UK-based parking app developer AppyParking has received £7.6m ($9.9m) in funding from carmaker Hyundai Motor Company, diversified conglomerate Sumitomo and insurer Aviva’s corporate venturing division Aviva Ventures, as well as Breed Reply, the investment arm of systems integration and digital services provider Reply, and West Hill Capital, which led the round. AppyParking previously obtained $1.75m in funding from Aviva Ventures and Breed Reply in 2017, after Aviva Ventures had already injected $1.5m in 2016.
US-based video-based research platform Methinks has obtained $7m in series A capital backed by Hyundai Investment, a strategic investment arm of conglomerate Hyundai, KB Investment and lead investor Sema Translink. The money will drive Methinks’ global expansion efforts and support product development. Augmentir has developed an augmented reality platform that exploits artificial intelligence to offer industrial workers functionality such as remote assistance and step-by-step work instructions.
Australia-based internet-of-things infrastructure provider National Narrowbank Network Co (NNNCo) has obtained A$8m ($5.9m) in equity financing from India-based energy company Enzen, according to the Australian Financial Review. NNNCo’s current clients include utility Hunter Water, which uses the company’s sensors to monitor water pressure in its pipes to predict which ones are at risk of bursting. The company has not disclosed any previous funding.
SteamaCo, a UK-based developer of a data-efficient energy management system for utilities in Africa and Asia, yesterday received $5m in a series B round co-led by oil and gas company Shell and Praetura Ventures, with participation from unnamed existing shareholders. SteamaCo has developed a smart metre and cloud platform that requires less than 100kB of data transfers per month, making it particularly suitable for areas with limited internet access. Shell previously led a $2.9m series A round in 2017, with commitments from Green Investor Group and Ashden Trust. ClearlySo had led a £640,000 ($925,000) seed round in 2016.
US-based artificial intelligence-powered contract management platform Lexion has secured $4.2m in a seed round from law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and from Madrona Venture Group. Lexion allows legal experts to automatically identify key obligations in contracts without having to manually review documents.
Japan-based video content producer One Media has raised ¥420m ($3.9m) from investors including Line Ventures, OLM Ventures and ABC Dream Ventures, respective corporate venturing arms of messaging platform Line, animation studio OLM Digital and media company Asahi Broadcasting Group. The round also included online advertising agency Septeni Holdings and financial services firm Mizuho Financial Group’s venture capital subsidiary Mizuho Capital, as well as venture capital firm Global Brain. One Media had previously raised $3.1m in January 2018 from corporate-backed VC fund B Dash Ventures.
Canada-based video game studio Horizon Blockchain Games has picked up $3.8m in seed funding led by Initialized, with participation from cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Polychain Capital, Digital Currency Group, Golden Ventures and Inovia Capital. Horizon’s first game, SkyWeaver, is currently in private testing and relies on the Ethereum blockchain to let users securely trade digital cards.
Japan-based financial education service Bookee has closed its series A round at ¥370m (3.4m) after obtaining $1.1m in an extension from Aristoteles Partners, the corporate venturing subsidiary of corporate training consultancy Celm, and Lead Capital Management. Mitsubishi UFJ Innovation Partners, SMBC Venture Capital and Mizuho Capital, respective subsidiaries of financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank, participated in the first tranche last month, as did SV-Fintech, a vehicle formed by advertising technology provider Voyage Group and VC fund SV Frontier, and VC firm ISGS Investment Works. Having launched its services last year, the company will utilise this funding to maximise customer satisfaction, strengthen branding and develop fintech.
Singapore-based business travel services provider Travelstop has collected $3m in pre-series A financing from investors including Strive, the corporate venturing unit of internet company Gree formerly known as Gree Ventures, according to Tech in Asia. The round was led by Accel and also included SeedPlus, the latter of which had led a $1.2m seed round in August 2018 that also included assorted angel investors. Accel’s Prashanth Prakash will join Travelstop’s board of directors in conjunction with the pre-series A round.
Qube, a UK-based provider of co-working spaces for creative professionals, has raised £1.9m ($2.5m) in seed funding from music label group AEI, Angel CoFund, which led the round, and several individual investors. The money will allow Qube to develop a 16,000 square foot flagship location ahead of an official launch.
US-based blockchain network operator Elrond has closed a $1.9m round backed by Binance Labs, the investment fund of blockchain technology producer Binance, according to HedgeThink. Additional investors in the round included Electric Capital, NGC Partners, Maven 11 and Authorito Capital as well as several angel investors. Elrond is working on a smart contracts platform that relies on a network scaling technology known as sharding.
3YourMind, a Germany-based developer of machine learning middleware for additive manufacturing applications backed by machine tools provider Trumpf, has obtained €1.3m ($1.5m) in funding from the EU-run European Regional Development Fund and state-owned business development bank Investitionsbank Berlin’s Research, Innovation and Technology Promotion Program. Founded in 2014, 3YourMind develops machine learning-equipped software tools which enable industry to easily manage the manufacturing of 3D-printed goods. The funding will allow the spinout to begin adding artificial neural networks to its products. 3YourMind previously received $12m in a 2017 series A round led by Technical University of Munich’s investment affiliate, Unternehmertum Venture Capital Partners, and backed by Trumpf’s corporate venturing arm Trumpf Venture, German government-owned venture fund Coparion that featured Germany’s development bank KfW, the EU-owned European Investment Fund and AM Ventures, a VC affiliate of industrial 3D printed materials provider Eos which also led a seed round of undisclosed size for 3YourMind in 2015.
India-based mobile payment platform Mobikwik has picked up $1.3m in capital from broadcaster New Delhi Television and venture debt firm Trifecta Capital, according to Entrackr. The investment forms part of an ongoing series E round, which began with a $2m commitment from GMO Venture Partners, the investment arm of internet company GMO, payment processing firm Net1 and Sequoia Capital in December 2018. Mobikwik has raised more than $158m in funding altogether.
Japan-based artificial intelligence technology developer Japan Data Science Consortium (JDSC) has obtained ¥140m ($1.3m) from Surugadai Gakuen, the owner of extracurricular prep school Sundai Preparatory School, and book publisher Tohan. JDSC, which launch a year ago, has now raised $4.1m in funding altogether.
Ninjacart, an India-based fresh produce marketplace backed by several corporates, has revealed private investor Clark Valberg as an investor in its $89.5m series C round that it raised in April 2019. Valberg supplied $437,000 to the round, according to Paper.vc. The round was led by Tiger Global Management. Ninjacart has raised approximately $138m in total funding from investors also including mobile chipmaker Qualcomm’s corporate venturing arm, Qualcomm Ventures, and online grocer ZopSmart as well as NeoPlux and Syngenta Ventures, respective subsidiaries of agribusiness Syngenta and diversified conglomerate Doosan.
US-based decentralised communications platform Beowulf has obtained a seven-figure sum from chat application developer Consentium and price-stable digital currency operator Mars Blockchain. Beowulf’s cloud-based offering enables enterprise users to offer communication features without dealing with call centres.
Payment processing firm Visa has joined an ongoing series F round for Indonesia-based on-demand ride platform Go-Jek, according to Tech in Asia. Go-Jek most recently added an undisclosed sum from carmaker Mitsubishi Motors, diversified group Mitsubishi Corporation and financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance earlier this month, adding to a round that already included diversified conglomerate Astra International, internet group Tencent, e-commerce firm JD.com and internet technology producer Google. Go-Jek had raised $1.1bn in series E funding by March 2019 and has raised more than $2bn in total equity financing so far.
Retailer Grupo Sanborns is set to purchase an 18.27% stake in China-based budget store operator Miniso for an undisclosed amount, China Money Network reported today. The same corporate had previously purchased a 14.99% stake in February 2019. Founded in 2013, Miniso owns more than 3,500 stores across 85 countries. It raised $145m in funding from internet company Tencent and investment management firm Hillhouse Capital in October 2018.
Holt Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of caterpillar machinery producer Holt CAT, has contributed to an oversubscribed funding round of undisclosed size for Augmentir, a US-based worker software developer that emerged out of stealth this week. The round was led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital and also included Lerer Hippeau.
Insurance provider Ping An is set to acquire a stake in China-based online education platform iTutorGroup through undisclosed overseas subsidiaries, according to Kr Asia. The deal will consist of cash and unspecified assets. The two companies will work together on applying artificial intelligence technology to the further development of iTutorGroup’s platform, which offers language, coding and mathematics courses. iTutorGroup was most recently rumoured to be seeking up to $300m in a funding round in April 2018 but it is unclear if Ping An’s commitment forms part of that round.
Fluence Analytics, a US-based hardware and analytics software developer focused on the polymer manufacturing industry, has received an undisclosed amount of series A1 funding from Diamond Edge Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of chemicals producer Mitsubishi Chemicals, and Energy Innovation Capital (EIC). EIC was identified as a returning investor, though details about Fluence’s series A round could not be confirmed. The fresh capital will support paid proof of performance trials, increased sales efforts and an investment in Fluence’s software and hardware capabilities.
Ginkan, the operator of Japan-based token economy gourmet platform called SynchroLife, has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with consumer financial services firm Orient Corporation, also known as Orico, that included an unspecified amount of equity financing. SynchroLife enables users to earn cryptocurrency with food, and it will partner Orico to launch promotional services and products in areas including customer service and fintech. Orcio operates more than 800,000 locations across Japan and has issued more than 10 million credit cards to consumers.
Deals database CrunchBase has partnered its Japan-based peer For Startups, which will link its database, Startup DB, to that operated by the corporate, providing information about some 10,000 deals, details of which will be translated into English and added from this week. The deal has made For Startup the first full-scale data partner of CrunchBase in the country. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
US-based farm data provider Farmobile has attracted fertiliser and grain producer Ag Growth International as the lead investor in its latest funding round, though further details have not yet been revealed. The funding, seemingly a series C round, will drive business growth and comes on top of a strategic commercial agreement between the two companies. Farmobile previously closed an $18.1m series B round in 2017 backed by crop insurance provider AmTrust Agricultural Insurance Services and Anterra Capital, the growth capital fund backed by subsidiaries of financial services group Fidelity International and financial services firm Rabobank, as well as unnamed existing backers.
Washlava, a US-based developer of an app that lets users reserve and pay for laundromats, has added an undisclosed amount of series A1 financing to its coffers thanks to a lead investment from consumer electronics producer LG Electronics. Washlava had raised approximately $3.6m in equity and debt as of May 2019, according to regulatory filings, though further details could not be ascertained.
– Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Callum Cyrus
