Consumer electronics producer Lenovo spun off its Lecoo smart retail subsidiary yesterday with an undisclosed amount of funding from e-commerce group JD.com. The companies intend to collaborate on promoting smart retail both online and offline, with JD.com providing assistance and technology to help Lenovo improve its supply chain management capabilities.
Healthcare services firm Cardinal Health joined unnamed strategic investors to provide $10m of series B funding for US-based homecare technology and services supplier Medically Home Group on Tuesday. Medically Home closed its series A round at $14m in April 2018 having initially received $4m in late 2017 from investors including the state of Connecticut’s Connecticut Innovations vehicle and an undisclosed health benefits provider.
DoNew, the China-based operator of an online sneaker trading platform, has secured almost $10m in a series A round led by SIG China, a subsidiary of trading and technology firm Susquehanna International Group, 36Kr reported on Wednesday. It plans to recruit influencers and professional appraisers to improve its offering and help expand its user base.
Mindsay, a France-based developer of chatbots for use in the tourism industry, has received €8.9m ($9.9m) in series A funding from participants including airport operator Groupe ADP and hotel manager Accor, Les Echos reported on Tuesday. White Star Capital led the round, which also featured Partech – described by Les Echos as an existing investor – and which included an undisclosed amount of debt financing.
Investment firm HarbourVest agreed on Tuesday to provide a “significant” amount of funding for TravelStart, a South Africa-based online travel booking platform backed by mobile network operator MTN. The corporate had joined venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners to invest $40m in TravelStart in 2016, and the latter said the latest deal will form part of MTN’s asset realisation program, indicating that it will sell shares to HarbourVest in the near future.
Japan-based tourism services platform developer WAmazing raised ¥930m ($8.5m) on Tuesday in a series B round led by rail operator Tokyo-Kyuden Electric Railway that included IT services provider Nihon Unisys’ corporate venturing unit, Canal Ventures, as well as cosmetics producer Pola Orbis, JR West Innovations and JR East Start Up, subsidiaries of rail operators JR West and JR East. The corporates were joined by financial services group Yamaguchi Financial’s Unicorn Fund.
Outschool, the US-based online education provider backed by children’s entertainment producer Sesame Workshop, secured $8.5m on Tuesday in a series A round co-led by VC firm Union Square Ventures and education investment firm Reach Capital. It had previously raised $1.4m in mid-2017 seed round co-led by Sesame Workshop’s Collab+Sesame fund and VC firm Collaborative Fund that included Y Combinator, SV Angel, FundersClub, Spectrum28, Learn Capital and Caterina Fake.
Propel Venture Partners, the VC firm formed by financial services firm BBVA, led an $8m series A round for US-based, retail-side consumer finance platform developer ChargeAfter on Wednesday. The round included financial services provider Synchrony, VC firm Pico Venture Partners and accelerator Plug and Play. It came after the company won a prize at the BBVA Open Talent contest in October 2018.
Chronograph, a US-based provider of portfolio monitoring and reporting technology for private investors, closed a series A round of undisclosed size on Tuesday that included Nasdaq Ventures, exchange operator Nasdaq’s strategic investment arm. The round was led by AlpInvest Partners, a private equity affiliate of asset manager Carlyle Group, and will support recruitment. Chronograph has also formed partnerships with AlpInvest and eVestment, Nasdaq’s investment management software subsidiary.
Asset management firm Ion Pacific has supplied $7.3m in funding for Singapore-based digital insurance platform developer Singapore Life alongside investments of undisclosed size by insurance firm Aflac and investment manager Standard Life Aberdeen, DealStreetAsia reported on Monday. The latter two provided $33m in funding for Ion Pacific earlier this year, after financial technology provider Credit China Fintech Holdings and holding company IPGL put up $50m in an April 2017 series A round.
Altoida, a US-based developer of medical devices and software to treat brain diseases, received $6.3m yesterday in a round led by M Ventures, a strategic investment vehicle operated by pharmaceutical firm Merck Group. The round included Grey Sky Venture Partners, VI Partners, Alpana Ventures and Fyrfly Venture Partners. The company had raised approximately $1.2m from investors including Polytech Ecosystem Ventures as of the end of 2016.
NanoGuard Technologies, the US-based developer of a cold plasma technology that helps grains retain their freshness, has secured $6m in a series A that included Maumee Ventures and Bunge Ventures, corporate venturing vehicles for agribusinesses The Andersons and Bunge, St Louis Business Journal has reported. The round was led by food technology accelerator Yield Lab and also featured Fulcrum Global Capital.
