AAA Corporate venturing deal net: 20-24 August 2018

Corporate venturing deal net: 20-24 August 2018

Enterra Feed, a Canada-based developer of insect-based ingredients for animal feed, closed what it called a ‘major global funding round’ yesterday, which was led by investment manager ADM Capital’s Cibus Fund with backing from poultry product supplier PHW Group and an unnamed, family-owned investment group. The company received $5m from Avrio Capital in 2014 and the same amount from Wheatsheaf Investments later the same year, and the latest funding will support the construction of three production facilities by 2021.

Gene therapy producer Bluebird Bio provided $10m of series C funding for US-based immuno-oncology drug developer Gritstone Oncology on Thursday as part of a research, development and commercialisation partnership that also included a $20m payment upfront. Gritstone had already raised $195m from Lilly Asia Ventures and GV, respective subsidiaries of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and internet technology group Alphabet, as well as a range of venture capital investors across rounds in 2015 and 2017, and it filed for an $80m initial public offering today.

Bepro11, a South Korea-based provider of video data analysis services for football teams, has raised ?10.3bn ($9.2m) in a round led by SoftBank Ventures Korea, a corporate venture capital subsidiary of telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, The Investor has reported. The corporate supplied ?6bn of the funding while KT Investment, the CVC arm of fellow telecoms firm KT, and VC firm Altos Ventures also participated.

Russia-based telehealth platform developer Doc+ has received $9m in funding from investors including internet company Yandex, investment firm Vostok New Ventures, which led the round, and private equity fund Baring Vostok. Doc+ had previously raised $11m including $5.5m in a mid-2016 round featuring Yandex and Baring Vostok, and $5m in series B funding from the same two investors in June 2017.

Fleet services provider Element Fleet Management agreed on Wednesday to pay an undisclosed amount for a minority stake in US-based vehicle maintenance services provider Amerit Fleet Solutions as part of a deal that will involve private equity firm Ridgemont Equity Partners taking a majority stake. Amerit supplies repair and maintenance services to large fleets of vehicles and was a commercial partner of Element’s prior to the transaction.

Metro Engines, the Japan-based creator of a dynamic pricing system for hotel operators, raised ¥700m ($6.3m) yesterday from investors including NEC Capital Solutions, the financial services branch of office equipment maker NEC Corporation, travel services provider Evolable Asia, hotel management service Tap and public relations firm Vector, The Bridge reported. SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services firm SBI, also invested, as did Venture Labo Investment, JR East Start Up and private investor Kiyohiro Sugashita.

US-based clinical diagnostics technology developer MBio Diagnostics secured $6m in series B financing on Tuesday from investors including Heska, the veterinary product manufacturer with which it signed a licensing and product development partnership in May this year. Heska was joined by undisclosed existing investors, and the round followed $12.8m in equity funding and $1.7m in debt financing according to regulatory filings.

Internet group Tencent invested an undisclosed sum in China-based parking location and payment platform Keytop Parking on Wednesday, China Money Network has reported, citing a company announcement. Keytop was founded in 2006 and the companies have been partners since 2014 when they jointly launched a high-speed parking app. Its systems all support payment through Tencent’s WeChat app.

Rotageek, a UK-based appointment scheduling software developer backed by telecoms company Telefónica, has raised £4m ($5.1m) in a round led by small-business finance provider Mobeus Equity Partners, Growth Business UK reported on Monday. The company graduated from Telefónica accelerator Wayra in 2014 and received £150,000 from it in late 2014 and mid-2015 before pulling in almost £560,000 in funding from six unnamed angel investors later in 2015, according to UKTN.

Knewton, a learning resources provider backed by textbook publisher Pearson, media group Bertelsmann and education services provider Tal Education, received $5m in equity funding on Tuesday from existing backers including Accel, Atomico, Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, First Round Capital and Founders Fund alongside a debt facility of up to $20m from TriplePoint Capital. The company had previously raised approximately $157m from investors that also include Sofina and the Singaporean state-owned EDBI.

Gradient Ventures, the artificial intelligence focused fund owned by internet technology provider Google, led a $5m funding round on Tuesday for Canvass Analytics, the Canada-based developer of an analytics platform for internet-of-things devices. The round also featured Bedrock Industries, Viaduct Ventures, Real Ventures and angel investor Barney Pell, the latter two participating as existing investors according to Canvass, which has now raised a total of $7.5m according to TechCrunch.

The Sill, a US-based potted plant retailer backed by digital media group Oath and over-the-top media company Chernin Group, has secured $5m in a series A round led by Raine Ventures, the VC arm of merchant bank Raine Group. The company has now raised $7.5m altogether according to TechCrunch, its seed capital having come from Chernin, Oath subsidiary BBG Ventures, Brand Foundry Ventures, Halogen Ventures, Tuesday Capital and Blueseed.

Scania Growth Capital, the strategic investment arm of automotive manufacturer Scania, provided approximately $3.8m of funding for Corebon, a Sweden-based developer of carbon fibre production technology, on Monday as part of a Skr45m ($4.9m) round. Funds from the round, representing the fourth deal in which Scania Growth Capital has invested since it was launched in February 2017, will be used to increase Corebon’s production capacity.

Mars Reel, the US-based operator of an online media platform that covers high school sports, has completed a $4.7m funding round featuring Otter Media, the digital media company fully acquired by telecoms firm AT&T earlier this month, Variety reported on Tuesday. The round also featured 500 Startups, the operator of an accelerator from which Mars Reel graduated in 2016, and a host of angel investors that included basketball professionals LeBron James and Kevin Durant, actor Cedric Stewart and rapper and entrepreneur Nasir ‘Nas’ Jones.

