Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings, a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Reliance Industries, has paid an undisclosed amount for a 12.7% stake in US-based public transit technology developer SkyTran, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. It has the option to invest $25m more in the form of convertible note financing, and the deal follows $2.5m of series A funding from Innovation Endeavors in 2015 and $6.5m from undisclosed investors in December 2017.
US-based food tracking technology developer SafeTraces completed a $10m financing round on Wednesday that was co-led by Bunge Ventures, the strategic investment arm of agribusiness Bunge, and investment firm S2G Ventures. The round also featured UL Ventures, which invests on behalf of safety technology provider UL, and venture capital firm Spero Ventures, and follows $8m from UL Ventures, S2G Ventures, Omidyar Network, City Light Capital and Maumee Ventures, a subsidiary of agribusiness The Andersons, across two rounds in 2016 and October 2017.
US-based fertility care provider Future Family received $10m in series A capital yesterday from investors including BBG Ventures, the female founder-focused VC fund owned by digital media company Oath. The round was led by Aspect Ventures and included iNovia, LaunchCapital, RiverPark Ventures, Ulu Ventures, Day One Ventures and Portfolia, and Aspect Ventures partner Lauren Kolodny will join the company’s board of directors.
Capillary Technologies, a Singapore-based customer service software provider backed by mobile chipmaker Qualcomm and payment services firm American Express, secured an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by private equity firm Warburg Pincus yesterday. The company had raised $99m from corporate venturing units Qualcomm Ventures and American Express Ventures as well as Warburg Pincus and VC firms Sequoia Capital and Norwest Venture Partners, as of February this year.
Flutterwave, a US-based developer of payment technology aimed at the African market, has closed a series A extension of undisclosed size featuring payment services firm Mastercard, CRE Ventures, Fintech Collective, 4DX Ventures and Raba Capital that increased its total funding to more than $20m. Greycroft Partners and Green Visor Capital co-led the round’s $10m first tranche in July 2017, investing with Y Combinator and Glynn Capital, following earlier funding from investors including CRE Ventures, Omidyar Network, Social Capital and HOF Capital.
France-based energy efficiency technology supplier Metron has raised €8m ($9.2m) in series A funding from Breed Reply, the early-stage investment arm of internet-of-things technology provider Reply, as well as financial services firm BNP Paribas and Financière Fonds Privés, Tech.eu reported today. The round increased the total raised by the company to almost $14m and Breed Reply participated having already invested an undisclosed amount in March this year.
Thailand-based online payment technology provider Omise has received an undisclosed amount of series B-plus-plus funding from 31 Ventures and Sinar Mas Digital Ventures, respective subsidiaries of property developer Mitsui Fudosan and conglomerate Sinar Mas, as well as Global Brain, The Bridge reported yesterday. Omise had raised a total of approximately $20.5m from investors including Sinar Mas and e-commerce group Ascend as of 2016, before it added an undisclosed sum from financial services firm Krungsri in September 2017.
US-based construction technology startup Icon Technologies secured $9m in seed capital on Wednesday from investors including real estate developers DR Horton, Cielo Property Group and Emaar as well as multi-corporate VC fund Engage Ventures. The round was led by VC firm Oakhouse Partners and included Capital Factory, Caz Investments, MicroVentures, Saturn Five, Shadow Ventures, Trust Ventures, Verbena Road Holdings and Vulcan Capital.
China-based Ztore has received $8m in a series B round led by venture capital firm Welight Capital that included construction firm Kwai Hung Group, Marketing Interactive reported on Monday, adding that the round increased the online marketplace operator’s funding to $20m since it was founded in 2015. The company has not disclosed details of its earlier funding but will put the latest capital injection toward introducing a mobile version of its platform and accelerating research and development.
Vayavision, an Israel-based developer of perception and data fusion technology for use in driverless vehicles, completed an $8m funding round on Tuesday featuring electronics producer LG and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, the VC subsidiary of financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. The round was co-led by Viola Ventures, Mizmaa Ventures and OurCrowd, and the proceeds will support marketing and customer engagement activities.
Spain-based on-demand floral delivery service Colvin has closed a €6m ($6.9m) funding round co-led by VC firm P101 that included Mediaset Spain, a subsidiary of Italy-headquartered media group Mediaset, as well as Samaipata Ventures and angel investors Javier Etxebeste and Hugo Arévalo, La Vanguardia has reported. Mediaset, Samaipata and Arévalo had previously invested approximately $3.3m in the company in December 2017, which in turn followed €1m across two rounds in 2016.
Japan-based robo-advisor developer Money Design has received ¥700m ($6.2m) in series E funding from insurance firm Sompo Japan Nipponkoa and printing services provider Toppan, TechCrunch Japan has reported. The company has now raised a total of almost $89m altogether, and its past investors include diversified trading group Itochu, which provided an undisclosed amount in December 2016,
Synoste, a Finland-based medical device developer that counts chemicals producer Evonik and manufacturing services provider Mectalent as investors, secured €5.1m ($5.8m) yesterday in a round that included Lifeline Ventures and AO Invest. The company said it has now raised about $14.5m in funding altogether and cited High-Tech Gründerfonds and Innovestor Ventures as well as Mectalent and Evonik subsidiary Evonik Venture Capital as earlier investors.
TokenInsight, a China-based startup that uses data analytics technology to compile ratings for blockchain industry participants, has raised a “multi-million dollar” amount in a series A round led by VC firm Matrix Partners China that included quantitative trading and technology firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG), Draper Dragon and Fenbushi Capital. The company identified SIG as an existing investor and will channel the series A cash into expanding its internal database and algorithms and enhancing its rating and report services.
