Flyr, a US-based airfare forecasting platform backed by airline operator JetBlue and insurance group Axa, has secured more than $10m in new funding from unnamed investors, co-founder Alexander Mans told Kamber Media on Monday. It had secured a total of $15.3m from corporate venturing units JetBlue Technology Ventures and Axa Strategic Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, Amadeus Ventures, Western Technology Investment, Plug and Play, Chasm Capital Management and Peter Thiel as of January 2017.
Get Spiffy, a US-based car washing and detailing service backed by manufacturing group Mann+Hummel, raised more than $10m on Wednesday in a round led by Tribeca Venture Partners and backed by Zunis Investments, Trog Hawley Capital and existing investors including Bull City Venture Partners and Idea Fund Partners. Spiffy has now received about $27m in total, including $9m in a July 2018 round featuring Mann+Hummel, Bull City, Idea Fund Partners, Visionary Private Equity Group, North Carolina Venture Capital Multiplier Fund, Wolfpack Investor Network and VentureSouth.
WP Engine, a US-based developer of digital assistance technology for content management platform WordPress, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from unnamed existing investors, TechCrunch reported on Monday. The round followed more than $290m in earlier funding from backers including WordPress operator Automattic, Silver Lake, Silverton Partners and North Bridge Growth Equity, and it was announced alongside the company’s acquisition of Flywheel, a WordPress hosting and management platform, for an undisclosed amount.
Kymab, a UK-based monclonal antibody developer backed by pharmaceutical company Shenzhen Hepalink, secured $10m in equity funding from medical research charity LifeArc on Monday along with a commitment to invest $20m more. It had previously raised more than $220m, including $100m in series C funding from Hepalink, Ori Healthcare Fund, Malin Corporation, Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CF Woodford Equity Income Fund and Woodford Patient Capital in 2016.
Growth equity firm PeakSpan Capital invested $10m in ReviewTrackers, the US-based customer feedback services provider that counts insurer American Family as an investor, on Tuesday. Corporate VC unit American Family Ventures led a $4m round for the company in 2016 that took its equity funding to $6m, having previously joined CSA Partners, SymphonyAlpha Ventures and Jeff Rusinow to invest $2m in 2014. ReviewTrackers added $3m in equity financing from unnamed investors in July 2017 according to a regulatory filing.
Financial services group Prudential Financial provided $10m of funding for affordable loan provider Aura on Tuesday. Aura said it has now raised $100m in equity financing to date, including $50m in late 2017, when it was still known as Insikt, through a series D round led by financial services group Grupo Coppel. Its other backers include e-commerce firm Rakuten, Colchis Capital, Serengeti Asset Management, Peterson Ventures, Jefferies, Atalaya Capital Management, FirstMark Capital and Revolution Ventures.
US-based podcast publishing platform Wondery closed a $10m series B round yesterday that included BDMI, the subsidiary of media group Bertelsmann formerly known as Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. The round was led by Waverley Capital and also featured Lerer Hippeau, Greycroft, Powerhouse Ventures, Advancit Capital and Water Tower Ventures. The company had previously received $5m from investors including BDMI, Fox Networks Group (now a Walt Disney subsidiary), Greycroft, Lerer Hippeau, Advancit Capital, Water Tower Ventures and Bam Ventures in April 2018.
Ninjacart, an India-based fresh produce e-commerce platform backed by mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, agribusiness Syngenta and conglomerate Doosan, has raised about $10m in funding from investors including Tiger Global Management, Trifecta Capital, Tanglin Venture Fund, Steadview Capital and ABG Capital, Inc42 has reported, citing a regulatory filing. The cash will be added to $89.5m received from Tiger Global in April 2019. Ninjacart has now secured approximately $148m in funding altogether.
