Energy and NiSource. Financial services firm Bank of America was also among the LPs, as were WovenEarth Ventures, the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer and unnamed others.
Japanese insurer Meiji Yasuda partnered VC firm Global Brain to form the ¥5bn ($39m) Meiji Yasuda Future Innovation Fund, which will target developers of technologies covering healthcare, regional revitalisation and new product experience.
France-based impact fund Shift4Good raised €4m ($4.4m) from transportation services group ComfortDelGro. The fund reached a $98m first close in October last year, raising the capital from LPs including carmaker Renault and lubricant manufacturer Motul as well as European Investment Fund and BPIfrance.
Public markets
Enlight Renewable Energy, an Israel-based renewable energy platform backed by insurers Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings, Menora Mivtachim, Phoenix Insurance and Harel Insurance, has filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The four together own more than 35% of its shares.
M&A
Industrial automation group Yokogawa Electric acquired portfolio company Fluence Analytics, a US-based polymer production-focused hardware and software developer backed by chemical producers JSR Corporation and Mitsubishi Chemicals, for an undisclosed amount. The acquired entity has been renamed Yokogawa Fluence Analytics.
Funding
Enzene Biosciences, an India-based contract biosimilar manufacturer spun off by pharmaceutical firm Alkem Laboratories, has raised $50m from its parent company and investment and financial services group Fidelity, which invested through VC subsidiaries Eight Roads Ventures and F-Prime Capital.
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Exploration Company | Space transportation technology developer | Industrial | Germany | A | 43.6 | 02/02/2023 | Schlumberger; Groupe Artemis (Red River West) (co-lead), EQT AB Group (EQT Ventures) (co-lead), Promus Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Vsquared, Omnes Capital, July Fund, Partech, Possible Ventures, Habert Dassault Finance, Sista Fund |
| Minu | Gamified employee retention platform | Services | Mexico | N/A | 30 | 02/02/2023 | Enea (Enea Capital), Grupo Coppel (Coppel Capital); Besant Capital FinTech Collective, QED, Salkantay Ventures; Accial Capital ($20m debt) |
| Ion Mobility | Electric motorcycle manufacturer | Transport | Singapore | A | 18.7 | 03/02/2023 | TVS Motor Company (TVS Motor Singapore) |
| BlockJoy | Blockchain node service provider | IT | US | Seed & A | 11 | 02/02/2023 | Alphabet (Gradient Ventures); Draper Dragon, Dragon Roark, Active Capital, Borderless HNT and Renegade Ventures, unnamed others |
| Michroma | Precision fermentation ingredient developer | Industrial | US | Seed | 6.4 | 02/02/2023 | Oetker Group (Be8 Ventures), CJ CheilJedang; Supply Change Capital (lead), SOSV (IndieBio), GridX, Fen Ventures, Boro Capital, The Mills Fabrica, Portfolia (Food & AgTech Fund), New Luna Ventures, Siddhi Capital, Groundswell Ventures, Hack Capital, Allen Miner, Jun Ueki, Steve Zurcher, Guillermo Rosenthal, Franco Goytia, Pablo Pla, Mat Travizano |
| Asa Ren | DNA test services provider | Healthcare | Indonesia | N/A | 6.1 | 02/02/2023 | Diagnos Laboratorium Utama, Cakrawala Data Integrasi; SBI Holdings/Kejora Capital (Kejora-SBI Orbit) |
| Klikit | Food delivery service aggregator | Consumer | Singapore | N/A | 5.6 | 02/02/2023 | Rocket Internet; Wavemaker Partners (lead), Gentree Fund, AfterWork Ventures, Moving Capital, Global Founder Capital, IQ-EQ (Nordstar) |
| Tusk Logistics | Regional parcel carrier network | Services | US | Pre-seed | 1.6 | 02/02/2023 | Microsoft/Green Bay Packers (TitletownTech), Fulfillment IQ; Forum Ventures (lead) |
| Straand | Microbiome-driven haircare product developer | Consumer | Australia | Pre-seed | 1.4 | 30/01/2023 | Unilever (Unilever Ventures) |
| Bud Financial | Open banking and data intelligence platform | Financial | UK | N/A | N/A | 31/01/2023 | TransUnion |
| KoreLock | Smart lock technology provider | IT | US | N/A | N/A | 02/02/2023 | Kozo Keikaku Engineering; Iron Gate Capital |
| Solidarity | Battery material developer | Energy and Natural Resources | China | Pre-A | N/A | 01/02/2023 | State Power Investment Corporation |
| Verana Networks | 5G radio-access network developer | Telecommunications | US | N/A | N/A | 02/02/2023 | Verizon (Verizon Ventures), Lockheed Martin (Lockheed Martin Ventures), TDK (TDK Ventures); DC Investment Partners, Spark Capital, Bold Capital Partners, Aspiro Capital, Taiwania Capital |
| Hitobito | Operator of chat-based marketing platform ChitChat | Media | Japan | A | N/A | 03/02/2023 | FindStar (Star to Asia), MTG (MTG Ventures), MicroAd, AI Cross (AIX Tech Ventures); GxPartners, XCapital, Globis University (Graduate School of Management) |
