A subsidiary of digital media company ByteDance has paid an undisclosed amount for a 45.2% stake in China-based game studio Shanghe Internet Technology, Kr Asia reported on Tuesday. Shanghe Internet’s portfolio includes a tie-in game to Chinese television drama Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace.
Times Internet, the online services subsidiary of media company Bennett Coleman & Co, has led an S$11m ($8.1m) series A round for Singapore-based student accommodation provider Oxfordcaps, e27 reported on Tuesday. Venture capital firms Kalaari Capital and 500 Startups also contributed to the round, which followed an undisclosed amount of seed capital from 500 Startups, ReadyVentures and unnamed angel investors in December 2017.
Ant Financial, e-commerce group Alibaba’s financial services affiliate, has led a series C round of undisclosed size for Indonesia-based smart vending machine provider and mobile wallet developer Blue, Kr Asia reported yesterday. VC firm Joy Capital also participated in the round, which will support the expansion of the number of vending machines it has in service from about 6,000 to 36,000.
Merck Animal Health, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co, has co-led an $8m series A round for US-based poultry care technology developer Applied LifeSciences & Systems with family investment fund Mountain Group Partners. The round included early-stage investment firm Oval Park Capital and the proceeds will be put towards further development of the company’s poultry individualised poultry vaccination system.
KY3P, the US-based developer of a code of best practice for risk optimisation for financial services firms, received an undisclosed amount from 12 banks on Wednesday through their holding companies. Ally Bank, BBVA Compass, Citizens Bank, Comerica Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Huntington National Bank, KeyBank, M&T Bank, Regions Bank, Santander US, SunTrust Bank and US Bank invested, adding to earlier funding from Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and UBS.
Cardea Bio, a US-based developer of graphene-based transistor technology, has secured $7.8m in a series A-1 round led by Alexandria Venture Investments, the VC arm of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities. The round included Serra Ventures, which led Cardea’s series A round according to the company, though no further details were provided. Jonathan Kabakoff, senior principal for science and technology at Alexandria Venture Investments, has joined Cardea’s board of directors.
Times Internet has joined Sequoia Capital, SCI Investments and Lightspeed India Partners to provide Rs 50m ($7.2m) in series B funding for India-based bus aggregation service Shuttl, YourStory reported today, citing a regulatory filing. Shuttl had reportedly raised a total of $32.4m as of January 2019, from Times Internet, e-commerce firm Amazon’s Alexa Fund, Dentsu Ventures, which invests on behalf of marketing firm Dentsu, Sequoia, Lightspeed, Trifecta Capital and angel investor Ambiga Subramanian.
Xenodata Lab, the Japan-based creator of financial information platform XenoBrain, has raised ¥780m ($7.1m) in funding from investors including insurance firm Dai-chi Life, news agency Jiji Press, credit data service Teikoku Data Bank, Nantes CVC fund, which was formed by financial services firm Nanto Bank and Venture Labo Investment; Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, Yokohama Capital and Shizuoka Capital, respective subsidiaries of insurer Mitsui Sumitomo, Bank of Yokohama and Shizuoka Bank, TechCrunch Japan reported on Monday. Keio Innovation Initiative, Japan Investment Adviser, DBJ Capital, Yamanashi Chugin Management Consulting, Naito Securities and Freebit Investment also took part.
Sayata Labs, the Israel-based creator of an artificial intelligence-equipped risk assessment tool for digital insurance providers, came out of stealth on Tuesday with $6.5m in a seed round led by technology holding company Elron Electronic Industries. The startup has already began working with insurance group Axa and will channel the seed capital into expanding its business globally.
Biopharmaceutical company Juvenescence provided $6.5m of funding on Wednesday for BYOMass, the US-based developer of treatments intended to leverage the body’s metabolism to fight aging and age-related diseases. The startup, which had not disclosed details of any earlier funding, will partner Juvenescence on drug development, and its CEO, Margaret Jackson, has been appointed a vice-president at Juvenescence and its head of preclinical research and development.
Satisfi Labs, the US-based developer of a business knowledge platform for use in customer service, has raised $6m from investors including sporting association Major League Baseball and music management agency Red Light Management, AdWeek reported yesterday. Angel investor network Broadway.ai and innovation hub Stadia Ventures also contributed to the round, which comes after Satisfi’s participation in Techstars Retail Accelerator, which is backed by retail chain Target, in July 2018.
