Big Deal: Didi Chuxing collects $5.5bn
The SoftBank-backed round could give the China-based ride hailing company the financial base it needs to compete internationally, where it may well use its CVC investments to forge a path.
Corporate venturing deal net: 8-12 May 2017
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
SoftBank’s investment in Didi Chuxing sized at $5bn
The corporate’s latest earnings report has revealed the amount it invested in Didi Chuxing’s recent $5.5bn round, while a report suggests it could close its Vision Fund at $95bn next week.
Dell Technologies Capital has officially moved out of stealth, disclosing a 50-strong portfolio that includes some EMC investments along with 27 exits since 2012.
The advanced manufacturing fund follows on from Apple’s $1bn commitment to the $100bn Softbank Vision fund.
Honda R&D Innovations will work with startups and other partner companies as it diversifies its focus beyond transport technology.
Anthemis forms Exponential partnership
Exponential Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for financial services firm MMI Holdings, has formed a financial wellness incubator with Anthemis.
People
Blader cuts herself free from Allianz
Ruth Foxe Blader has departed from Allianz Ventures to take up a director of investments role at VC investment and advisory firm Anthemis.
Exits
Mail.ru collects Zakazaka for $18m
Mail.ru has acquired the remaining 90% stake in food delivery platform and portfolio company Zakazaka in a deal that valued the startup at $20m.
River Vision flows into Horizon in $145m deal
Horizon Pharma has agreed to pay $145m upfront to buy River Vision Development Corp, enabling GlaxoSmithKline and Lundbeck to exit.
Affinitas finds a Spark with merger deal
Affinitas is set to merge with fellow online dating company Spark Networks in a deal that will provide an exit to Rocket Internet and Medienguppe Pressedruck.
Shotspotter targets public markets
The Motorola Solutions-backed gunshot detection software provider plans to raise up to $34.5m in an initial public offering on Nasdaq.
Intel exits as Quotient eats Crisp
The transaction, worth up to $57.5m, will allow Intel Capital and the Singapore state-owned EDBI to exit adtech provider Crisp Media.
Ovid invades public markets with $75m IPO
The neurological disorder drug developer has floated in an initial public offering that gave pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Takeda exits.
IT
SoftBank makes Improbable investment in $502m round
Improbable, a developer of virtual reality creation software, has closed a series B round led by SoftBank that will be used to enhance its SpatialOS platform.
Cockroach re-emerges to raise $27m
GV has made its third investment in the open-source database developer, which has now raised more than $53m since it was founded in early 2015.
Signal Sciences highlights $15m series B
Existing backer O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures returned for a round disclosed in conjunction with the launch of the company’s web protection platform.
Gainsight to pursue vision with $52m
Cisco Investments joined existing backers including Salesforce Ventures in a round that took the total raised by the customer data tracking company to almost $160m.
GV reaches Podium in $32m series A
Customer engagement software startup Podium has raised $32m in an oversubscribed GV-backed round that valued it at more than $100m.
Intel Capital has led an $8m round for big data technology provider Falcon Computing Solutions that also featured Baidu’s corporate venturing unit.
Heap stacks $27m in series B round
Salesforce and WME-backed Heap has boosted its total funding to more than $40m with a $27m series B round co-led by Menlo Ventures and New Enterprise Associates.
MariaDB organises funding from EIB
European Investment Bank has invested $27.2m in the database technology provider, which counts Intel Capital among its earlier backers.
Jin Jiang chips in as Canaan raises $43m
Semiconductor technology provider Canaan has received $43m in a series A round featuring hotel manager Jin Jiang International at a $480m post-money valuation.
Corporates boost Bonsai’s series A round
Microsoft Ventures has co-led a $7.6m second tranche of a series A round also backed by ABB, Siemens and Samsung that took its total funding to $13.6m.
Health
Guardant Health detects SoftBank to secure $360m
SoftBank has led a round that took the liquid biopsy system developer’s total funding to about $550m, as part of a joint venture agreement between the companies.
Edico Genome maps out $22m round
Dell’s corporate venturing arm, which emerged from stealth this week, has led a $22m series B round that included existing shareholder Qualcomm.
