AAA Corporate venturing deal net: 16-20 April 2018

Corporate venturing deal net: 16-20 April 2018

Automotive manufacturer FAW Group has agreed to provide a “significant amount of money” in return for a minority stake US-based smart electric vehicle developer Byton, Reuters reported today. Byton’s past investors include internet group Tencent, contract manufacturer Foxconn and car dealership owner China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding, and it was seeking up to $400m in funding according to reports in February this year.

EarthNow, a US-based satellite imaging technology spinout from company builder Intellectual Ventures, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including aerospace manufacturer Airbus and telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, it announced on Wednesday. The round, which represents EarthNow’s first external funding, also featured Bill Gates, the founder of software provider Microsoft, and Greg Wyler, founder and chairman of satellite-based internet provider OneWeb.

Santander InnoVentures, the strategic investment arm of bank Santander, and venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners supplied $5m for Brazil-based online lending platform Creditas on Tuesday. The cash will be added to the $50m in series C funding Creditas raised from media and e-commerce group Naspers’ Fintech fund, Vostok Emerging Finance, Kaszek Ventures, Quona Capital, QED Investors and International Finance Corporation in December 2017, and took the company’s total funding to $72m since 2012.

Node, the US-based creator of an artificial intelligence-equipped data search engine, received $5m from Recruit Strategic Partners (RSP), a subsidiary of human resources firm Recruit, as well as WndrCo, Aragon Capital, GingerBread Capital, Falmouth Ventures and Open Field Capital on Tuesday to take its overall funding to $21.3m. Its last funding came in a $10.8m series A round led by Avalon Ventures that included New Enterprise Associates, Canaan Partners and entrepreneur Mark Cuban in July 2017.

Catalogue retailer Scroll Corporation has invested an undisclosed sum in Cat Dong Trade and Service, the Vietnam-based owner of e-commerce platforms Cungmua and Nhommua, DealStreetAsia reported on Wednesday. Scroll will get a 26.9% stake and two seats on Cat Dong’s board of directors in conjunction with its investment but the largest external investor in the company will remain private equity firm ACA Investments.

Tencent has supplied RMB30m ($4.8m) in pre-series A funding for Xiaoxiang Huyu, the China-based operator of an influencer marketing service centred on gamers, Kr-Asia reported today. Tencent got a 10% stake for its money, and the funding came as the startup prepares to form partnerships with game publishers.

Consumer goods manufacturer Marico has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount for a 22.5% stake in Revofit, the India-based developer of a fitness and wellness services app, Reuters has reported, citing a stock exchange filing. Marico will initially acquire 12.7% of the company’s shares and will buy the other 9.8% if Revofit, which was incubated by startup accelerator Ant Farm, achieves certain milestones.

Kenya-based mobile marketing platform mSurvey, which counts telecoms operator Safaricom as an investor, has raised $3.5m in a funding round led by TLcom Capital that included Social Capital, Kapor Capital and Golden Palm, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Safaricom’s Spark Venture Fund had joined Cross Culture Ventures and Alpha Angels to provide an undisclosed amount of seed capital for the company in 2016.

Oil and gas supplier Total has invested an undisclosed sum in US-based solid-state battery developer Ionic Materials Ionic Materials, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The deal comes two months after Ionic raised $65m in series C funding from lithium-ion battery producer A123 Systems, Alliance Ventures, which is backed by carmakers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, and private investor and existing backer Bill Joy.

India-based intra-city logistics platform Lynk Logistics is set to receive Rs 200m ($3m) from investors including diversified conglomerate Ramco Group and private investor Abinav Raja, Entrackr reported on Wednesday. The funding consists of Rs 66m upfront, with the rest to come later, and it increased Lynk’s overall funding to about $4m.

US-based home care provider Contessa Health raised an undisclosed sum yesterday in a round led by VC partnership Health Velocity Capital that included BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, the investment vehicle for health insurance group Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, as well as Noro-Moseley Partners and Sandbox Advantage Fund. Contessa had previously raised $10.5m from the latter three in addition to healthcare provider Marshfield Clinic Health System, Nashville Capital Network and Martin Ventures.

Uavia, the France-headquartered developer of a cloud-based control platform for unmanned aerial vehicles, completed a $2.5m financing round yesterday featuring Airbus, which invested through its Airbus Ventures subsidiary. The round, which represented Uavia’s first external funding, included Sofimac Innovation, Bpifrance and undisclosed angel investors, and the capital will be used to grow its technical team and enhance its technology.