Line Ventures, messaging platform Line’s corporate venturing unit, has invested in Singapore-based customer engagement software developer Perx Technologies as part of a $5m series B round also featuring Access Ventures, NCore Ventures, Capital Management Group, private investor Eduardo Saverin and unnamed family offices, Business Times reported on Tuesday. Perx had received a seven-digit amount of funding from Golden Gate Ventures, Eduardo Saverin and Perx executives Anna Gong and Rob Roach in 2015.
Spike, the US-based creator of a conversational email application, received $5m in funding from investors including web development software provider Wix on Wednesday. The round also featured VC firm NFX and Harvard University-situated VC fund Koa Labs. The company will put the proceeds into expanding the number of small business customers that use the platform, having already secured some 70,000 users.
Nodin, a US-based startup developing an artificial intelligence-equipped augmented analytics software product, closed a $5m funding round on Wednesday that included Liberty Global Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mass media group Liberty Global. The round also featured Anschutz Ventures Group, a branch of holding company Anschutz Group, and was completed as Nodin prepares to launch its platform next month.
Ghana-based solar energy provider PEG Africa has secured $5m from Total Energy Ventures, a subsidiary of oil and gas supplier Total, as well as Energy Access Ventures, Blue Haven Initiative and Renewable Energy Performance Platform, alongside $20m in debt financing from investors including CDC Group, Disrupt Africa has reported. It had initially raised $7.5m across two rounds from backers including energy utility Engie’s Rassembleurs d’Energies initiative, the corporate returning to help provide $13.5m in series B equity and debt financing in late 2017.
Sirclo, an Indonesia-based developer of e-commerce technology for small and medium-sized businesses, has raised up to $5m in a series A round featuring Sinar Mas Land, the property development subsidiary of conglomerate Sinar Mas, and e-commerce company Beenos’ Beenos Plaza unit, DealStreetAsia reported today. Skystar Capital and East Ventures also participated in the round, which came after an undisclosed amount of seed capital from East Ventures in 2014.
US-based biosensor patch developer Biolinq has received $4.75m yesterday from M Ventures and Hikma Ventures, subsidiaries of pharmaceutical firms Merck Group and Hikma Pharmaceuticals, as well as JDRF T1D Fund, Aphelion Capital and LifeSci Venture Partners. The funding represented the second close of a series A round that now totals $15m, the first tranche being provided by M Ventures, Hikma Ventures, LifeSci Venture Partners, Grey Sky Venture Partners, Three Leaf Ventures and various angel investors in late 2017.
Motley Fool Ventures, the corporate VC arm of financial data and investment services provider Motley Fool, has invested in MotoRefi, the US-based operator of a refinancing service for automotive loans, as part of a $4.7m funding round, Wtop reported on Tuesday. QED Investors and Accomplice also participated in the round, which came after the startups took part in QED’s incubator initiative.
Energy storage system provider Prisma Energy and seed-stage VC fund Innosphere Fund provided $4.6m in funding yesterday for Catalyze, the US-based developer of a data analytics and asset management software platform for renewable energy systems. The company will use the funding to beef up its operations, finance and sales staff.
Co-working space provider WeWork and JLL Spark Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of property services provider JLL, have co-led a $4.4m funding round for Betaworks Studios, the co-working hub formed by US-based VC fund Betaworks, TechCrunch reported yesterday. The round also featured BBG Ventures, the female-focused fund owned by telecoms firm Verizon, and Betaworks itself, and follows $3.45m in seed funding from investors including BBG in March 2018.
Finaeo, the Canada-based developer of a software front-end for life insurance carriers, received approximately C$5.4m ($4m) in funding from investors including reinsurance firm Reinsurance Group of America’s RGAx unit. The round was led by Luge Capital and included Rising Tide Fund, iNovia Capital, Impression Ventures, iGan Partners and angel investors including Alex Norman. It had raised $1.8m from Impression Ventures, 500 Startups, OnWave, Robo Ventures, iGan Partners and various angel investors in 2017.
Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of enterprise software producer Salesforce, has invested in Japan-based crowdfunding platform Readyfor as part of a ¥420m ($3.8m) financing round that included debt financing from providers including financial services firm Mizuho Bank, TechCrunch Japan reported today. It had raised approximately $2.7m in series A funding from investors including VC firm Globis Capital Partners as of October 2018.
