US-based autonomous delivery vehicle developer Nuro received an undisclosed amount of series C funding yesterday from investors including fast food chain Chipotle and Woven Capital, a corporate venturing vehicle for carmaker Toyota. It will be added to the $500m Nuro raised in a November 2020 close led by funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price and backed by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 1, financial services group Fidelity, Baillie Gifford and Greylock at a reported $5bn valuation.
Go-Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of on-demand ride provider Gojek, has led a $10m series A round for Indonesia-based social commerce platform developer KitaBeli, DealStreetAsia reported on Wednesday. VC firms AC Ventures and East Ventures also took part in the round, having previously supplied an undisclosed amount of seed funding for KiatBeli in August 2020 alongside unnamed angel investors.
US-based liquid cooling technology developer LiquidStack emerged from stealth yesterday with $10m in series A funding from cloud computing and data storage technology provider Wiwynn. LiquidStack has been spun off by blockchain technology group BitFury and its liquid cooling system has been designed for use in data centres and for high-performance computing.
India-based higher education provider iNurture has raised Rs 715m ($9.8m) in bridge financing from family office Kimera, Entrackr has reported. Media group Bertelsmann’s India Investments unit provided $5m for iNurture in 2014 following earlier funding from GVFL and Ascent Capital, and joined Ventureast and Ascent Capital to add $4.3m four years later. Kimera supplied a further $4m for iNurture in June 2020.
Ehome Health, a China-based provider of a primary healthcare testing services, has received almost $10m in series B funding from investors including VC firm Joy Capital, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday, citing a company statement. The company had previously raised undisclosed amounts from Legend Star, the early-stage investment arm of conglomerate Legend Holdings, as well as Purple Cow Startups, QF Capital and Chengcun Investment, according to DealStreetAsia.
Inssent, the China-based creator of a digital asset management platform, has also secured nearly $10m, having closed a series A round led by internet group Tencent yesterday. The round – the third to be completed by Inssent – also featured Shunwei Capital and Source Code Capital. It comes after Shunwei Capital led an eight-figure yuan round in May 2020 (RMB10m = $1.4m at contemporary rates) that also featured existing investor Source Code Capital.
EdgeMatrix, a Japan-based video processing system provider spun off by US-headquartered data storage software producer Cloudian, raised ¥1bn ($9.2m) on Tuesday in a series B round featuring mobile network operator NTT Docomo, general contractor Shimizu Corporation, Sony Innovation Fund and DG Ventures, the last two on behalf of electronics manufacturer Sony and internet company Digital Garage. It had previously received $8.5m in series A funding from NTT Docomo, Shimizu and Japan Post Capital, a subsidiary of postal service Japan Post, in August 2019.
MiiMosa, a France-based agricultural crowdfunding platform developer backed by financial services firm Credit Agricole, has secured €7.5m ($9m) in funding from Alter Equity, Fondation Daniel et Nina Carasso, Quadia Capital and Astanor Ventures, LSA Green has reported. The company raised $780,000 from six regional Credit Agricole banks in 2016 and $3.5m from Credit Agricole, Amundi, Phitrust Innovation, InVivo, Weave and BPIfrance two years later.
US-based wearable control system developer Pison Technology completed a $7m series A round on Tuesday that included Bose Venture Capital, the corporate venturing vehicle for audio equipment producer Bose. The round was led by VC firm Lavrock Ventures and also featured In-Q-Tel and Decisive Point. The capital will be used to launch the company’s first products later this year.
Grovara, the US-based owner of a business-to-business online marketplace for natural and organic products, raised $5.5m in seed financing on Wednesday from investors including natural goods data provider Spins. The round was led by David Pottruck, who has been appointed chairman of Grovara, and also featured Bluestein Ventures, Spiral Sun Ventures, Siddhi Capital, CEAS Investments and E and A Venture Capital.
UK-based augmented reality technology developer Blippar secured $5m on Tuesday in a pre-series A round co-led by Chroma Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of game development studio 4J Studios. The round was co-led with West Coast Capital, included Globalive Capital, and came after the UK’s Future Fund invested an undisclosed amount in January 2020. Investment fund Candy Ventures had acquired the company in early 2019 after it had gone into administration and retains a minority stake.
Conglomerate Sonae Group’s corporate venturing unit, Sonae IM, led a €4m ($4.8m) funding round for Finland-based marketing analytics software provider Sellforte on Tuesday. The round included Bonnier Ventures, the strategic investment arm of media company Bonnier, as well as Icebreaker.vc. The company said it has now raised €4.5m altogether and identified Icebreaker.vc as an existing investor.
Infinite Looks, the US-headquartered owner of natural cosmetics brand Sunday II Sunday, raised $4.2m yesterday in a series A round led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, the strategic investment arm of medical products group Johnson & Johnson Innovation. The round included flavourings producer Symrise and Ignite Venture Studio, the latter of which had joined Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC in a seed round of undisclosed size for the company in September 2020.
