Fund
Chilean lithium producer Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM) formed a startup accelerator dubbed SQM Lithium Ventures with investment fund Endeavor. It will target lithium battery, water and electromobility technology developers and SQM will provide each selected team with $25,000 in funding and strategic support.
M&A
LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a data-equipped fraud prevention subsidiary of information and analytics provider Relx, paid an undisclosed sum to acquire Human API, a US-based provider of healthcare data management software that counts corporates Samsung, Allianz, Scor Global, CNO Financial Group and Guardian Life as investors. Human API had raised over $36m as of a 2020 series C round sized above $20m.
Exits
Tobacco provider Altria exchanged its 35% stake in US-based Juul for a non-exclusive global licence to distribute its vaping products. Altria paid $12.8bn for the shares in 2018 but had downgraded their value to just $250m by the end of 2022.
Funding
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson, participated in $100m series A round for US-based neurological disorder therapy developer Rapport Therapeutics. Third Rock Ventures led the round, which included Arch Venture Partners.
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volastra Therapeutics | Inhibitor cancer therapy developer | Healthcare | US | A | 60 | 07/03/2023 | Eli Lilly (co-lead); Polaris Partners (co-lead), Arch Venture Partners (co-lead), Droia Ventures, Catalio Capital Management, Vida Ventures, Cornell University, Ocean Road Advisors (Meyers Ventures) |
| Zeda (formerly PrinterPrezz) | 3D manufacturing and nanotechnology producer | Industrial | US | B | 52 | 07/03/2023 | Michelin, Mitsubishi Chemical (Taiyo Nippon Sanso), Fives Group, Solvay (Solvay Ventures); Boutique Venture Partners, University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley Catalyst Fund), DOV Management |
| Plus One Robotics | Provider of AI-equipped robotics parcel handling technology | Industrial | US | C | 50 | 07/03/2023 | Zebra Technologies (Zebra Ventures), BMW (BMW i Ventures), Robo Global (Robo Global Ventures); Scale Venture Partners (lead), Translink Capital, Top Tier Capital Partners, Tyche Partners, McRock, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, CEAS, Lerer Hippeau, Ironspring, Schematic, FF Venture Capital, Dynamo, Kensington |
| Banyan Infrastructure | Renewable energy financing platform | Energy and Natural Resources | US | B | 25 | 07/03/2023 | Schneider Electric (SE Ventures); Energize Ventures (lead), Elemental Excelerator, VoLo Earth, Ulu Ventures |
| Kresus | Web3 superapp developer | Financial | US | A | 25 | 07/03/2023 | JetBlue (JetBlue Ventures); Cedar Hill Capital (Liberty City Ventures), Franklin Templeton, Marc Benioff, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, Craft Ventures, unnamed other blockchain investors |
| NearMe | Smart shuttle service | Transport | Japan | B | 9.5 (updated) | 08/03/2023 | Dai-ichi Life, Obayashi Corporation, Mitsui Fudosan, MS&AD (Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital), Vector; JIC Venture Growth Investments, Development Bank of Japan (DBJ Capital), Innovation Engine (equity); Japan Finance Corporation (debt) |
| Wholey | Plant-based breakfast brand | Consumer | Germany | N/A | 6.3 | 06/03/2023 | Tengelmann Group (Tengelmann Ventures); Feast Ventures |
| Morpheus Data | Cloud-based DevOps automation platform | IT | US | N/A | 5 | 07/03/2023 | Science Applications International Corp |
| Shifted Energy | Distributed energy technology provider | Energy and Natural Resources | US | Seed | 4.3 | 06/03/2023 | Hunt Development; Epic Ventures (co-lead), Kapor Capital (co-lead), Buoyant Ventures, SBI (Startup Capital Ventures x SBI Fund) |
| Absurd:Joy | Operator of virtual workspace platform Tangle | Services | US | N/A | 4 | 07/03/2023 | Qualcomm (Qualcomm Ventures); March Capital (March Gaming), Dune Ventures |
| Sarah | Food review and delivery platform | Consumer | Japan | N/A | 2.7 | 08/03/2023 | Ajinomoto, Skylight Consulting, Act, Valcreas, RFA Digital Brains, Bridal in Project; PE&HR, Interwoos, eight unnamed private investors (equity); Shoko Chukin (debt) |
| Ichirou (formerly Link) | Bespoke nursing care service | Healthcare | Japan | A | 1.6 | 08/03/2023 | Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital), Mizuho Bank (Mizuho Capital), Chugoku Bank (Chugin Capital Partners), Credit Saison (Saison Ventures), Digital Garage (Open Network Lab’s Earthshot Fund); unnamed private investor |
| Deep Instinct | Enterprise cybersecurity software provider | IT | US | N/A | N/A | 08/03/2023 | PayPal (PayPal Ventures); BlackRock, Chrysalis Investments, Millennium, Unbound, Untitled Investments, The Tudor Group, Coatue Management, unnamed others |
| ImpactA Global | Sustainable infrastructure-focused debt financing provider | Financial | UK | N/A | N/A | 06/03/2023 | Legal & General (Legal & General Capital) |
| Imotion Analytics | AI-equipped video surveillance system developer | Services | Spain | N/A | N/A | 07/03/2023 | Renfe |