MaintainX, the US-based creator of a digital platform that enables employers to track and communicate with their deskless employees, secured $3.8m in seed funding on Tuesday from investors including TCL Ventures, the corporate VC arm of electronics manufacturer TCL Corporation. The round was co-led by August Capital and Amity Ventures and also featured Ridge Ventures and angel investors including Peter Yared, Jonathan Swanson, Jake Zeller, Milun Tesovic and Richard Jhang.
1939 Games, an Iceland-based game studio that focuses on World War II-era titles, has raised $3.6m in equity and grant funding from investors including internet group Tencent, advisory and investment firm Sisu Game Ventures and VC fund Crowberry Capital, VentureBeat reported on Tuesday. Tencent led a $2m round for the company in September 2018 that included Sisu Game Ventures and Crowberry Capital, though it is unclear whether that formed part of the latest funding.
Grid, the Iceland-based developer of a software platform that converts spreadsheets to web reports, completed a $3.5m seed round on Wednesday that included Slack Fund, the strategic investment vehicle owned by collaboration software provider Slack. The round was led by VC firm BlueYard Capital and also featured VC fund Acequia Capital and angel investor Charlie Songhurst. It closed in the wake of $1m for Grid from Futuristic.vc, Brunnur Ventures, 1/0 Capital and angel investors Ari Helgason, Anthony Deighton and Kristín Pétursdóttir in October 2018.
Players’ Lounge, the US-based operator of an eSports platform where players can compete for prizes, has secured $3m in funding from investors including mass media group Comcast, Axios reported yesterday. The corporate was joined by Macro Ventures, Canaan Partners, RRE Ventures, Courtside VC and angel investors including Marissa Mayer and Strauss Zelnick.
LiveSmart has raised ¥300m ($2.7m) in funding from investors including property developer Mitsubishi Estate, electronics producer Kaga Electronics, Mizuho Capital and Mitsui Sumitomo Capital, respective subsidiaries of Mizuho Bank and Mitsui Sumitomo, TechCrunch Japan reported today. Innovation Engine also contributed to the round, which took the company’s total funding to $4.5m.
GeoSpock, a UK-based big-data contextualisation software provider backed by property developer Mitsui Fudosan’s 31 Ventures unit, received £2m ($2.6m) in funding from investment manager Parkwalk Advisors on Tuesday. The company has now raised approximately $27m in total, including $12.8m in a January 2019 round co-led by 31 Ventures, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), Global Brain and Parkwalk Advisors that included telecommunications firm KDDI’s Open Innovation Fund and Supership DataMarketing Fund as well as Jonathan Milner.
Salesforce Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in Kespry, a US-based provider of aerial information secured through drones on Wednesday. Kespry had previously raised $61.3m as of December 2017, from investors including networking technology provider Cisco, oil and gas supplier Shell, power and automation technology producer ABB, law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati across three rounds.
Teraki, a Germany-based developer of edge processing technology for use in automotive electronics, secured $2.3m in funding from American Family Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for insurance firm American Family, and VC firm Horizons Ventures on Wednesday. The round followed $3m in equity and grant funding from investors including telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom’s Hub:raum unit, Paladin Capital Group and GPS Ventures in September 2018.
Dathena, a Singapore-based data protection and privacy management software developer, completed a funding round of undisclosed size on Monday led by MS&AD Ventures, the VC firm established by insurance group MS&AD. The round also featured existing investors Demetis and CerraCap Ventures, the artificial intelligence-focused investment fund that had led a pre-series A round of undisclosed size for Dathena in November 2018.
Synamon, the Japan-headquartered developer of a virtual reality-based teleconferencing platform, has raised ¥240m ($2.2m) from investors including KDDI Open Innovation Fund, Mitsui Sumitomo Capital and 31 Ventures, TechCrunch Japan reported on Tuesday. The round also featured SMBC Venture Capital, subsidiary of financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, also backed the round, which came after $440,000 from Genesia Ventures in November 2017.
WMG Boost, the newly formed seed-stage investment arm of record label Warner Music Group, has led a $2m seed round for US-based digital musical instrument developer Artphon, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. The round came after a $1.3m crowdfunding campaign in 2015, and the capital will go to securing more distribution channels and developing more software and apps that can connect with the system.
