Corporate venturing deal net: 18-22 June 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
Chevron to shake up investment with $100m fund
Corporate venturing unit Chevron Technology Ventures has formed a $100m vehicle known as Future Energy Fund to back lower-emission technologies.
Crooz reaches VC investment stage
The fashion e-commerce company is raising $18m for an investment subsidiary known as Seven Woods Investment.
Wayra and Edinburgh combine for AI accelerator
Telefónica’s Wayra UK subsidiary has teamed up with University of Edinburgh for an accelerator that will focus on artificial intelligence and blockchain.
Agorai arranges artificial intelligence accelerator
The artificial intelligence tool marketplace established the accelerator as part of a $26m investment drive in the UK’s AI space.
Speedinvest spies corporates for $58m fund
Raiffeisen and Uniqa have contributed to a fund that will help the firm expand from seed-stage deals to series A and B rounds.
The research organisation has provided $13.5m for the fund, which also features Reitan Kapital, Orkla and SpareBank1 SMN Invest as limited partners.
EDP powers up $8m Brazilian fund
Newly formed corporate venturing unit EDP Ventures Brasil will invest at seed and series A stage on behalf of the Europe-based energy provider.
Exits
Stellar to pay $500m to connect to Chain
Chain, which has raised $43m from investors including Visa, Orange, Nasdaq, Fiserv, Capital One and Citi, could be acquired for $500m in cash and tokens.
Aptinyx upgrades initial public offering to $102m
The Nan Fung-backed neurologic disorder therapy developer floated at the top of its range, increasing the share volume at the same time.
Xiaomi nets cornerstone investors for $6bn IPO
Qualcomm, China Mobile and SF Express are among seven cornerstone investors that will buy 10% of the shares in the Hong Kong offering.
AT&T dials up AppNexus for $1.6bn acquisition
Online advertising platform AppNexus is in talks with AT&T over a deal that would follow more than $340m of funding from backers such as WPP, Microsoft, News Corp and Deutsche Telekom.
Cisco makes it to July acquisition
Indoor location software provider July Systems, which has received funding from Intel, Acer and Motorola, is set to be bought by Cisco.
SurveyMonkey officially sets course for IPO
The Alphabet and Salesforce-backed online survey platform, valued at $2bn as of 2014, has revealed it has confidentially filed to go public.
Domo directs itself to $202m IPO target
The Salesforce and WPP-backed business data platform has set the range for an offering that would raise $202m at the top of its range.
Flipkart squares Cube26 exit in Paytm acquisition
Paytm has paid an undisclosed amount for the AI technology developer, which raised $7.7m in a Flipkart-backed round in 2015.
Home24 moves into public markets
Rocket Internet remains the largest investor in the home products marketplace, which has floated in a $174m initial public offering.
IT
Nginx revs engine for $43m round
App development tool supplier Nginx has now raised $103m altogether, with a series C round that followed a Telstra-backed series B.
Cylance proves golden to raise $120m
The endpoint security software producer, which counts Citi, Capital One, Dell and TenEleven as investors, has now raised almost $300m in total.
Cambricon canters to nine-figure series B round
Alibaba Innovation Ventures returned to back deep learning chip developer Cambricon’s series B round, which has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars.
Immuta handles corporates to secure $20m
The AI data management software developer has raised money in a series B round featuring Dell Technologies Capital and Citi Ventures.
Embodied edges through series A with $22m
Intel Capital, which had previously backed the Amazon and Sony-backed companion robot developer in 2016, also took part in its latest round.
CrowdStrike hits series E to raise $200m
CapitalG returned for a round that boosted the endpoint protection platform’s overall funding to more than $480m, valuing it at more than $3bn.
Kustomer cuts to $26m series B
The CRM platform developer has now raised a total of almost $39m and welcomed Cisco Investments as a new backer.
SGE services Phorest with funding
Phorest, a developer of salon and spa management software, has received $23.2m from Susquehanna Growth Equity that will fund global expansion.
Health
SenseTime hails Helian in $75m series B
The AI imaging technology producer has led a round that valued hospital wifi provider Helian Health at $900m.
iTeos accesses 6 Dimensions to raise $74m
Immuno-oncology drug developer iTeos Therapeutics has secured funding in a 6 Dimensions Capital-backed series B round.
Decibel amps up with $55m series C
Decibel Therapeutics, which is developing drugs to combat hearing loss, raised the cash in a round that included SR One, Regeneron and GV.
Stealth BioTherapeutics emerges with $100m
Stealth has secured $100m in convertible note financing across two rounds, one of which was led by Nan Fung Technology’s Pivotal Beta.
WindMIL turns to FoxKiser for series B
Existing investor FoxKiser has returned for a $32.5m round that follows the cancer immunotherapy T cell developer’s series A two years ago.
The radiation therapy system provider has now raised more than $500m altogether, having received funding from backers including Henan Maisheng.
Media
Taihe records $154m in funding
Taihe Music Group has secured funding from investors including Legend Capital, three years after merging with Baidu’s Qianqian Music.
Consumer
Zomato prepares $400m funding dish
The Info Edge-backed restaurant listings platform has entered talks with investors including Ant Financial for a round that would value it at $2bn.
Swiggy tops up funding with $210m
Swiggy has raised cash in a round featuring Naspers and Meituan-Dianping that valued the food delivery service at $1.3bn.
Financial
Nextmarkets notches up more series A cash
Axel Springer Media for Equity was among the investors as the financial coaching service closed its latest round at $11m.
Existing investors New York Life and UBS came back for a series E round that increased the wealth management platform’s total funding to $120m.
SmartAsset asserts itself in $28m series C
Citi Ventures came on board as an investor in the financial advisory platform, which also counts Ageon and New York Life as backers.
Digital Insurance Group gets money from Zurich
Zurich Insurance has co-led a $17.3m round for insurance technology developer DIG alongside a collaboration agreement.
Viva Republica authorises $40m in funding
The PayPal and Qualcomm-backed financial services app developer has received $40m from GIC and Sequoia China, taking its total funding to $117m.
Industrial
SpinLaunch catapults to $35m series A
Stealth-stage SpinLaunch, which is developing a kinetic energy-based space launch system, raised the cash from investors including Airbus and Alphabet.
Transport
Porsche helps Rimac find series B finish line
The carmaker has acquired a 10% stake in electric vehicle developer Rimac Automobili, adding to a $35m investment by Camel Group in September.
Services
VIPKid graduates to $500m series D+
Tencent, which backed the tutoring platform’s $200m series D last year, returned to co-lead a series D+ round that valued it at more than $3bn.
The CAA-backed tour activity booking platform took its overall funding to about $40m with a Cathay Innovation-led round.
Acumatica accumulates $25m in series C round
The proceeds will enable the MYOB-backed business organisation software producer, which has now raised $55m in total, to accelerate growth.
Zomato pledges $15m to Loyal Hospitality
Food preparation services provider Loyal Hospitality will partner Zomato, which has invested $5m out of a planned $15m, on food deliveries.