Samsung Next, a corporate venturing subsidiary of consumer electronics producer Samsung, supplied an undisclosed amount of funding on Tuesday for Juvo, the US-based creator of a financial identity system for mobile device users. Juvo had previously raised $14m from Freestyle Capital, Wing Venture Capital, Seed-Resolute and assorted angel investors in September 2016 before adding $40m in a July 2017 series B round co-led by New Enterprise Associates and Wing VC that included SignalFire and various existing backers.
Cylus, an Israel-based developer of cybersecurity technology for railway systems, secured $4.7m yesterday in a seed round that included financial services provider SBI Group, Magma Venture Partners and Vertex Ventures as well as angel investor and Cylus co-founder Zohar Zisapel. The startup’s technology is intended to meet the security challenges associated with the increasing use of automated, wireless and connected technologies on trains.
Venture capital firm Fifth Wall Ventures has participated in a $4.25m round for Enertiv, the US-based creator of a software system that can track space and the location of equipment in a building, which was announced yesterday. Enertiv, a graduate of advertising agency R/GA’s Accelerator initiative, had raised $1.9m from corporate venturing unit R/GA Ventures, Vaidya Capital Partners and assorted angel investors prior to the latest round, which had 45 investors as of November 2017 according to a securities filing.
Vizbee, the US-based developer of a mobile device-to-television streaming platform, revealed on Wednesday that it received funding from broadcaster Turner and digital media company Tegna as well as existing investors Core Capital, Armory Square Ventures, Kinetic Ventures and New Enterprise Associates as part of its last funding round. The company has not confirmed firm details of that round, but a December 2017 regulatory filing indicates it had raised $3.6m of a targeted $5m.
Aaidea Solutions, the India-based operator of grocery delivery service Milkbasket, has raised $3m in funding from Unilever Ventures, the early-stage investment vehicle for consumer goods producer Unilever, and undisclosed existing investors. VC firm EVC Ventures had joined angel investors Peter Zou and Li Jian for the company’s $500,000 pre-series A round in April 2016, before selling its stake to electronics maker Lenovo’s Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group and Blume Ventures in August 2017.
JetBlue Technology Ventures, the strategic investment arm of airline JetBlue, has invested an undisclosed amount in US-based hyperlocal weather forecaster ClimaCell. The corporate said the funding was provided as part of ClimaCell’s series A round, though that round closed at $15m in November 2017 with funding supplied by Canaan, Fontinalis Partners and Square Peg Capital, the latter of which had also participated in a seed round for ClimaCell that closed at $1.2m in September 2016.
Insignary, the South Korea-based developer of a binary scanning tool for open source software, received $2m on Tuesday from Samho Green Investment, a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Samho Development Group, as well as Mega Investment Corporation and Innopolis Partners. The startup had previously raised $2m in a 2016 seed round but did not disclose details for the round.
Yours.org, the US-based creator of an online platform intended to make it simple for novice users to trade and pay for items with the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, secured $1.5m on Monday in a round co-led by bitcoin miner Bitmain and blockchain technology developer nChain, the latter through its newly formed nChain Reaction subsidiary. The startup will invest the funding in recruiting engineers and growth specialists.
Internet company Jabbar Internet Group has led a seed round of undisclosed size for United Arab Emirates-based car rental app developer eZhire, Entrepreneur Middle East reported on Tuesday, citing a company statement. Ali Al-Salim, co-founder of investment consulting firm Arkan Partners, and Sahm A. Yaghi, a partner at private equity firm Al Jal Capital, also contributed to the round, which will be used for marketing, technology development and an expansion from eZhire’s base of Dubai to the rest of the UAE.
Converge, a US-based startup developing artificial intelligence software for commercial aerial drones, has closed a seed round featuring Samsung Next that netted it more than $750,000. Techstars Ventures, Kima Ventures and undisclosed angel investors also participated in the round, which was announced yesterday, and Converge has already begun piloting its technology with drone service providers and one an undisclosed construction firm.
Business services provider Evergreen Services Group invested an undisclosed sum in US-based IT services provider Executech on Monday. Executech CEO Eric Montague said the company intended to use the funding to expand from its home state of Utah to the rest of the US as it looks to reach $100m in annual revenue.
Energy utility Tokyo Electric Power Company has provided an undisclosed amount of bridge financing for Electron, a UK-based startup developing blockchain technology for use in energy systems. The investment was made in late 2017 but announced at the end of last week. Electron had raised just below $500,000 from undisclosed angel investors as of late 2016 along with grant funding from Innovate UK, according to TechCrunch.