Corporate venturing deal net: 4-8 February 2019
A round up of all the latest news on www.globalcorporateventuring.com for our subscribers.
Fundraising
3one4 Capital seals Sojitz backing
Sojitz has contributed to venture firm 3one4 Capital’s latest fund, which has raised $21m of a targeted $50m to invest in the firm’s portfolio companies at a later stage.
Vision Fund gets to halfway point
SoftBank Vision Fund has reportedly got to the halfway point of its $98.6bn allocation and is expected to run out of capital in the next 18 months.
BBG beckons outsiders to new fund
BBG Ventures, which was founded by AOL and is now funded by Verizon Media, is reportedly seeking external commitments for its next fund.
GE Ventures puts resources into Flux
General Electric’s corporate venturing unit is launching a content portal called Flux to help companies overcome barriers to diversity and inclusiveness.
Sojitz sorts out $33m joint venture fund
Japanese conglomerate Sojitz has formed a $33m fund that will be managed by venture firm Fenox Venture Capital, already an investment partner for Sega Sammy and Aisin.
Partech packs $143m into African fund
Partech Africa has achieved a final close of $143m with limited partners including Orange, Edenred, JCDecaux, Bertelsmann, L’Oréal, Axian Group and Texaf.
SoftBank studies 10-figure Latin America fund
SoftBank is reportedly considering a Latin American fund that would be sized in the billions of dollars, in addition to leading a $149m round for Brazil-based Gympass.
People
Waite makes her way to new Millennium
Rita Waite, a Juniper Ventures investment manager who was part of this year’s GCV Rising Stars list, has joined financial services firm Millennium’s payment products team.
Whiteaker eyes IBM Ventures role
Thomas Whiteaker, who helped spin out Propel Venture Partners from banking firm BBVA, has gone to IBM Ventures as a partner to oversee fintech investments.
Mahan moves up at Stanley Ventures
Michael Mahan, a GCV Rising Star in 2018 and former investment manager at Stanley Ventures, has been promoted to managing director of the unit.
Exits
HouseMyDog and Gudog to share a kennel
HouseMyDog has merged with fellow dog walking and sitting service provider Gudog, which counts Wayra among its investors.
Spotify lifts Anchor in acquisition deal
The streaming platform has expanded its podcast content with the purchase of GV-backed Anchor, just days after buying Gimlet Media for more than $200m.
The AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Amgen, Merck & Co and Alphabet-backed neurodegenerative disease drug developer is floating in the middle of its range.
Slack officially starts journey to public markets
Slack has confidentially filed for a direct listing that will allow SoftBank Vision Fund, Comcast Ventures and Alphabet unit GV to sell shares.
Spotify spies Gimlet for $200m acquisition
The streaming platform is in advanced talks to acquire podcast producer Gimlet Media, which has raised $27m from investors including WPP and Graham Holdings, for more than $200m.
REV-backed Palantir has cut the size of its stock options, effectively valuing itself at $11bn just four months after reports suggested it would seek a $41bn valuation for its IPO in 2019.
Altice catches Molotov to buy majority share
Altice has reportedly acquired a 60% share of the live TV streaming service, while existing shareholders such as Sky will retain a stake in the business.
In-game communication platform Vivox has been acquired by game development technology provider Unity after raising more than $16m from investors including Peacock Equity.
Palo Alto Networks picks Demisto for acquisition
Demisto, a cybersecurity technology developer that has raised $69m from investors including Slack and Wipro, is reportedly in talks concerning an acquisition by Palo Alto Networks.
TCR² squares range for $80m IPO
6 Dimensions Capital is set to exit immuno-oncology drug developer TCR² Therapeutics in an offering likely to raise between $70m and $80m.
IT
VArmour secures $44m in series E round
The data centre and cloud security software provider, which is backed by Telstra and Citi, has increased its funding to $127m altogether.
Western Digital finds Komprise in $24m series C
Digital Western Capital has joined existing investors in a Top Tier Ventures-led round that increased the data management provider’s total funding to $42m.
Microsoft helps Databricks construct $250m series E
The corporate formed a partnership with data analysis technology provider Databricks in 2016 and has now invested, as part of a round that valued it at $2.75bn.
Catalytic processes $30m in series B funding
Intel Capital has now invested a total of $30m in three companies in the past few days, having led data automation software developer Catalytic’s series B round.
EPMG hosts Exor Seeds to raise $100m
EPMG, the owner of Dubai-based real estate listing site Bayut, has increased its series D round to $100m following an investment from Exor subsidiary Exor Seeds.
Simplus samples more cash in $20m series C
The sales service provider collected $20m in the Salesforce Ventures-backed round, on top of $6.5m in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank.
Aporeto secures Comcast for $20m series B
The cloud network security provider increased its overall funding to $34.5m in the Comcast Ventures-led round, which included Telia and National Grid.
