Corporate venturing deal net: 4 – 8 September 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
Poland introduces $225m CVC fund of funds
The PFR NCBR CVC Fund of Funds will put a total of $225m into corporate venturing units set up by domestic and overseas companies to stimulate the ecosystem.
Eight Roads finds path to $250m fund
Eight Roads Ventures, the investment arm of Fidelity, has set up a healthcare fund that will focus on Chinese startups in the therapeutics, services, IT and medical technology sectors.
PayPal processes fifth incubator cohort
PayPal has named the five next fintech startups that will participate in its India-based incubator, taking a stake of undisclosed size in each one.
Exits
Daimler and Deutsche Bahn have celebrated an exit as Madsack Mediengruppe acquired CleverShuttle.
Souq, itself acquired by Amazon two months ago, has purchased its portfolio business Wing.ae.
Merck diagnoses $554m Rigontec acquisition
University of Bonn spinout Rigontec closed a $32.7m series A round a year ago, from investors including Boehringer Ingelheim and High-Tech Gründerfonds.
Deere banks on Blue River with $305m
Blue River Technology, backed by Monsanto and Syngenta, will be acquired by John Deere for $305m in a transaction expected to close this month.
Pfizer and Ipsen-backed Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq.
Kioson markets initial public offering
Mitra Komunikasi Nusantara-backed Kioson is set to float on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, becoming the first startup in the country to complete an initial public offering.
NeoTract agrees to $1.1bn acquisition
Teleflex is set to acquire Johnson & Johnson-backed NeoTract for a total of $1.1bn, with $725m to be paid upfront and the remainder dependent on certain milestones.
Matrimony.com hears stock market bells
Yahoo-backed matchmaking platform Matrimony.com is set to launch its initial public offering next week, aiming to raise more than $78m in proceeds.
Paytm to make Little acquisition
Paytm is exploring an acquisition of its portfolio company Little Internet, a local discovery platform that has also been backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.
Hearst and News Corp-backed Roku has filed for a $100m initial public offering on Nasdaq, approximately two months after its flotation plans were first reported.
Alphabet and Campbell Soup-backed Juicero has shut down, offering refunds to its customers.
IT
Snowflake lands on $105m series D
Capital One has joined a series D round for Snowflake Computing with a $5m commitment, bringing the round to a $105m close.
Roobo, a smart home service robot manufacturer backed by iFlyTek, has secured $53.8m in a series B round provided by the VC firm founded by Tencent’s former chief technology officer.
GE Ventures has contributed to a funding round for Aras that was led by Silver Lake Kraftwerk.
Zipwhip dashes to $22.5m series C
Microsoft Ventures, which previously supported a series B, has returned to back Zipwhip’s series C round.
MapR outlines $56m funding round
Alphabet and Qualcomm-backed MapR Technologies is working on a big data analytics platform that aims to help companies improve business outcomes.
Sumni, backed by multiple corporates, has raised at least $30m in a series C round from unnamed backers.
Youku Tudou-backed artificial intelligence technology producer Yi+ has received series B capital to further develop its machine vision platform.
Apica monitors $12m investment
SEB, which previously led a $5m funding round in 2012, has returned to contribute to a $12m follow-on round.
Health
Gritstone advances to $92.7m series B
Lilly Asia Ventures has led Gritstone Oncology’s second funding round, while GV also contributed cash.
Wuxi NextCode deciphers $240m series B
Wuxi NextCode has achieved a final close of its Amgen Ventures-backed series B round at $240m with additional commitments from investors including Temasek.
Truveris discovers $25m series D
Led by McKesson Ventures, the money will support accelerated company growth.
23andMe examines $200m investment
The corporate-backed genetic testing company is targeting a $200m funding round led by Sequoia Capital.
Entasis restructures $81.9m series B
Entasis, which previously raised $50m in a Novo and AstraZeneca-backed series B last year, has added $31.9m in series B-1 round.
University of Geneva spinout Amal Therapeutics has added $9.6m to its coffers following a series B round backed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Helsinn.
Consumer
VizEat wines and dines EatWith
EatWith, backed by TripAdvisor, has been acquired by VizEat for an undisclosed amount.
SoftBank has led a $250m funding round in the hotel aggregation platform, which was previously said to be seeking up to $500m from investors.
CarDekho gears up for Tencent-backed series C
Tencent is considering an investment in CarDekho’s series C round, expected to be between $30m and $40m in size.
Gofro books $10m series B trip
MakeMyTrip and HIS have injected $10m into holiday marketplace Gofro.
Blackhawk catches StarCash with $175m
CashStar, a digital gift card service backed by Intel, has been acquired by Blackhawk Network for approximately $175m in cash.
Financial
Lendingkart shops around for $80m series C
Sistema Asia Fund has joined existing shareholders for an initial $10.5m tranche, which is set to be followed by a final close of $50m to $80m within six months.
Meixin reveals series A figure
Meixin has closed a series A of more than $5m, following reports in July that Bertelsmann Asia Investments had contributed to an eight-figure round.
Industrial
NewLeaf Symbiotics harvests $30m series C
Monsanto Growth Ventures had co-led a $24m first tranche in July 2017 for the agricultural product developer.
Airobotics takes off with $32.5m
Microsoft Ventures has co-led the series C round with OurCrowd, BlueRun Ventures China and one unnamed investor.
Transport
Innoviz appears on corporates’ radar
Delphi Automotive and Magna International are among the corporates that have taken part in a $65m series B round for Innoviz, a developer of Lidar sensors.
Ninja Van approaches $60m series C
Yahoo Japan-backed Ninja Van is reportedly seeking at least $60m in a series C round supported by existing investors such as Abraaj Group.
LeddarTech detects $101m investment
Osram has led a funding round for LeddarTech that also featured Delphi, Magneti Marelli and Integrated Device Technology.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund has led a $1bn investment in the sports e-commerce business, which also included existing shareholders Major League Baseball and National Football League.
Turo gets in the $92m series D groove
The round was co-led by SK Holdings and Daimler, following Turo’s acquisition of Daimler subsidiary Croove.
Technical University of Munich spinout Lilium Aviation has closed a $90m series B round that included Tencent to support the development of its five-seat jet.
Via navigates $250m investment
Daimler has led a strategic investment in Via, a shuttle-based carpooling service that is also backed by Hearst and that will use the money to expand into Europe.
Services
Kr Space works its way to $15m
The co-working space provider has boosted its total equity by $15m, after being spun out from 36Kr in January last year.
Crowdfox catches $5.6m series A
Takkt has led the series A round for e-commerce platform Crowdfox, converting a $2.4m note in the process.
Telecoms
Metawave makes a splash with $7m seed round
Spun out from Xerox subsidiary Parc last month, Metawave has now raised $7m in a seed round backed by several venture capital firms.