Software integration technology producer Mulesoft invested an undisclosed sum in Docker, the US-based creator of a distributed application management platform, yesterday in connection with a partnership agreement. The capital likely came as part of a $192m round Docker is raising, which had reached $92m as of last month according to a securities filing. Its investors include Goldman Sachs, AME Cloud Ventures, Benchmark, Coatue Management and Greylock Partners and it was reportedly valued at $1.3bn as of 2017.
US-based, Latino-focused digital media platform Mitú has raised $10m in a round led by cross-border venture capital firm Leap Global Partners that included existing backers including Upfront Ventures, Variety reported on Wednesday. Mitú had previously received $43m in funding from investors including Verizon Ventures, part of telecoms firm Verizon, as well as online entertainment provider Awesomeness, marketing group WPP’s WPP Digital subsidiary, over-the-top media company Chernin Group and broadcaster AMC.
Israel-based data protection software startup Cognigo closed an $8.5m series A round on Tuesday led by crowdfunding platform OurCrowd that included private security firm Prosegur and VC fund State of Mind Ventures. The funding will go to product development, sales and marketing and the strengthening of the company’s cognitive computing technology, which combines cognitive science, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Votiro Cybersec Global, an Israel-based developer of content disarm and reconstruction cybersecurity software, received $8m in funding from network and data encryption software provider Senetas on Wednesday. The company had closed a $4m series A round led by Redfield Asset Management in May 2016, before Redfield returned for an $8.8m round in July 2017 that also featured Divergent Group.
Motorcycle and marine vehicle producer Yamaha Motor provided $8m of funding for New Zealand-based agricultural robotics and automation technology startup Robotics Plus on Wednesday. The deal came in the wake of a $2m investment by Yamaha in March this year that was made through a partnership agreement, and the proceeds will fund product development.
Financial services provider Purpose Financial has supplied C$10m ($7.6m) in funding for Ario, the Canada-based operator of a digital lending platform for small and medium-sized businesses, BetaKit reported on Wednesday. Ario will use the cash to introduce white-label lending and account management services while also issuing cards and managing funding for business loans.
China-based spatial data technology developer Airlook has secured RMB50m ($7.2m) in a series B round led by VC firm GGV Capital that included Baidu Ventures, a corporate venturing vehicle for internet group Baidu, China Money Network reported yesterday, citing an announcement on GGV’s WeChat account. Baidu Ventures had previously invested an undisclosed amount in Airlook in an October 2017 series A-plus round.
Alliance Ventures, the fund formed by automotive partnership Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, invested an undisclosed sum in US-based advanced battery developer Enevate on Tuesday, adding to an undisclosed amount of funding received from battery manufacturer LG Chem, electronics producers Samsung and Lenovo, and Presidio Ventures, a subsidiary of conglomerate Sumitomo, as well as Mission Ventures, DFJ, Tsing Capital, Infinite Potential Technologies and CEC Capital last month. Enevate had previously raised $59m in VC funding.
Purpose Financial has led two funding rounds for Canada-based wealth portfolio management platform developer D1g1t totalling more than C$9m ($6.8m), D1g1t disclosed yesterday. The company’s other investors include VC firms Extreme Venture Partners and Portag3 Ventures, and undisclosed private investors and clients of D1g1t.
Anorak Technologies, the UK-based developer of an automated life insurance advice tool, has raised £5m ($6.5m) in a series A round led by Kamet Ventures, the incubator backed by insurance firm Axa, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. Kamet supplied $5.6m of seed capital for Anorak in January this year, and the series A funding will support technology development and the expansion of its technology, product, data and business development teams.
Mobile game producer Supercell provided €5m ($5.7m) of funding for Finland-based smartwatch game developer Everywear Games yesterday through corporate venturing arm Supercell Ventures. VC firm True Ventures led a $2.25m seed round for the company in 2015 that included Sunstone Technology Ventures and Lifeline Ventures, but all three divested their stakes to Supercell through its investment, according to Tech.eu.
China-based wealth management services provider Xiaobangtouzi has received a seven-figure dollar sum from reinsurance firm Reinsurance Group of America and VC firm Sequoia Capital China, China Money Network reported on Wednesday. The company had previously raised an eight-figure dollar amount from investors including VC firm BlueRun Ventures, and the funding will support marketing, hiring and technology development.