SV Academy, a US-based recruitment service that helps less formally educated candidates get jobs at tech companies, has completed a $9.5m series A round featuring media company Bloomberg’s investment arm, Bloomberg Beta, as well as Owl Ventures, Kapor Capital, Strada Education Network, Rethink Education and Uprising Ventures, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Bloomberg Beta, Rethink Education, Uprising Ventures, Precursor Ventures, 500 Startups and Western Technology Investment had provided $2m of seed capital for the company in 2017.
Industrial, mining and petroleum group JXTG invested ¥1bn ($9.3m) in Japan-based deep learning technology developer Preferred Networks on Tuesday in connection with a strategic partnership deal. Preferred Networks has now raised more than $119m altogether, from investors including automotive manufacturer Toyota, diversified conglomerate Mitsui and telecommunications firm NTT.
Qover, a Belgium-based digital insurance technology provider that counts banking software provider Callatay & Wouters as an investor, secured €8m ($9.1m) on Wednesday in a funding round co-led by Portag3 Ventures, a VC subsidiary of financial services provider Power Financial, and VC firm Alven. The round also featured Anthemis, the investment and advisory firm that led Qover’s $5.9m series A round in 2017, the year after it received $1.7m in funding from Callatay & Wouters and Belacube.
Nue.co, the UK-based operator of a subscription service for health supplements, has received $9m in funding from investors including medical cannabis provider Columbia Care and Unilever Ventures, consumer packaged goods producer Unilever’s corporate venture capital subsidiary, Tech.eu reported on Tuesday. Waldencast led the round, which also featured Redo Ventures, and which came in the wake of a $1.5m in a December 2017 seed round led by Morningside Group.
Payment services provider YeePay and classified listings operator 58.com have co-led a RMB60m ($8.7m) angel round for China-based online insurance portal Wukongbao, PEdaily has reported. The round included VC firm Plum Ventures and the capital will go to expanding the range of insurance covered by Wukongbao’s service.
Noon Academy, the Saudi Arabia-based creator of a social learning platform, has raised $8.6m in a series A round co-led by Raed Ventures, the VC arm of diversified conglomerate Almajdouie, and STV, the VC firm anchored by telecoms company Saudi Telecom, Startup Mgzn reported yesterday. The round also featured Alisamiah Investment, Saudi Venture Capital and angel investors including Abdulla Elyas, Abdulrahman Aljadhai and Mazen Aljuba. It was the first external money raised by the company.
Expertlead, the Germany-based operator of an online hiring platform for tech freelancers, completed a €7m ($8m) series A round on Wednesday that included recruitment firm Seek and e-commerce holding company Rocket Internet. The round was led by VC firm Acton Capital Partners while Rocket Internet participated as an existing backer, having launched the startup in January 2018.
UK-based mobility integration platform developer Splyt recently secured $8m in series A funding from investors including on-demand ride provider Grab, it disclosed on Tuesday. Mark Porter, Grab’s chief technology officer for transport, joined Splyt’s board of directors in conjunction with the round, which the company said boosted its overall funding to more than $14m, though it has not revealed details of its previous financing.
Germany-based CryoTherapeutics, which is developing a treatment for coronary artery disease, closed a €7m ($8m) series B round yesterday that included supply chain services group Getz Brothers as well as Noshaq, Peppermint Venture Partners and Creathor Ventures. It had raised a total of $14.8m in funding from investors including Getz Brothers, Creathor, Peppermint Venture Partners, financial services firm NRW.Bank, High-Tech Gründerfonds and KfW as of 2016.
Optical equipment producer Nikon has provided $7.5m in funding for Canada-based computer vision and deep learning technology developer Wrnch. The investment came after Wrnch secured $1.8m in a 2016 series A round led by Radical Ventures and backed by Aligo Innovation, Gr0k and TandemLaunch Ventures. Nikon is looking to utilise the company’s pose estimation technology in order to improve its automatic shooting functionality.
Japan-based digital health platform developer Link and Communication raised ¥756m ($7.1m) on Tuesday from investors including insurance providers Tokio Marine Holdings and Meiji Yasuda Life. The round also featured unnamed existing backers and the proceeds will support the further development and marketing of the company’s app.
