Perfect Corp, the Taiwan-based creator of an artificial intelligence-equipped social fashion and beauty app, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from e-commerce group Alibaba in conjunction with a strategic partnership agreement. The investment was part of a larger round of undisclosed size that included venture capital firm China Creation Ventures (CCV), people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. CCV led the company’s $25m series A round in late 2017, investing with video app developer CyberLink, Yuanta Asia Investment and Extol Capital.
Ntwrk, the US-based operator of a youth-focused e-commerce platform that utilises video programming to sell featured products, closed its series A round at $10m on Wednesday following a $3m investment by footwear retailer Foot Locker, the Wall Street Journal reported. The previous tranche had been co-led by event promoter Live Nation and performer Drake in June this year, following funding from entertainment producer Warner Bros’ Digital Networks unit and entertainment investment fund MSA Enterprises in May 2018 prior to its launch.
Mintbao, a China-based developer of artificial intelligence technology for the insurance industry, secured about $10m in series A funding from investors including Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), a corporate venturing vehicle for media group Bertelsmann, on Thursday, China Money Network reported. VC firm Sequoia Capital led the round, which reportedly followed a seven-figure amount of seed funding from BAI in March 2018.
Netherlands-based car sharing service SnappCar raised €8m ($8.8m) in funding from petrol station operator Tango and undisclosed existing investors yesterday. Automotive services provider AutoBinck invested an undisclosed amount in SnappCar in 2015 and returned two years later for an $11.2m round that included Europcar Lab, a subsidiary of car rental service Europcar, and startup studio Founders.
US-based digital identification technology developer Evernym completed an $8m pre-series A round yesterday that included Barclays Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of financial services firm Barclays, as well as VC firm Medici Ventures. The company had previously received $6.5m in November 2016 and secured $15m in July 2018 through a future token agreement, according to regulatory filings.
Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, the strategic investment arm of pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, co-led a €7m ($7.7m) seed round for Germany-based, oncology-focused antibody therapy developer Tacalyx on Wednesday with healthcare investment firm Kurma Partners. The round also featured Idinvest Partners, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Coparion and Creathor Ventures, and the cash will fund preclinical development of its first product candidates.
Mexico-based alternative banking startup Klar received $7.5m on Wednesday in a seed round featuring Santander Innoventures, financial services firm Santander’s strategic innovation subsidiary. Fintech-focused VC firm Quona Capital led the round, which included aCrew, FJ Labs, Arc Labs and Western Technology Investment, and the equity funding was secured alongside $50m in debt financing.
Daisy Intelligence, the Canada-based creator of a risk management software platform, has secured C$10m ($7.5m) in a series A round that was led by VC firm Framework Venture Partners and backed by Sonae IM, retail and telecommunications group Sonae’s corporate venturing unit. The company had raised an undisclosed sum from JSM Capital and Manjis Holding in 2016 through the Spark Angel Network, and received a further $3.8m from Espresso Capital in September 2018.
Flipside Crypto, a US-based provider of blockchain and crypto intelligence for business clients, raised $7.1m on Tuesday from investors including CMT Digital, an investment vehicle for trading firm CMT Digital. The funding was supplied as part of a ‘seed prime’ round that was led by Galaxy Digital Ventures and backed by Avon Ventures, an affiliate of investment and financial services group Fidelity, as well as Collaborative Fund, True Ventures, Founder Collective, Digital Currency Group, Castle Island and Boston Seed. Flipside had reportedly raised a total of $4.5m as of November 2018.
Robert Bosch Venture Capital and Hidden Hill Capital, respective investment vehicles for industrial technology and appliance producer Robert Bosch and logistics services provider Global Logistics Properties (GLP), have provided an undisclosed amount of series A-plus funding for China-based autonomous driving technology developer TrunkTech, China Money Network reported today. The news was revealed by Nio Capital, a vehicle sponsored by carmaker Nio that is an earlier investor, as are GLP, voice recognition system provider iFlytek and Eastern Bell Capital.
Ola, the India-based on-demand ride provider that counts Chinese peer Didi Chuxing, telecommunications firm SoftBank and internet group Tencent among its investors, has received $5m from a special purpose vehicle called ARK Ola Pre IPO Trust, Entrackr reported on Monday. The vehicle is likely being used to manage private investments in Ola, which has raised more than $2.6bn in equity financing in total, as it prepares to launch an initial public offering.
Media company Tamedia led a CHF5m ($5m) series A round for Switzerland-based banking app developer Neon on Monday. Early-stage investment firm and existing backer Backbone Ventures also participated in the round. Tamedia had initially invested an undisclosed amount in Neon in May 2019 which likely represented its contribution to the series A funding.
US-based biotech startup Sexton Biotechnologies spun out of incubator Cook Regentec on Tuesday with $5m of growth capital from investors including bioscience tool producer BioLife Solutions. The corporate was joined by Casdin Capital, BioCrossroads and Cook Regentec itself, and the proceeds will go toward research and development and the commercialisation of Sexton’s cell and gene therapy bioproduction tool technology.
Cloud storage software provider Dropbox invested $5m in US-based software-as-a-service management startup BetterCloud on Wednesday in connection with a strategic partnership. BetterCloud has now raised a total of $112m and was valued at $270m as of its last round, a $60m series E in April 2018 that was led by Bain Capital Ventures and backed by existing investors that included Accel, Greycroft Partners, Tribeca Venture Partners, New Amsterdam Growth Capital and Flybridge Capital Partners.
