US-based data warehousing software provider Panoply raised $5m on Monday from Intel Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of chipmaker Intel, C5 Capital, Blumberg Capital and 500 Startups to boost the size of its series A round to $13m. Intel Capital led the round’s first tranche in August 2016, with extra funding from Blumberg Capital, after Blumberg, 500 Startups and FundersGuild had contributed to Panolpy’s $1.3m seed round in September 2015.
HCSC Ventures, a strategic investment subsidiary of health insurance provider Health Care Service Corporation, yesterday invested $5m in Cogitativo, a US-based developer of machine learning and data science software for healthcare companies. Cogitativo will use the funding to grow its anomaly detection and operational decision product offerings.
Marketing group WPP has provided $5m of funding for US-based podcasting platform Gimlet Media, increasing the company’s funding to $27m since it was founded in 2014. Gimlet’s past investors include diversified conglomerate Graham Holdings, Stripes Group, Cross Culture Ventures, Betaworks and Emerson Collective, participants in a $15m series B round last month.
AppBoy, a US-based mobile marketing software provider backed by financial services firm Citi, rebranded to Braze on Tuesday, revealing at the same time that it has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from growth equity firm Meritech Capital Partners. The company had previously raised more than $92m from IDG Ventures USA, Battery Ventures, InterWest Partners, Icon Venture Partners, Blumberg Capital, T5 Capital, Bullpen Capital and Accelerator Ventures.
Electronic brokerage Interactive Brokers Group has made a strategic investment of undisclosed size in Tiger Brokers, the China-based developer of a brokerage where Chinese-speaking investors can buy shares in cross-border deals, China Money Network reported yesterday. Tiger Brokers had raised $59m from smartphone maker Xiaomi, China Growth Capital, Zhen Fund, Citic GoldStone Fund Management, Huagai Capital and China Renaissance K2 Ventures across three rounds, as of March 2017.
Virtual reality headset producer HTC Vive yesterday led a $4m series A round for VRChat, the US-based creator of a VR-based communication platform. Brightstone VC, GVR Fund and Rothenberg Ventures also contributed to the round, which follows a $1.2m seed round featuring HTC, Rothenberg Ventures, Brightstone and Gree VR Capital, the VR-focused fund formed by social media company Gree, in October 2016.
Numaferm, a Germany-based developer of peptides for use in healthcare and as specialty additives, received an undisclosed amount of seed capital from investors including chemicals producer Evonik on Tuesday. Evonik, which invested through its Evonik Venture Capital unit, was joined by High-Tech Gründerfonds and Business Angels as well as Detlev Riesner and Jürgen Schumacher, the co-founders of medical diagnostics technology provider Qiagen.
Lockheed Martin Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of aerospace group Lockheed Martin, has invested an undisclosed sum in Ocean Aero, the US-based developer of an unmanned maritime vehicle called Submaran. Ocean Aero’s other investors include industrial electronics producer Teledyne Technologies, which supplied funds in 2014 and 2015, and which owned a 37% stake following the second investment.
Crevo, the Japan-based operator of a crowdsourced animation platform, has raised ¥310m ($2.8m) in a funding round led by Itochu Technology Ventures, part of diversified trading group Itochu, which included Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital, a subsidiary of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, as well as AG Capital and D4V, The Bridge has reported. Crevo had received an undisclosed sum from VC firm East Ventures in 2014 and $840,000 in a 2015 seed round featuring CyberAgent Ventures, the investment arm of internet company CyberAgent, and VC fund B Dash Ventures.
ManufactOn, the US-based creator of an online platform that construction firms can use to manage materials ordering, completed a $2.5m series A round on Monday featuring design software provider Autodesk’s Forge Fund. VC fund Brick & Mortar Ventures led the round, which also included undisclosed additional investors from the construction industry.
SBI FinTech Business Innovation Fund, a subsidiary of financial services provider SBI Group, invested an undisclosed amount in Russia-based small-business lending platform SimpleFinance on Monday. SimpleFinance, which was founded in 2015, had previously raised $30m in a Eurobond issue in June this year, and will put the funding toward its lending initiatives.
Packback, a US-based creator of artificial intelligence learning software for university professors, received $1.5m from ICG Ventures, the strategic investment subsidiary of Ingram Content Group, and VC firm University Ventures on Tuesday. The new capital follows $1m from assorted angel investors in 2014, some of which returned for a $1.5m round in June 2015 that was led by Hyde Park Angels, and which also included financial services holding company Wintrust Ventures.
Music software and hardware producer Ableton has led a US$1.2m seed round for Melodics, a New Zealand-based developer of software that helps users learn to play musical instruments, Techday reported on Monday. The round included 500 Startups, the operator of the accelerator in which Melodics took part in 2016, as well as Tuhua Ventures, K1W1 and angel investor Alex Rigopulos.
Stanley Ventures, the strategic investment arm of tool manufacturer Stanley Black & Decker, invested an undisclosed sum in US-based mobile and networked energy storage technology developer FreeWire Technologies on Monday and will lead its ongoing series A round. Michael Mahan, an investment manager at Stanley Ventures, will join FreeWire’s board of directors in conjunction with the funding, and FreeWire expects to close the round next month.
Sri Lanka-based medical assistance platform developer oDoc has raised $1m from Phoenix Ventures, the corporate VC vehicle for clothing and textiles exporter Brandix, as well as Loits, an IT subsidiary of financial services group Lolc, and angel investor Ajit Gunewardene, Tech in Asia reported on Monday. The funding represents the largest seed round in Sri Lanka’s history, according to Tech in Asia, and will support expansion in its capital, Colombo, and then across the rest of the country.