The pace of corporate venturing deal making remained robust throughout the summer. In August there were 161 deals worth $4.2bn, compared with 167 deals worth $4bn in July. During the month we tracked six exits and four initial public offerings worth $2.3bn, compared with seven exits and three initial public offerings worth $3.7bn in July.
See a map of the month’s deal activity here.
The deal making run has the venture community excited. Russ Mactough, of US-based advisory firm Morgan Partners, said: “The investment and M&A [mergers and acquisitions] community here is jumping right now.”
The largest deal of the quarter was anomalously an investment secured by an incubator in its portfolio. Germany’s Rocket Internet received €435m ($580m) from internet services provider United Internet. Rocket also secured the third-largest investment of the month, with telecoms network operator Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) investing €333m for its stake.
The second-largest deal was US-based holiday room marketplace Airbnb officially closing a $475m series D round. Airbnb is backed by AOL-backed venture firm Crunchfund and DST Global, the venture fund spun off from internet company Mail.ru.
The largest exit in the month was the $970m sale of US-based video streaming company Twitch, backed by investors including Take-Two Interactive Software, to US-based e-commerce company Amazon.
The next largest exit was the $450m sale of Santaris Pharma, the Novo-backed pharmaceutical company, which sold to Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company Roche.
Initial public offerings we tracked in August included China-based online game publisher IDreamsky Technology, which was backed by China-based internet company Tencent, as well as Avalanche Biotech, a US-based developer of treatments for ophthalmic diseases, backed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Novo Ventures-backed biopharmaceutical company Otonomy.
There were 26 A rounds, 22 B rounds, 14 seed rounds, 11 C rounds, 10 D rounds, nine E rounds and eight stake purchases, of the deals we could classify.
There were 92 deals we tracked in the US – a 53% share of activity – a significantly lower share than most months, with the US typically taking two-thirds of deal flow. There were 18 deals tracked in China and 10 deals tracked in each of the UK and Japan.
IT sector
IT was the most active sector as is typical in corporate venturing, with 64 deals tracked in the month.
The largest deal in the sector was the $150m round raised by Lookout, a US-based mobile security company backed by investors including the corporate venturing units of wireless technology company Qualcomm and telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom. The second biggest deal was Nutanix, a US-based computing and IT storage company backed by software producer SAP’s corporate venturing unit SAP Ventures, which closed a $140m series E round at a $2bn valuation.
Other big deals included UK-based enterprise software developer Alfresco Software raising $45m in series D funding yesterday from investors including SAP Ventures, US-based virtual reality technology developer Jaunt raising $27.8m from a series B round featuring participation from Google Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of internet company Google and UK-based broadcaster BSkyB, and Bitglass, a US-based developer of data protection technology for businesses, raising $25m in a series B round that included SingTel Innov8, the corporate venturing arm of telecommunications company SingTel.
Vectra Networks, a US-based cyber security company, was backed by the corporate venturing units of semiconductor company Intel and networking equipment producer Juniper Networks, Centric Software, a US-based developer of software for the retail industry, raised $24m in a series D round co-led by Fung Capital, the private equity partnership affiliated with supply chain company Li & Fung Group, and US-based predictive analysis company DataRobot raised $21m in a series A round backed by insurance company New York Life Insurance.
US-based stealth security company VArmour raised $21m in a series C round that included Citi Ventures, financial services firm Citi’s corporate venturing unit, China-based memory card manufacturer Memblaze raised $20m in a series C round led by Bertelsmann Asia Investments, the Asia-based corporate venturing unit of the Germany-based mediacompany, and US-based big data analytics company Guavus secured $20m in funding in a series E round featuring the corporate venturing units of chipmaker Intel and telecommunications operator SingTel. US-based instant messaging app Snapchat, which is backed by China-based technology company Tencent, raised $20m from venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers at a $10bn valuation.
Consumer
The largest three deals of the month were all in the consumer sector. As noted above Germany’s Rocket Internet received €435m ($580m) from internet services provider United Internet and it secured €333m ($446m) from telecom network operator Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT).
The second largest deal of the month was US-based holiday room marketplace Airbnb officially closing a $475m series D round. Airbnb is backed by AOL-backed venture firm Crunchfund and DST Global, the venture fund spun off from internet company Mail.ru.
Germany-based online food delivery service FoodPanda secured $60m in series D funding from corporate-backed incubator Rocket Internet.
IDG Capital Partners, the China-based corporate venturing subsidiary of IT publishing company IDG, led a $100m series B round raised by online grocery seller Womai.com.
Womai was founded in 2009 by the state-owned China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO), Womai sells imported grocery products, many of which are sourced from overseas, to Chinese customers.
Movile, a Brazil-based food and movies subscription company backed by media and e-commerce company Naspers, raised $55m in series D funding.
China-based online beauty and cosmetics product seller Meilapp.com raised $20m in series B funding from backers including IDG Capital, a corporate venturing subsidiary of publishing and data company IDG.
Health
The largest deal in the healthcare sector was US-based biopharmaceutical company Dermira closing a $51m series C round that included pharmaceutical company UCB.
The next biggest deal was China-based mobile healthcare company Chunyu Yisheng raising $50m in aseries C round that included industrial group Dunan Holding. Israel-based stem cell treatment company Gamida Cell received a $35m investment from the corporate venturing arm of drugs maker Novartis in return for a15% stake. US-based synthetic biology company Gen9 raised $25m in funding from undisclosed investors to scale up its synthetic gene production having been previously backed by electronic and bioanalytic measuring company Agilent Technologies and holding company the Kraft Group.
US-based mobile healthcare app AirStrip raised $25m in strategic funding from investors including Qualcomm Ventures. US-based novel therapeutics developer Aldea Pharmaceuticals received $24m in a series B round that included participation from WuXi PharmaTech Corporate Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of biopharmaceutical company WuXi Pharmatech.
