Sea Machines Robotics, a US-based developer of autonomous control and sensor systems for use in marine vehicles, completed a $10m series A round on Monday that included Toyota AI Ventures, the strategic investment arm of carmaker Toyota, and boating brand owner Brunswick Corporation, which took part through partner TechNexus Venture Collaborative. The round was co-led by Accomplice and Eniac Ventures, and also featured LaunchCapital, LDV Capital, NextGen VP and Geekdom Fund. Sea Machines had previously raised $1.5m in May 2017.
SonarMD, a US-based developer of technology that helps care providers manage patients with chronic health conditions, secured $10m on Monday from BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, the corporate venturing vehicle for health insurance group Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and venture capital firm Arboretum Ventures. The company’s offering is currently directed at inflammatory bowel disease but is set to be expanded into other conditions.
Beverage producer Coca-Cola Company and packaged food distributor Performance Food Group have co-led a $10m series A round for Omnivore, a US-based provider of digital technology for restaurant management. Jeff Vinik, the owner of ice hockey franchise Tampa Bay Lightning, also participated in the round, as did unnamed existing investors, and it comes after a $500,000 investment by a single undisclosed backer in 2014, according to a regulatory filing.
US-based behavioural health analytics software developer Tridiuum received $9.5m in series B funding from investors including Fresenius Medical Care Ventures, the strategic investment arm of medical supplies producer Fresenius Medical Care, on Tuesday. The round was led by Sopris Capital Associates and included Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Martinson Ventures and debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank.
US-based crop management software provider Hi Fidelity Genetics has completed an $8.5m series A round that included seed producer Gro Alliance and crop product and services provider Tom Farms. The round was co-led by Fall Line Capital and Finistere Ventures and also featured KdT Ventures, Prairie Crest Capital and S2G Ventures, and the proceeds will fund development of an in-field root sensor system called RootTracker and an artificial intelligence-equipped seed breeding platform dubbed Luther.
Opus One Solutions, a Canada-based provider of distributed energy networking software, has secured an undisclosed amount in a series B round led by VC firm Renewal Funds that included energy utility Engie and energy technology investment fund Energy Impact Partners (EIP). It came after an investment of undisclosed size by EIP in September 2016 and a commitment of up to $1m in project finance from Elemental Excelerator in October 2017.
Intel Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of semiconductor and data technology provider Intel, supplied an undisclosed amount of series A funding for China-based immersive entertainment provider Sky Limit Entertainment yesterday. The company has not revealed details of earlier funding but said its existing investors include electronics producer Lenovo’s Capital and Incubator Group, AVICTC, Shenzhen Weiyue Creative Investment Group, and Mango Cultural and Creative Industry Private Equity Fund.
American Family Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of insurance firm American Family, co-led an $8m series A round on Monday for TicketGuardian, the US-based creator of an insurance platform for live events, with investment firm IA Capital Group. TicketGuardian, which is owned by Protecht, will use the funding to expand its customer base and the range of services it offers.
BacklotCars, an online used car marketplace backed by social media and fintech company Renren, received $8m on Wednesday in a series A round led by Origin Ventures that included Pritzker Group Venture Capital, KCRise Fund, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Royal Street Ventures and Chaifetz Group. The company secured an additional $10m in debt financing through an expanded credit facility. Renren lists it as a portfolio company but has not disclosed firm details of its investment.
The Mom Project, the US-based operator of an online job platform aimed at mothers, raised $8m in series A funding on Monday from investors including BBG Ventures, the female-focused VC fund run by digital media operator Oath. The round was co-led by Grotech Ventures and Initialized Capital and also featured Aspect Ventures along with Atlanta Seed Company, Engage Ventures, OCA Ventures, IrishAngels and Wintrust Financial, all of which joined BBG for the startup’s $2.6m seed round in May this year.