US-based parking space marketplace operator ParkWhiz added $5m on Tuesday from e-commerce firm Amazon’s Alexa Fund, investment firm Chaifetz Group, Alate Partners and Purple Arch Ventures to a series D round that now totals $25m. NewSpring and existing backers including Baird Capital, Jump Capital and Beringea provided the first $20m, and the second close boosted the company’s overall funding to $61m. Its earlier investors include Hyde Park Venture Partners.
Knowtions Research, the Canada-based creator of a healthcare data analysis platform, secured $5m on Tuesday in a series A round led by VC firm Information Venture Partners that also featured e-commerce group Alibaba’s Entrepreneurs Fund. The company, whose earlier backers include venture studio Vectr Ventures, will use the series A proceeds to hire more machine learning scientists and platform engineers as it looks to further develop its Lydia software.
PlusAI, a US-based autonomous driving technology startup backed by trucking services marketplace Manbang Group, has received an undisclosed sum in a series A-plus round led by Sequoia Capital China, China Money Network reported yesterday. Manbang invested an undisclosed amount in PlusAI earlier this year and the company’s other existing backers include GSR Ventures, Lightspeed China Partners and China Growth Capital.
China-based smart vending machine producer YoPoint has raised RMB30m ($4.3m) in a series A round led by a subsidiary of mobile internet company Cheetah Mobile, Admin5 has reported. Wanlijia Group also participated in the round, which followed earlier funding from investors including Huagai Capital, and which will support the upgrading of YoPoint’s manufacturing capabilities and the expansion of its partner network.
KMK Online, a subsidiary of media company Emtek has provided Rp 59.6bn ($4.1m) in funding for Qareer Group Asia, the Indonesia-based operator of online recruitment platform Qerja, Daily Social reported on Wednesday, citing information in Emtek’s quarterly financial report. The deal will give it a 33.5% stake in Qareer, and comes after Qerja raised an undisclosed sum from SB Isat Fund, the partnership between telecommunications firms SoftBank and Indosat, in 2015, which in turn followed seed funding from Kejora Ventures.
Samsung Venture Investment, a corporate venturing subsidiary of consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung, invested in Looxid Labs, a South Korea-based developer of emotion recognition technology, as part of a $4m series A round on Monday. The round was led by Hastings Asset Management and included Daesung Private Equity and Sejong Venture Partners. The funding will be used to commercialise Looxid’s technology.
Analytical Flavor Systems, a US-based company developing flavour sensor technology, received $4m last month in a series A round that included electronics supplier Cornes Technology. The round was co-led by Leawood Venture Capital and Global Brain and also featured Hyperplane Venture Capital and Bits X Bites, and the funding will be used for recruitment and company growth.
Gree Ventures and Mizuho Capital, subsidiaries of digital media company Gree and financial services firm Mizuhi Bank, has provided ¥410m ($3.6m) of capital for StylePort, the Japan-headquartered owner of virtual reality-based real estate viewing tool Roov, along with fellow financial services provider Resona Bank and Japan Finance Corporation, The Bridge has reported. StylePort had previously raised $2.3m of series A funding from Gree Ventures in February this year.
RDC, the investment vehicle formed by defence equipment maker Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and technology holding company Elron Electronic Industries, co-led a $3.5m seed round for Israel-based debugging software startup OzCode on Tuesday. Investment firm TPY Capital co-led the round, which will support product development, and Yaron Elad and Kobi Katz from RDC will join OzCode’s board of directors along with Guy Yamen from TPY Capital.
Ireland-based robo-advisor developer Rubicoin has received €3m ($3.4m) in funding from investors including financial advice provider The Motley Fool, The Irish Times reported yesterday. Rubicoin has now raised a total of more than $9m from backers including Motley Fool, the state-owned Enterprise Ireland and undisclosed private investors, and will use the funding to expand in the US.
Japan-based patent investigation platform Gold IP has secured ¥350m ($3.1m) in series B funding from investors including consulting firms Cresco and Core, IP management services provider Japan Technology Trade, diversified conglomerate Elite Network, credit union Seibu Shinkin Bank’s Seibu Shinkin Capital unit, Osaka University Venture Capital and Kyoto Institute of Polymer Science, TechCrunch Japan reported late last month. It has now raised $4.7m in total and its earlier investors include Future Creation Fund, SMBC Venture Capital, Mizhuo Capital and Sensei Capital.