Noom, a US-based behavioural health app developer backed by electronics producer Samsung, semiconductor maker Qualcomm, human resources firm Recruit and pharmaceutical company Hanmi, raised an undisclosed amount yesterday from Serena Ventures, tennis professional Serena Williams’ VC vehicle. The company had secured more than $86m as of its last round, in May this year, when it secured $58m in a round led by Sequoia Capital.
FruitSpec, the Israel-based creator of a software platform that estimates the size of fruit yields, closed $4m in funding on Tuesday from fertiliser producer Hubei Forbon Technology and agriculture-focused investment firm AgVentures. FruitSpec had previously raised $700,000 from medical and agricultural technology-focused investment firm Trendlines.
Before Brands, a US-based developer of products intended to prevent infants from contracting food allergies, received an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday from Nestlé Health Science, the nutritional science subsidiary of packaged food producer Nestlé, and investment firm Gurnet Point Capital. The company has not revealed details of past funding but said Gurnet Point had led multiple earlier rounds, while Nestlé Health Science invested as part of a licensing agreement for its products outside the US.
US-based airport shuttle bus provider Landline has secured $3.9m in seed funding from investors including media holding company WndrCo, Fortune reported on Monday. The round was led by Upfront Ventures and also featured fellow VC firm Mucker Capital and VC fund Matchstick Ventures.
Innogy Innovation Hub, a corporate venturing vehicle for energy utility Innogy, has led a $3.6m seed round for Israel-based internet-of-things security software developer ShieldIOT, Calcalist reported on Monday. Janvest Capital Partners, Danmar Capital and Minvest Partners also contributed to the round.
Cowbell Cyber, the US-based creator of an artificial intelligence-equipped insurance underwriting platform, received $3.3m on Tuesday in a seed round featuring insurance brokerage Holmes Murphy & Associates. The corporate invested alongside VC firms ManchesterStory Group and Tri-Valley Ventures in addition to Global Insurance Accelerator, a startup accelerator backed by 13 insurance carriers. The funding will be used to strengthen the company’s platform.
China-based mixed-reality centre developer Planet O disclosed on Monday that it has raised RMB21.5m in a seed round led by property developer Ceetrus, stating the amount equated to roughly $3.2m. That exchange rate would indicate the funding was secured in May this year, though Planet O has not confirmed a time frame. It intends to leverage the development resources and expertise of Ceetrus as it prepares to open its first centre in the city of Shanghai in early 2020.
Flowcast, a US-based provider of machine learning-equipped credit assessment software, completed a $3m series A round on Tuesday that was co-led by ING Ventures, financial services firm ING’s strategic investment arm. Fintech VC fund BitRock Capital co-led the round, which included Katalyst Ventures and Alpana Ventures, both of which were identified as existing investors. The company has not revealed details of previous financing.
Blu Smart, an India-based ride hailing startup backed by motorcycle manufacturer Hero Motorcorp and smartphone producer MicroMax, has received $3m in funding from investors including family office Ka Entreprises, Jito Angel Network, Kalpavriksh Trust, Survam Partners, Micromax co-founder Rajesh Agarwal and fellow angel investor Sanjiv Bajaj, Inc42 reported on Tuesday. Jito led a $2.2m seed round for the startup last month featuring Hero, MicroMax, financial services firm Centrum, MayField Fund and undisclosed angel investors.
Philippines-based online payment tool developer PayMongo has secured $2.7m in a seed round backed by digital payment technology producer Stripe, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. The round included Founders Fund, Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, Soma Capital and angel investors including Justin Mateen and the cash was raised just six months after PayMongo was founded, in the wake of its participation in the Y Combinator accelerator.
Cell and gene therapy tool provider BioLife Solutions joined Casdin Capital to co-lead a $2m convertible debt round for US-based viral vector manufacturing technology startup iVexSol on Tuesday. Lentiviral vectors act as gene-delivery vehicles that make up part of gene therapies used to treat cancers and rare and inherited genetic disorders.
Mandiri Capital Indonesia, the VC arm of financial services firm Bank Mandiri, has led a $1m pre-series A round for Indonesia-based, agriculture-focused peer-to-peer lending platform Crowde, DailySocial has reported. Bank Mandiri itself supplied an additional $7m in debt financing for the company, which will put the cash into development of technology for use by farmers. It came after an undisclosed amount from Gree Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of digital media company Gree.
Cledara, the UK-based creator of a software platform that tracks software-as-a-service use for enterprise customers, has raised a total of $930,000 in pre-seed funding from investors including the joint investment venture formed by financial services firm BBVA and venture builder Anthemis in late 2018, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. The startup’s other backers include Techstars London and angel investors including Chris Adelsbac.
Betting information provider Better Collective has paid DKK4m ($590,000) for a stake of approximately 20% in Mindway AI, a Denmark-based developer of software that pinpoints problem gambling behaviour. The company is also providing the same amount for Mindway in the form of debt financing, and the investment came as it prepares to move into the commercial phase of its product.
Mexico-based crowdfunding platform Play Business has received $500,000 in funding from financial services firm Banregio, according to Contxto. The platform has overseen nearly 24,000 investments since 2014 and the Banregio investment will fund its expansion across its home country.
Publishing group Nahdet Misr invested $100,000 in Career 180, the Egypt-based operator of an online career advice platform, in May this year through its corporate venturing unit, EdVentures, Ventureburn reported on Monday. The deal was completed two months before EdVentures supplied $100,000 for another Egypt-based startup, school management software provider Colnn.
