Intel Capital and Gradient Ventures, respective subsidiaries of semiconductor technology producer Intel and internet technology provider Google, co-led a $10m series A round for US-based engineering simulation software startup OnScale on Monday. Engineering consultancy Thornton Tomasetti also took part in the round, along with CampbellKlein, Stage 2 Capital and Cultivation Capital. OnScale was spun off from Thornton Tomasetti in March 2018 with $3m from the corporate as well as CampbellKlein and various angel investors.
Tru Optik, the US-based developer of a data and measurement platform for over-the-top advertising, completed a $10m funding round on Wednesday that included credit scoring service TransUnion. The round was led by investment firm Mithera Capital and also featured Connecticut Innovations, Arab Angel Fund and Progress Ventures, and followed $2.4m in funding in 2016 and a further $1.1m in January 2017 according to regulatory filings.
OpenGamma, a provider of data analytics covering financial derivatives, secured $10m from investors including CME Ventures, futures and exchange operator CME Group’s strategic investment vehicle. Venture capital firm Dawn led the round, which also featured Accel and angel investor Cristóbal Conde. The company had raised $38m in debt and equity financing from investors including CME subsidiary NEX Group, Accel and FirstMark before exchange operator Japan Exchange Group added an undisclosed amount in early 2017.
HyperSciences, a US-based advanced drill developer that counts oil and gas supplier Shell among its investors, has raised $9.6m from an equity crowdfunding round on SeedInvest, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. The round was backed by more than 3,500 individual investors and came after $3m in earlier funding from Shell’s GameChanger initiative, Washington Research Foundation, Kick-Start II, Cowles Company and The Toolbox.
NextGen Jane, the US-based developer of a reproductive health system that relies on a smart tampon, received $9m on Monday in a series A round featuring diversified conglomerate Access Industries. The round was led by material-focused VC fund Material Impact and included Viking Global Investors, Liminal Ventures and unnamed angel investors. It had raised $2.2m from unnamed investors in 2016 according to a securities filing, having joined Illumina Accelerator, genomics technology producer Illumina’s corporate venturing unit, in 2015.
US-based wide-area network technology developer Teridion completed a $9m funding round yesterday that was led by VC firm Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) and backed by SingTel Innov8, telecoms firm Singapore Telecommunications’ corporate venturing unit, and VC firm Magma Ventures. Teridion has now raised a total of $35m, it said, $15m of which came in a 2015 series B round featuring the same three investors.
Japan-based pharmaceutical company Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma has spun off a neuropathic pain treatment developer called AlphaNavi Pharma with more than ¥900m ($8.1m) in series A funding from a consortium that also includes SMBC Venture Capital, Shinsei Capital Partners and Chushin Venture Capital, subsidiaries of financial services firms Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Shinsei Bank and Kyoto Chuo Shinkin Bank. The round also featured Kyoto University Innovation Capital and Nippon Venture Capital.
Motley Fool Ventures, the VC arm of financial advice and services provider Motley Fool, co-led an $8m series A round for Hungry, the US-based operator of an online marketplace that connects chefs to employers, on Tuesday with Sands Capital Ventures. The round also featured Marcy Venture Partners, Private Access Network, James Madison Innovations and various angel investors, and it took Hungry’s overall funding to $12.5m.
Online payment technology provider PayPal has invested in US-based digital identity software developer Cambridge Blockchain as part of a series A round indicated by a securities filing on Monday to now be $7.5m in size. Omidyar Network and its Flourish initiative also contributed to the extension, while the initial tranche featured HCM Capital, a vehicle for contract manufacturer Foxconn, as well as Partech Partners, Future\Perfect Ventures and Digital Currency Group.
Indiabulls Consumer Finance, a subsidiary of financial services group Indiabulls, has paid Rs 460m ($6.7m) for a 42% stake in Transerv, an India-based mobile wallet and digital payment software developer backed by electronics producer MicroMax, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday, citing a stock market disclosure. Transerv had received an undisclosed amount from Nirvana Venture Advisors in 2014 before adding $15m in a 2016 round co-led by Micromax and IDFC Spice Fund, a vehicle for infrastructure finance provider IDFC, and backed by Nirvana and Faering Capital India Evolving Fund.
UK-based mortgage insurance brokerage software developer Acre has secured £5m ($6.6m) in funding from insurance firm Aviva and financial advisory firm Sesame Bankhall Group, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday. Acre will also seek to leverage Sesame Bankhall’s support in distributing its blockchain-equipped technology.