E-commerce group Alibaba has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for 1KMXC, the China-based operator of a chain of automated car washes, China Money Network has reported. In addition to investing, Alibaba will help 1KMXC, which runs 154 facilities across the country, to expand using the corporate’s supply chain and retail technology expertise.
India-based online grocery delivery service Milkbasket has received $7m in funding from Mayfield Advisors and unnamed existing investors as the second tranche of a series A round that already includes $7m from investors including Unilever Ventures, consumer goods producer Unilever’s corporate venturing unit. The first tranche closed in May this year and included Kalaari Capital, BeeNext and Blume Ventures, after Unilever Ventures had invested $3m four months earlier. Electronics producer Lenovo’s Capital and Incubator Group is also a backer.
Israel-based cloud management technology provider Cloudify secured $7m on Tuesday in a financing round featuring virtualisation software provider VMware as well as KPN Ventures and CreditEase Israel Innovation Fund, respective subsidiaries of telecommunications firm KPN and online lending platform CreditEase. The corporates were joined by Israel Innovation Fund, Claridge Israel and BRM Group. Cloudify, a spinoff from computing software provider GigaSpaces Technologies, identified VMware, Claridge and BRM as existing backers.
Internet group Tencent has led a series A round of undisclosed size for China-based digital matting technology provider Versa, China Money Network reported on Wednesday. Sequoia Capital China had supplied an undisclosed amount of seed capital for the startup in 2017, before ZhenFund added pre-series A funding in July 2018, China Money Network stated, adding that Versa will release a video editing tool early next year.
US-based social marketing software provider Popular Pays added $1.1m from ICCP SBI Venture Partners, a joint venture of financial services provider SBI and VC firm ICCP Venture Partners, to a series B round already featuring Beringea, GoAhead VC and Hyde Park Angels on Tuesday that now totals $6.6m. Popular Pays has received $12.6m altogether and its earlier investors include Pallasite Ventures, Y Combinator, Bessemer Venture Partners, Soma Capital, Social Starts, Romar Capital and musician Mike Shinoda.
Mexico-based financial services app developer UnDosTres has raised $6.5m in funding from investors including InnoCells, a strategic investment vehicle for financial services firm Banco Sabadell. The round was co-led by Ignia and Dalus Capital, and earlier investors in UnDosTres include Cabiedes & Partners, Soldiers Field Angels and Saba Investments.
Quiqup, a UK-based logistics service provider backed by food delivery platform Delivery Hero and consumer product distributor Transmed, has received £5m ($6.3m) in funding from undisclosed investors, The Telegraph has reported. Delivery Hero and Global Founders Capital supplied an undisclosed amount of series A funding for Quiqup in 2015, and it added $25.6m in a May 2017 series B led by Jobi Capital that included Transmed and unnamed existing backers.
Schibsted Growth, a corporate venturing subsidiary of media company Schibsted, has led a SEK50m ($5.5m) funding round for Sweden-based maths education app developer Albert, Breakit reported on Tuesday. RoosGruppen, Inbox Capital and angel investors Martin Wattin and Håkan Roos also participated in the round, which came in the wake of SEK17m of earlier funding, including $1.1m from Schibsted Growth in October 2016.
US-based educational tool and course material provider Lumen Learning completed a $5m funding round last month that was led by educational product supplier Follett, EdSurge reported on Wednesday. Follett took part in the company’s $3.75m series A round in April 2017 that included Portland Seed Fund and Alliance of Angels, both of which had also backed a $2.5m seed round led by Oregon Angel Fund two years earlier.
Tangram Flex, a US-based systems engineering technology spinoff from computer system technology producer Galois, raised $4.5m from investment firm Hale Capital on Tuesday. The startup produces AI-equipped cybersecurity software designed to protect aircraft, missile and other defence systems, and it claims to already be profitable.