Financial services firm Barclays co-led a $5.5m series A round for US-based business invoicing software developer Crowdz with VC firm Bold Capital Partners on Tuesday. Finance software provider First Derivatives, TFX Capital Partners and Techstars Ventures also participated in the round, which will support recruitment and investment in product development, sales and marketing.
Container shipping services firm AP Moller – Maersk invested an undisclosed amount in France-based smart container technology developer Traxens on Monday. Shipping services firm CMA CGM had provided funding for the company in 2012 before counterpart Mediterranean Shipping Company supplied a similarly undisclosed sum four years later. In addition to its financial investment, Maersk will buy 50,000 Traxens devices for use in its business.
US-based property analysis software developer Betterview completed a $4.5m series A round on Tuesday featuring insurance firm EMC Insurance, reinsurer Maiden Re and Nationwide Ventures, the strategic investment vehicle for insurance and asset management group Nationwide. The round was led by VC firm ManchesterStory and backed by Compound, and it boosted Betterview’s total funding to $10m, $2m of which came in a 2017 round featuring Maiden Re, before Nationwide invested an undisclosed sum in May 2018.
Digital payment processor Stripe and VC firm Precursor Ventures co-led a $4.5m seed round on Wednesday for Pico, a US-based developer of software that helps online media brands build their audiences. Bloomberg Beta and Axel Springer Digital Ventures, corporate venturing vehicles for media groups Bloomberg and Axel Springer, also invested in the round, alongside VC firm Village Global, and the cash will fund the strengthening of f analytics and revenue tools for Pico’s platform.
Bloomberg Beta also contributed to a $4.3m seed round on Wednesday for CloudApp, a US-based startup that has created a business communication platform that relies on shareable videos. Kickstart Seed Fund led the round, which included Cervin Ventures and assorted angel investors. CloudApp raised $2m from China Rock Capital Management, Ride Ventures, Gramercy Fund, Green D Ventures, SaaS Syndicate and various angel investors in 2016, before closing a $5.5m round featuring Cervin Ventures in May 2018 and adding an undisclosed sum from software provider Adobe’s Fund for Design five months later.
Base Food, a Japan-based producer of nutritionally-enhanced pasta and bread, has received ¥400m ($3.7m) in series A funding from investors including Rakuten Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of e-commerce firm Rakuten, TechCrunch Japan reported on Monday. XTech Ventures, Global Brain and undisclosed angel investors also contributed to the round, which came after $890,000 in funding from Global Brain in October 2017.
Japan-based furniture leasing service Clas secured ¥370m ($3.4m) in funding on Wednesday from investors including Nihon Unisys’ Canal Ventures unit and VC firm Anri. The proceeds will help Clas design, create and procure new furniture for its business while developing artificial intelligence technology that can help clients better choose pieces to meet their needs. Clas had previously raised an undisclosed amount of seed capital from Anri and angel investors Yusuke Sato, Yusuke Mitsumoto and Ayataro Nakagawa in July 2018.
Linc’well, a Japan-based developer of primary support technology for healthcare clinics, raised ¥350m ($3.2m) on Monday from investors including consumer electronics producer Sony’s Innovation Fund. VC firm DCM Ventures and VC fund Incubate Fund also participated in the round, which took Linc’well’s overall funding to $3.8m. It will use the capital for recruitment and product development.
Japan-based unmanned submarine vehicle developer FullDepth secured ¥340m ($3.1m) last month, in a round featuring Mitsui Sumitomo Capital, insurer Mitsui Sumitomo’s corporate venturing unit, TechCrunch Japan reported on Monday. Drone Fund led the round, which included Beyond Next Ventures and the University of Tsukuba’s Institute of Research, and which followed a $1.7m series A round in June 2017 and an undisclosed amount of funding the previous year.
Printing services firm Toppan, real estate developers Samty and Mori Trust, e-commerce company Beenos, IT services firm NEC Corporation’s NEC Capital Solutions subsidiary and financial services firm SBI’s AI and Blockchain Fund have all contributed to a ¥300m ($2.7m) round for Metro Engines, a Japan-based developer of demand forecasting software for the hospitality industry. The round also featured Venture Labo Investment and it followed a $6.3m round in August 2018.
