Xpansiv, the US-based creator of a software platform that manages commodities production, closed a $10m series A round on Wednesday featuring ratings agency S&P Global, blockchain investment fund Reflective Ventures and investment firm Energy Innovation Capital as well as Avista Development and BP Ventures, respective subsidiaries of energy utility Avista and oil and gas supplier BP. It is also working with BP to convert some of the corporate’s gas production data into its Digital Feedstock format.
Alibaba Pictures, the film studio owned by e-commerce group Alibaba, has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for China-based film production services provider Shanghai Tingdong Film Company, 36Kr reported on Monday. Tingdong had previously received an eight-figure renminbi amount (RMB100m = $14.8m) in series A funding from Puhua Capital in 2016 before adding $45.9m in a 2017 round led by film producer Bona Film Group, Jing Rong Capital and Sea of Stars Capital, according to China Money Network.
Consumer electronics manufacturer Lenovo provided an amount of funding on Wednesday for US-based reflective display technology developer Clearink likely to be about $10m. Clearink said it has now raised $25m altogether, the company having secured a total of $15m as of a $5m series C round led by investment fund Vestech International in 2017. It had previously received $7m from thin-film product manufacturer Jinfu New Material, NEY, Altus Ventures, LangSheng Capital and CrossPacific Capital the year before.
Alliance Ventures, the corporate venturing partnership between carmakers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, disclosed an investment of undisclosed size in Tekion, the US-based developer of a software product tailored to car dealers, on Wednesday. The deal represented the 10th investment by Alliance, and the funding will support product development.
Vogo, the India-based scooter rental platform backed by on-demand ride provider Ola, has raised Rs 630m ($8.9m) in funding in a round led by Kalaari Capital that included Matrix Partners India, Stellaris Venture Partners and Pawan Munjal’s family trust, VCCircle reported on Tuesday, citing a regulatory filing. Ola joined Stellaris and Matrix Partners to supply $6m to $7m series A funding for Vogo in August 2018 before investing a reported $100m in the startup in December.
Leflair, the Vietnam-based operator of a premium e-commerce platform, has secured $7m in a series B round that included home shopping service GS Shop and private equity firm Belt Road Capital Management, E27 reported on Monday. The company has now raised $12m altogether according to E27, including $1m in a January 2017 round led by Caldera Pacific Ventures and $3m in a series A led by Capital Management Group in January 2018.
Vengo Labs, the US-headquartered operator of a vending machine-based consumer marketing service, confirmed on Tuesday it has raised $7m in a series B round led by beauty sample manufacturer Arcade Beauty and backed by Grace Beauty Capital, a subsidiary of cosmetics distributor Grace Beauty, as well as beauty industry data provider Spins, Kensington Capital Ventures and private investor Bill Apfelbaum. The round, which came after at least $7m in earlier funding, followed a regulatory filing last month.
Business and finance consulting firm Anypay invested in Instamojo, the India-based creator of a digital payment platform for small and medium-sized businesses, on Wednesday as part of a series B round VCCircle reported was $7m in size. Gunosy Capital, the investment arm of curated news app provider Gunosy, also took part in the round, which follows $2.6m from Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and 500 Startups in 2014 and an undisclosed amount from Anypay and Kalaari in a 2017 pre-series B round.
Solar power producer Sunseap Group invested an undisclosed sum in Australia-based solar energy equipment provider and installer Todae Solar on Wednesday. The companies intend to combine Sunseap’s experience in solar system operation and negotiating power purchase agreements with Todae’s solar system construction and engineering knowledge to work together on larger solar projects in Australia.
Italy-based professional services marketplace ProntoPro has received €6m ($6.9m) in funding from investors including property developer Immobiliare.it, EU-Startups has reported. The round brought the company’s overall funding to €10m according to EU-Startups, Immobiliare having invested $1.7m in the company in 2016. The latest financing will support an ongoing international growth drive that has already included an expansion into Austria and Switzerland.
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, a subsidiary of insurance group MS&AD, has provided €5m ($5.7m) in funding for Element, the Germany-based operator of a digital insurance platform, the company confirmed on Wednesday. Element raised $26m last month from insurance providers Signal Iduna and SBI Insurance Group, FinLeap, Engel & Völkers Capital, Alma Mundi Ventures and SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services provider SBI.
Volvo Group Venture Capital, the strategic investment arm of automotive manufacturer Volvo Group, has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based electric vehicle-charging technology developer Momentum Dynamics on Tuesday. Momentum had previously raised $5m in equity financing and $1.6m in debt from undisclosed investors across four rounds between 2011 and 2015, according to regulatory filings.