Cumulus Digital Systems, the US-based creator of a connected platform intended to improve safety at industrial facilities, closed a $4.5m seed round on Wednesday that included Shell Ventures, oil and gas supplier Shell’s corporate venturing unit. VC firm Brick & Mortar Ventures led the round, which also featured Castor Ventures, and which came after Cumulus was spun out of Shell TechWorks, Shell’s Massachusetts technology centre.
Venture philanthropy vehicle JDRF T1D Fund invested an undisclosed amount in Pandion Therapeutics, a US-based bispecific antibody developer backed by pharmaceutical firms GlaxoSmithKline and Roche, on Wednesday. Pandion had raised $58m in a January 2018 series A round co-led by Polaris Partners and Versant Ventures that included SR One and Roche Ventures, respective subsidiaries of GSK and Roche, as well as life sciences VC firm BioInnovation Capital.
Elementary Robotics, a US-based, stealth-stage startup developing smart robot assistants, received $3.6m on Wednesday in a seed round backed by Toyota AI Ventures, a strategic investment unit formed by carmaker Toyota. The round was co-led by Fika Ventures and Fathom Capital and also featured Riot.vc, Osage University Partners, Ubiquity Ventures and Stage Venture Partners. It came in the wake of $1.2m in pre-seed funding from undisclosed investors in October 2017.
Mobikwik, an India-based mobile payment platform backed by several corporates, has raised just over $3m in bridge funding from existing investors, Entrackr reported on Tuesday. The company has now received a total of approximately $158m from investors including payment services firm American Express, networking technology producer Cisco, internet company GMO, mobile payment technology provider Net1, consumer lending firm Bajaj Finance, semiconductor provider MediaTek, Sequoia Capital and Tree Line Asia.
Colorifix, the UK-based creator of a biological dyeing process for textiles, secured $3m on Monday in a series A round featuring fashion retailer H&M’s innovation hub, Co:Lab. The round was led by impact-focused consulting firm Challenger 88 and included Cambridge Enterprise and Primera Impact. The startup will use the proceeds to grow its team and headquarters.
US-based cryptoasset data technology developer Nomics has received $3m in a series A round that included Coinbase Ventures, the strategic investment subsidiary of digital currency exchange operator Coinbase, Coindesk reported on Tuesday. Arthur Ventures led the round, which included securities token platforms Polymath and TokenSoft, CoVenture Crypto, Digital Currency Group, CityBlock Capital, King Capital and angel investor Ben Davenport.
Payment technology provider Fino Paytech has made an investment of undisclosed size in CityCash, an India-based developer of near field communication-based payment technology, the Economic Times reported on Monday. The funding was supplied in connection with a strategic partnership that will involve the promotion of cashless payment systems for use with public transport.
Osprey Informatics, the Canada-based creator of a visual monitoring platform for oil and gas infrastructure, completed a C$3.75m ($2.8m) funding round co-led by Shell Ventures and VC fund Evok Innovations on Monday. Early-stage investment fund InterGen Capital and unnamed existing shareholders also backed the round, which followed $3.2m of funding as of 2015, when Osprey raised approximately $1m in a round led by investment firm Anzu Partners.
Switzerland-based single-cell technology developer Scailyte secured CHF2.75m ($2.8m) on Wednesday in a seed round that included Swisscom Ventures, the corporate VC arm of telecoms firm Swisscom. The round also featured financial services firm Zürcher Kantonalbank as well as unnamed existing backers. Dominique Megret, head of Swisscom Ventures, is joining Scailyte’s board of directors.
Telecoms and cable television provider Charter Communications provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Blade, the France-headquartered creator of a cloud-based gaming system called Shadow, on Wednesday. Blade had previously received $14.6m from 20 angel investors including Nick Suppipat, Pierre-Kosciusko Morizet and Michael Benabou, before adding $57.1m in series A funding from the same investors in June 2017. Charter will assist it in expanding its offering on to an advanced fibre-based network.