Fluvip, the Colombia-based developer of an influencer marketing service, has secured $4.5m in series A capital from media conglomerate Grupo Cisneros, accelerator TheVentureCity and CC fund Velum Ventures, Pulso Social has reported. Fluvip graduated from Telefónica’s Wayra with $50,000 from Telefónica Open Future before raising $2.5m from Cisneros Interactive, Velum Ventures and undisclosed angel investors in 2015.

Plnar, a US-based developer of augmented reality software that can form 3D models of any room, received $3.9m in series A capital on Monday from investors including Colopl Next, the virtual reality-focused fund formed by game developer Colopl. The round was led by VC fund ManchesterStory Group and also featured The Venture Reality Fund. The proceeds will support the startup’s growth in the home renovation sector.

Well-Sense, a UK-based creator of data analysis tools for use in oil and gas extraction, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, the strategic investment vehicle for petroleum supplier Saudi Aramco, as well as oil and gas services provider FrontRow Energy Technology Group and undisclosed members of its management team. Well-Sense, which was founded as a subsidiary of FrontRow, plans to capitalise on Saudi Aramco’s investment to expand into the Middle East.

Healthcare provider WakeMed Health & Hospitals has invested in 410 Medical, a US-based developer of medical devices to treat critically ill patients, as part of a $3.1m round on Wednesday. Angel investment network AIM Group led the round, which also featured co-investment fund North Carolina Venture Capital Multiplier Fund and hedge fund Kleinheinz Capital, and it followed $8.6m from investors including Triangle Venture Alliance between 2015 and June 2017 according to press releases and regulatory filings.

Trocafone, the Brazil-based owner of an online marketplace for used electronics, has received $3m in funding from electronics recycler Aihuishou and investment firm Pedralbes Partners, Impact Alpha reported on Wednesday. The company had previously raised a total of $25m from Wayra and Mercado Libre Fund, a subsidiary of e-commerce company MercadoLibre, as well as Castor Ventures Fund, Callfort, FJ Labs, NXTP, 500 Startups, Lumia Capital, Quasar Ventures and Rocketship.

Zipnosis, a US-based telehealth platform developer backed by healthcare provider Fairview Health Services and Ascension Ventures, the VC firm formed by care provider Ascension Health, has raised $3m in series B financing according to a regulatory filing. The company had previously received $18.7m in funding including $17m in an early 2016 series A round featuring Ascension Ventures, Fairview, Safeguard Scientifics, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Arthur Ventures, Waterline Ventures and Omphalos Ventures.

SB China Venture Capital, a regional investment subsidiary of SoftBank, led a seed round for US-based blockchain advertising startup Atlas Protocol on Monday that was $3m in size according to Coinbase. Baidu Ventures, a corporate venturing vehicle owned by internet group Baidu, also participated in the round, along with VC fund Danhua Capital and Fenbushi Digital, the blockchain branch of VC firm Fenbushi Capital.

South Korea-based security and compliance software developer Insignary received an undisclosed amount of funding from management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint on Monday. Mega Investment and Samho Green Investment had invested $2m in the startup in January 2018, alongside an undisclosed sum from Innopolis Partners, to increase its overall funding to $4m.

Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific, a branch of household goods manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive, has acquired a 14% stake in India-based male grooming product retailer Bombay Shaving Company (BSC) by leading a Rs 180m ($2.6m) round that included VC firm Fireside Ventures, the Economic Times reported yesterday, citing a stock exchange filing. BSC had raised $600,000 in an August 2016 angel round before adding $2.5m from Fireside and undisclosed angel investors 12 months later.

704Games, a US-based developer of games licensed from stock car racing championship Nascar, secured an undisclosed amount on Tuesday from investors including digital media company Motorsport Network, amusement gaming company PlayFast Games, online game publisher Gaming Nation and diversified holding company HC2 Holdings. The corporates were joined by VC investor Leo Capital Holdings and the cash was raised as 704 prepares to launch its next title, Nascar Heat 3, next month.

Financial technology provider Accesstage invested R$2m ($530,000) in Moneto, the Brazil-based developer of an automated invoicing and payment collection app, DCI has reported. Moneta had previously received $780,000 in an October 2016 round led by SP Ventures through its Fundo de Inovação Paulista fund, and it got the latest funding through a strategic partnership agreement with Accesstage.

Sensibull, the India-based creator of an options trading assistance platform, has raised Rs 35m ($500,000) in seed capital from brokerage firm Zerodha, the Economic Times reported yesterday. The startup was incubated within Zerodha’s Rainmatter initiative, and the funding will be used to expand its engineering team.

Electronics recycler CompAsia has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for InstaCash, the India-headquartered operator of an app-based computing equipment, The Star has reported. The funding will support InstaCash’s expansion both in its home country and in Southeast Asia and East Asia, according to a company statement cited by VCCircle.

Online classified listings operator Info Edge has paid Rs 26.4m ($380,000) for an 11.4% share of India-based electronic medical record platform Medcords Healthcare Solutions, Times of India reported yesterday, citing a stock market filing. Medcords has developed an online platform that enables patients’ medical data to be securely stored and accessed by physicians and pharmacists.

Line Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mobile messaging company Line, has led an extension of undisclosed size to a series B round for Malaysia-based e-commerce aggregation platform iPrice, TechCrunch reported on Monday. The company had raised $4m in a first tranche closed in May 2018 that was led by Line Ventures and backed by Cento Ventures and Venturra Capital, the latter two having backed its $4m series A alongside Asia Venture Group, Gobi Partners, Econa and Starstrike Ventures in late 2016.

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