US-based sustainable fragrance producer Phlur closed a $7m series A round on Tuesday that was led by flavour and fragrance developer Symrise. The round included cosmetics and beauty care product supplier Belcorp and VC firm Next Coast Ventures, the latter of which had led a $1.5m round in June 2017 that lifted Phlur’s overall funding to $6m, investing alongside angel investors Tory Burch, Joey Levin and Cotter Cunningham.
Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the corporate venturing vehicle owned by industrial technology and home appliance producer Robert Bosch, led a growth round of undisclosed size for China-based robotic automation technology developer MegaRobo on Tuesday that included Gobi Partners, Joy Capital and FutureCap. MegaRobo’s technology is used in laboratory automation, smart retail and manufacturing as well as Bosch’s household appliance manufacturing.
Singapore-based thermal sensor developer Meridian Innovation received $6m on Wednesday from investors including audio product maker Creative Technology and PlanetSpark, the strategic investment vehicle for electronic component producer Excelpoint. Seeds Capital also contributed to the round, which the company said took its total funding to $10m. Excelpoint invested $2m through the round, according to a report in Business Times earlier this month.
UK-based digital rewards platform developer WeGift raised £4m ($5.1m) in series A funding yesterday from investors including Unilever Ventures and SAP.io, enterprise software producer SAP’s corporate venturing unit. The round was led by Stride.vc and also featured angel investors including James Hind, Simon Franks, Alex Chesterman, Charlie Songhurst and Eamon Jubbawy. It will support technology development and company growth expected to include expansion in the US.
US-based automotive commerce technology Car IQ completed a $5m series A round on Tuesday featuring Avanta Ventures and Citi Ventures, subsidiaries of insurance group CSAA and financial services firm Citi respectively. Quest Venture Partners led the round, which included fellow VC firm Alpana Ventures, accelerator operator Plug and Play and Spike Group, which is operated by VC manager Alumni Ventures Group. The company has not revealed past funding details but its backers also include Polytech Ventures.
Diversified trading group Itochu invested an undisclosed amount in US-based agricultural data software provider Farmer’s Business Network (FBN) yesterday as part of a strategic alliance deal. FBN had raised almost $200m in funding as of a $110m series D round in late 2017 that was co-led by Temasek and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price, and backed by GV, a subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet, and Acre Venture Partners, the VC fund formed by food producer Campbell Soup, as well as DBL Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.
Canopy, a UK-based ‘tenancy passport’ provider backed by credit rating assessor Experian and insurance firm Direct Line, secured £3.1m ($3.9m) in funding yesterday. It named West Hill Capital and Vision Blue Solutions as the investors and said Experian provided “backing” without confirming it actually invested cash. The round will support the company’s expansion of its digital tenancy assurance service to estate agents. Canopy had raised $2.1m from Direct Line, which supplied $1.3m, and Experian in late 2017.
Alliance Ventures, the investment entity formed by automotive manufacturers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, provided an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday for The Mobility House, a Germany-based developer of technologies that help vehicle batteries be integrated into power systems. The company had previously received an undisclosed sum from Wermuth Asset Management and Zouk Capital in 2013.
Unilever Ventures has led a Rs 250m ($3.6m) funding round for India-based beauty product and fragrance provider Scentials, the Economic Times reported on Monday. Scentials launches cosmetics brands in partnership with celebrities such as cricketer Virat Kohli and actress Lara Dutta, and intends to put the funding towards the launch of new brands, including some that will be limited editions.
Canada-based cross-blockchain technology platform developer Dfuse raised $3.5m in seed capital on Wednesday, from investors including Intel Capital, semiconductor and data technology provider Intel’s corporate venturing unit. Multicoin Capital led the round, which also featured BoxOne Ventures, Panache Ventures, White Star Capital and Diagram Ventures, where the startup was incubated.
