It was a busy week in the world of corporate venture, with a total of nine acquisitions, two IPOs and three new funds. We have the weekly round-up below, and as October draws to a close, you can see a complete summary of this month’s CVC deals.
Merger
Flagship Pioneering is merging Laronde and Senda Biosciences to create Sail Biomedicines, a pioneer in programmable medicines using Endless RNA (eRNA) and AI. Sail’s platform combines eRNA, nanoparticle deployment, and AI to design versatile and tunable programmable medicines for a range of therapeutic areas. The move aims to accelerate product development and create strategic partnerships to deliver transformative vaccines and therapies. Laronde has several corporate investors, including Samsung, Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Mayo Clinic
Acquisitions
Global commerce platform WEX has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Payzer, a cloud-based field service management software provider. Payzer’s field service management solution covers scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, and more, catering to small businesses in the HVAC, plumbing, and roofing sectors. This acquisition will help WEX expand its offerings for around 150,000 small business customers running field service companies, streamlining operations and improving collections. Payzer had several corporate investors, notably plumbing supply distributor Ferguson, financial services company Scale Finance, Acta Wireless and payments company Dash Solutions.
| Company acquired | Description | Sector | Sub-sector | Country | Acquirer | ($m) | Date | Corporate investors in acquired company | Other Investors in acquired company |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ixaka France | In vivo immunotherapy developer | Healthcare | Pharmaceuticals | UK | Alaya.bio | Undisclosed | 23 October 2023 | ZenPharma | Innovate UK |
| AllStripes | Evidence generation software provider for rare diseases | Healthcare | Pharmaceuticals | US | PicnicHealth | Undisclosed | 23 October 2023 | McKesson (McKesson Ventures), Medidata | Lux Capital, Trajectory Ventures, Maveron, Bossanova Investimentos, Arif Nathoo, Leila Zegna, Jazz Venture Partners, Spark Capital |
| Arcion | Database replication software producer | IT | Big data & analytics (IT) | US | Databricks | 100 | 23 October 2023 | Databricks (Databricks Ventures), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (Hewlett Packard Pathfinder) | Bessemer Venture Partners, First Rays Venture Partners, Bossanova Investimentos, Emergent Ventures, Niels Gron, Founders.ai |
| Ponder | Open-source data library operator | IT | Big data & analytics (IT) | US | Snowflake | Undisclosed | 23 October 2023 | Intel (Intel Capital) | The House Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, 8VC |
| Siklu | Wireless fibre connectivity provider for rural and suburban areas | Telecommunications | Wireless technologies | US | Ceragon Networks | 15 | 24 October 2023 | SerComm, Qualcomm (Qualcomm Ventures) | European Innovation Council, Agronaut Private Equity, Scale Up Venture Capital, Tamares, Amiti Ventures, Threshold Ventures, Evergreen Venture Partners |
| Brazen | Hiring and talent acquisition software producer | Services | Human resources | US | Radancy | Undisclosed | 24 October 2023 | Randstad (Randstad Innovation Fund) | Osage Venture Partners, Militello Capital |
| WhenFresh | Residential property data platform | Services | Real Estate | UK | PriceHubble | Undisclosed | 25 October 2023 | CLS Group (CLS Data) | |
| Payzer | Management software provider | IT | Enterprise software | US | WEX | 250 | 26 October 2023 | Ferguson (Ferguson Ventures) Scale Finance, Acta Wireless, Dash Solutions | Alerion Ventures, Grotech Ventures, Harnert Growth Partners, Route 66 Ventures, Idea Fund Partners, MetaBank, Alumni Ventures, Tom McCarthy, Elevate Innovation Partners, Sqaure 1 Bank |
| Manta Software | Data lineage platform | IT | Big data & analytics (IT) | UK | IBM | Undisclosed | 24 October 2023 | Alteryx, SAP (SAP.io) | Forestay Capital, Dan Fougere, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Senovo, Credo Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Emmanual Cassimatis |
Funding
Stellantis is buying a 21% stake in Chinese EV maker Leapmotor for $1.6 bn, aiming to gain a foothold in China’s booming EV market and secure access to advanced EV technology. The Netherlands-incorporated joint venture will start exports in 2024, and Stellantis plans to have two seats on Leapmotor’s board. The partnership will help Stellantis expand its EV lineup and meet its 2030 goal of EVs accounting for all European sales and half of US sales.
See the rest of October’s funding deals.
IPO
Indonesia’s J&T Global Express has been officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising HKD 3.528 bn in net proceeds through its IPO. The company intends to use the funds to expand its logistics network, enhance infrastructure, and strengthen sorting and warehouse capabilities. The funds will also support entry into new markets, service diversification, and research and development for delivering faster and more convenient logistics services globally. Corporate investors in J&T Global Express included Tencent and delivery service SF Express.
Southeast Asian community ecommerce retailer Webuy Global has priced its IPO at $4.00 per share, offering 3.8m ordinary shares and aiming to raise $15.2m before deducting underwriting expenses. They have also given underwriters a 45-day option to purchase an additional 570,000 shares. Webuy intends to use the net proceeds for marketing, business development, expansion, and general corporate purposes. Rocket Internet were an investor in WeBuy.
Funds
Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI), the corporate venturing arm of Indonesia-based Bank Mandiri, is set to launch Global Climate Tech Fund, having partnered with Australian venture capital firm Investible. Read the full story.
Store Nº8, the incubation subsidiary of American retail group Walmart, is looking to experiment with virtual worlds as it partners with venture capital firm Outlier Ventures to launch a web3 accelerator scheme. Read the full story.
Indonesian startup Kopital Ventures, initially an angel investor network called Kopital Network, has raised $12m in its first close, surpassing its $5m target. The sector-agnostic VC aims to invest $50,000 to $300,000 per startup, with plans to back 30 to 40 firms over the next three years. Kopital Ventures connects founders with mentors and later-stage investors while emphasising patient, sustainable growth. The VC has attracted strategic investors, including Credit Saison’s Saison Capital. It aims to be an early investor in future unicorns.