Media company Tamedia led a $2.5m series A round for Monito, the Switzerland-based operator of a comparison platform for money transfer services, on Wednesday. VC firm B&Y Venture Partners, entrepreneur Alexandre Gonthier and undisclosed existing investors also took part in the round, which came after Monito – then known as TawiPay – raised $420,000 from MKS Alternative Investments and assorted angel investors in 2015.
Abacus, a US-based startup that has developed an automated auditing system for crypto transactions, has completed a $2m funding round featuring digital currency exchange operator Coinbase, TechCrunch reported on Monday. Angel investor Justin Kan led the round with a $1m investment, and Y Combinator, the operator of an accelerator from which Abacus graduated earlier this year, also contributed.
Akeneo, a France-based provider of product information management technology, recently received an undisclosed amount of funding from Salesforce Ventures, enterprise software provider Salesforce’s corporate venturing unit, and angel investor Stephan Dietrich, it revealed on Wednesday. Partech Ventures and Alven Capital provided $13m of series B funding for Akeneo in March 2017, after a $2.3m investment by Alven in 2014.
Financial services firm Danske Bank (DNB) invested DKK10m ($1.5m) on Wednesday in Spiir, the Denmark-based developer of a personal finance app called Nordic API Gateway that retrieves data from banks on behalf of users. The company, which was founded in 2011, had already received $2.9m in funding from DNB in May this year, and the latest funding will be used to support further development of its technology.
Mainport Innovation Fund II, the VC fund formed by airport manager Schiphol, airline owner KLM, rail operator NS, seaport Port of Amsterdam, university TU Delft and fund manager NBI Investors, has provided €1.2m ($1.4m) in funding for Netherlands-based maritime travel agency C Teleport. The startup’s technology automates the booking process for travel on ships, meaning tickets can be booked more easily online.
MetisMotion, a Germany-based spinoff from industrial equipment and appliance maker Siemens that is developing linear force actuators for hardware systems, has raised more than €1m ($1.1m) in funding from investors including Siemens Technology Accelerator. The corporate was joined by High-Tech Gründerfonds and Born2Grow Seedfonds, a subsidiary of ZFHN Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn.
US-based physical therapy software developer Alinea Engage has secured $860,000 in seed funding from investors including health system Advocate Aurora Health and insurance firm Northwestern Mutual Life, BizTimes reported on Wednesday. Golden Angels Investors led the round while BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation provided $150,000, and the proceeds will enable the startup to expand its team from two to 14 in 2019.
BOR Venture Fund, the VC arm of financial services firm Bank of Ryukyus, has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for JobMan, a Japan-based provider of back-end office services, VentureTimes has reported. The company had participated in Okinawa Startup Program, an initiative run by Bank of Ryukyus and media company Okinawa Times, in 2017.
Be U Salons, the India-based operator of a subscription service for salons, received Rs 30m ($430,000) on Tuesday in a funding round co-led by media company Bennett, Coleman & Co’s Brand Capital unit and Jaipur Capital. The round valued Be U Salons at $6m and is the third to be raised by the startup, which secured approximately $620,000 from angel investors Gaurav Kachru, Sundeep Singh Sahni, Jatin Aneja, Bikramjiet Kukreja and Arun Malhotra in April 2017.
Macquarie Capital Venture Studio, a joint venture formed by R/GA Ventures, the corporate VC vehicle for advertising agency R/GA, and asset manager Macquarie Partners, have invested undisclosed sums in three US-based companies including FreeWire Technologies, the electric vehicle (EV) charging technology developer that just raised $15m, it has revealed. The other recipients were industrial cybersecurity software developer Mission Secure and risk management software producer T-Rex Group.
UMG Idealab Indonesia, the corporate venturing arm of agricultural equipment producer UMG, has invested undisclosed amounts in two Indonesia-based startups, DealStreetAsia reported today. The recipients are Botika, the developer of a natural language processing-equipped chatbot, and BahasaKita, the operator of an online resource for the Indonesian language.