Thailand-based freelance work marketplace Fastwork secured $4.8m in a series A round that included Line Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of messaging platform Line, E27 reported on Wednesday. VC firm Gobi Partners led the round, which included Vickers Venture Partners and Partech Partners, and which took Fastwork’s total funding to $5.5m. It raised $500,000 of that in a 2015 round featuring CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for internet company CyberAgent, and 500 Startups, when it was still known as GetLinks.
Hentsu, a UK-based developer of software for the hedge fund and asset management industries, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from Next Investors, the strategic investment fund run by financial services firm Credit Suisse’s Asset Management division, as well as investment firm Falconwood Corporation and investment vehicle Raptor Group Holdings. The company will use the capital to beef up its sales and marketing operations and expand its product.
RDC, the investment vehicle for weapons producer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and technology holding company Elron Electronic Industries, has led a $4m seed round for Kindite, an Israel-based developer of encryption technology that allows data to be transferred to the cloud securely, Globes reported on Tuesday. The round also featured CE Ventures, a VC fund backed by clients of online lending platform CreditEase, and Kindite will use the capital to expand its development team.
Avidity Biosciences, a precision medicine developer backed by pharmaceutical companies Takeda and EMS, raised an undisclosed amount from non-profit organisation CureDuchenne on Wednesday. The company had previously received a total of $25m in debt and equity financing from Takeda unit Takeda Ventures, EMS subsidiary Brace Pharma Capital, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Alethea Capital Management, EcoR1 Capital, Moore Venture Partners, Tavistock Life Sciences, TPG Biotech, Partner Fund Management and F-Prime Capital.
Beauty media and e-commerce company iStyle has paid Rs 250m ($3.4m) to buy the share of Incnut, the India-based operator of online communities StyleCraze and MomJunction, held by VC firm Ventureast, VCCircle reported on Tuesday. Ventureast had invested $100,000 in Incnut as part of a 2013 seed round of undisclosed size.
E-commerce firm Amazon invested an undisclosed amount in SevenRooms, the US-based creator of a guest seating, reservation and management software platform, on Wednesday through its Alexa Fund. SevenRooms had previously raised $16.4m in funding, $8m of which came in a December 2017 series A round led by mass media group Comcast’s corporate VC unit, Comcast Ventures. Its earlier backers include Box Group, the Handwerker and Merinoff families and assorted private investors.
Showtime Analytics, the Ireland-based creator of a cinema sales analysis platform, has raised €2m ($2.9m) from investors including Alibaba Pictures, the film production and distribution subsidiary of e-commerce group Alibaba, the Irish Times reported yesterday. Alibaba Pictures had previously provided $1.3m for the company through an undisclosed subsidiary in November 2016, and the latest capital will be invested in further developing its data analytics platform and hiring team members to support international expansion.
Payment services firm Credit Saison has provided ¥100m ($1.8m) in funding for StockPoint, the Japan-based operator of a stock investment platform, TechCrunch Japan has reported. The platform enables users to invest ‘points’ in companies, the value of which is linked to the companies’ share price. They can be exchanged for retail vouchers or even real shares in the companies in question.
US-based digital music distributor DistroKid has received an undisclosed amount of funding from music streaming platform Spotify as part of a deal that will allow artists who upload content to Spotify to also make their music available on other platforms, strengthening its Spotify for Artists feature. DistroKid has not disclosed any earlier funding, and the Spotify funding was described as a passive minority investment.
NAB Ventures, the strategic investment arm of financial services firm National Australia Bank, led a A$2m ($1.4m) funding round on Tuesday for Slyp, an Australia-based developer of technology that will enable receipts to be deposited directly in users’ bank accounts. The round included Reinventure, the VC firm funded by fellow financial services firm Westpac, and NAB Ventures’ managing director, Todd Forest, will join the company’s board of directors. Slyp was formerly known as Ping Data.
Hachidori, the Japan-based developer of a chatbot for part-time job recruitment, has raised an undisclosed sum from temp agency Persol Holdings, Mizuho Capital and SMBC Venture Capital, respective subsidiaries of financial services firms Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, The Bridge has reported. Founded in 2015, Hachidori has also developed a tool that manages shifts and duties for clients in the retail and service industries.
Influencer marketing firm BitStar has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Remember, a Japan-based online marketplace for models. The investment was made in connection with a strategic collaboration agreement, and came less than two months after BitStar raised $11.7m in its series C round.
Crowde, an Indonesia-based provider of crowdsourced finance for small-scale farmers, has completed a seed round of undisclosed size led by Gree Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of digital media company Gree, DealStreetAsia reported on Wednesday. Impact VC fund Crevisse Partners also took part in the round along with undisclosed angel investors, and its close comes after the company had provided a total of some $2bn in capital for farms through its platform, according to DealStreetAsia.
Drone technology producer Terra Drone has paid an amount reported by Digital to be Skr3.1m ($350,000) for a “significant” stake in Inkonova, a Sweden-based developer of aerial robotics technology for use in the mining industry. The company had previously closed a $110,000 seed round in early 2016, and Inkonova’s products will be rebranded to fit in with Terra once the deal has closed.
CapitalG, internet and technology group Alphabet’s growth equity subsidiary, invested an undisclosed amount in Applied Systems, a US-based provider of cloud software for the insurance industry. Hellman & Friedman, the private equity firm that acquired Applied from Bain Capital for $1.8bn in 2013, will remain the company’s majority shareholder.
