Fundraising
Bayer and UC Davis seed agtech incubator
The Crop Science CoLaborator will bring pharmaceutical firm Bayer into UC Davis’s ecosystem of incubators.
The Crossover I vehicle has been backed by CNP Assurances and an unnamed Chinese biopharmaceutical firm, and will target both late-stage private and public companies.
Coinbase launches investment unit
Coinbase Ventures will invest in early-stage digital currency companies, initially without the requirement of formalising strategic partnerships and potentially backing competitors.
People
Joaug joins Aster as principal
Serial entrepreneur Jérome Joaug has joined Aster Capital, the venture capital firm that emerged out of Schneider Electric Ventures.
Rothe switches from Capnamic to Iris
Rothe had spent five years at Capnamic, which includes Axa, Cewe, Cisco, Defacto, Euroweb, Gauselmann Die Spielemacher, Hahn Air, Helaba, MGO Digital Ventures, Muellermedien, NWZ Digital, Rheinische Post, Universal Music Group and DuMont Digital as its corporate limited partners in its funds.
Granath calls up Sisscanto from Telia
Granath had been responsible for the growth investment portfolio of Division X at Telia for three years.
Lee emerges at Unblock after IDG Ventures Korea
Lee had left IDG Ventures Korea in early 2016 and has spent the past near-two years as managing partner of Cognitive Investment.
Sheffer replaces Prior at GM Ventures
Prior to joining GM Ventures, Sheffer was executive director of chassis purchasing at US-based car maker General Motors.
Von Richter banks on LBBW Ventures role
Andreas von Richter had previously been partner of Aster Capital among other venture roles over the past decade.
Schnell moves quickly to head private equity
As CEO of Siemens Venture Capital until the creation of its Next47 corporate venturing unit last March, Schnell had included advisory services to its in-house pension fund.
SoftBank’s Misra surrenders Snapdeal board seat
Kabir Misra, one of the corporate’s two representatives on Snapdeal’s board of directors since early 2017, is stepping down.
Exits
Unum Therapeutics has listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, providing exits to Novo, Sanofi, EMS and Seattle Genetics.
Samsung-backed NLight Photonics has filed for an initial public offering, aiming to raise approximately $86.3m when it floats on the Nasdaq Global Market.
Aptus Therapeutics-backed Alzheon has set its pricing range at $13 to $15 and could raise almost $86.3m if underwriters take up their option to purchase additional shares.
Ola has acquired Times Internet-backed public transportation app developer Ridlr in an all-stock deal reportedly worth almost $50m.
Advanced camera producer Lytro shutters business
Lytro, which had raised more than $200m from investors including Qualcomm, Foxconn and Huayi Brothers, has closed.
Homology homes in on $165m IPO
Novartis-backed Homology Medicines priced its shares at $16 and raised $165m when it floated on the Nasdaq Global Select Market
Qualcomm Ventures has exited agricultural management platform developer Strider in an acquisition of undisclosed size by Syngenta.
Meituan-Dianping to pick up Mobike
The corporate has agreed to acquire Mobike, backed by Tencent, for $2.7bn.
Alibaba gobbles up Ele.me at $9.5bn valuation
Following reports in February, Alibaba has confirmed it will acquire the remaining shares in Ele.me, currently owned by investors such as JD.com, Tencent and Baidu.
IT
WorkFusion buckles down with $50m
NGP Capital, formerly known as Nokia Growth Partners, has returned to invest in WorkFusion’s series E round, which brought the company’s total funding to $118m.
Corporates chip in for Nantero funding
Nantero has attracted $29.7m in funding from a consortium that included Dell, Cisco, Kingston and Schlumberger as well as three unnamed semiconductor companies.
Red Balloon Security takes off with series A
The $21.9m in funding, provided by backers including American Family Ventures, will enable Red Balloon Security to increase its business operations.
Remesh gets $10m answer to funding question
The market research platform developer, a graduate of Barclays Accelerator, has now raised almost $14m altogether after securing series A cash.
Kloudless clubs investors together for $6m
Alibaba Taiwan Entrepreneurs Fund was among the participants as the integration software developer secured series A funding.
SiFive receives $50.6m series C instructions
Osage University Partners returned to co-lead customised chip maker SiFive’s series C round, which also featured SK Telecom, Huami and Western Digital.
Health
Eidos Therapeutics forms $64m series B
BridgeBio Pharma participated in a series B round for its subsidiary Eidos Therapeutics, which is working on treatments for a family of rare genetic diseases known as ATTR.
Macrolide slides into $20m series B
Novartis, Roche and GlaxoSmithKline all returned for the series B round, having already supported a $22m series A round in 2015.
