Corporate venturing deal net: 16-20 July 2018
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Dialpad calls investors in to raise $50m
GV and SoftBank-backed Dialpad has boosted its total funding to $120m after securing capital in a series D round led by Iconiq Capital.
Fundraising
AP Ventures applies itself to $200m launch
Anglo American Platinum has put up $100m for the platinum-focused venture fund, with South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation the other cornerstone investor.
Cyberdyne assembles corporate venturing fund
The robotic exoskeleton producer has raised an initial $81.9m for the fund, which has secured several corporate LPs.
The Motley Fool launches $100m fund
The financial advice provider has formed a venture capital vehicle called Motley Fool Ventures that is targeting a $100m close.
BlackFin directs fintech fund to $210m close
Insuers Macif and Securex and several banks joined an LP list that helped BlackFin’s first venture fund to a $117m first close a year ago.
People
Nio Capital invites Yu to join team
Ex-Geely vice-president Nathan Yu has taken the fourth managing partner position at Nio’s strategic investment vehicle.
Exits
Intel eases into Easic acquisition
Chip production technology provider Easic has raised approximately $135m in equity funding and debt financing from investors including Seagate.
Pinduoduo puts forth terms for $1.6bn IPO
Tencent could buy $250m of shares in the offering for portfolio company Pinduoduo, which will spend the proceeds on growth and R&D.
Inke enters public markets in $134m IPO
The Tencent, Duomi and Kunlun-backed live game streaming platform floated at the bottom of its range but saw its stock rise after it floated.
Existing backers BMW i Ventures and GE Ventures contributed to a round that took the total raised by the manufacturing services platform to $63m.
IT
SoftBank faces SenseTime for possible $1bn investment
Already backed by Qualcomm, Alibaba and Suning, facial recognition software developer SenseTime could receive up to $1bn from SoftBank Vision Fund.
Toka takes seed funding in Dell-backed round
Dell Technologies Capital was among the investors as Toka, which develops cybersecurity products tailored for government security, raised $12.5m.
Unisound turns up the volume with $89m
The AI chip developer has raised series C-plus funding, two months after securing $100m in a China Electronics Corporation Data-led series C round.
Verodin passes series B test with $21m
The cybersecurity testing platform welcomed Capital One Growth Ventures and Citi Ventures to an investor base already containing Cisco.
Xilinx digs up DeePhi acquisition
Deep learning technology startup DeePhi had raised funding from investors including Samsung, Ant Financial, MediaTek and its new owner, Xilinx.
Deutsche Telekom accelerates Fastly’s path to $40m
Fastly increased its funding to $220m altogether, in a Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners-led round backed by Swisscom Ventures.
Samsung Ventures and existing backer GV both invested in the data unififcation platform developer, likely taking its total funding to more than $60m.
Undo ushers Martlet back in for $14m
Marshall of Cambridge subsidiary Martlet helped software debugging technology provider Undo take its total funding past the $20m mark.
Health
Univercells goes viral with B round
Hugues Bultot, CEO, and José Castillo, CTO, founded Univercells in 2013 and, after €3m of early seeding from Takeda in 2015, at the end of 2016, the company was awarded a $16m grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Neuraly nets $36m in series A round
Dongkoo Bio&Pharma and D&D Pharmatech both contributed to a series A round for the neurologic disorder drug developer.
Venture firm HealthCap led a $15.4m round for sickle cell disease drug developer Modus Therapeutics, backed by Praktikertjänst early last year.
Bardy Diagnostics beats its way to more cash
The cardiac monitor developer has increased an Ascension Ventures-backed round to $35.4m, which will fund hiring and R&D.
Octave successfully pitches $14m round to corporates
BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners led care management platform Octave’s series A round, which included Echo Health Ventures.
Corporates go back to Orig3n for series B
LabCorp returned for the first close of a round that took the genetic disease drug developer’s total funding to $50m.
Ascentage tends to $150m series C
Ascentage, spun out of Ascenta Therapeutics and backed by 3SBio, has increased its total funding to more than $240m after closing a $150m series C round.
WuXi AppTec gets on Verge in $32m round
Verge Genomics, which is developing treatments for ALS and Parkinson’s, has raised series A funding from backers including WuXi AppTec.
Nohla rolls series B round to $56m
Celgene joined investors including Alexandria Venture Investments to expand the cell therapy developer’s series B round by an extra $11m.
