AAA Weekly corporate venturing deal net: 14-18 July 2014

Weekly corporate venturing deal net: 14-18 July 2014

Digital media technology company Reply paid $5m today to take a 20% stake in US-based wearable technology developer Sensoria. Formerly known as Heapsylon, Sensoria will use the series A funding to accelerate its sales, marketing and engineering efforts as it grows out its products.

Bustle, a US-based online media company targeting women, has secured $5m in new funding from media conglomerate Time Warner, Social+Capital Partnership and R&R Ventures, Fortune reported on Tuesday. Time Warner and Social+Capital previously invested $6.5m in series A funding in August 2013 together with Google Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of internet company Google, 500 Startups and Rothenberg Ventures.

Japan-based fish delivery service Hachimenroppi raised ¥450m ($4.4m) in series A funding on Thursday from human resources firm Recruit Holdings, YJ Capital, Monex Ventures and Shogo Kawada, the co-founder of internet company DeNA. The round follows a $1.5m seed round in October from public relations firm Vector, logistics company Winroader and venture capital firm Value Create.

US-based music mixing app Crossfader secured an undisclosed amount of series A funding on Thursday from Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Index Ventures, and True Ventures. The app, owned by mobile game publisher Tapinator, enables users to remix songs by tilting their phones.

Rocketrip, a US-based service that helps employers save money on staff travel, raised $3m on Monday in a series A-1 round led by venture firms Canaan Partners and Genacast Ventures, Crunchfund, the venture firm backed by internet company AOL, and Paul Buchheit. Rocketrip, which has now raised a total of $6.2m from investors also including Y Combinator, will ramp up product development and sales activity using the money.

US-based virtual assistant system developer Speaktoit raised $2.6m today in a series B round featuring the corporate venturing units of telecommunications equipment maker Motorola Solutions and semiconductor producer Intel, venture firm Plug and Play Ventures and Alpine Technology Fund. Intel and Alpine previously provided an undisclosed amount of series A funding for the company in May 2012.

PredictionIO, a US-based developer of open-source software that enables machine learning for apps, has raised $2.5m in a seed round featuring Crunchfund, TechCrunch reported on Thursday. Quest Venture Partners led the round, which also included the Stanford University-backed StartX Fund, Azure Capital, Kima Ventures, IronFire, Sood Ventures and XG Ventures.

US-based mobile analytics provider Amplitude closed a $2m seed round on Monday that featured 27 investors including China-based internet portal Tencent. The pool of backers also featured Quest Venture Partners, Data Collective, Merus Capital, Box Group and SV Angel.

Germany-based learning technology startup Patience has secured an undisclosed sum in a series A round led by Holtzbrinck Digital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of publisher Holtzbrinck. The round, which also featured RI Digital Ventures, followed an earlier angel round, and will be used to hire additional staff and enter new markets.

Portugal-based online translation startup Unbabel raised $1.5m in seed funding today from investors including internet company Digital Garage and representatives from the corporate venturing units of firms including internet company Google, data and publishing company IDG Partners and financial services firm La Caixa.

US-based web analytics provider FullStory has raised a $1.2m seed round from Google Ventures and Tom Noonan, formerly the CEO of Internet Security Systems, GigaOM reported on Wednesday. The founders of FullStory previously worked for Innuvo, a web development startup acquired by Google in 2005 when it was still in stealth mode.

Bitgather, the Japan-based operator of Buzzfeed-like viral content website Curazy, has raised ¥100m ($1m) from CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate venture capital fund owned by internet company CyberAgent, social gaming platform DeNA, and Skyland Ventures, according to Japanese VC website The Bridge. It will use the funds to hire additional staff as it moves toward launching a mobile app for iOS and Android later this year.

Corporate-backed early-stage venture firm Seedcamp and one of its limited partners, publisher DC Thomson, supplied an undisclosed amount of seed funding for UK-based self-publishing platform Reedsy on Tuesday. Seedcamp and DC Thomson, which invested through corporate venturing unit DC Thomson Ventures, each provided an equal sum.

LiB, a Japan-based job listings site for women, secured ¥70m ($700,000) on Thursday in a series A round backed by CyberAgent Ventures and East Ventures. It plans to hire additional engineering staff using the funds.

Quibitia Solutions, a Spain-based provider of investment management software, has raised €500,000 ($670,000) in a series A round led by Caixa Capital, the venture capital unit of La Caixa. VC firm Xesgalicia also took part in the round along with assorted angel investors.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *