Israel-based wifi chipset producer Celeno Communications has secured $10m in a funding round led by venture capital firm Iris Capital and backed by networking technology provider Cisco and mass media group Liberty Global, both of which took part as existing investors, Calcalist reported on Wednesday. It has now raised $116m altogether, its earlier backers including financial services firm Bank HaPoalim, Red Dot Capital Partners, OurCrowd, Pitango, 83North, Vintage Investment Partners and Miven Venture Partners.
Financial media network Tastytrade has led a $10m funding round for Small Exchange, a US-based startup looking to establish a trading exchange for small-scale futures products, Crain’s Chicago Business reported yesterday. Investment firm Peak6 also participated in the round, closed as Small Exchange prepares for an expected launch to take place in the fourth quarter of this year.
Vengo, a US-based point-of-sale technology producer backed by advertising agency Vector Media and cosmetics distributor Grace Beauty’s corporate venturing unit, Grace Beauty Capital, has raised $7m in funding, according to a securities filing on Wednesday. The corporate provided an undisclosed amount for Vengo in 2016, following $5m in equity financing and $700,000 in debt from backers including Vector, QueensBridge Venture Partners, Kensington Capital, Vegas Tech Fund and Scout Ventures according to press reports and regulatory filings.
Vivante Health, the US-based creator of a digital platform for gut health management, has closed a $6m series A round featuring NFP Ventures, the strategic investment arm of insurance broker NFP. The round included healthcare-focused venture capital firm FCA Venture Partners and, in addition to investing, NFP will introduce Vivante’s GIThrive platform to its customers.
E-commerce firm Alibaba has led a pre-series A round of undisclosed size for China-based logistics optimisation software startup Pickupp, investing through its Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund. The round included VC firm Spark Ventures and Axis Capital, the investment holding group that joined mobile app developer Sage42, diversified holding company Shanghai Bestway Enterprise Development and Metroworks Equity in a round of undisclosed size for Pickupp in October 2017.
Valerann, the Israel-based developer of a traffic management software system, has received $5m in seed capital from investors including telecommunications company Telefónica, Tech.eu has reported. VC funds Rio Ventures Holdings and 2B Angels co-led the round, raised in advance of a planned public launch of the startup’s product later this month.
Diversified conglomerate Reliance Industries has paid $5m for a 5.6% stake in Vakt, the UK-based creator of a blockchain-equipped system for post-trade processing, Business Standard has reported. Vakt’s existing shareholders include oil and gas suppliers BP, Shell and Equinor, commodities traders Mercuria and Gunvor, manufacturing and chemicals conglomerate Koch Industries and financial services firms ABN Amro, ING and Société Générale.
Image recognition software provider SenseTime has supplied an undisclosed amount of series A funding for China-based artificial intelligence product developer Ling Technology, China Money Network reported on Wednesday, citing a statement by another Ling investor, video processing technology producer NetPosa Technologies. Ling had previously received $21.8m in a July 2018 pre-series A round, according to China Money Network, which stated that NetPosa currently owns a 34.3% share of the company.
Xage Security, a US-based developer of blockchain-protected security technology for industrial internet-of-things systems, has added approximately $4.5m from investors including Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, the corporate VC arm of petroleum supplier Saudi Aramco, to its series B round, which now totals $16.5m. It raised the first $12m from GE Ventures, a subsidiary of power and automation technology producer General Electric, as well as March Capital Partners, City Light Capital and NexStar Partners in July 2018.
Online classified listings operator Info Edge has provided Rs 280m ($4m) of series B funding for India-based educational enrolment technology producer NoPaperForms Solutions in a deal that will increase its stake to 48.1%, VCCircle has reported. Info Edge had previously invested $870,000 in NoPaperForms in November 2017 in return for a 27.9% stake.
LuxStay, the Vietnam-based operator of an online marketplace for shared accommodation, has received $3m in bridge financing from investors including CyberAgent Ventures, internet company CyberAgent’s corporate venturing unit, DealStreetAsia reported on Wednesday. The round also featured Y1 Ventures, which had already participated in a $2.5m pre-series A round for LuxStay in March 2018 alongside Genesia Ventures and Founders Capital.