Lime, the Japan-based operator of an online reservation platform for hairdressers, has secured ¥220m ($2m) in funding from investors including cosmetics review and marketing platform iStyle, TechCrunch Japan reported on Wednesday. The round comes after iStyle invested $650,000 in Lime in February 2018, and the two companies are considering ways in which they can partner each other.
Starts at 60, the Australia-based operator of an online travel service aimed at elderly users, has received A$2.7m ($1.9m) in funding from investors including insurance firm Hollard and media company Seven West, Sydney Morning Herald has reported. The round also featured Queensland Business Development Fund, QUT Bluebox and undisclosed private investors, and Seven West participated as an existing backer, having paid an undisclosed sum for a 33% stake in the company in 2016.
Daiwa Corporate Investment and SIG Japan, respective subsidiaries of securities brokerage Daiwa and trading and technology firm Susquehanna International Group, have supplied ¥200m ($1.8m) in series A funding for BeatFit, the Japan-based developer of a fitness coaching app, The Bridge reported today. The round came after a September 2018 seed round and it increased BeatFit’s overall funding to approximately $2.7m.
Innogy Innovation Hub, the VC firm funded by energy utility Innogy, provided an undisclosed amount of seed funding on Monday for FirstPoint Mobile Guard, an Israel-based developer of cybersecurity technology for mobile devices. The corporate participated alongside Stolero Group, individual investor Gideon Argov and an unnamed investment group, and FirstPoint intends to use the funding to expand internationally and bring its first products to a commercial release.
US-based operational control software producer OpsCompass confirmed on Tuesday it has raised an amount indicated by a regulatory filing earlier this month to be $1.5m from investors including educational services and finance provider NelNet. The round was led by state-mandated investment fund Invest Nebraska and featured contributions from angel investor network Nebraska Angels and seed-stage VC firms Dundee Venture Capital and M25.
EDP Ventures, energy utility EDP’s corporate VC vehicle, has invested an undisclosed sum in Presenso, the Israel-based creator of an artificial intelligence-equipped software platform that can predict when infrastructure requires maintenance. Formerly known as DeepSense, Presenso closed a $2m round in 2016 that was led by angel investment group AfterDox and backed by Janvest Capital Partners and SeedIL.
Voicy, the Japan-headquartered creator of a voice-based blogging platform, secured ¥120m ($1.1m) in funding on Tuesday from ABC Dream Ventures, the investment arm of media company Asahi Broadcasting Group, and assorted angel investors, TechCrunch Japan reported on Tuesday. It had raised $6.3m in funding as of last month and its investors include media companies Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, Chukyo TV Broadcasting and Sports Nippon as well as TBS Innovation Partners and Dentsu subsidiary Dentsu Innovation Partners.
Sumutasu, the Japan-based creator of a digital tool that assesses property prices, has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-series A funding from SMBC Venture Capital and Gunosy Capital, a subsidiary of online media company Gunosy, as well as 500 Startups Japan, Digital Marketing Staut and an unnamed private investor, The Bridge reported on Monday. 500 Startups Japan had previously provided $450,000 in seed funding for the company in October 2018.
Admitad, a provider of affiliate advertising services, has provided $500,000 in funding for Belarus-based customer engagement system developer Blinger.io through its Admitad Invest unit at a $5m valuation, Rusbase reported on Tuesday. The unit had previously invested $150,000 in the company in 2016, the same year it was founded.
CyberAgent Capital, internet company CyberAgent’s corporate VC unit, has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Japan-based sales advisory firm Buff, The Bridge reported yesterday. Although the precise size of the investment was not disclosed, The Bridge said it expects it to be in the sub-¥50m ($450,000) range.
Retail10X, the US-based developer of a software platform that helps brick-and-mortar retailers keep track of inventory, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from IT services firm Sonata Software, VCCircle reported on Wednesday. The deal will also give Sonata the rights to distribute the software in international markets through its own existing brands.
Gaming media company GameWith has invested $100,000 in India-based gaming and eSpots platform developer GamingMonk, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. The deal came after approximately $540,000 from internet company Smile Group, Incubate Fund, Stellaris Ventures, AdvantEdge and angel investors Rajan Anandan and Samir Khurana in October 2018, and will be used for marketing, hiring and product development.
