Fulltime System, Goodpatch, Hankyu Hanshin Properties, Mitsui Fudosan and Shinsei Bank chipped in as the smart lock startup closed its $31.4m series A round.
Author: Edison Fu
Edison Fu is a reporter and Asia liaison at Global Corporate Venturing.
Verbit transcribes $31m in funding
ClalTech returned to back a series B round that brought speech-to-text transcription platform developer Verbit’s total funding up to $65m.
Shopline bags $20m in fresh funding
Livestreaming platform Joyy and its VC offshoot, Engage Capital, both invested in e-commerce tool provider Shopline, which will put the money into hiring and geographic expansion.
Minma mints fresh funding
Nippon Life returned to help the listings portal raise a $36.4m round featuring Globis, Sony and Zenrin DataCom, which will be used to promote brand awareness and talent acquisition.
McFadgen nixes Nex Opportunities for Element Ventures
Michael McFadgen, formerly managing director at Nex Opportunities, has taken a partner position at Element Ventures, which is raising a $130m for its first fund.
Qualcomm quickens pace with IoT fund
The semiconductor producer’s investment vehicle has partnered Brazilian development bank BNDES to set up a $39.3m fund to provide seed to series A funding for internet-of-things startups.
D2SF takes care of new investments
Naver has backed four health and education technology developers – Huray Positive, Ichrogene, N.Cer and SoundGym – through its D2 Startup Factory accelerator.
Kairós entrusts Trucharte with new unit
Kairós Digital Solutions has hired Pedro Trucharte, who helped set up MásVentures for MásMóvil, to establish its corporate venturing vehicle, Kairós Ventures.
Hantoro hurries to Telkomsel
MDI Ventures’ acting chief executive, Setyanto Hantoro, has shifted to managing director of another Telkom Indonesia subsidiary, Telkomsel.
Wong finds sweet deal at Honeywell
Honeywell has appointed a new director of ventures, John Wong, who has experience in corporate development and strategy with an IoT and wireless technology focus at InterDigital, GE and SoftBank.
Telefónica tears it up with Teravoz exit
Voice communication technology provider Teravoz has been acquired for an undisclosed amount by Twilio, allowing Telefónica subsidiary Wayra Brasil to exit with a 30-times return.
Comcast NBCUniversal commences SportsTech accelerator
Comcast NBCUniversal is seeking applications from developers of sports-related technologies for its SportsTech accelerator, which will invest $50,000 per company.
Trivedi tries General Atlantic role
Vinay Trivedi has left SoftBank Investment Advisers, the manager of SoftBank Vision Fund, and joined General Atlantic as a vice-president to oversee growth-stage tech investments.
Launchpad Digital Health enlarges second fund
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and an undisclosed insurer are among the LPs for the venture firm’s new digital health-focused vehicle.