Line Ventures and Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, respective subsidiaries of messaging platform Line and e-commerce group Alibaba, co-led a series B-plus round for Taiwan-based online tourism services platform KKday. The round also featured existing backers including CDIB Capital and Monk’s Hill Ventures, and followed a total of $22m in funding from a shareholder base that also includes travel services provider HIS, MindWorks Ventures, Cathay Venture, AppWorks, 91Capital and Substance Capital.
Social image modification platform developer Meitu provided $10m of series A-plus funding for China-based, female-focused lifestyle media platform PressLogic on Wednesday. The startup, which operates digital media analytics system MediaLens and user-generated content community GirlStyle, will use the funding to enhance its core technology, which it will begin licensing to social media marketers and influencers.
Insurance firm Axa led a €7m ($9.8m) series A round for Birdie, a UK-based developer of digital care technology for the elderly, yesterday. The round increased Birdie’s overall funding to approximately $13.3m, its early investors including startup studio Kamet. The startup will put the funding toward product development and recruitment as it seeks to increase the number of care agencies in its partnership network.
Venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures has invested an undisclosed sum in South Korea-based artificial intelligence technology developer Skelter Labs, adding to a round featuring diversified conglomerate Lotte Group’s Lotte Homeshopping division, internet group Kakao’s KakaoBrain and K Cube Ventures subsidiaries, and Stonebridge Ventures that stood at $9.2m as of March this year. Skelter had raised an undisclosed amount from KakaoBrain and K Cube in May 2017 and also counts Access Ventures as an investor.
US-based low-power lighting technology developer Flex Lighting completed a $9m series B round on Wednesday led by VC fund Energy Foundry that included Sabic Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of petrochemical producer Sabic, Bascom Ventures and unnamed additional investors. Founded in 2004, Flex had closed a $5m round in equity funding in 2015 and $3.1m in debt financing in August 2017 according to regulatory filings.
Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank has invested in Ludos Protocol, the Singapore-based creator of a decentralised gaming ecosystem, as part of a funding round also backed by Collinstar Capital, Du Capital and BA Capital. The platform has non-fungible tokens that can be used and swapped across different games.
Plus One Robotics, a US-based developer of computer vision software for the robotics industry, closed an $8.3m series A round yesterday featuring Zebra Ventures and TCL Ventures, subsidiaries of printing technology provider Zebra Technologies and electronics producer TCL Corporation. The round was led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital and included seed investors Schematic Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, FF Venture Capital, Dynamo and First Star Ventures.
DSM Venturing and BayWa RE. Energy Ventures, subsidiaries of health and nutrition product manufacturer Royal DSM and diversified conglomerate BayWa, co-led a series B round of undisclosed size for Raycatch, a Israel-based developer of technology that increases the amount of power generated by solar plants, on Tuesday. Rio Ventures and Maverick Ventures Israel also participated in the round, the latter as an existing investor.
RF Code, a US-based asset and environmental management data platform backed by property services firm Hunt Companies and Intel Capital, the corporate venturing unit run by semiconductor technology producer Intel, raised $6.6m from undisclosed existing investors on Wednesday. The company had previously received more than $56m in funding according to securities filings, and its investors also include VC firm Chartline Capital Partners and private investor Moshe Azoulay.
China-based consumer gene testing service Genebox has completed a RMB36m ($5.2m) funding round featuring pharmaceutical company Dashenlin that included undisclosed angel investors, 36Kr reported yesterday. Genebox uses large-scale processing to shorten the genomics testing and analysis time to 72 hours and also offers health guidance to users based on the results.
Grid4C, the US-based developer of an artificial intelligence-equipped energy analytics software platform, secured $5m on Monday in a funding round that included several energy utilities, though the only one named by the company was Engie. The round was led by ICV, the VC firm formerly known as Israel Cleantech Ventures which had previously invested $1.5m in Grid4C in 2014, and also featured iAngels and AxessVentures.
Zeguro, the US-based creator of a cyber risk analysis platform tailored for the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, completed a $5m seed round on Monday featuring Munich Re/HSB Ventures and QBE Ventures, respective corporate venturing vehicles for reinsurance firm Munich Re and insurer QBE. VC fund Mosaik Partners led the round, which included Plug and Play, Healthy Ventures, Social Capital and Sparkland Capital.