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, medical group Johnson & Johnson’s corporate venturing arm, led a $2.6m round on Wednesday for Techsomed, the Israel-based creator of an image analysis device for patients undergoing ablation treatment. Semiconductor producer Screen Holdings also took part in the round, along with AMIT-Technion, which invests on behalf of research university Technion, as well as NextLeap Ventures and Axil Capital. Techsomed said some of the round’s participants were existing backers but did not give details.
UK-based microbiome drug developer EnteroBiotix added £2m ($2.5m) to its seed round on Wednesday, from bacterial services provider NCIMB as well as Equity Gap, Scottish Investment Bank, University of Aberdeen, Bank Workers Charity, Barwell, Gabriel, Syndicate Room, Fund Twenty8 and SIS Ventures. The $640,000 first tranche was provided in June 2017 by Equity Gap and Scottish Investment Bank in addition to Smart Scotland, which supplied grant funding.
Japan-based brand incubator ICMF received ¥200m ($1.8m) in funding on Tuesday from YJ Capital, MTG Ventures and SMBC Venture Capital, subsidiaries of internet company Yahoo Japan, consumer goods supplier MTG and financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, as well as KLab Venture Partners. It will put the proceeds into the further development of its brands and team of designers.
Snack Me, the Japan-based operator of subscription snack box service Snaq.me, also raised $1.8m on Tuesday, from investors including SMBC Venture Capital, Line Ventures and Asahi Media Lab Ventures, corporate venturing subsidiaries of messaging platform developer Line and media company Asahi Shimbun. The corporates were joined by W Ventures and Spiral Ventures Japan, and the capital will support product development, brand promotion and hiring.
Arturo, a US-based property analytics software developer spun off from insurance firm American Family, completed a seed round of undisclosed size on Tuesday that was led by its parent company. The technology was created in American Family’s Data Science and Analytics Lab, and it applies artificial intelligence and deep learning to images sourced from satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles as well as from ground level.
TV Tokyo Communications, a subsidiary of broadcaster TV Tokyo, invested an undisclosed amount in Reraise, a Japan-based producer of social media influencer content, yesterday, as part of a collaboration that will also involve it helping in advertising and content production. Reraise recently also formed business partnerships with talent agency Amuse and digital advertising group DA Consortium.
Container shipping firm AP Moller – Maersk has provided €1.5m ($1.7m) in seed funding for Huub, a Portugal-based developer of supply chain management software for the fashion industry, Negócios has reported. VC firm Pathena had led a $2.8m round for the company in May 2018, and it has now raised approximately $4.9m altogether.
Crowd Investment, the Japan-based creator of crowdfunded real estate investment platform Fuel Online Fund, received an undisclosed amount of funding on Tuesday from SFV GB Limited Partnership, an investment vehicle formed by Sony subsidiary Sony Financial Ventures and Global Brain. It will spend the cash on recruitment, including the beefing up of its management structure.
Energy utility J-Power invested an undisclosed sum in Japan-based water infrastructure technology developer Wota yesterday. Wota is developing systems capable of supplying clean water to residents in the event of a natural disaster, and plans to utilise the expertise J-Power has gleaned through its power generation and water purification businesses.
Ukka, the Japan-based owner of direct-to-consumer fresh food service Owners, has raised ¥120m ($1.1m) in funding from investors including SMBC Venture Capital, VentureTimes reported on Monday. The round was led by W Ventures and also featured KLab Venture Partners and private investors Fumiaki Koizumi, Jun Nishikawa and Tomoyuki Takechi.
UB Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of business intelligence provider Uzabase, has supplied an undisclosed amount of series A funding for Sora, the Japan-based operator of hotel pricing comparison service MagicPrice. The company had raised $1.5m from investors including financial services firm Fukuoka Bank’s FFG Venture Business Partners unit in July 2018, representing the first part of its series A round and increasing its funding to $2.5m in the process.
Japan-based nutritional advice and support app developer Mealthy received an undisclosed amount of funding on Wednesday from TIS Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of systems integrator TIS Intec Group, and VC firm PE&HR. It had previously raised $260,000 through equity crowdfunding platform Fundinno in November 2017.
Online Q+A service provider OKWave provided an undisclosed amount of series AA funding for US-based digital currency-trading platform developer CoinZoom yesterday. The company raised the cash as it prepares to commercially launch its platform, which will allow users to amalgamate cryptocurrencies with their normal spending through the use of custom-made debit cards.