US-based system-on-chip production technology developer Movellus received $6m on Monday in a series A round led by investment fund Stata Venture Partners that included Intel Capital as well as University of Michigan’s MINTS fund. It had raised a total of $1.9m in convertible note financing when Intel Capital added an undisclosed amount of funding in May 2018, and it had secured another $1.6m from investors including Intel Capital as of December 2018 according to a securities filing.
Game and app producer Animoca Brands has invested in US-based blockchain game developer Lucid Sight as part of a $6m funding round that also featured Galaxy EOS VC Fund, Digital Currency Group, Breakaway Growth and Frontier Venture Capital, VentureBeat reported on Tuesday. Rana Capital Partners led a $3.5m round for the company in 2016 that included Salem Partners, and Lucid Sight has now raised a total of $11m from investors that also include sporting league Major League Baseball and angel investors Joey Buss and Jonathan Zweig.
Malaysia-based logistics service TheLorry has raised approximately $5.9m in series B funding from investors including Axiata Digital Innovation Fund and SPH Ventures, subsidiaries of telecommunications firm Axiata and media company Singapore Press Holdings respectively, e27 reported on Tuesday. FirstFloor Capital led the round, which also featured PNB-Inspire Ethical Fund and Cradle Seed Ventures, and which followed a $1.5m seed round led by SPH Media Fund in 2016 that included Elixir Capital, after KK Fund had invested an undisclosed amount in 2015.
Miles, the US-based operator of a service that enables mobile device users to gain the equivalent of air miles for all their travel, announced on Wednesday that it has received a total of approximately $5.8m in funding. The cash came from carmaker SAIC, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Porsche Digital and Sony Innovation Fund, respective subsidiaries of airline operator JetBlue, automotive manufacturer Porsche and electronics manufacturer Sony, as well as Urban Us, Scrum Ventures and angel investor Gabe Klein.
Game developer Akatsuki’s AET Fund has participated in a $5m series A round for India-based local discovery platform Little Black Book that was co-led by Inventus India and IAN Fund, Hindu Business Line reported on Wednesday. Consulting and business development firm Dream Incubator also contributed to the round along with Blume Ventures and Chiratae Ventures. The company raised $150,000 in a 2015 seed round, and IDG Ventures and IAN added $1.2m in 2016 before joining Blume Ventures to invest $980,000 in late 2017.
BookingKit, the Germany-based operator of an online listings platform for travel and tourism activities, has secured a seven-digit euro amount (€1m = $1.1m) in a series C round featuring media company Müller Medien and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), PhocusWire has reported. It had previously received a seven-digit euro amount in a 2016 series A round before adding $4m from Müller Medien, Intermedia Ventures, which functions as part of media holding company Medien Union Ludwigshafen, HTGF and angel investor Robert Kabs in February 2018.
WealthPark, the Japan-based operator of an asset management platform for real estate investments, has raised ¥540m ($4.8m) from investors including Japan Post Capital, a corporate venturing vehicle for postal service operator Japan Post, VentureTimes reported on Monday. The round also featured SBI Investment and Mizuho Capital, subsidiaries of financial services firms SBI Group and Mizuho Bank respectively.
Internet-of-things technology producer Soracom invested an undisclosed amount in US-based tracking technology developer Pebblebee on Tuesday that will make up part of an ongoing series A round it plans to close at $10m. The deal is the third to be conducted through the corporate’s Soracom IoT Fund, it said, following investments in connected-device management software provider Balena in June 2018 and wide-area network technology provider UnaBiz two months later.
Internet company CyberAgent has joined existing backers including investment firm Jafco to provide ¥350m ($3.1m) in funding for Japan-based advertising chatbot developer Zeals through its Fujita Fund, The Bridge reported on Monday. Zeals had raised an undisclosed sum in a 2015 seed round before adding $710,000 in a May 2017 series A round and $3.9m in series B funding from Jafco and marketing technology provider FreakOut Holdings in February 2018.
Shell’s New Energies unit supplied an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday for EcoSmart Solution, a subsidiary of US-based, real estate-focused private equity firm Taurus Investment Holdings that installs solar energy, energy efficiency and home automation products in housing communities. The company is initially installing its systems in Whisper Valley, a large-scale housing community Taurus is developing in the state of Texas.
