The corporates are extending a partnership that stretches back to their investment in recruitment startup TalentEx two years ago.
Author: Edison Fu
Edison Fu is a reporter and Asia liaison at Global Corporate Venturing.
Howa Bank and FVC hatch fund partnership
The banking firm joined Future Venture Capital for a $2.8m joint investment venture to back startups based in Japan’s Oita prefecture.
Boost boasts $70m from Great Eastern
Insurer Great Eastern invested in Axiata Digital’s e-wallet platform at a $320m valuation, with the proceeds to go to expanding the latter’s presence in Asia.
Tencent takes iFlix in acquisition deal
The regional streaming service has been bought by Tencent for a reported eight-digit sum, enabling Hearst, JTBC, Liberty Global, MNC, PLDT, Sky, Yoshimoto Kogyo and Zain to exit.
Witt parks at Volvo Group Venture Capital
The commercial vehicle manufacturer has appointed Martin Witt to head its investment subsidiary after more than 14 years at Accenture Strategy.
Qualcomm and BNDES cue up IoT fund manager
Indicator Capital will oversee the $39m internet-of-things fund co-founded by Qualcomm Ventures and the Brazilian government in January.
Charles Schwab moves to Motif acquisition
Renren has exited the thematic stock investing platform in an acquisition of undisclosed size by Charles Schwab that followed $126m in funding.
Axa takes wing for Fly Ventures’ second fund
Axa Venture Partners was among the limited partners that have helped the deep tech-focused venture firm raise $59.4m for its second fund.
Eisai elects new strategic investment officer
The pharmaceutical firm has transferred China-based business development director Manabu Aruga to its Tokyo headquarters where he will oversee corporate VC deals in Asia.
Louis Dreyfus plants corporate venturing initiative
The merchant group’s LDC Innovations fund will back food and agtech startups, with Max Clegg, its former head of food innovation, heading up the unit.
Upgrade raids Santander in $40m round
The online consumer credit provider completed a series D round led by Santander InnoVentures that was closed at a $1bn valuation.
Botkeeper accounts for $25m series B
The accounting software provider boosted its overall funding to more than $47m as Google subsidiary Gradient Ventures returned to reinvest.
Copado scopes $26m in series B round
Salesforce Ventures returned to participate in a round that hiked DevOps technology provider Copado’s overall funding to $47m.
Ajinomoto finds formula for accelerator
The nutrition and biotechnology company is accepting applications for its five-month Ajinomoto Group Accelerator initiative, which is scheduled to begin in December.