Jiksak Bioengineering, a Japan-based developer of nerve tissue analysis technology for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, received an undisclosed amount of series B funding on Tuesday from robotics technology producer Cyberdyne and its CEJ Capital fund. Pharmaceutical firms Ohara Pharmaceutical and Essential Pharma had joined female-focused medical device maker Medi-Future and VC firm Anri to provide $1.6m for the company in 2018.
US-based sales collaboration software developer Demoflow yesterday added $2.4m from investors including Slack Fund, the investment arm of communications platform developer Slack, to a seed round that now totals $4m. RTP Seed led the second close, which also featured First Mile Ventures, Next Frontier Capital and Heroic Ventures, and which came in the wake of $1.6m from the same investors in November 2020.
TDK Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of electronics manufacturer TDK, invested an undisclosed amount in Mojo Vision, a US-headquartered developer of smart contact lens technology, on Wednesday. Mojo Vision had raised a total of $159m as of a $51m series B-1 round in April 2020, from investors including mobile engagement technology provider Numbase, electronics manufacturer LG and subsidiaries of mass media group Liberty Global, internet technology provider Google, communications equipment maker Motorola Solutions and telecoms firm KDDI.
Catallaxy, the Japan-based creator of an online commercial trading platform called Mitsuri for custom-made metal parts, secured ¥410m ($3.8m) on Monday from investors including dye and chemicals trader Nagase & Co. The round also featured SMBC Venture Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, as well as Future Venture Capital, Incubate Fund, Pavilion Capital and undisclosed individuals. SMBC Venture Capital and Incubate Fund had joined Mizuho Capital, part of financial services firm Mizuho Financial Group, in a March 2020 pre-series A round with an unnamed angel investor.
Commercial vehicle manufacturer Volvo Group has provided an undisclosed amount for Driivz, an Israel-based provider of electric vehicle charging technology, through its Volvo Group Venture Capital unit. Centrica Innovations, the investment arm of energy utility Centrica, co-led a $12m round for the company in early 2019 with Ombu Group that included Inven Capital, a subsidiary of fellow utility CEZ Group, before co-leading an $11m series C round Centrica with fuel forecourt system provider Gilbarco Veeder-Root in February 2020.
Payment technology producer Stone Pagamentos has supplied an undisclosed amount of series B funding for Brazil-based groceries delivery app developer Delivery Much, Startupi has reported. The corporate had previously invested an undisclosed amount in Delivery Much in May 2020.
Ambassify, the Belgium-based developer of an employee engagement software platform, secured €2m ($2.4m) from investors including financial services firm ING on Tuesday. Investment firm LRM, the Flemish Department for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and angel investor Jean-Marie Vliegen also contributed to the round, which consisted of a mixture of equity funding, subordinated debt financing and subsidies.
BitClout, the US-based creator of a social network where users can trade non-fungible tokens based on each other’s reputations, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from investors including digital currency exchange Coinbase’s investment arm, Coinbase Ventures, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Social Capital, Winklevoss Capital and Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of social media platform Reddit, are also among its investors.
VC fund Sixth Sense Ventures has invested Rs 150m ($2.1m) in Bombay Shaving Company, the India-based men’s grooming brand backed by consumer product manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser (RB), YourStory reported yesterday. RB supplied $6.2m for the company in January this year, the month after Sixth Sense Ventures led a $6.3m round that also featured consumer goods producer Colgate Palmolive Asia Pacific to take Bombay Shaving Company’s overall funding to $11.4m.
UK-based edge artificial intelligence software developer LGN Innovations has received $2m in funding from investors including automotive manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, Venturebeat reported on Tuesday. Trucks Venture Capital, Luminous Ventures and unnamed others also took part in the round, which will support product development and recruitment.
Nigeria-based digital financial services provider Bankly has closed a $2m seed round led by Vault, the holding company for financial technology producer Vanso, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. Plug and Play Ventures, Rising Tide Africa and Chrysalis Capital also participated in the round, which will fund the expansion of the network of agents through which the company’s system operates.
ViAct, the China-based developer of an activity monitoring software platform for construction projects, has secured $2m in seed capital from investors including e-commerce group Alibaba’s Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, TechCrunch reported yesterday. The round was co-led by SOSV and Vectr Ventures, with backing from Artesian Ventures and ParticleX. The company had previously raised an undisclosed amount from Alibaba, Artesian Ventures, SOSV, HKAI Lab and China Accelerator in 2019.
Covalent, the Canada-based developer of a blockchain data software platform, received $2m in funding on Wednesday from investors including Delphi Ventures, Binance Labs and Coinbase Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiaries of crypto research frim Delphi Digital and cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Coinbase respectively. Hashed led the round, which also featured Hypersphere Ventures as well as blockchain protocol developers Moonbeam, Avalanche, Near and Elrond. Covalent had secured $3.1m from CoinGecko, Alameda Research, Woodstock Fund, 1kx Capital and Mechanism Capital in October 2020.
US-based restaurant maintenance platform developer 86 Repair has completed a $2m seed round featuring sporting equipment producer GHS Holdings, supply chain services provider Havi and food distributor Gordon Food Service. The corporates were joined by TDF Ventures, Tamarind Hill, Invest Detroit Ventures, Network Ventures and Cleveland Avenue State Treasurer Urban Success Fund. It followed a $1.5m round in May 2019 led by Tamarind Hill and backed by GFS, Math Ventures, Invest Detroit Ventures, Relish Works, Network Ventures, M25 and unnamed angel investors.
