Pharmaceutical firm Vertex Pharmaceuticals provided an undisclosed amount of equity funding for US-based immunotherapy developer Kymera Therapeutics on Wednesday as part of a $70m upfront payment made as part of a research and development agreement. Kymera had previously raised $95m across two rounds, from investors including corporate venturing units Lilly Ventures, Amgen Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, MRL Ventures Fund and Sanofi Ventures, as of November 2018.
NestAway, an India-based online accommodation portal that counts e-commerce company Flipkart among its investors, has received a total of $10m in series D funding, $5m each from hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management and venture capital firm Chiratae Ventures, Entrackr has reported. The company had previously raised more than $94m from both series D investors as well as Flipkart, UC-RNT and private investors Ratan Tata, Yuri Milner, Sujeet Kumar and Naveen Tewari.
Sorabito, the Japan-based operator of an online trading platform for heavy machinery called Allstocker, has secured approximately ¥900m ($8.2m) in funding from diversified trading groups Sumitomo and Itochu, TechCrunch Japan reported on Monday. The company raised $820,000 in 2015 from investors including GMO Venture Partners, a subsidiary of internet company GMO, and the latter joined subsidiaries of online media company Gree, marketing firm Opt and financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in a $4.6m round the following year, before Sorabito added $3.3m from Spiral Ventures Japan in May 2018.
Consumer electronics and entertainment producer Sony participated in a $6m funding round for Italy-based online streaming technology provider MainStreaming on Wednesday through its Sony Innovation Fund. The round was led by Indaco Venture Partners and included fellow VC firm United Ventures, the latter of which had helped provide $4.3m of funding for Mainstreaming in January 2017.
NEC Capital Solutions, IT equipment producer NEC Corporation’s leasing and financial services subsidiary, industrial equipment producer Keishin and IT services firm Seraku have invested in On The Slope, a Japan-based sustainable agricultural services provider, as part of a ¥601m ($5.5m) round that took its total funding to $7.7m, TechCrunch Japan reported yesterday. The round included Mizuho Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Mizuho Bank, as well as financial services firm Nanto Bank, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Kyoto University Innovation Capital.
Agoric, the US-headquartered developer of a blockchain-based smart contracts platform, has raised $4m from investors including Xpring and Gumi Cryptos Capital, subsidiaries of exchange and remittance network Ripple and mobile entertainment producer Gumi, CoinDesk reported on Monday. Kilowatt Capital, MetaStable Capital, Outlier Ventures, Lemniscap, Rockaway Blockchain, Interchain Foundation, Electric Coin Company, Polychain and angel investor Naval Ravikant also participated.
US-based luxury travel booking service Skylark Travel received $4m in seed capital on Tuesday from investors including travel services provider Ovation Travel Group and its corporate-focused subsidiary, BCD Travel. The round was led by startup studio 25Madison and included holding company Clarim Holdings, Bessemer Venture Partners and Vectr Ventures. The proceeds will fund marketing and product development.
Samsung Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung, has led a $3.5m funding round for NanoPhotonica, a US-based developer of quantum dot light emitting diode technology. The round included DeepWork Capital, the VC firm formerly known as FAN Fund, and it followed a total of $5.6m in debt and equity financing between 2011 and November 2018, according to regulatory filings.
Plexus, a Australia-based creator of automation software for the legal profession, has completed a A$4.7m ($3.3m) series A round led by KPMG Law, a subsidiary of professional services firm KPMG that has also formed a strategic alliance with the company, Startup Daily has reported. Angel investors Grant Rule, Rob Philpot and Leigh Jasper also participated in the round, and the proceeds will support the strengthening of the company’s Plexus Gateway platform.
Financial services firm Citi invested an undisclosed amount in US-based financial software developer ChartIQ yesterday. ChartIQ raised $4m in a 2016 series A round led by VC firm Illuminate Financial that included existing backers ValueStream Ventures and Tribeca Angels, and unnamed angel investors, before adding $800,000 in debt financing in August 2018 according to a securities filing. It then closed a $17.4m series B round led by growth equity firm Digital+ Partners in February this year.
Balus, the Japan-based developer of an entertainment platform that utilises technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, has raised ¥350m ($3.2m) from three investors including GMO Venture Partners and Mitsui Sumitomo Capital, a corporate venturing vehicle for insurance firm Mitsui Sumitomo, TechCrunch Japan reported on Monday. The funding will be used to strengthen its technology and expand its live venue offering.
Electronic components manufacturer Aisin provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based artificial perception technology developer AEye on Tuesday through a corporate venturing fund managed by VC firm Pegasus Tech Ventures. AEye had raised more than $60m as of a $40m series B round in November 2018 featuring electronics provider LG, automotive components producer Hella and chipmaker SK Hynix, and its existing backers include Intel Capital and Airbus Ventures, subsidiaries of chipmaker Intel and aerospace manufacturer Airbus.
