AAA Corporate venturing deal net: 23-27 July 2018

Corporate venturing deal net: 23-27 July 2018

TrackR, the US-based possession-tracking device developer backed by e-commerce firm Amazon and mobile network operator NTT Docomo, has secured a little over $10m according to a regulatory filing. The company had raised a total of more than $60m as of its last round, a $50m series B in August 2017 featuring corporate venturing units Amazon Alexa Fund and NTT Docomo Capital, Revolution Growth, Glenmede Trust, Foundry Group and Bespoke Strategies. Its earlier investors include Resolute Ventures.

Madaket Health, the US-based creator of a platform that facilitates the exchange of data between healthcare providers and patients, completed a $10m series B round on Monday that included financial services firm PNC Financial Services, Salesforce Ventures and Experian Ventures, subsidiaries of enterprise software provider Salesforce and credit services firm Experian. The round was led by Qiming Venture Partners and followed just over $10m from Allen & Company, F-Prime Capital Partners, Lux Capital and Waterline Ventures.

ScaleFactor, the US-based developer of an intelligent accounting software platform for businesses, received $10m in series A funding from backers including Citi Ventures, financial services firm Citi’s strategic investment arm, on Tuesday. Canaan Partners led the round, which featured Broadhaven Ventures, Flyover Capital, Firebrand Ventures, Next Coast Ventures and strategic angel investors, and it increased ScaleFactor’s overall funding to approximately $12.9m, its earlier investors including Techstars Ventures and Edison Factory.

Scutum, the Spain-based owner of electric scooter sharing service Silence, has secured €8.6m ($10m) in funding from oil and gas supplier Repsol, Caixa Capital Risc, which functions as financial services firm La Caixa’s VC arm, and the Spanish government’s Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology, La Vanguardia reported on Tuesday. All three had participated in a $2.7m series A round for Scutum in 2014 that gave them a collective 49% stake in the company, according to La Vanguardia.

US-based smart loan technology startup LoanSnap has emerged from stealth with an $8m series A round featuring diversified conglomerate Virgin Group. True Ventures led the round, which included Baseline Ventures, Core Innovation Partners, Liquid 2 Ventures, Ovo Fund, Transmedia Ventures and unnamed angel investors. The round increased LoanSnap’s overall funding to $12.3m according to the company, which has not released details of its earlier financing.

Kite, a cancer immunotherapy-focused subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences, has invested an undisclosed sum in Gadeta, a Netherlands-based developer of T cell receptors intended to fight cancer, as part of a strategic collaboration that also gives it the right to buy the company. Gadeta had raised $7.9m in a 2016 series A round featuring pharmaceutical company Baxalta’s Baxalta Ventures unit, Medicxi Ventures and Utrecht Holdings, the knowledge transfer office of Utrecht University and University Medical Center Utrecht.

Gradient Ventures, the artificial intelligence-focused fund owned by internet technology provider Google, led a $7m funding round on Tuesday for Zorroa, a US-based developer of AI-equipped business intelligence and search software. Proceeds from the round, which included strategic partners, will be used to add features to the company’s visual intelligence platform and add to its headcount. 

Growth equity firm North Atlantic Capital led a $7m round for Chartbeat, the US-based creator of a content intelligence platform for publishers, on Wednesday, taking its total equity funding to $38m. Chartbeat’s earlier investors include media group O’Reilly Media’s corporate venturing unit, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, as well as internet company Digital Garage, Harmony Partners, DFJ, Index Ventures, SV Angel, Lowercase Capital, Founder Collective, Lerer Hippeau, Freestyle Capital, Betaworks and SoftTech VC.

Locus Biosciences, a US-based precision antimicrobial developer backed by internet group Tencent, has secured $7m in funding from unnamed investors according to a securities filing. The company had raised a total of more than $25m as of a $19m series A round featuring Tencent, Artis Ventures, Abstract Ventures and North Carolina Biotechnology Centre in November 2017, according to regulatory filings and press releases.

Blavity, the US-based operator of a digital media platform focused on a black millennial audience, has raised $6.5m in funding from investors including GV and Comcast Ventures, respective subsidiaries of internet technology conglomerate Alphabet and mass media group Comcast. The corporates were joined by Macro Ventures, Plexo Capital and ex-basketball player Baron Davis, and followed $1.9m in funding from undisclosed investors in April 2017 according to a securities filing.

Bose Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for audio equipment maker Bose, invested an undisclosed sum in digital fitness app Aaptiv on Wednesday, adding to a series C round that totalled $22m as of late last month. The round already included entertainment providers Walt Disney and Warner Music Group, infrastructure and services group NWS Holdings, Amazon Alexa Fund, Millennium Technology Value Partners, 14W and Insight Venture Partners, and had boosted Aaptiv’s overall funding to $52m.

Beddr, the US-based creator of a sleep tracker that makes use of scientific discoveries in sleep labs, received $5.6m on Tuesday in a series A round featuring Delta Dental Washington Seed Fund, a subsidiary of dental insurer Delta Dental Washington. The round, announced as Beddr launched its product, was led by Three Leaf Ventures and included Stanford-StartX Fund, IT Farm and undisclosed angel investors.

Game developer Pearl Abyss joined KT Investment and Kakao Ventures, respective subsidiaries of telecoms firm KT Corporation and internet company Kakao, have invested in BinaryVR, a US-based developer of facial tracking software that enables a user’s facial expressions to be transferred to a virtual reality avatar, as part of a $4.5m series A round, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. VC firm Atinum Investment also took part in the round, which lifted the company’s total funding to $5.6m.

