UK-based tyre-fitting service provider Tyres on the Drive received £8m ($9.9m) in funding yesterday from investors including motoring and cycling product retailer Halfords as well as its car servicing subsidiary Halfords Autocentres. The round increased Tyres on the Drive’s overall funding to £10.5m and also featured existing investors MMC Ventures and True Capital, the company’s past backers including Enterprise Ventures.
Bought By Many, a UK-based company bringing collective buying to the insurance industry, completed a £7.5m ($9.2m) series A round on Monday led by venture capital firm Octopus Ventures and backed by Munich Re/HSB Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of reinsurer Munich Re. The round, closed alongside a long-term insurance agreement with Munich Re, also featured unnamed existing backers.
Pfizer Venture Investments and Novo Seeds, respective subsidiaries of pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Novo, co-led a $9m round for Swedish-based digital health technology producer Amra on Tuesday. VC firm Industrifonden also participated in the round, having invested SEK5m ($560,000 at current exchange rates) in Amra in 2014 before adding another SEK10m in early 2015.
Flyr, a US-based company that uses data analytics and machine learning to predict air fares, raised $8m in series A funding on Wednesday from investors including JetBlue Technology Ventures and AXA Strategic Ventures, respective subsidiaries of aviation group JetBlue and insurance firm AXA, both existing backers. Entrepreneur Peter Thiel led the round, which included Streamlined Ventures, Amadeus, Western Technology Investment, Plug and Play, and Chasm Capital Management, and which boosted Flyr’s overall funding to $14.3m.
Measuring equipment manufacturer Minol Zenner Group and wireless broadband equipment maker Gemtek Corporation provided $7m in series A funding for Switzerland-based internet-of-things (IoT) technology developer TrackNet on Wednesday. TrackNet plans to put the series A capital toward the creation of consumer, tracking and facility management IoT products.
US-based virtual and mixed reality technology startup Spaces has secured $6.5m in a round led by China-based theme park operator Songcheng Performances Development. Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mass media company Comcast, also took part, as did internet group Gree, game developer Colopl’s VR Fund, online media company Youku’s Global Media Fund, Boost VC, CRCM Venture Capital, Kai Huang and The Venture Reality Fund, all of which took part in a $3m round in May 2016 along with Canyon Creek Capital and Sinovation Fund.
US-based advanced battery developer Gridtential has closed $6m in funding from investors including battery manufacturers East Penn Manufacturing, Crown Battery Manufacturing, Leoch International and Power-Sonic. The funding follows a $1.1m round led by VC firm Roda Group in 2013 and $1.5m in equity financing from unnamed backers in February 2016, according to regulatory filings.
301, the strategic investment vehicle for packaged food producer General Mills, led a $6m series D round for plant-based snack food manufacturer Rhythm Superfoods on Tuesday that included Blueberry Ventures and CircleUp Growth Fund. 301 had previously led Rhythm’s $3m series C round in January 2016, which also featured CircleUp Growth Fund, and the company has now raised a total of approximately $9.7m altogether.
Insurance provider Ameritas led a $4.1m series C-2 round today for iHear Medical, the US-based developer of a web-assisted hearing device. The round included Aphelion Capital and Lighthouse Capital, and follows $1.8m of series B funding in 2012 and a $5m series C round in 2014 that was led by Lighthouse Capital and backed by Ameritas and home and office product manufacturer Brother Industries.
Evonik Venture Capital, a subsidiary of chemical products manufacturer Evonik, paid an undisclosed amount for a minority stake in US-based oil additives producer Nanotech Industrial Solutions (NIS) on Wednesday. Evonik will take a seat on the board of NIS in conjunction with the investment, made as part of a commercial agreement between the companies.
US-based virtual tutoring software developer Querium closed $3.2m in series B funding on Tuesday from investors including Ingram Content Group, the publishing arm of manufacturer Ingram Industries. Investment firm Wild Basin Investments led the round, which also featured Crossfire Holdings and SustainVC, and Querium said the capital brought its total financing to $4m.
Cytora, a UK-based developer of technology that uses artificial intelligence to find economic insights in data, has received £2.4m ($2.9m) in a series A round led by investment management firm Parkwalk and backed by text processing tools developer iLexir and Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of Cambridge University, as well as various angel investors. The company plans to “commercialise heavily” in one of the finance, insurance and asset management sectors in the next six months.