US-based flat-panel display technology startup Mattrix Technologies completed a $3m series A round on Monday that included Samsung subsidiary Samsung Venture Investment Corporation and advanced materials producer JSR Corporation. It will put the funding into the creation of a prototype display based on its pixel architecture while also putting together the manufacturing capacity required to put it into production.
GMG Ventures, media company Guardian Media Group’s strategic investment arm, revealed to Global Corporate Venturing today that it had participated in a $3m series A round for SpokenLayer, a US-based provider of voice content for devices such as smart speakers, in March this year. The round was led by radio network operator Beasley Media and followed a December 2017 seed round of undisclosed size that also included GMG. Spokenlayer’s other backers include media company Graham Holdings, Betaworks, North Base Media and the New York Times-backed Matter VC incubator.
Japan-based identity authentication technology developer TrustDock has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including Sony’s Innovation Fund and Gree’s Strive fund, VentureTimes reported on Wednesday. The round also featured Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Mizuho Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, subsidiaries of financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, as well as VC firm 500 Startups Japan.
Cybus, a Germany-based industrial internet-of-things technology developer backed by Pfaffenberg, has received a seven-figure euro amount (€1m = $1.12m) in funding from investors including VC firm Btov Partners and undisclosed individual investors, Tech.eu has reported. Pfaffenberg provided a six-figure euro sum for the company in 2016, and the latest funding will go to hiring more development, sales and marketing staff.
Cocktail Make, the Japan-based creator of video generation tool Richka, has raised ¥210m ($1.9m) in funding from investors including Mizuho Capital, Shinsei Corporate Investment and FFG Venture Business Partners, subsidiaries of financial services firms Shinsei Bank, and Fukuoka Financial Group, TechCrunch Japan reported on Tuesday. The round also featured Now, Dream Incubator and Monex Ventures, and it comes after ¥50m from Now and angel investor Yusuke Sato in 2018.
Freecle, a Japan-based developer of hearing aids that utilise acoustic technology, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from Mitsui Sumitomo Capital, VentureTimes reported on Tuesday. The startup will put the capital into product development, sales and marketing, as it prepares to launch its product commercially in October 2019.
Insurance firm Sumitomo Life Insurance has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Plus-Medi, the Japan-based developer of a personal health record management platform, VentureTimes reported on Tuesday. The companies intend to collaborate on further ventures, and Plus-Medi is planning to begin piloting its MyHospital app at a Tokyo hospital next month.
Carat, the Japan-based creator of artificial intelligence-equipped headhunting platform Glit, has raised ¥63m ($570,000) in pre-series A funding from recruitment platform CareerIndex and angel investors Shinichiro Sugiyama, Daisuke Takanashi, Ken Ishida and Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, TechCrunch reported yesterday. It had previously received approximately $900,000 in funding, $135,000 of which was supplied by Skyland Ventures and angel investor Yasuyuki Kin in June 2017.
Media company Hindustan Media has agreed to invest Rs 40m ($570,000) in Aleph Digital Solutions, the India-based operator of freelance news sourcing platform Pebble and digital media platform LocalHeading, VCCircle has reported, citing a stock exchange filing. The investment will be made in two tranches and give HT Media a 14.3% stake in Aleph following the first close.
Insurance firm Lloyd’s has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Layr, the US-headquartered creator of a software-based service that matches small businesses with liability insurance providers based on their requirements. Layr was one of the participants in the first batch of the corporate’s accelerator, Lloyd’s Lab.
Singapore-based mobile wallet developer Matchmove Pay received an undisclosed amount of funding last month from NTT Docomo Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of mobile network operator NTT Docomo, Telecompaper reported on Tuesday. The company had raised an amount reported by e27 to be $30m, in a 2015 round led by payment services firm Credit Saison that included GMO Venture Partners.
Automotive parts producer Toyoda Gosei paid ¥50m ($460,000) for a 19% stake in Japan-based optics technology developer Imuzak on Wednesday. The deal is the first to be conducted by Toyoda Gosei through the corporate venturing fund it established in November 2018, and it made the investment as it looks to integrate the company’s technology into devices such as sensors that it plans to begin installing on its vehicle components.
Flare, a Thailand-based startup that operates a car-based outdoor advertising service, received an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday from Voyage Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of digital advertising technology provider Voyage Group, as part of a round that included unnamed angel investors, according to The Bridge. It had previously raised an undisclosed sum in a May 2018 seed round featuring IT services provider Framgia Holdings and KLab Venture Partners.