US-based advanced materials discovery startup Kebotix emerged from stealth on Wednesday with $5m of series A funding from investors including Baidu Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet group Baidu. The round was led by VC fund One Way Ventures and also featured Flybridge Capital Partners, Embark Ventures, Propagator Ventures and WorldQuant Ventures.
RRZuJi, the China-based operator of a leasing service for office equipment, has raised an eight-figure renminbi amount (RMB10m = $1.44m) of series A funding from Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial services affiliate, 36Kr reported on Wednesday. The startup will use the funding to grow headcount, establish brick-and-mortar rental centres and expand its partnerships with equipment manufacturers.
Ant Financial has also provided an undisclosed amount of series B-plus funding for China-based indoor positioning technology developer Shuwei, China Money Network reported today. Shuwei had previously received $7.7m in a September 2017 series A round led by Fosun RZ Capital, a corporate venturing subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Fosun, that included big data technology provider Jiguang
Drivetime, a US-based startup developing voice-based games for drivers, secured $4m on Wednesday in a seed round that included over-the-top media company The Chernin Group. The round also featured Felicis Ventures, Founders Fund, Index Ventures, Fuel Capital, Steadfast Venture Capital, Webb Investment Network, Sinai VC, Canaan Partners and Access Ventures, and was disclosed as Drivetime released its inaugural mobile app.
US-based wireless charging technology developer PowerSphyr raised $4m in series A funding from automotive technology provider Faurecia yesterday. The companies will work together on a range of wireless power equipment for the automotive manufacturing market, and the disclosure of the funding comes after Faurecia invested an undisclosed amount in the startup in May this year.
Yulife, a UK-based life insurance startup that rewards healthy behaviour, received £3m ($3.9m) in funding from investors including Anthemis Exponential Ventures, the joint venture formed by financial services group MMI Holdings and VC fund Anthemis. VC firm LocalGlobe led the round, which also featured equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd.
Intel Capital led a series A round of undisclosed size for China-based medical imaging technology startup HuiyiHuiying on Wednesday. The round also featured Beijing Singularity Power Investment Fund, a vehicle formed by IT product maker BOE Technology Group, as well as the state-backed National IC Industry Investment Fund and Yizhuang SDIC.
US-based primary healthcare provider Circle Medical has raised $3.5m in a funding round led by A.Capital that included care provider Well Health Technologies, Y Combinator and Collaborative Fund. It came after internet group Tencent, Real Ventures, Kima Ventures and angel investors including Paul Buchheit and Jawed Karim had supplied $2.9m of seed funding for the company in 2015, and will be used to upgrade its corporate-focused activities.
Fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters led a $3.45m series A round yesterday for Dormify, a US-based interior decoration product supplier that targets university students. Dormify closed a $1.1m round in 2013 before adding $490,000 in funding the same year, and it will use the funding, which follows a three-year partnership between the companies, to increase the size of its team and expand its network of pop-up retail spaces.
Financial services firm Íslandsbanki supplied €3m ($3.4m) of equity funding for Iceland-based digital banking software developer Meniga on Tuesday. The company had received $3.7m from another bank, Swedbank, in April this year and a similar amount from a third, UniCredit, in June. It had previously raised about $25m from banking software provider Crealogix, Industrifonden, Frumtak Ventures, Velocity Capital and Kjolfesta.
US-based diagnostics technology developer Progentec Diagnostics has received an undisclosed sum from investors including NMC Lifesciences, a division of healthcare provider NMC Health. The round was led by i2E and backed by OCA Ventures, both of which also participated in a $1.25m financing round for the company in November 2017 that also featured Mayo Clinic Ventures, the strategic investment vehicle for medical researcher and care provider Mayo Clinic.
Journy, the US-based creator of a travel planning platform, has secured $3.2m in a seed round led by VC firm Menlo Ventures that also featured VC firm Pear Ventures and Jason Wan, founder of food delivery platform Caviar, Fortune reported on Monday. The company graduated from Techstars Metro, the initiative formed by advertising agency R/GA, retailer Metro Group and accelerator manager Techstars, in 2015.
