Corporate venturing deal net: 5-9 February 2018
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
B Capital Group, which is sponsored by Boston Consulting Group, closed an oversubscribed fund that will invest in up to 25 companies.
Workday Ventures earns $250m from parent company
Enterprise HR and finance software provider Workday has committed $250m to the corporate venturing fund it formed in 2015.
Ping An Ventures pursues $1.3bn
Ping An’s corporate venturing unit is looking to raise up to $500m for a dollar fund and $800m for a renminbi fund, both of which will target healthcare investments.
Corporates experiment with OurCrowd Labs/02 incubator
OurCrowd has attracted support from Motorola Solutions and Reliance Industries for a seed stage incubator it launched alongside a $50m sports tech fund.
Disney helps increase Working Capital to $23m
Omidyar Group’s Humanity United has launched an ethical supply chain investment fund backed by Walt Disney and foundations run by Walmart and C&A.
People
Kovacs to cover communications at Vision Fund
SoftBank Vision Fund has hired Andrew Kovacs from Sequoia Capital to head up SoftBank Vision Fund’s public relations.
Volk vacates GE Ventures for NVCA role
Stephanie Volk has left her management position at GE Ventures to take the vice-president of development post at National Venture Capital Association.
Exits
AmorePacific exits as Allergan snaps up Elastagen
Dermatology technology developer Elastagen has agreed to a $95m acquisition, enabling AmorePacific Ventures to exit the company.
Acacia to accept Euronext Brussels listing
Novo and Lundbeck-backed Acacia Pharma previously withdrew plans for a $230m initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in 2015.
Datos IO heeds Rubrik for acquisition
Cisco and NetApp are set to exit data management platform developer Datos IO in an acquisition by Rubrik, less than a year after they invested.
Fair fetches new funding and lifts Skurt
Car leasing startup Fair has reportedly raised about $50m in a round fetauring Siemens and BMW that enabled it to acquire BMW-backed Skurt.
IT
HighFive adds new Dimension to its investors
NTT subsdiary Dimension Data led the video conferencing system provider’s $32m series C round, taking its overall funding to more than $77m.
The SoftBank-backed property data platform increased its overall funding to more than $38m with a round featuring Marcus & Millichap.
Hubspot helps supply $16m to Grow
HubSpot has contributed to business analytics dashboard developer Grow’s series B round, which will support software development, sales and marketing.
Baidu highlights $10m seed round for Lightelligence
Lightelligence, which is developing microchip technology based on light signals, has secured $10m in a Baidu Ventures-led seed round.
Health
Syndesi sends for corporates in $21m series A
Novo Seeds led a series A round for the synaptic dysfunction drug developer that included Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC.
The infant disease screening system developer has raised $12.8m according to a securities filing, four months after a $10m round backed by BOE and Rex Healthcare.
Medopad notes $28m for series A round
NWS Holdings has contributed to the first close of the mobile health monitoring platform’s series A round, which is expected to close at up to $120m.
AvroBio arrives at $60m series B
Brace Pharma Capital participated in a round that took the total raised by the rare genetic disease drug developer to more than $85m.
CartiHeal gets funding implant to raise $21m
Bioventus has added $2.5m to the orthobiologic implant developer’s latest round, which already includes Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC.
Media
Corporates get Vreal for series A round
The virtual reality broadcasting platform raised $11.7m in a round backed byIntel Capital and Akatsuki Entertainment Technology Fund.
Phunware boosts series F funding to $46m
The round, which includes Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and WWE, reached a $40m second close in 2016.
Uberall locates $25m in series B capital
Location marketing software provider Uberall has raised funding in an HPE Growth Capital-led round that included existing investor United Internet.
Consumer
Naspers helps Swiggy bottle up $100m
Naspers Ventures led the round, investing alongside Meituan-Dianping and increasing the food delivery platform’s total funding to $255m.
Love, Bonito tries on Kakaku in $13m round
Kakaku took part in a series B round led by existing investor NSI Ventures that will support recruitment and geographical expansion.
Broadlink networks with corporates for series D
The smart home device maker has raised $54.5m from investors including Baidu and Libai as it gears up for a China initial public offering.
Danone makes Harmless investment in $30m round
Organic coconut water producer Harmless Harvest has received $30m in a growth round led by corporate venturing unit Danone Manifesto Ventures.
Financial
Alibaba’s financial services affiliate is reportedly targeting a valuation of $80bn to $100bn for the round, which could precede an initial public offering.
The round follows a $2m Hiscox-backed seed round for the insurance digitalisation startup in 2016, and will be used for product development.
Pacific Life puts $30m into Swell investment
The insurance and financial services group has supplied $30m in funding for impact investment platform Swell Investing, which has $16m under management.
WealthNavi widens scope to raise $41m
Sony Innovation Fund was among the strategic investors that backed the equity portion of the round, secured alongside more than $27m in debt.
Energy and Natural Resources
RigUp gets series B funds flowing
The GE-backed oilfield services marketplace operator has claimed $15.8m in equity funding alongside $30m of debt from Silicon Valley Bank.
Alliance forges $65m Ionic Materials series C
The advanced battery material developer has received funding from investors including the Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi-backed Alliance Ventures.
The indoor farming network, which is backed by Demand Analytics and Ideo, took its total funding to $35m with a Balderton Capital-led series A round.
Industrial
Agrinos accrues funding in EuroChem-backed round
The crop nutrition product supplier raised $14.7m in a private placement that included existing strategic investor EuroChem.
Enerkem enters next stage with $224m
Sinobioway and existing investor Waste Management of Canada took part in a round that took the fuel-from-waste producer’s total funding to more than $520m.
Investors pump $21m into Organica Water
EDF-backed Electranova Capital, an existing investor, returned for water treatment service provider Organica’s series D round.
Transport
Toyota hails JapanTaxi with investment
The carmake has invested almost $69m in ride hailing app developer JapanTaxi as part of a strategic partnership deal.
Byton bids for $400m in funding
The Tencent-backed electric vehicle developer, formerly known as Future Mobility, is seeking between $300m and $400m at a $1.2bn valuation.
Cityscoot picks up corporates to raise $49m
The electric scooter rental platform will expand into new cities using the proceeds from the RATP and LeasePlan-backed round.
Corporates perform series A funding service for Yoshi
General Motors and ExxonMobil co-led on-demand car servicing provider Yoshi’s $13.7m series A round, which will help it enter 25 more US cities.
ACV Auctions seals $31m series C deal
SoftBank, which previously backed ACV’s 2016 series A round, returned for a series C that boosted the car auction platform’s overall funding to $53m.
Corporates to push Go-Jek to $1.5bn
Blibli and Astra International are reportedly set to add up to $290m to on-demand ride service Go-Jek’s latest round, which has been increased from $1.2bn to $1.5bn.
Big Deal: Joby completes $100m funding job
Joby Aviation has raised $100m in an Intel Capital-led series B round that included JetBlue Technology Ventures, indicating the rise in air-based corporate venturing.
The in-car camera developer has launched out of stealth having secured $18m in a CSAA-backed series A round.
Services
Instacart initiates $250m series E
The American Express, Comcast and Amazon-backed grocery delivery service is targeting up to $250m, according to a securities filing.
FarEye catches Deutsche Post DHL’s gaze
An affiliate of delivery group Deutsche Post DHL has supplied $9.6m in financing to the logistics software developer that will fund international growth.
Analysis: SoftBank Vision Fund invests $300m in Wag
The $97bn Vision fund committed $300m to dog walking service provider Wag