Clairvolex, an India-based intellectual property asset manager that counts asset management software provider Anaqua as an investor, has received $3.5m in a series B round led by VC firm Walden Riverwood Capital, YourStory reported on Wednesday. VC and advisory firm IndusAge Partners also participated in the round, having led a series A round of undisclosed size for the company in 2015 that also featured Anaqua.
Diversified conglomerate Hinduja Group has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Pavegen, a UK-based developer of floor tiles that would theoretically be able to generate energy from footsteps, The Telegraph reported last month. Hinduja is the cornerstone investor in a crowdfunding campaign Pavegen has launched on CrowdCube, which at the time of writing has raised more than £2.6m ($3.3m). It had previously received more than $1m from angel investors including Ricky Husani, Josh Matthews and Jean Gomm in 2015.
Travel booking service Traveloka and SPH Ventures, the VC fund formed by media company Singapore Press Holdings, have co-led a $3m series B round for Singapore-based contactless event-management technology developer PouchNation, DealStreetAsia reported on Wednesday. PouchNation had already secured $1m from Cradle Fund and assorted angel investors in January 2017, following an undisclosed sum from Captii Ventures. The cash will support its planned transition into a full entertainment platform.
Healthcare services provider Encompass Health Corp invested an undisclosed sum in Medalogix, a US-based developer of analytics software for use by home and hospice carers, on Monday. Medalogix raised $100,000 in a 2012 bridge round before adding $5m in series A funding from hedge fund sponsor Coliseum Capital Management two years later. The companies have been collaborating on the development of a tool called Medalogix Care since 2016.
US-based luggage and travel accessories brand Baboon has secured $2.9m in funding from investors including Randa Digital Labs, a subsidiary of men’s accessories brand Randa, Modern Retail reported on Monday. The round also featured Amity Supply, Cherry Tree Investments and angel investors Brian Spaly and Scott Belsky, and the cash will go to growing the company’s product range and expanding its brand presence through ventures such as hosted events.
Asics Ventures Corporation, the corporate venturing arm of athletic footwear producer Asics, provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Canada-based motion-capture software developer Curv Labs on Wednesday. The corporate’s investment came after Curv participated in its Asics Tenkan-Ten Growth Catalyst accelerator, and it plans to work with the startup on ways the technology can be used for sports-related activities.
Handii, the Japan-based provider of a platform called Paild which manages corporate credit cards, received about ¥300m ($2.8m) in funding on Tuesday from Nissay Capital, the corporate venturing arm of insurance provider Nippon Life, and Coral Capital, the VC firm formerly known as 500 Startups Japan. The round took the company’s overall funding to roughly $3.7m and was announced on the same day it began accepting applications for the product.
3Box, a US-based startup applying decentralised ledger technology to electronic log-ins, has completed a $2.5m seed round featuring blockchain technology provider Consensys, Coindesk, reported on Wednesday. Placeholder Ventures led the round, which included Venrock, CoinFund and Northzone, and which came after 3Box graduated from Consensys’ accelerator.
Leeways, the Japan-based operator of real estate investment analysis platform Gate, raised ¥200m ($1.8m) from financial services firm Shizuoka Bank and rental guarantee service Casa today. Gate analyses data covering rent for more than 60 million properties across Japan as well as real estate transactions, land and demographics. The corporates plan to use the technology to ensure real estate deals are relatively secure.
SIG China, an investment vehicle for trading and technology company Susquehanna International Group, has led a $1.8m series A round for Neurosensum, a Singapore-based provider of neuroscience research for the consumer sector, DealStreetAsia reported on Wednesday. Commercial food producer Unifam Group also participated in the round, having reportedly joined VC firm Alpha JWC Ventures to supply $620,000 in seed funding for Neurosensum in April 2018.