Key Data Dashboard, a US-based developer of data analytics and comparison tools for holiday rental managers, secured $2.4m on Tuesday in a series A round featuring holiday home rental service 360 Blue and undisclosed additional investors. The series A participants were described as existing investors in Glad to Have You, the hospitality management app acquired by holiday accommodation marketplace HomeAway for approximately $16.8m in 2014.

Anglo American Platinum, a subsidiary of mining business Anglo American, has joined Shell Technology Ventures, the strategic investment vehicle for oil and gas supplier Shell, to provide an undisclosed amount of funding for High-Yield Energy Technologies (Hyet), a Netherlands-based solar module and hydrogen compression technology developer, they announced on Wednesday. Hyet intends to use the funding to support international expansion.

JetBlue Technology Ventures, the strategic investment arm of airline operator JetBlue, has led a $2.3m seed round for Lumo, a US-based startup developing technology that will be able to predict flight delays, Skift reported on Monday. The round included Founders Factory, the owner of a travel accelerator backed by airline EasyJet in which Lumo has participated, as well as another accelerator operator, Plug and Play, and an undisclosed strategic investor.

Open Mineral, the US-based operator of a blockchain-equipped trading platform for physical commodities, has raised almost $2.3m in funding from investors including mining company Goldcorp and VC fund Xploration Capital, TechCrunch reported yesterday. It currently features zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver concentrate, but could grow that to include additional metals in the future.

Sensor equipment producer Flir Systems provided an undisclosed amount of funding for DroneSense, the US-based creator of a software platform that enables organisations to manage unmanned aerial vehicle operations. Flir, which manufactures thermal imaging payloads for unmanned aerial system platforms, will look to share expertise and customer relationships with DroneSense post-investment.

US-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology developer Promaxo has completed a $2.2m tranche of series A funding led by medical device manufacturer MicroPort Scientific Corporation that included RocSon Medtech Fund and Almond Tree Capital Fund. The funding will be added to a $3.5m first tranche in September 2017 that was also led by MicroPort, which in turn followed $1.4m in seed capital provided by undisclosed investors and $9m in grants from National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.

Entomo Farms, a Canada-based edible insect farmer, has received an undisclosed amount of series A funding from packaged food producer Maple Leaf Foods. Entomo, which makes foods such as protein bars, smoothies and pasta out of cricket and mealworm powders and whole roasted insects, will use the capital to expand manufacturing of its products. 

OSF Ventures, the corporate VC vehicle for healthcare provider OSF HealthCare, has invested an amount indicated by a regulatory filing on Monday to be $2m in Level Ex, a developer of video games for physicians. 4490 Ventures led the company’s last round in October 2017, in which it raised $11m from a consortium that also included Jazz Venture Partners and Pritzker Group Venture Capital, following $2.1m from undisclosed investors in January 2016 according to a regulatory filing.

Investment banking firm JPMorgan Chase has invested an undisclosed amount in AccessFintech, the UK-based creator of a transaction analysis platform for financial institutions, as part of the latter’s series A round. AccessFintech will join JPMorgan Chase’s accelerator scheme, In-Residence, as part of the deal, and the company plans to secure funding from additional backers for the round, which follows an undisclosed amount of seed funding from private investors.

US-based virtualisation technology startup DeferPanic has raised $1.5m in seed capital from investors including media group Bloomberg’s corporate venturing unit, Bloomberg Beta, at a $6m post-money valuation, founder and CEO Ian Eyberg told TechCrunch on Monday. Initialized Capital led the round, which also featured Hack.VC, Liquid 2 Ventures and angel investors Ron Gula, Ray Rothrock and Justin Label.

Online media and entertainment company IDN Media has led a seed round of undisclosed size for Cetaku, the Indonesia-based operator of a printing service aimed at students, E27 reported on Wednesday. Cetaku will use the funding for recruitment and product development as it looks to acquire more users and increase community engagement.

Laboratik, the Japan-based developer of an artificial intelligence tool for employee assessment, has received ¥80m ($740,000) in a seed round featuring Eltes Capital and Mizuho Capital, respective subsidiaries of data security technology provider Eltes and financial services firm Mizuho, The Bridge reported on Wednesday. The corporates were joined by investors including Archetype Ventures and Zertoh.AI, and the proceeds will support the strengthening of the company’s engineering and marketing.

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