Kenmei Technologies, a Spain-based developer of mobile network automation technology, completed a €1.5m ($1.8m) series A round yesterday led by water management services provider Global Omnium through its GoHub Ventures subsidiary. The round included Masmovil’s MASventures accelerator and fellow telecoms firm Telefónica’s open innovation hub, Wayra. Kenmei had received $1.1m in seed funding from GoHub Ventures and VC firm R2 Seed Investments in September 2019.
Segari, the Indonesia-based operator of a farm-to-table grocery service, has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round that included payment services firm Credit Saison’s strategic investment arm, Saison Capital, e27 reported on Monday. The round was led by VC firm Beenext and also featured VC fund AC Ventures and unnamed angel investors.
Nigeria-based international payment technology developer Afriex has received $1.2m in seed capital from investors including telecoms and internet group SoftBank’s Opportunity Fund, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. The round was led by Launch Africa and also featured Y Combinator, Future Africa, Brightstone VC, Processus Capital, Uncommon Ventures, A$AP Capital, Precursor Ventures, Ivernet Holdings and angel investors including Russell Smith, Mandela Schumacher-Hodge Dixon, Furqan Rydhan and Andrea Vaccari.
India-based fertility services provider Janani has secured Rs 80m ($1.1m) in a seed round that included healthcare provider Apollo Hospitals, YourStory reported yesterday. Venture Catalysts led the round, which was also backed by Inflection Point Ventures, Lets Venture, 9unicorn and AL. The company had raised $200,000 in a pre-seed round led by 9Unicorns that included angel investors including Archana Priyadarshini, Sweta Rau, Nandita Palshetkar and Kishore Ganji.
Aflac Ventures, the corporate VC arm of insurance firm Aflac, provided an undisclosed amount on Monday for ExaWizards, a Japan-based developer of artificial intelligence technology for the medical and nursing care industry. ExaWizards had raised $23.1m as of a $14.7m series B round in mid-2019 that included Persol Innovation, a subsidiary of recruitment firm Persol, and insurance provider Sompo Holdings, as well as additional investors including Innovation Network Corporation of Japan. It joined Toho Gas Accelerator Program 2020 – run by energy utility Toho Gas and Persol subsidiary Eiicon – in January 2021.
AoCubo, the Brazil-based developer of a technology-equipped online real estate portal, has raised R$5m ($900,000) from investors including larger peer InfoCasa, Startupi has reported. Ipanema Ventures, Cavig and NetVentures also took part in the round, which came after the company secured $250,000 from Simon Baker and Brian Requarth, the co-founders of online real estate marketplace Viva Real, in March 2020.
Beacon VC, the VC subsidiary of Kasikorn Bank, has joined three unnamed investors to provide an undisclosed amount of series B funding for Builk One Group, a Thailand-based developer of software that helps construction firms manage the process of sourcing supplies, e27 reported on Wednesday. It had previously raised undisclosed amounts from AddVentures by SCG, a subsidiary of building materials provider Siam Cement Group, in addition to VC firm Moonshot Venture Capital.
Remodela, the Japan-based creator of a software platform for the management of home renovations, secured ¥51m ($470,000) on Monday from investors including Saison Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of payment services firm Credit Saison. VC firm Hack Ventures and angel investor Kunihiro Tanaka also contributed to the round.
Financial data aggregator Minkabu The Infonoid invested an undisclosed amount in Smart Trade, the Japan-based operator of algorithmic trading platform QuantX Store, on Wednesday in conjunction with a strategic partnership. Nippon Information Development, the system integrator more commonly known as NID, had joined the Japanese government-backed DBJ Capital and an unnamed other investor to provide funding for Smart Trade in 2017 before securities brokerage Matsui Securities added a similarly undisclosed sum in January 2019.
BlueBlaze, the Japan-based operator of university alumni network-based jobseeking platform Creedo, raised ¥30m ($280,000) from internet and telecoms group SoftBank’s Deepcore Tokyo I Fund and private investor Tatsuya Homma on Wednesday. The company has registered about 3,000 users since the platform was launched in March 2020.
Flux, a Nigeria-based developer of cross-border payment technology, has received $77,000 in pre-seed funding from investors including online operating system provider Mozilla, TechCrunch reported on Monday. VC fund Hustle Fund also participated in the round, as did undisclosed angel investors, and the funding will support expansion in the Kansai region of Japan.
VC firm SIT Capital has invested an undisclosed amount to join the $11.4m series A round disclosed by US-based advanced materials and chemicals developer Kebotix in April 2020. Pharmaceutical firm Novo led the first close of the round, which followed a $5m seed round in 2018 led by One Way Ventures that incldued Baidu Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of internet group Baidu, in addition to Flybridge Capital Partners, Embark Ventures, Propagator Ventures and WorldQuant Ventures.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu. Photo courtesy of Nuro.