Health
Health Catalyst assembles $100m series F
UPMC and Kaiser Permanente have returned to contribute to a $100m series F round for the healthcare software developer, which has now achieved a valuation of more than $1bn.
DNAnexus raises $68m in latest funding sequence
GV and WuXi NextCode both returned to back a $68m round for DNANexus, bringing the biomedical informatics platform’s total funding to approximately $173m.
Calm meditates on $88m series B
The meditation app developer has quadrupled its valuation to $1bn in just eight months, in an $88m series B round featuring CAA.
Aetion advances series B past $63m
Sanofi, UCB, Horizon Health Services and McKesson Ventures added $27m to a series B round for the medical data software provider that already included Amgen Ventures.
Samsung Next has taken part in a series B round that will fund the roll out of Healthy.io’s home urinalysis analyser system in the UK and expansion in the US.
Mobidiag mobilises Autobio investment
The molecular diagnostics equipment provider has completed a $11.3m investment from China-based Autobio Diagnostics that was announced in December.
Nan Fung Life Sciences and Novo have taken part in the immuno-oncology drug developer’s series B round, which was led by Pivotal BioVenture Partners.
Sosei starts up two new companies
Pharmaceutical company Sosei has launched new companies using technology from its 2015 acquisition of Heptares, both of which have received funding from Medicxi.
Media
Corporates help scale Himalaya with $100m
Ximalaya FM and Susquehanna International Group have taken part in a $100m round to launch podcast network Himalaya, which was spun out of Ximalaya.
Reddit readies $300m series D round
Tencent is in talks to invest $150m in Reddit, an online social platform backed by Condé Nast, as part of a series D round that could reach $300m and value it at $3bn.
O’Reilly Media has taken part in the cybersecurity company’s series C round, which was led by Lead Edge Capital, boosting its overall funding to nearly $62m.
Consumer
Foot Locker kicks $100m into Goat Group
The retailer has invested $100m in footwear marketplace Goat Group, which already counts Matrix Partners, Upfront Ventures, Webb Investment Network and Accel as shareholders.
Financial
SoftBank points OakNorth toward $440m
The digital bank is now valued at $2.8bn, following a $440m round led by a $390m investment by SoftBank Vision Fund and backed by Clermont Group.
Tink banks funding with corporate help
Banking software provider Tink has secured $63.4m from investors including financial services firms SEB, Nordea and ABN Amro at a valuation of about $270m.
Raisin puts $114m in its account
PayPal followed an investment in 2017 by participating in a series D round for the cross-border savings platform that will fund geographic expansion.
Personal Capital puts hands on $50m
The BBVA and USAA-backed digital wealth manager has now raised about $265m altogether, after scoring $50m in a series F round led by IGM Financial.
Hiscox has led CoverHound’s series D round, which also attracted Chubb, Aflac and MS&AD, bringing the insurance comparison platform’s overall funding to more than $112m.
Bud pals with corporates to raise $20m
The banking software development platform received series A funding from investors including HSBC and Goldman Sachs, which co-led the round, Banco Sabadell and ANZ.
Aire credits corporates for $11m series B
Orange and Experian have both taken part in a round that will be used to expand the reach of Aire’s credit assessment tool in the US.
Better Mortgage houses $70m in series C
Better Mortgage boosted its overall funding to about $115m, closing a series C round in which American Express Ventures came onboard as an investor.
The financial analytics platform raised the capital in a series B round featuring Regions and Jefferies that boosted DV01’s overall funding to $33m.
Energy and Natural Resources
Sustainable Bioproducts sucks in $33m
Corporate venturing vehicles Danone Manifesto Ventures and ADM Ventures both took part in a series A round for the Nasa spinoff, which is developing edible proteins.
Industrial
The Singapore Post-backed logistics services provider has raised $35.6m in its latest funding round, which increased the company’s valuation to a reported $948m.
Augury orders up $25m series C
Munich Re reinvested in the industrial IoT technology provider’s series C round, which supported an acquisition of Bloomberg-backed Alluvium.
Transport
Amazon drives $530m in funding for Aurora
Amazon has invested in driverless car software and hardware developer Aurora Innovation at a valuation above $2.5bn, in a round led by Sequoia Capital.
The electric scooter rental platform is now valued at $2.4bn, after securing $310m in a round co-led by GV that included its parent company, Alphabet.
On-demand ride platform Ola has added $15.3m to a round that now totals about $160m, though none of its corporate investors have so far contributed.
Vinli makes tracks with Eon-backed series B
The automotive data platform developer, which counts Samsung, Cox Enterprises and Continental as shareholders, has secured $13.5m in its series B round.
SoftBank considers a $1.5bn ride on Guazi
Guazi, which already counts Shougang as a backer, is in negotiations with SoftBank Vision Fund over an investment that will value it at $8.5bn pre-money.