Corporate venturing deal net: 4-8 March 2019
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Gilde raids Rabobank to close $225m fund
Rabobank has contributed to Gilde Healthcare’s third private equity fund, which will focus on established and profitable businesses in the Benelux and Dach countries.
Seventure completes first step to $225m fund
Health for Life Capital II has achieved its first close thanks to commitments from strategic partners Danone, Novartis, Lesaffre, Wright Medical, Unicéréales and Bel.
SoftBank shows off $5bn Latin America fund
The corporate has made a $2bn anchor investment in SoftBank Innovation Fund, which will target digitally-focused portfolio companies across the region.
Coral corrals corporates for $45m Japan fund
The 500 Startups Japan team have spun off as Coral Capital and launched a $45m fund backed by Mitsubishi Estate, J-Power, Mizuho Bank and Shinsei Bank.
Vilmorin & Cie passes into PSL fund
Vilmorin & Cie has joined fellow corporates including BNP Paribas, Naval Group, KPN, Famille C and Mgen as an investor in PSL Innovation Fund, which is targeting an $87.5m close.
Salesforce Ventures takes $50m Australian trip
Australia Trailblazer Fund is the third such regional fund to be formed by Salesforce Ventures in the past nine months and follows $100m vehicles in Canada and Japan.
Vision Fund catches $3bn credit facility
Goldman Sachs and Mizuho Financial Group have co-led a capital call facility worth $3bn for SoftBank Vision Fund that will make immediate access to cash easier.
Toshiba pushes $89m corporate venturing fund
The fund has been formed as part of a wider technology and research investment drive that will involve up to $8.3bn being spent in the next five years.
BFG meets corporates for giant $100m fund
The venture capital firm has sourced commitments from investors including Arlon Group and Rabobank for a $100m food and beverage-focused fund known as BFG Fund II.
People
UCB Ventures hires M Ventures’ Irurzun-Lafitte
Alicia Irurzun-Lafitte has departed from a principal position at M Ventures for a partner role at another pharmaceutical firm’s corporate venturing fund, UCB Ventures.
Irujo cements Cemex Ventures departure
Cemex Ventures founding member and adviser Pedro Irujo left the unit in December 2018 after two years, and 13 years at its parent company.
Charles swings Samsung Catalyst promotion
Jonathan Charles has been promoted from principal to director at Samsung Catalyst Fund, having initially joined the vehicle in 2013.
Engie New Ventures alumnus Giovanni Ravina, became chief innovation officer for another Engie subsidiary, Engie EPS, in January this year.
Jenny Wu, a managing partner who helped set up Baidu Capital for internet group Baidu in 2016, departed at the end of 2018 to take up a chief investment officer role at New Hope Group.
Exits
The Shanghai International Group-backed drone maker is reportedly looking to raise between $400m and $500m in a US initial public offering later this year.
Ruhnn runs to US for $200m IPO
Alibaba owns almost 9% of the Chinese social media jnfluencer network, which has filed to go public in the US.
Juniper clears $405m Mist acquisition
GV Cisco Investments and NTT subsidiary Dimension Data are all set to exit wifi technology provider Mist Systems, which has raised $88m in funding.
Corporate-backed Qlapa closes shop
The online marketplace for handmade goods, which reportedly counts KapanLagi Networks as an investor, has shut its business.
Bigo, a social video livestreaming platform, has been acquired by its existing shareholder YY for more than $1.45bn in a deal that also provided exits for Ping An and Bertelsmann.
58.com gets $713m return from Chehaoduo ride
The corporate has sold part of its stake in online car trading platform Chehaoduo for more than $713m to an unnamed third-party investor likely to be SoftBank Vision Fund.
Precision Bio pinpoints $100m IPO target
The genomic medicine developer plans to raise up to $100m in an upcoming IPO that could hand exits to Amgen Ventures, Brace Pharma Capital and Baxter Ventures.
Rakuten, General Motors and Alphabet own a combined 26% share of the ride hailing platform, which has filed to go public and which was valued at more than $15bn as of last June.
DataStax looks to attack public markets
DataStax last raised funding in 2014 when Comcast Ventures backed its $106m series E round, and now the database technology developer is aiming for a $1bn valuation in its IPO.
Shell takes Limejump in acquisition deal
Statkraft Ventures is set to exit distributed energy software provider Limejump in an acquisition by Shell that will follow some $10m of funding for the company.
IT
Matterport maps out $48m round
The 3D modelling technology developer is reportedly looking to raise additional growth funding after collecting $48m in a Qualcomm-backed round.
Fictiv moulds $33m series C round
Intel Capital and Mitsui participated in a $33m series C round for Fictiv, boosting the contract manufacturing platform’s overall funding to $58m.