Hyundai Cradle, a corporate VC subsidiary of carmaker Hyundai Motor, invested an undisclosed amount in Israel-based computer vision technology startup Allegro.AI on Monday. The company had disclosed $11m in funding from Robert Bosch Venture Capital and Samsung Catalyst Fund, subsidiaries of industrial product and appliance maker Robert Bosch and electronics producer Samsung, as well as Mizmaa Ventures, Dynamic Loop Capital and JumpGate Ventures, when it emerged from stealth in April this year.
Aerial Technologies, a Canada-based developer of wireless motion analytics technology, received $3m yesterday in a funding round led by Intel Capital that included Telefónica Open Innovation, a subsidiary of telecommunications firm Telefónica, as well as Fonds Innovexport and Kibo Ventures. The company had previously raised $1.8m in convertible note financing in July 2017 before adding $1.5m in a February 2018 round featuring Telefónica Open Future, media company Quebecor, Fonds Innovexport and Kibo Ventures.
Sesto Robotics, an automated robotics technology spinoff from Singapore-based engineering firm Hope Technik, has secured S$4m ($2.9m) in series A funding from Singtel Innov8, the corporate venturing arm of telecoms firm Singapore Telecommunications, and Heliconia Capital Management, a subsidiary of Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek, Business Times reported today. The funds will support Sesto’s expansion from its current markets of Singapore and China.
Investment banking firm JPMorgan Chase provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based alternative investment technology developer iCapital Network yesterday. The company had previously raised $50m from financial services firm UBS, financial services group Credit Suisse’s Private Fund Group, investment bank Morgan Stanley’s Investment Management unit, BlackRock, Eaton Partners, Park Hill Group, Evercore, Pivot Investment Partners, Monument Group, Capstone Partners and Gen II Fund Services.
Burda Principal Investments, a subsidiary of media company Hubert Burda, has invested in Kukua, the UK-based creator of a mobile media offering intended to increase literacy among African children, as part of a €2.2m ($2.5m) funding round, Tech.eu reported yesterday. EchoVC led the round, which also featured Firstminute Capital, Kima Ventures and undisclosed angel investors.
Tepco Frontier Partners, a subsidiary of electric utility Tepco, has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Electrify, the Singapore-based creator of a blockchain-powered energy trading platform, E27 reported on Wednesday. Electrify has forged partnerships with several utilities and plans to formally launch the service in early 2019. It secured $30m in a token sale in March this year in which VC firm Global Brain was among the buyers.
Payment processor OpenWay has co-led a $2m seed round for Cambodia-based mobile payment aggregation startup Clik with Limestone Technology that included unnamed angel investors, E27 reported today. Clik has developed a loyalty plan and mobile point-of-sale system, and is considering raising a further $1m in funding according to E27.
Tenzo, a UK-based restaurant analytics platform developer backed by restaurant manager Getti Restaurants, has raised $1.8m in a round led by S28 Capital that included Acequia Capital and Force Over Mass, VentureBeat reported on Monday. Getti had joined Acequia, Force Over Mass, Charlie Songhurst and Michael Orland to invest $740,000 in the startup in April 2017.
Inmotion Ventures, the strategic investment arm of automotive manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, provided an undisclosed amount of funding for UK-based electric motorcycle developer Arc on Tuesday. Arc, developer of a high-performance bike known as Vector, received the funding as part of a round of undisclosed size that also includes Mercia Fund Managers, Midlands Engine Investment Fund’s Proof of Concept and Early Stage Fund and undisclosed angel investors.
Kinvolved, a US-based creator of software intended to reduce school absenteeism, secured just over $1.5m on Monday in a second seed round that included cloud communication technology provider Twilio’s Impact Fund. The round was led by venture philanthropy firm Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation and came in the wake of $950,000 in debt financing closed in January 2017 according to a securities filing.
FreeOx Biotech, a Spain-based spinoff from healthcare provider Hospital Clinic Barcelona’s IDIBAPS research centre that is developing drugs that will reduce oxidative stress in the neurological and cardiovascular system, received €500,000 ($660,000) in funding yesterday. The capital was supplied by angel investors Montserrat Esteve and Francisco Javier Alsina.
Anyble, the Japan-based operator of business-to-business equipment marketplace Ekuipp, has raised ¥30m ($270,000) in funding from investors including technology services group Hamaya, TechCrunch Japan reported late last month. The round also featured Soltec Investments, and Hamaya invested alongside a partnership deal between Anyble and two of its subsidiaries.