Pensa Systems, a US-based developer of autonomous perception technology, raised $5m on Monday in a round led by VC fund Signia Venture Partners that included ZX Ventures, the investment arm of alcoholic beverage producer Anheuser-Busch InBev, as well as Commerce Ventures, ATX Seed Ventures, Capital Factory and RevTech Ventures. It came in the wake of a $2.2m seed round in May 2018 that was led by ATX and backed by ZX Ventures and angel investors Mick Mountz and Yechiam Yemini.
Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of oil and gas supplier Saudi Aramco, joined investment vehicle Innovation Fund and an undisclosed angel investor in a CHF4.9m ($5m) round for Daphne Technology, Switzerland-based provider of filtration technology for shipping emissions, VentureKick has disclosed. The company revealed the round’s participants last month, having raised CHF130,000 from VentureKick, university EPFL, FIT, Bridge, ClimateKIC and Gebert Rüf Stiftung in 2018.
Recruitment platform operator Dip has invested an undisclosed sum in Japan-based marketing automation software developer Marketing-Robotics as part of a ¥540m ($4.9m) series A round, VentureTimes has reported. The round came after the company secured $550,000 in seed funding from undisclosed investors in May 2018.
Cognism, a UK-based sales software developer backed by web hosting services provider Netcetera, secured £2.8m ($3.6m) from Oliver Wyman, South Central Ventures, London Co-Investment Fund, Newable and undisclosed existing backers yesterday. Netcetera, South Central Ventures, Tsingbay Venture Capital and various angel investors had supplied $500,000 of seed funding for the company in early 2017.
Germany-based building intelligence software developer Sensorberg received an undisclosed seven-figure euro amount (€1m = $1.1m) in funding on Tuesday from Bauwens Digital, a subsidiary of construction firm and real estate developer Bauwens Group, as well as property developer Signa Innovations and VC firm Surplus Invest. The company had raised $1m from Berlin Technologie Holding and unnamed angel investors in 2014, before joining software provider Microsoft’s Accelerator initiative and adding a seven-figure sum from XAnge and WestTech Ventures in 2016.
Omidyar Network, Sequoia Capital and Renu Sehgal Trust provided Rs 246m ($3.5m) in series E funding for Dailyhunt, an India-based news aggregator platform backed by digital media company ByteDance, TechCircle reported yesterday. Dailyhunt had received $65m in funding prior to this round, including Sequoia, Omidyar Network, Matrix Partners, Falcon Edge Capital and ByteDance, which joined the latter three for the company’s $25m series D round in 2016, and Dailyhunt has so far secured $25m for the series E.
Polarsteps, a Netherlands-based journey-tracking app developer that counts Telegraaf Media Groep (TMG) as an investor, raised €3m ($3.4m) on Wednesday in a series A round led by VC fund Inkef Capital. It came after a $570,000 investment by TMG and Silver Point Ventures in 2016 and $1.1m that was supplied by assorted angel investors the following year. The company will put the funding toward product development and growing its headcount.
Crossbeam, the US-based developer of a data platform intended to help businesses form partnerships, has officially launched with $3.4m of seed funding from investors including Slack Fund, the early-stage investment fund owned by messaging platform developer Slack. The round was co-led by VC firms Uncork Capital and First Round Capital, and also featured seed fund Village Global and unnamed angel investors.
Chevron Technology Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for petroleum supplier Chevron, invested an undisclosed amount in sodium-ion battery technology developer Natron Energy on Monday. Formerly known as Alveo Energy, Natron received $15.1m in funding across three rounds between 2013 and late 2017 according to securities filings, from investors including Fluxus Ventures, Prelude Ventures, NanoDimension and Khosla Ventures.
Canada-based cell collection technology startup Acorn Biolabs completed a $3.3m seed round on Wednesday backed by blockchain and artificial intelligence technology producer Globalive Technology. The round included Real Ventures, Pool Global Partners and Epic Capital Management, and Acorn will use the capital to expand its executive team as it prepares to release its home cell-collection and cryopreservation kit later this year.
Energy utility Eneco has provided an undisclosed amount of equity funding yesterday for Energie in Huis, a Netherlands-based developer of sustainability technology for homes. The investment was made in connection with a strategic partnership agreement that will give Eneco customers access to the company’s technology and services, which include heat pumps, solar panels, insulation and financial advice.