Halp, the US-based creator of a conversational ticketing tool for IT service teams, received $2.6m on Thursday in a seed round that included Slack Fund, enterprise communications software provider Slack’s corporate venturing unit. Techstars Ventures, Matchstick Ventures, Next Frontier Capital, Access Venture Partners, FirstMile Ventures, and Kokopelli Capital also took part in the round, which was disclosed as Halp rebranded from BubbleIQ.
Giblib, the US-based operator of an online streaming platform for medical lectures and surgical videos, raised $2.5m in seed capital from investors including included medical research firm Mayo Clinic on Wednesday. The corporate was joined by Venture Reality Fund, Wavemaker 360, USC Marshall Venture Fund and the Michelson 20MM foundation, and the funding will support the expansion of Giblib’s content library.
Saleswhale, a Singapore-based email marketing technology developer backed by digital media company Gree, has secured $2.5m of a funding round expected to close at $5.2m, according to a regulatory filing last week. The round comes after Saleswhale raised $1.2m in seed capital from Gree’s corporate venturing unit, Gree Ventures, as well as Monk’s Hill Ventures, Wavemaker Partners and angel investors including Albert Ni, Pieter Walraven, Juha Paananen, Royston Tay and Bowei Lee in April 2017.
India-based software-defined networking technology producer Lavelle Networks has received $2m in a series A round backed by consulting services and software provider ASM Technologies, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday. YourNest Venture Capital led the round, which also featured Ideaspring Capital and KAAJ Ventures, and which came after approximately $900,000 in earlier funding including $270,000 from ASM in October 2018.
Game developer Animoca Brands has made a $2m stock-and-cash investment in Talenthouse, the US-based operator of an online community where creatives and brands can meet, in connection with an agreement to form a joint venture. Talenthouse had previously raised more than $29m including $10m in a 2014 series B round featuring Starwatch, a subsidiary of media group ProSiebenSat.1, as well as investment bank First Artist Bank, and its earlier backers include Cisco Growth Fund, which is owned by networking technology producer Cisco.
Barkyn, the Portugal-based operator of a subscription service that provides consumer products for dogs, has raised €1.7m ($1.9m) in seed capital from investors including web development services provider 7Graus, Tech.eu reported yesterday. VC firm Indico Capital Partners led the round, which also featured All Iron Ventures and Shilling Capital Partners, and the proceeds will support the startup’s expansion into other European markets.
MyEG Capital, a subsidiary of IT services provider MyEG Services, has invested RMB10m ($1.5m) in Jingle Magic, a China-based developer of virtual and augmented reality technology for the education sector, The Edge Markets reported yesterday. Jingle Magic had raised an undisclosed amount from Anhui Kexun Venture Capital, an investment vehicle for drone producer iFlytek; Nantong Muhua Equity Investment Center, a subsidiary of online education provider Muhua Education; and Beijing Yifan Taihe Venture Capital Center.
Potato seed provider IPM Potato Group has provided Rs 100m ($1.45m) in funding for India-based counterpart Utkal Tubers India in connection with a strategic partnership agreement, VCCircle reported yesterday. The company had previously received $4.6m in funding from Zephyr Peacock India Fund and CapAleph Indian Millennium SME Fund as of May 2017.
GenXys Health Care Systems, the Canada-based creator of a medical prescription software platform, has secured approximately C$1.8m ($1.3m) in funding from investors including Telus Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of telecoms company Telus, and Tydo, BetaKit reported on Wednesday. It intends to use the funding to support its international expansion plans.
Telus Ventures has also made investments of undisclosed size in two other Canada-based companies, it disclosed on Tuesday. The recipients are Acorn Biolabs, a cell preservation service that completed a $3.3m seed round featuring Real Ventures, Globalive Technology, Pool Global Partners, Epic Capital Management and unnamed other investors in January this year, and Vital Biosciences, a health and disease monitoring technology provider still in stealth mode that also counts undisclosed investment funds and individuals as backers.
Fast Japan, the Japan-based creator of travel concierge app Tabiko, has raised ¥60m ($540,000) in funding from DG Incubation and Canal Ventures, respective subsidiaries of internet company Digital Garage and IT services provider Unisys, TechCrunch Japan reported today. VC firm KLab Venture Partners also participated in the round, having previously joined TLM and various angel investors to provide $240,000 in funding for the company in 2016.
E-commerce group Alibaba supplied series A funding for China-based home decoration services provider Many Craftsmen yesterday. Although the size of the investment was not disclosed by the company when it announced the deal, China Money Network cited a regulatory filing that stated it was approximately RMB2.4m ($350,000).