Reflexion contemplates $100m series C
Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson were among the returning backers to support a $100m series C round for Reflexion Medical, which secured the Rise Fund as lead investor.
Miaoshou Doctor diagnoses $79.3m series C
Tencent has led a series C round for the health e-commerce company, which will use the cash to bolster its business and technology development efforts.
Welltok benefits from $75m series E2
The investment, backed by Itochu, follows a $33.7m series E round featuring Qualcomm Life Fund and Hearst Health Ventures in 2016.
Axonics modulates $40.1m investment
Legend Capital-backed Axonics Modulation Technologies has secured of $40.1m, with $20.1m raised as equity and $20m in a credit facility supplied by Silicon Valley Bank.
LetsGetChecked investigates $12m series A
Optum has led a series A round for LetsGetChecked, which enables users to take medical tests at home.
Twist wraps up $50m investment
Twist Bioscience, a synthetic DNA producer backed by Kangmei, Illumina, WuXi PharmaTech and Institut Mérieux, has now raised a total of $259m.
Investors approve $50m Accolade funding
Accolade has raised $50m from a consortium of investors that included McKesson Ventures, which previously injected $22.5m in 2015.
Unchained Labs tools up to secure $17m
Novo Ventures, an investor in the biological research tool producer since its series A round, returned for a series D that took its total funding to $86m.
Tempest storms to $70m series B
Proceeds from the round, which included Lilly Asia Ventures, will be used to advance Tempest Therapeutics’ lead enzyme inhibitor into the clinic.
Abbott spots Bigfoot for $55m series B
Abbott has contributed to the $18m second tranche of diabetes management technology developer Bigfoot Biomedical’s latest round.
Media
Investors jump into Ubiquity6’s picture
A+E Networks and Gradient Ventures both backed AR developer Ubiquity’s first disclosed round, which raised $10.5m.
Alisports scores $190m series A
China Taiping Insurance has backed a series A round for Alisports, the sports affiliate of Alibaba that revealed the deal at the same time as its acquisition of wearables maker Ledongli.
SalesLoft moves into $50m series C
SalesLoft has raised a total of $76m in funding after securing $50m in a series C round that included LinkedIn.
AAF kicks off with media backing
New media companies Chernin Group and Macro Ventures have invested in the fledgling Alliance of American Football, which has raised a sub-$10m sum.
NBCUniversal helps scare up funding for Crypt TV
Crypt TV has raised $6.2m in funding from backers including NBCUniversal, which first invested in the horror video platform a year ago.
Consumer
Instacart grows series E to $350m
Following an initial $200m close two months ago, the Amazon, Amex and Comcast-backed grocery delivery company has added $150m to its series E round.
IfOnly makes series D a reality
Mastercard, Hyatt Hotels and Sotheby’s have backed a series D round for IfOnly that was reportedly sized at $20m.
Zilingo fashions $54m series C
The fashion marketplace has raised a total of $82m in funding after closing a series C round that featured all existing investors, including SIG and Hubert Burda.
OrderMyGear bulks up with $35m
Susquehanna Growth Equity has invested $35m in OrderMyGear, which said it processed almost $200m worth of commerce last year.
Investors pour $30.5m into Poseida
Malin has returned to support an oversubscribed series B round, led by Longitude Capital.
Financial
DriveWealth treasures $21m series B
DriveWealth has closed a series B round co-led by SBI, three years after attracting series A capital from Route 66 Ventures.
Canopy accounts for Wells Fargo to raise $30m
Wells Fargo Strategic Capital has contributed to a $30m round for the tax and accountancy software platform, doubling its total funding.
Branch International banks $70m
The emerging markets-focused online lender has raised debt and equity financing in a series B round featuring CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund.
Industrial
Anellotech melds remainder of $15m round
Suntory has released a $6m tranche to take its overall investment in chemical processing technology developer Anellotech to $30m.
Corporates help put together funding for Qmerit
Qmerit’s first round secured $11.8m from corporates Innogy and Schneider Electric as well as private equity firm Strandview Capital.
6 River Systems is working on robotics technology to handle warehouse fulfilment and has attracted additional capital from investors including iRobot.
FoodLogiq traces $19.5m investment
Testo and Tyson Foods were among the backers to join Renewal Funds, which had already supplied cash in September 2017, in bringing FoodLogiq’s round to a $19.5m close.
Services
Bertelsmann Asia Investments has backed a series C+ round that followed an initial series C backed by Tencent.
Mixpace steps into $63m series B1
Zhongnan has contributed to the series B1 round, having previously backed a series A, as co-working spaces provider Mixpace prepares to expand into additional cities.
SoftBank is putting $400m into Paytm Mall, while Alibaba is providing the remaining $45m, with the total amount falling short of the $500m to $600m the company was reportedly seeking.