Fadada signs up Tencent for series C round
The digital contract signature platform has collected $59.2m in a round that was co-led by Tencent, with the proceeds earmarked for hiring and product development.
Invenergy lands on Jupiter for $23m series B
SystemIQ, MS&AD and QBE have taken part in a round led by Invenergy’s Energize Ventures unit that will support the predictive weather data provider’s international growth.
Salesforce helps Odaseva get series A serving
The data management platform has increased its overall funding to $14m in an $11.7m round featuring Salesforce Ventures and will put the cash towards recruitment.
Health
GV participated as a new investor, as genetic medicine developer Beam Therapeutics completed a round that followed $87m in series A funding last year.
Eargo sounds out Nan Fung to raise $52m
The rechargeable hearing aid producer has now raised more than $144m altogether, having collected about $52m in a series D round featuring Nan Fung Life Sciences.
NextHealth nabs $17m in series B round
Blue Cross of Idaho was among the investors in a series B round that took the healthcare analytics platform operator’s overall funding to more than $26m
Roche eyes MacuLogix in series D round
Roche Venture Fund has taken part in a $38.7m round that will fund sales and commercialisation of MacuLogix’s AMD diagnostics system.
HaloDoc prescribes $65m series B round
Singtel Group and WuXi Apptec both contributed to a UOB-led round that increased the online healthcare platform’s overall funding to $78m.
Stemonix stacks up series B funding
Mayo Clinic has taken part in Stemonix’s $14.4m series B round, which will fund the development of additional drug screening products and services.
Media
Dailyhunt seeks out $173m from next round
The Bytedance-backed news aggregator is looking to raise up to $175m in funding from investors including Goldman Sachs at a reported valuation of up to $650m.
Kobalt Music tunes itself to series E stage
Hearst and Alphabet-backed music services group Kobalt is gearing up to raise its largest funding round to date, in a deal potentially sized at more than $100m.
Dream11 to realise another $100m funding dream
The Tencent-backed fantasy sports platform will reportedly be valued at between $1.3bn and $1.5bn following the rumoured $100m investment from Steadview Capital.
Ceros designs $14m series C round
The digital content creation software provider has now raised more than $30m altogether, following a series C round featuring existing backer CNF Investments.
Xiaomi curates Zuiyou in $80m round
The electronics producer has led an $80m round for social content recommendation platform Zuiyou, whose shareholders also include SIG Asia.
Consumer
Zomato gets $50m boost from Delivery Hero
Delivery Hero has confirmed a $50m investment in the food listings and ordering platform as part of a $105m second tranche of a round that now totals $315m.
The funding was led by SoftBank Vision Fund, valuing Grofers at $425m, and provided as part of a larger round expected to close at between $120m and $140m.
Financial
Friday rides investor interest to $128m
Digital insurance startup Friday has pulled in funding from majority shareholder Baloise as well as SevenVentures and German Media Pool.
Commercial partner Sirius has reinvested in the worker’s compensation insurance startup as part of a series B round that will fund geographic growth.
Wefox sniffs out $125m in series B
The Salesforce-backed online insurance platform is reportedly valued at nearly $1bn having raised funding from investors including CreditEase.
Chime strikes a $200m chord with investors
Northwestern Mutual-backed digital bank Chime is now valued at $1.5bn following a series D round led by DST Global.
Shuhe makes sure of $30m series B
Sina Corp has led a $30m series B round for media information and consumer credit provider Shuhe Technology and will collaborate with it on financial products.
Energy and Natural Resources
The renewable energy project developer raised the cash in a round led by Eversource Capital, which is 50% owned by power producer Lightsource BP.
Transport
WM Motor moves to $446m series C
Electric vehicle producer WM Motor has received $446m in a Baidu-led round that will be used to enhance its core technology and drivng experience.
Big Deal: Vision Fund makes billion-dollar Grab
SoftBank Vision Fund invested $1.46bn to take Grab’s series H round, already backed by Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Booking Holdings, Central Group, Yamaha, Ping An, Microsoft, Tokyo Century and KBank, to $4.5bn.
Go-Jek accepts $100m from Astra
Astra International has committed $100m in series F capital to Go-Jek as part of an agreement to integrate the corporate’s fleet management system into Go-Jek’s vehicles.
Services
GLP helps ship $104m to Zongteng
Logistics company Global Logistics Properties has co-led a series B round for Zongteng, a cross-border logistics services provider, with Cathay Capital.
Delhivery carries off $395m in series F round
SoftBank Vision Fund invested $350m in Delhivery at a $1.6bn valuation as part of a $395m round, and it now owns a 23.4% stake in the logistics services provider.