Sonect, a Switzerland-based creator of technology that enables businesses to act as virtual ATMs by dispensing cash to members of the platform from their registers, revealed on Monday that it has recently raised an undisclosed amount from cash handling service provider Loomis and fintech VC fund SixThirty. The funding was provided in the wake of Sonect’s completion of VC FinTech Accelerator, which is sponsored by financial services technology provider FIS.
NFP Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance broker NFP, invested an undisclosed amount in Axio Global, the US-based developer of a cyber risk assessment platform, last month, it revealed yesterday. The company recently secured $2.7m of a $5.2m funding round according to a regulatory filing, having raised $1.1m from undisclosed investors in June 2016 according to a separate filing.
Guardian Optical Technologies, an Israel-based automotive sensor technology developer that counts the Toyota-backed Mirai Creation Fund as an investor, received $2.5m on Monday from investors including Union Ventures and B&E Equities. Mirai co-led a $3.1m round for the company in June 2018 with Goldbell Investments and Translink Capital, six months after Guardian raised $5.1m in series A funding from Mirai and Maniv Mobility.
Ticker, a UK-based startup developing telematics technology for use in the automotive insurance industry, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including Munich Re/HSB Ventures, the strategic investment arm of reinsurance firm Munich Re, Insurance Age has reported. The company’s investors also include sports personality Gary Lineker and entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, and it has formed partnerships with Munich Re’s Digital Partners unit and insurance broker Willis Towers Watson.
Bayer Growth Ventures and BioGenerator, respective subsidiaries of chemical and pharmaceutical producer Bayer and bioscience company builder BioSTL, have co-led a $2m bridge round for CoverCress, the US-based plant breeding technology developer formerly known as Arvegenix, AgFunder News reported on Tuesday. Missouri Technology Corporation, Prolog Ventures, St Louis Arch Angels, Cultivation Capital, Prelude Ventures and Fulcrum Global Capital also took part alongside unnamed CoverCress founders and employees.
Digital payment technology provider PayPal supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Arkose Labs, a US-based developer of anti-online fraud technology, on Wednesday. VC firm US Venture Partners led a $6m series A round for Arkose in September this year, and the PayPal funding will be used by the company to expand its fraud prevention and digital identity products.
Automotive component manufacturer Brose Group, regional investment vehicle Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft and VC fund High-Tech Gründerfonds invested €1.4m ($1.6m) in Germany-based 3D metal printer developer Aim3D on Monday. The printers created by the startup, which was spun out of University of Rostock, are capable of producing car parts cheaply and rapidly.
Bonify, the Germany-based operator of a credit scoring and personal finance recommendation app, received an undisclosed amount of funding on Tuesday from Santander InnoVentures, the strategic investment arm of financial services firm Santander. The company had previously secured $5.8m in a February 2017 series A round led by Mosaic Ventures that included Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures and DN Capital.
Milkbasket, an India-based grocery delivery platform backed by consumer product manufacturer Unilever, has raised almost Rs 100m ($1.4m) from VC firm Mayfield Fund, TechCircle reported on Monday. Unilever subsidiary Unilever Ventures invested $3m in the company in January this year before joining Kalaari Capital, BeeNext and Blume Ventures for a $7m round in May. Other Milkbasket investors include computing technology producer Lenovo’s Capital and Incubator Group, which bought shares in an August 2017 secondary deal.
Consumer credit provider Omni Financeira has paid an undisclosed amount for a 25% stake in Brazil-based small business finance platform Ergoncredit, Brazil Journal has reported. The startup uses big data and predictive modelling to assess risk and provides finance for working capital payroll and equipment purchases.
Dotterel Technologies, a New Zealand-based drone-noise cancellation technology developer backed by electronics ESV, has secured NZ$1m ($670,000) in a round led by angel investment platform Jelix Ventures that included New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, K1W1 and Techstars Australian Defence Accelerator, New Zealand Herald has reported. ESV invested in the company in December 2017 as part of a $380,000 round that also featured University of Auckland’s Inventors Fund and Techstars.
Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial services affiliate, has provided “millions of renminbi” (RMB1m = $145,000) in funding for China-based umbrella sharing service Mobrella, China Money Network reported yesterday. Mobrella’s offering allows users to rent an umbrella and drop it back off at multiple shops in a given city.