Dermtreat patches up series A with corporate cash
Novo Seeds and Lundbeckfonden Emerge took part in a $17.7m Sofinnova Ventures-led round that will advance Dermtreat’s mucosal disease treatment patch to phase 2 tests.
Aadi re-accesses Celgene for $23m series A
The money will pay for the clinical trials of Aadi’s lead drug candidate, a treatment for a rare form of bone and soft tissue cancer that it licensed from Celgene in 2014.
Modernizing Medicine takes $231m from Warburg Pincus
The investment included secondary purchases from existing investors, the electronic health record system developer having previously been backed by Pentland and IBM.
Legend helps Axonics digest $14.5m
The implantable medical device developer has achieved the first close of a series C round featuring Legend Capital that has a target size of $30m.
Progyny’s investors provide more series B cash
Fertility benefits platform developer Progyny has raised $10m from investors including SR One to increase its series B round to $24.7m.
Media
Star48 rises to series C round
Existing investor Legend Capital has contributed to a series C round of undisclosed size for China-based entertainment provider Shanghai Star48 Culture and Media.
Smule makes friends with Tencent to secure $54m
The social music app developer has raised $54m in a Tencent-led round that valued it at $604m and will now look to expand in Asia.
Yieldify sells investors on $6m round
The marketing technology supplier has added $6m to the $11.5m it raised in a 2015 round co-led by GV and SoftBank Capital.
Consumer
Territory accepts $6.7m in series A round
Seed-stage investor The Motley Fool returned to back the prepared meal delivery service’s series A round, which took its total funding to about $12m.
JG Summit Holdings and Uni-President Enterprises were among the investors as Tencent-backed internet company Garena rebranded to Sea and raised new funding.
Soylent has increased its overall funding to almost $75m with a series B round led by Alphabet subsidiary GV that will support the product’s entry into brick-and-mortar stores.
Financial
PayU puts $120m into Kreditech
Online lending platform Kreditech has followed a $10.5m investment by Rakuten in December with $120m of funding from payment services provider PayU.
Legend gets some Bangsun for its buck
Legend Capital was among the investors that have provided $23m in series B+ funding for financial risk management and anti-fraud software developer Bangsun Technology.
G-Banker goes for gold in $29m series C
The gold trading platform has raised new funding in a round led by Bank of China that included corporate venturing unit and existing investor SBCVC.
MobiKwik meets investors for nine-figure round
The corporate-backed mobile payment platform is reportedly in talks with BlackRock, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank for funding at a $1b valuation.
Kobalt signs up Hearst for $75m series D
Hearst Entertainment has led a round that valued GV-backed music royalty collections platform Kobalt at $775m post-money.
Next Insurance nabs corporates for $29m series A
Munich Re/HSB Ventures has led a round that included Markel and Nationwide, and which boosted the business insurance startup’s total funding to $42m.
Energy and Natural Resources
Xiaodian powers up with $50m series B
Tencent and Fosun have contributed to a series B round for the power bank rental service, weeks after Tencent co-led its $14.5m series A.
Industrial
GV picks out Abundant Robotics in $10m round
Robotic fruit harvester startup Abundant Robotics has raised $10m in a series A round led by GV that included BayWa and Yamaha Motor Company.
Transport
Corporates drive $580m in funding for Yixin
Online automotive marketplace Yixin Group has added $580m from investors such as Tencent and Bitauto to the $550m it raised last August.
The Rakuten-backed ride hailing service, valued at $320m as of April 2016, is reportedly raising up to $500m in a series D round that will fund Brazilian expansion.
Services
Innogy Ventures comes back to Move24
Innogy has led the $14.2m first tranche of the relocation services provider’s series C round, which is expected to achieve a final close in the next two months.
Signifyd signs off on $56m series C
Existing investor American Express Ventures has returned to take part in fraud protection service Signifyd’s latest round, boosting its total funding to almost $100m.
Caterpillar constructs Yard Club acquisition
Yard Club has been acquired by Caterpillar for an undisclosed amount, two years after receiving funding from the corporate.