Building management software provider BuildingLink led a $3m seed round on Wednesday for Carson, the US-based creator of a software platform that enables users to manage multiple unstaffed residential properties. The startup will put the funding toward geographic growth and the addition of new features to its product.
Samsung Next and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, respective subsidiaries of electronics producer Samsung and media group Bertelsmann, were among the investors that supplied $3m of seed funding for US-based conversational analytics technology startup Dashbot yesterday, along with Bessemer Venture Partners, FF Venture Capital and Runa Capital Management. The first four had already contributed to a $2m seed round closed by Dashbot in 2016, together with Scrum Ventures and Rembrandt Ventures.
Sweden-based automotive insurance platform developer Paydrive has raised SEK16m ($1.8m) in funding from investors including insurance firm Gjensidige, Breakit has reported. Fintech investment firm NFT Ventures had provided $670,000 of funding for Paydrive in November 2016 before joining Gjensidige to invest $3.6m in the company in November 2017.
Snark AI, a US-based developer of training technology for deep learning software, has secured $1.7m in seed funding from investors including Baidu Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet group Baidu. The corporate was joined by SmartGateVC, Y Combinator, Fenox Ventures, Tribe Capital and unnamed additional investors, and the round came a few months after the startup graduated from Y Combinator’s accelerator.
Online literature platform Lianshang Literature invested an undisclosed sum in MangaToon, the China-based operator of a mobile reading app for manga and comics, in October 2018, 36Kr has reported. Liangshang has recently raised funding itself, pulling in an undisclosed amount from private equity firm Hopu Investments at a $1bn valuation.
US-based customer behaviour analytics provider KonnecTo Top Tech has received $1.5m in seed capital from investors including market research firm StoreNext, Calcalist has reported. The companies have also signed a collaboration agreement that will involve KonnecTo reports being supplied to StoreNext’s clients.
GMG Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of media company Guardian Media Group, led a $1.3m funding round in October 2018 for Guestfriend, the US-based developer of a platform that enables restaurants to create customer service chatbots, it has told Global Corporate Venturing. The round follows $5m in seed capital from Primary Venture Partners, Techstars Ventures and Betaworks in April 2018, and was disclosed with news that GMG also backed a similarly undisclosed $4m series A round for UK-based video advertising platform Vidsy in September.
Oil and gas supplier Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Tranzmeo, the India-based developer of an industrial analysis platform for the energy industry, the Economic Times has reported. The corporate will take a board seat at Tranzmeo as part of its investment, which will fund research and development as the startup looks to double the size of its team over the next year.
Wacul, the Japan-based developer of an AI-equipped enterprise software platform that scans websites for solutions to specific issues and queries, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from office equipment producer Ricoh. The company had previously received $3.1m in funding from Dentsu Digital Holdings, a subsidiary of marketing firm Dentsu, and investment firm Jafco in February 2017.
Nissay Capital, the VC arm of insurance firm Nippon Life, has invested ¥100m ($890,000) in Japan-based male skincare brand Bulk Homme, VentureTimes has reported. Bulk Homme has shipped some 2 million units of its products through its online store and a network of Japanese retailers since it was founded in 2013, and the funding will support a growth drive that will take in China, Korea and Taiwan.
Switzerland-based rooftop solar installer Younergy has secured CHF800,000 ($810,000) in funding from investors including renewable energy system producer and existing strategic partner Engynious, Startupticker.ch has reported. The round was led by internet group Virtual Network and followed $130,000 from Venture Kick in 2016. The proceeds will fund the further development of the company’s MyYounergy software platform and an expansion into the Iberian region.
CropX, a US-based crop analysis software provider backed by industrial product manufacturer Robert Bosch and supply chain services firm Flex, has raised $500,000 from the state-owned Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Calcalist has reported. The corporates invested $1m in CropX in 2016 through subsidiaries Robert Bosch Venture Capital and Lab IX to close a round already backed by Finistere Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, GreenSoil Investments and OurCrowd at $10m.
Research and manufacturing services firm Johnan has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based robotics intelligence technology developer Realtime Robotics, VentureTimes has reported. The funding follows a commercialisation agreement signed by the companies in March this year and $2m from Toyota AI Ventures, a subsidiary of automotive manufacturer Toyota, as well as asset manager Sparx Group and VC firm Scrum Ventures in October 2017.