China-based biotech and biopharmaceutical company FortuneRock (China) raised $24m in funding, with investors including Jinhua Pharmaceuticals, the China-based company. Google Ventures-backed healthcare service Doctor on Demand raised $21m in series A funding, while ViaCyte, a US-based diabetes treatment companty, raised $5.4m
Services
The largest deal in the services sector was Google Capital, a strategic investment subsidiary of internet company Google, leading a $100m series D round for US-based short-term hiring marketplace Thumbtack.
Hike, an India-based instant messaging service raised $65m in a series C round led by investment firm Tiger Global Management and featuring Bharti Softbank (BSB), a joint venture between Japan-based telecommunications company Softbank and India-based counterpart Bharti Group.
US-based advertising technology developer AppNexus, which counts software company Microsoft among its backers, raised $60m in series E funding at a valuation of $1.2bn.
China-based online education platform XSteach.com raised $30m in series B funding from Legend Capital, the corporate venturing arm of conglomerate Legend Holdings.
Edmodo, a US-based communication service for teachers, raised $30m in a series D round that featured participation from Japan-based telecommunications group KDDI through its Open Innovation Fund.
China-based online recruitment service Lagou.co raised $25m in series B funding in a round featuring Bertelsmann Asia Investments, a subsidiary of media company Bertelsmann, China Money Network.
Singapore-based mobile ad company Smaato raised $25m in a series E round featuring the country’s largest media company, Singapore Press Holdings.
Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC acquired an 18.5% stake in Brazil-based education company Abril Educacao, which was previously backed by South Africa-based media company Naspers, in a deal valued at close to $265m.
E-commerce company Alibaba invested $120m in US-based mobile game developer Kabam as part of a strategic collaboration, in the largest deal in the media sector.
Kabam was previously backed by the corporate venturing units of semiconductor maker Intel, internet company Google and telecommunications company SK Telecom, and entertainment companies Warner Brothers Entertainment and MGM Studios and reportedly gambling exchange Betfair.
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz invested $50m in Hearst and Softbank-backed media website Buzzfeed.
China-based music and film production company Yuehua Entertainment raised RMB 300m ($48.9m) in a series B round from investors including advertising and marketing firm Gravity Media.
Japan-based news reading app developer SmartNews secured $36m in a series B round led by the corporate venturing unit of social gaming company Gree.
Israel-based over-the-top (OTT) television platform Vidmind has raised $30m in funding from Russia-based retail group Trellas.
Industrial
The largest deal in the industrial sector was US-based smart sensor and lighting control technology company Enlighted securing $20m from existing backers including Intel Capital.
US-based internet connectivity technology company Electric Imp raised $15m in series B funding from investors including contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group.
IDG Capital, a subsidiary of data and publishing company IDG.invested in a $12.7m series C round for Nutrinsic Corporation, which converts proteins from wastewater produced by food and beverage producers into animal feed.
GetTaxi, the Israel-based developer of an app to locate taxis, secured $150m in series D funding from backers including investment firm Vostok Nafta, which supplied $25m. GetTaxi is backed by conglomerate Access Industries.
Brazil-based ClickBus, an online booking platform for bus journeys, secured $10m in series A funding from investors including Tenglemann Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of retailer Tengelmann.
US-based car sharing service RelayRides added an extra $10m from Trinity Ventures to the $25m it raised in a Google Ventures-backed series B round in June.
Mobile device manufacturer Nokia made the first investment from its $100m Connected Car Fund, co-leading an $8m series B round for US-based connected car service Zubie.
The largest deal in the sector was likely SumUp, a UK-based mobile point-of-sale technology developer, which secured an undisclosed amount of series C funding from investors including online discount company Groupon and BBVA Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of bank BBVA. The round, which according to Russian venture capital news source RusBase totalled $13m, was led by Life. Sreda, the venture capital subsidiary of Life Financial Group. It follows an eight-digit funding round believed to be more than $20m, which was raised in July 2013 from investors including Groupon, BBVA and payment services firm American Express.
Axial, a US-based network for professionals who run, advise and finance private companies, received $11m in a series B round led by Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of cable television supplier Comcast.
China-based online payment company Mo9 backed by Bertelsmann Asia Investment Fund closed a series C round raising tens of millions of dollars from undisclosed investors.
Japan-based Exchange Corporation raised a $3.3m series A round co-led by CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of internet company CyberAgent, to launch Paidy, a cardless e-commerce payment and instant credit service. Human resources provider Recruit also invested through its Recruit Strategic Partners fund.
Energy and natural resources
US-based gas-to-fuel company Siluria Technologies secured $30m in funding led by Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV), the corporate venturing unit owned by energy and chemicals producer Saudi Aramco. Siluria is also backed by Presidio Ventures, which operates as the US corporate venturing arm of trading firm Sumitomo.
SF Suntech, a US subsidiary of China-based solar cell and module maker Shunfeng Photovoltaic International, agreed to invest $25m in US-based energy storage company Powin Energy Corporation.
US-based electric vehicle (EV) charging station operator Chargepoint raised an undisclosed amount of new series E funding from Constellation Technology Ventures that increased its overall funding to $114m, reportedly. Although the amount was not specified, Chargepoint raised $22.5m in May from investors including automotive manufacturer BMW and industrial equipment producer Siemens in May, bringing its total funding to $110m, indicating that Constellation, the corporate venturing subsidiary of energy company Exelon, invested approximately $4m.
Ecovision, a UK-based provider of sustainable energy systems, secured a £3.6m ($6m) investment from British Growth Fund (BGF), the UK venture fund backed by five of the country’s major banking groups.