Contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn invested an undisclosed amount in China-based bicycle rental platform Mobike on Monday as part of a strategic partnership that will allow Mobike to increase production of its smart bikes by about 5.6 million each year. Mobike had previously disclosed more than $325m of funding from investors including internet group Tencent, online travel agency Ctrip, media firm Bertelsmann, hospitality chain Huazhu Hotels, Warburg Pincus, TPG Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital.
Opt Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of digital marketing company Opt, and venture capital firm IMJ Investment Partners have invested ¥500m ($4.4m) in Japan-based energy price comparison platform Enechange, The Bridge reported on Monday. Electronics and industrial equipment producer Hitachi and VC fund Energy & Environment Investment had provided $3.5m in funding for the startup in February 2016, according to The Bridge.
Careship, a Germany-based operator of an online marketplace for senior care services and a graduate of media firm Axel Springer’s Plug and Play Accelerator, has raised $4m in a round led by VC firm Spark Capital, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. The company’s platform enables families to find qualified carers for elderly members and also provides advice on insurance and care organisation.
UK-based sodium-ion battery developer Faradion has received £3.2m ($4m) in funding from investors including catalyst technology provider Haldor Topsoe. Investment firm Mercia Technologies paid £1.9m for a 13.6% stake as part of the round, and has agreed to invest a further £600,000 in the next 18 months depending on the company’s progress. Haldor Topsoe had previously invested an undisclosed sum in Faradion in 2014, picking up an 18% stake in the process.
LetsTransport, an India-based startup that coordinates local large vehicles for last-mile delivery, has secured Rs 270m ($4m) in a series A round featuring internet company GMO, angel investor Neelesh Bhatnagar and undisclosed existing investors, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday. The round follows an Rs 80m seed round that included VC firm Rebright Partners in 2015.
Viibar, the Japan-based operator of a crowdsourced video production service, has received approximately ¥400m ($3.5m) from Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the media company also known as Nikkei, as well as Dentsu Digital Holdings, a corporate venturing subsidiary of marketing firm Dentsu, and Globis Capital Partners, The Bridge has reported. Globis and Gree Ventures, the investment vehicle for internet company Gree, had supplied $3m in funding for Viibar in 2014.
Talentoday, the US-based creator of a psychometrics and predictive analytics platform, secured approximately $3.5m in funding on Monday, with the cash “mainly” coming from human resources firm Adecco Group. The round came after Talentoday raised $1.4m across rounds in 2013 and 2014, from angel investors including Nicolas Draca.
Ireland-based personalised learning services startup Adaptemy received just over €3m ($3.2m) in equity financing on Monday from educational publisher Folens and government agency Enterprise Ireland. Adaptemy provides software that powers digital products for educational publishers like Folens, one of its customers.
Sociolla, the Japan-based operator of a cosmetics and beauty e-commerce platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of series B funding from e-commerce company iStyle and VC firm East Ventures, according to Tech in Asia. The round follows a series A round of undisclosed size in late 2015 that was led by Venturra Capital and backed by East Ventures and angel investor Steve Christian.
UK-based wave energy technology developer 40South Energy has received €2.25m ($2.4m) in funding from energy utility and long-term strategic partner Enel, and Invitalia Ventures. Enel made the investment through its renewables subsidiary, Enel Green Power, and 40South raised the cash as it prepares to commercialise its H24 wave power system.
IT services firm ABM Knowledgeware has agreed to invest Rs 150m ($2.2m) in India-based cloud security technology developer Instasafe Technologies, MoneyControl reported on Wednesday. The funding is set to be provided in the next 12 to 15 months, and ABM is making the investment to boost its digital offering for governments.
Alpaca, the US-based creator of an automated platform that helps traders source new trading ideas, completed a $1.75m round on Tuesday that included Monex Ventures, the strategic investment subsidiary of exchange operator Monex Group; securities and brokerage operator TradeStation; and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, the VC arm of financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. The round was filled out by angel investor Eric Di Benedetto and D4V, the joint venture between design and consulting firm Ideo and VC firm Genuine Startups.
Brand Capital, the ad-for-equity arm of media group Bennet, Coleman and Co, has provided Rs 100m ($1.5m) for India-based health testing services startup Airmed Path Labs, the Economic Times reported yesterday. The funding will enable Airmed to expand to the cities of Delhi and Gurgaon as well as the rest of the state Gujarat by the end of February, according to co-founder Amit Gupta.
Private equity firm Riverwood Capital has revealed that it took part in the $100m series D round closed by Brazil-based ride ordering platform 99 earlier this month. The round, which was led by China-based ride hailing company Didi Chuxing, followed $25m of funding provided by Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate VC arm of mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, Tiger Global and Monashees in 2015.
Quess, a business services subsidiary of travel services provider Thomas Cook India, has agreed to pay Rs 55.5m ($820,000) for a 26% stake in India-based machine learning technology developer Heptagon Technologies, Reuters has reported, citing a stock market filing.