Equinor Technology Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of energy company Equinor formerly known as Statoil Technology Invest, has invested an undisclosed sum in US-based gas detection system developer SeekOps. The technology developed by SeekOps, which was spun off from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, supports emerging methane mitigation schemes being instituted by Equinor.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, the corporate venturing subsidiary of medical group Johnson & Johnson, led a $3m funding round on Monday for OrthoSpin, an Israel-based developer of robotic orthopaedics treatment technology. OrthoSpin, a portfolio company of innovation commercialisation company Trendlines, will use the funding to speed up development of its technology.

Vietnam-based online real estate portal Homedy has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from investors including recruitment firm Mynavi Corporation, which likely led the round, DealStreetAsia reported on Monday. The round also featured Access Ventures and Genesia Ventures, the latter of which co-led a round, also of undisclosed size, for Homedy in June 2017 with PixVine Capital.

Agora, the Spain-headquartered operator of a contest-based photo-sourcing platform, completed a funding round sized at more than €2m ($2.3m) on Monday that included real estate agency Kabche Real Estate. The round also featured Mnext Venture Capital, WildInvest, Soller Invest, Apium Hub, IESE, existing investor Esade Ban and footballer Gerard Piqué.

Digital Marketing Solutions (DMS), the Indonesia-based developer of an artificial intelligence-equipped advertising platform spanning online and offline ads, has received an undisclosed sum from digital exchange hub NFC Indonesia and IT services provider M Cash, E27 reported yesterday. NFC took a 30% stake in DMS through its investment and M Cash 5%.

By Miles, the UK-based operator of a pay-as-you-drive automotive insurance platform, secured £1m ($1.3m) on Wednesday in a seed round featuring InMotion Ventures, the strategic investment arm of carmaker Jaguar Land Rover. JamJar Investments led the round, which included a contribution from InsurTech Gateway, and it was closed after By Miles launched the service last week.

Financial services firm Icici Bank has agreed to pay Rs 87.2m ($1.3m) for a 9.9% stake in India-based e-commerce payment service ePaylater, VCCircle reported on Wednesday, citing a stock exchange filing. The company, which allows users to buy goods online and pay for them in instalments, had previously received $2m from three high-net-worth individuals in June 2016.

Supermedium, the US-based developer of a virtual reality platform designed to work on the web, has raised $1.1m in seed capital from investors including Colopl Next, a VR-focused subsidiary of game developer Colopl, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Cantos Ventures, Boost VC, Social Starts, M Ventures, Seraph Group, Taimatsu, Outpost VC, Anorak Ventures, Candela Partners, Shrug VC and angel investor Andrew Ogawa also participated.

Altizon Systems, the India-based creator of a development platform for internet-of-things products, has received about $1m in funding from Wipro Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of IT services firm Wipro, as well as The Hive and Pi Ventures, VCCircle reported on Wednesday. Altizon raised $100,000 from software developer Persistent Systems in 2014 before adding $4m from Wipro Ventures, The Hive, Lumis Partners and Infuse Ventures in early 2016.

Cemex Ventures, the corporate VC arm of building materials supplier Cemex, has participated in a round of undisclosed size for Concrete Sensors, the US-based developer of a platform that provides information on atmospheric surroundings in order to help building contractors mix concrete more effectively, it revealed on Tuesday. The round also featured Requus Ventures, a subsidiary of real estate investment and advisory firm Requus Capital, and VC firm Arab Angels Fund.

Conntac, a Germany-based developer of technology that helps telecommunications operators repair internet disruptions more rapidly, raised a high six-figure euro amount (€100,000 = $116,000) yesterday in a series A round that included Wayra Germany, a subsidiary of telecoms company Telefónica. Startkapital-Fonds Augsburg, Bayern Kapital and an undisclosed angel investor also participated in the round.

ConsenSys Ventures, the VC representative of blockchain technology provider ConsenSys, has co-led a $600,000 round for Chile-based cryptocurrency services provider CryptoMarket, LatAm List has reported. VC firm Magma Partners co-led the round, which will be used to expand the range of products and services offered by the startup.

Nexoos, a Brazil-based peer-to-peer lending platform backed by insurance provider Porto Seguro, has completed a pre-series A round featuring family office Loyall and three undisclosed investors that was reportedly sized at about R$2m ($530,000), Iupana has reported. Nexoos received $50,000 by participating in Porto Seguro-backed accelerator Oxigênio Aceleradora in 2016, and it plans to raise series A funding in 2019 once it has secured a banking licence.

Go Good, the Brazil-based creator of an app that provides social rewards to encourage exercise, has raised between R$600,000 and R$22m ($160,000 to $540,000) from VC firm Canary and various angel investors, StartSe has reported. The company had previously received $50,000 when it also took part in the Porto Seguro-backed Oxigênio Aceleradora.

Malaysia-based affiliate marketing platform developer OneKlix has received $250,000 in funding from investors including affiliate marketing network operator IndoLeads, E27 reported yesterday. VC fund TRM AS led the round, and the proceeds will support OneKlix’s expansion across Southeast Asia.

On-demand ride provider Grab has invested an undisclosed sum in HappyFresh, the Indonesia-based grocery e-commerce platform with which it formed a grocery delivery joint venture earlier this month, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday. The funding would follow at least $24m raised by HappyFresh from conglomerate Sinar Mas’ Digital Ventures unit, Vertex Ventures, Beenext, Endeavor Catalyst, 500 Startups, Asia Venture Group, Ardent Capital, Samena Capital and Cherry Ventures across two rounds in 2015 and 2016.

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