US-based online life insurance platform Fabric has raised $2.5m in a seed round backed by RGAx, a subsidiary of reinsurance firm RGA, Fortune reported yesterday. RGA, which is also providing Fabric with product development and data resources, was joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, which led the round, as well as Box Group, Brainchild, Maveron and Red Sea Ventures.
New Zealand-based mobile advertising technology startup Postr has secured NZ$3m ($2.1m) in funding from diversified conglomerate Gunung Sewu Group, investment firm K1W1, state- backed VC fund NZVIF and assorted angel investors, Scoop.nz reported on Monday. Postr’s technology enables telecom companies to deliver advertising to smartphone users through their lock screens in return for free data.
E-commerce company Flipkart has invested $2m in India-based, parent-focused social media platform Tinystep, Moneycontrol reported on Tuesday. Flipkart’s investment comes after Matt Glickman, founder of online parenting forum and data platform BabyCenter, provided an undisclosed amount of funding for the startup in March 2016.
US-based customer data software startup Ascent360 has raised $1.9m in seed funding from student loans provider Nelnet, Access Venture Partners, Bialla Venture Partners, Service Provider Capital and Rockies Venture Club. Ascent360 will use the funding to expand its headcount as it looks to beef up its sales and marketing operations and enhance its core product.
Lifestyle media group Edipresse Media has invested $1.8m in The Artling, a Singapore-based e-commerce platform for art, Tech Portal reported on Monday. The company, which also operates online luxury goods marketplace Luxglove.com, used the funding to acquire Chinese contemporary art sales platform Artshare for an undisclosed amount.
Pedius, the Italy-based creator of an app that enables deaf users to make phone calls, has raised €1.4m ($1.5m) in a series A round co-led by Invitalia Ventures and Principia and backed by TIM Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of telecom group Telecom Italia. TIM Ventures invested €25,000 in Pedius in 2013 through its Working Capital subsidiary before joining Sistema Investimenti and Embed Capital for a $500,000 seed round the following year.
Real estate developer SD Group has supplied an undisclosed amount of pre-series A funding to fitness services marketplace Fitnapp, the Economic Times reported yesterday. Fitnapp provides access to a range of gyms, studios and fitness classes through a single subscription-based service, and will spend the funding on marketing, online growth and expanding its partner network.
Smart Antenna Technologies, the UK-based developer of an antenna for mobile devices, has raised £1m ($1.2m) from investors including encryption hardware manufacturer Senetas Corporation, which invested A$860,000 ($650,000) last month. Birmingham University’s Spinout Investment Fund also took part in the round, which will support product development and the hiring of additional engineers.
France-based biometric identification technology startup Biowatch has secured CHF1.2m ($1.2m) from Sicpa Finance, a subsidiary of security and authentication product manufacturer Sicpa, as well as Polytech Ecosystem Ventures and angel investor Patrick Delarive, ICT Journal reported yesterday. It will use the funding to expand its engineering team.
PA Group, the owner of news agency Press Association, invested an undisclosed amount in Wochit, the US-based developer of a cloud-based video creation and editing platform, on Wednesday. Wochit had previously raised approximately $29m from media firms ProSiebenSat.1 and Singapore Press Holdings, as well as Redpoint Ventures, Marker, Cedar Fund, Greycroft Partners, Redpoint Ventures and angel investor Carlo de Benedetti across three rounds.
AXA Strategic Ventures and Invitalia have supplied €750,000 ($800,000) for Floome, the Italy-based creator of a smartphone-based breathalyser, Askanews reported on Wednesday. Floome has developed a mobile app that uses sensors to detect a user’s blood alcohol level, and will invest the funding in growing its team, with a particular focus on sales and marketing, and to expand in Europe.
Unikrn, the owner of an eSports betting platform, has invested an undisclosed amount in Germany-based competitive gaming team Berlin International Gaming (BIG), according to Esports Insider. Unikrn is providing funding and business development assistance to BIG, which competes against other teams at online shoot-em-up Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
– Photo courtesy of Tyres on the Drive