Coinhouse, the France-based developer of a cryptocurrency trading platform and wallet and trading platform, received €2.4m ($2.7m) yesterday from investors including ConsenSys Ventures, the strategic investment arm of blockchain technology provider ConsenSys, which supplied $1m according to CoinDesk. The round included Xange Siparex Innovation, BTU Protocol Ecosystem Fund, Digital Currency Group and various angel investors. ConsenSys Ventures also provided an undisclosed sum for US-based encrypted browser developer Tenta.
Japan-based short-term job placement platform Taimee has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from internet company CyberAgent’s Fujita Fund, TechCrunch Japan has reported. Fujita Fund is an internal fund run by CyberAgent’s founder and president Susumu Fujita, and the Taimee investment is the first to be made by the vehicle since it was relaunched following an initial shuttering in 2014.
Footwear retailer Foot Locker invested $2m in US-based footwear design school Pensole yesterday. Pensole provides free tuition and a participation-based curriculum that teaches the design, manufacturing and branding process for athletic footwear. Foot Locker will collaborate with it on lessons and source specific products for exclusive products that can be sold on its stores.
Switzerland-based blockchain technology consultancy WeCan.Fund has raised almost CHF2m ($2m) from investors including real estate developer Capelli, marketing agency Buxum, decentralised payment platform developer Request Network and private bank Hyposwiss, Le Temps has reported. In addition to being an investor, Capelli is also one of a string of partners developing blockchain tools in partnership with WeCan.Fund.
Monerium, the Iceland-based developer of a blockchain platform for financial transactions, has closed a seed round of undisclosed size featuring blockchain technology provider ConsenSys that increased its overall funding to $2m, Fintech Futures has reported. VC fund Crowberry Capital led the round, which included Hof Holdings, and the cash will go towards product development.
Eyeware, a Switzerland-based developer of 3D tracking software, completed a CHF1.9M ($1.9m) seed round today that included Trumpf Venture, the corporate VC vehicle for machine tool producer Trumpf. The round was led by High-Tech Gründerfonds and also featured financial services firm Zurich Kantonalbank and Swiss Startup Group. It will be used to prepare the company’s 3D eye tracking development kit for commercial release.
Papyhappy, a France-based supplier of accommodation-finding services for senior users, has secured €1.5m ($1.7m) in funding from investors including insurance provider Groupama Paris Val de Loire, EU-Startups has reported. BDR IT and CFB Croissance & Innovation led the round, which also featured BPIfrance, the latter of which participated, like Groupama Paris Val de Loire, as an existing investor.
Swisscom Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of telecommunications firm Swisscom, has co-led a series A round of undisclosed size for Netrounds, a Sweden-based provider of software testing and troubleshooting software for communications companies, with an unnamed Nordic technology investment fund. Netrounds had previously raised $1m from Startkapital, Almi Invest and Norrlandsfonden in 2013.
Shuttl, the India-based bus ticket booking platform that counts media company Bennett, Coleman & Co (BCC), e-commerce firm Amazon and marketing firm Dentsu as investors, has secured $1.4m in funding from VC fund Trifecta Capital, Inc42 reported yesterday, citing a regulatory filing. The company had previously raised $31m from Amazon’s Alexa Fund, BCC’s Times Internet division, Dentsu unit Dentsu Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and angel investor Ambiga Subramanian.
Venture debt firm Alteria Capital added an undisclosed amount of funding to a series A round being raised by India-based consumer finance provider ZestMoney, which includes electronics manufacturer Xiaomi and PayU, the mobile payment technology provider owned by of media and e-commerce group Naspers. The round stood at $19.9m as of August 2018 and is also backed by Ribbit Capital and Omidyar Network, the two investors that had provided $2m in seed capital for ZestMoney in 2015.
Billink, the Netherlands-based developer of an after-sales consumer payment service, has received €1m ($1.1m) in financing from Rabo & Crowd, an investment vehicle formed by financial services firm Rabobank, Silicon Canals has reported. Rabobank itself supplied €300,000 while the rest was raised on Nxchange, the digital asset exchange that set up Rabo & Crowd with Rabobank.
LifeFuels, the US-based creator of a portable beverage maker, has revealed it raised an undisclosed amount of funding in 2018 from beverage and drink-making machine producer Keurig Dr Pepper as part of its series A round. The company had previously received $5m in funding in July 2017, according to a regulatory filing, and is preparing to commercially launch its product later this year.
Gumi Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for game publisher Gumi, has invested ¥50.4m ($460,000) in Japan-based online content developer Unison Live, VentureTimes has reported. The funding will support the development of the company’s intellectual property, including an animated virtual singer.