Cudoni, the UK-based owner of an online marketplace for upmarket vintage fashion, has received £1.4m ($1.8m) from investors including media group Daily Mail General and Trust, The Times has reported. Individual investor Nick Wheeler also participated in the round, which followed $570,000 from angel investors including Giles Brook, Matt Cooper, Paul Schneider and Keith MacDonald in January 2018.
NTT East, part of the larger NTT telecoms group, provided an undisclosed amount of funding today for Earth Eyes, the Japan-based creator of an intelligent shoplifting prevention system. The companies have been strategic partners since May 2018, and NTT East has been helping Earth Eyes distribute its AI Guardman system.
Japan-based urban farming technology developer Plantio secured ¥150m ($1.4m) in funding yesterday from investors including property developer Tokyu Real Estate, leasing services firm JA Mitsui Leasing and Canal Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of IT services provider Nihon Unisys. The corporates were joined by Genesia Ventures, while Tokyu took part through its Shibuya Innovation Program.
Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange developer FXcoin received an undisclosed amount of funding from diversified trading group Sumitomo yesterday. The startup raised the cash as it looks to get registered by Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association as a virtual currency exchange.
Dopavision, the Germany-based developer of a digital therapy for myopia, has raised €1.2m ($1.3m) in funding from investors including Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim’s corporate venturing vehicle, Deutsche-Startups has reported. Incubator Flying Health and angel investor Ralf Meister also participated in the round, which will support further development of the technology.
Mairdumont Ventures, travel publisher Mairdumont’s corporate venturing subsidiary, has invested an undisclosed amount in Journi, the Austria-based creator of an online travel journaling platform, Deutsche-Startups has reported. The deal came after Journi secured a high six-figure euro amount (€100,000 = $110,000) from Startup300, angel investors including Hansi Hansmann and financial services firm Austrian Federal Promotional Bank, which took part in a $520,000 seed round in 2016.
TapChief, the India-based owner of an online platform that allows businesses to access specialists, has secured $650,000 in funding from investors including payment services provider Paytm, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. 500 Startups, AngelList India, Stanford Angels, SucSeed Venture Partners, NuVentures and angel investors including Kunal Shah, Mekin Maheshwari, Amit Ranjan and Aprameya Radhakrishna also took part in the round, and Paytm, NuVentures and Radhakrishna were identified as existing backers.
NTT Data, the IT services subsidiary of telecoms firm NTT, has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for India-based cloud business software startup CloudHedge Technologies. The companies have been partners since 2018 and CloudHedge’s software will now be integrated with NTT’s digitalisation technologies.
Sakelogy, a Japan-based startup that provides databases of sakes and allows customers to create their own sake menus on the cloud, closed a ¥42m ($390,000) seed round on Wednesday that, according to TechCrunch Japan, included All-Japan Kanko Rikkoku Fund, the tourism-focused VC partnership set up by some 60 Japanese corporates. Incubate Fund and angel investor Takeshi Soga also participated in the round, while Hokkoku Bank provided debt financing.
Airporter, the Japan-based operator of an airport delivery service for luggage, raised an eight-figure yen amount (¥10m = $93,000) on Monday from Mizuho Capital, the VC arm of financial services firm Mizuho Bank, as well as VC firms Base Partners and Monex Ventures. The startup had received another eight-digit sum from Base Partners and e-commerce company Beenos in March 2018.
Nissay Capital has invested ¥5m ($45,000) in Better, the Japan-based creator of an online platform that helps manage inheritance provision and wills. The cash was supplied in connection with Better’s participation in 50M, the accelerator sponsored by Nissay Capital.
Actor Akshay Kumar has made an investment of undisclosed size in Goqii, a US-based digital health technology developer that counts Mitsui and mobile app developer Cheetah Mobile as investors, the Economic Times reported today. The cash will make up part of a series C round Goqii is raising which will add to more than $43m the company has raised from investors that also include financial services group Edelweiss Financial Services, digital asset banking firm Galaxy Digital, Denlow Investment Trust, DSG Consumer Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Great Wall Club.