Mitra Biotech gets $40m funding response
The Tata-backed personalised cancer therapy developer has completed a $40m round that increased its funding to $76m altogether.
Otsuka works out Recor Medical acquisition
Existing backer Otsuka Holdings has agreed to acquire the remaining shares in portfolio company Recor, the creator of a device that treats hypertension.
Media
Alibaba co-led a series A round for Suning’s sporting spinoff which included SenseTime and Evergrande Group.
Zhihu gets $300m funding response
Existing investor Tencent was reportedly among the participants in a series E round that valued the online answer platform at $2.5bn.
Randstad breaches Goodwall in series A round
Professional and educational networking platform Goodwall has secured $10.8m in a round co-led by Randstad Innovation.
Mantis Vision captures corporates to raise $55m
Luenmei Quantum and Samsung Catalyst Fund co-led a series D round for 3D scanning technology developer Mantis Vision, which has now raised $83m in total.
Consumer
SoftBank sees Light in $121m series D
Advanced camera developer Light secured the cash in a SoftBank Vision Fund-led round that also featured Leica.
Haoyiku hooks up with Tencent in series B round
Tencent led a nine-figure renminbi round for Haoyiku, which enables brands to sell on excess inventory through the corporate’s WeChat app.
Jiuwei recuits Joeone for $24m series C
Jiuwei will use the funds from the Joeone-backed round to expand its recruitment services from part-time, short-term jobs to more stable positions.
BookMyShow secures $100m ticket
TPG Growth has led a $100m series D round for Network18-backed ticketing service BookMyShow that will help it diversify its operations.
Jibo looks to interact with possible buyers
Jibo, the social robot developer backed by Samsung, Acer, Ningbo GQY, Denstu, NetPosa, KDDI and LG Uplus, is seeking an acquisition deal.
SIG helps Yunding lock up new funding
SIG Asia co-led a $40.5m series C-plus round for the home security technology developer that included Legend Holdings and existing backer Baidu.
The Fosun-backed fresh produce supplier has now raised a total of $64m and will look to make acquisitions on the way to a flotation.
Lesara lasers in on new funding
Vorwerk Ventures was among the investors taking the low-price fashion e-commerce platform’s overall funding to approximately $99m.
Financial
The cross-border payment platform has raised cash in a PayPal-led round also featuring Citi Ventures that will fund international growth.
The business-focused financial services provider, backed by Sina and Xiaomi, raised $103m in funding last month.
Corporates find Next deal in $83m series B
Munich Re, Nationwide and American Express returned for a round that boosted the insurance platform’s total funding to more than $130m.
Ant Financial helps throw Snowball $120m
Investment-focused online community Snowball Finance has raised series D funding from Ant Financial that will support hiring and product development.
Paidy raids Itochu in $55m series C
Existing investor Itochu led the consumer credit provider’s latest round, boosting its overall funding to $80m.
Energy and Natural Resources
Sinopec signs off on $1.5bn investment entity
The oil, gas and chemicals provider has formed a vehicle that will invest in new energy and materials, intelligent manufacturing and AI.
Industrial
AgBiome enters series C sphere with $65m
Monsanto Growth Ventures returned to reinvest in AgBiome, having previously backed its 2015 series B round alongside Syngenta.
Orbex orders up venture funding
Elecnor Deimos Space made a strategic investment in the satellite launcher developer as part of a $39.6m funding round.
Knightscope extends funding perimeter
The NTT Docomo, Flex and Konica Minolta-backed security system producer is hoping to raise up to $50m in a series S preferred stock offering.
Transport
Big Deal: Didi Chuxing gets $500m from Booking
Booking Holdings has provided more funding for Didi as part of a strategic partnership, as the latter looks to spin off its vehicle services arm in an IPO sized at up to $1.5bn.
Services
Glovo makes $134m funding pick-up
AmRest invested $29m and existing backer Rakuten returned as the delivery services provider raised cash at a valuation of about $350m.
GV gets in Swing for $15m series B
Online teaching services marketplace Swing Education has secured $15m in a round co-led by GV and venture firm Owl Ventures.
Zuoyebang zips to $350m series D
The educational assistance platform has now raised a total of $585m since being spun off from Baidu in 2015.
7Net catches corporates in series B round
Gaosi Education and Elex both invested in a $29.9m round for examination assessment system developer 7Net.