Breed Reply, internet-of-things technology provider Reply’s investment arm, has participated in a €7.5m ($8.3m) funding round for Iotic, the UK-based creator of a digital twin development platform, Business Weekly reported yesterday. Venture capital firms IQ Capital and Talis Capital also contributed to the round, and both IQ Capital and Breed Reply were existing investors in the company.
Automotive manufacturer Bajaj Auto provided $8m in funding for India-based electric scooter rental service Yulu on Monday in connection with a strategic partnership agreement. The company had previously raised $7m in seed financing from VC firm Blume Ventures and angel investors Binny Bansal, Naveen Tewari and Girish Mathrubootham in March 2018, according to TechCircle.
Blackbuck, the India-based freight services platform that counts e-commerce marketplace Flipkart as an investor, has raised Rs 560m ($7.8m) in debt and equity financing from VC fund Trifecta Capital, VCCircle reported on Tuesday. The company had secured a total of $330m in debt and equity as of a $150m series D round in May this year featuring Accel, Goldman Sachs, Wellington Management, Sequoia Capital, B Capital Group, Light Street Capital, Sands Capital and International Finance Corporation that valued it at almost $1bn.
US-based insurance software startup Openly received $7.65m on Tuesday in a seed round led by Gradient Ventures, internet technology provider Google’s artificial intelligence-focused investment fund. Openly said its backers include reinsurance firm Greenlight Re, VC firm PJC and Techstars Ventures, which invests on behalf of accelerator operator Techstars, and the round comes after it graduated from the Techstars Boston accelerator in 2018.
Nihon-Agri, a Japan-based exporter of specialist Japanese agricultural products, secured ¥800m ($7.3m) on Monday in a series A round featuring automotive components producer Denso and online fresh produce retailer Oisix Ra Daichi. The round included a debt component of undisclosed size that was provided by various undisclosed financial institutions and the capital will be used for hiring, marketing, investments in domestic farms and the verification of Japanese-quality produce sourced elsewhere in Asia.
Mr Zoo, the China-based operator of an indoor zoo, has raised a total of RMB50m ($7.1m) through a series A round led by Fosun RZ, an investment vehicle for conglomerate Fosun, and a series A-plus round led by Haier Capital, home appliance manufacturer Haier’s corporate VC arm, 36Kr reported yesterday. The company has now secured almost RMB100m altogether, having raised the earlier cash across three rounds featuring Gobi Partners and Cambrian Venture Capital.
Australia-based cybersecurity platform developer Kasada completed a $7m funding round on Tuesday featuring Reinventure Group, the VC firm backed by banking firm Westpac, as well as In-Q-Tel, Main Sequence Ventures’ Csiro Innovation Fund and Our Innovation Fund. Reinventure had joined Our Innovation Fund to invest $1.9m in the company in March 2018 before returning to co-lead a $4.5m round with Main Sequence Ventures in May this year.
Cosmetics producer L’Oréal provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Canada-based aesthetic medicine clinic operator Functionalab Group yesterday and will now distribute its SkinCeuticals products to the company’s Dermapure skincare clinics. The investment was made through the corporate’s Bold Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development unit, and Functionalab had not revealed details of any earlier equity financing.
Acatus, the Germany-based creator of a digital platform where businesses can sell bond-based debt to investors, has received €5.5m ($6.1m) in series A funding from investors including financial services firm Berliner Volksbank’s VC arm, Berliner Volksbank Ventures, Tech.eu has reported. DIP Capital and Coparion co-led the round, which also featured capital markets operator Berliner Effektengesellschaft and VC firm Partech. The latter two were, like Berliner Volksbank Ventures, identified as existing backers by Tech.eu.
PlaceHolder, the Japan-based operator of digital theme park Little Planet, raised ¥600m ($5.5m) in series B funding today from media company Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) as well as KDDI Open Innovation Fund, OLM Ventures and Mizuho Capital – vehicles for telecommunications firm KDDI, animation and digital effects studio OLM and financial services firm Mizuho Bank respectively. It has now secured about $11.9m in total, $5.6m of which was put up by TBS, Mizuho Capital and Incubate Fund in February 2018.
Pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec co-led a series A round of undisclosed size for Germany-based gene therapy developer ViGeneron with VC firm Sequoia Capital China yesterday. The funding will go to the further development of the startup’s viral vector-based gene therapy pipeline in addition to two ophthalmic gene therapy programs. It was spun out of research conducted at Ludwig-Maximilians-University.
Google’s Gradient Ventures led a $4m seed round for US-based radiology technology startup Rad AI on Monday. GMO Venture Partners, the corporate venturing subsidiary of internet company GMO, also took part, as did UP2398, Precursor Ventures, Array Ventures, Hike Ventures, Fifty Years VC and undisclosed angel investors. Rad AI will use the cash to hire more engineers as it prepares to roll out its debut product.
Google also provided an undisclosed amount of funding on Wednesday for Plaid, the Japan-based creator of a customer experience management platform called Karte. Plaid had raised $30.5m as of a $25m round in April 2018 that included diversified conglomerate Mitsui, VC firm Femto Partners and Eight Roads Ventures Japan, part of investment and financial services group Fidelity, as well as corporate venturing units Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital.
Crowd Analyzer, a United Arab Emirates-based social media data provider backed by conglomerate Almajdouie Holding, secured more than $3.5m on Tuesday in a series A round led by Tech Invest Com and backed by Wamda Capital, Arzan VC, Faith Capital and Daring Capital. The funding came in the wake of a $1.1m pre-series A round featuring Almajdouie’s Raed Ventures vehicle, Wamda Capital, Arzan VC and Faith Capital in September 2018.
Japan-based quantum computing research startup QunaSys raised ¥280m ($2.6m) from investors including Shinsei Corporate Investment, the corporate VC subsidiary of financial services firm Shinsei Bank, on Monday. VC firms Global Brain and Anri also contributed to the round, which will support technology enhancement and the formation of an ecosystem for quantum computer technology development.
US-based savings app developer U-Nest closed a $2m seed round last month featuring Vested Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for communications firm Vested. The round also featured Artemis Fund, Draper Dragon, Unlock Ventures, Band of Angels and undisclosed angel investors, and Vested said last week the deal took U-Nest’s total funding to $2.45m.
NTT Docomo Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for mobile network operator NTT Docomo, invested an amount in Safie, the Japan-based creator of a cloud video platform, on Tuesday. 31 Ventures, the investment partnership formed by property developer Mitsui Fudosan and Global Brain, had supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for the company in November 2018 before Innovation Fund 25, a subsidiary of financial services firm Senshu Ikeda Bank, added an undisclosed sum days later.
Postal service Japan Post supplied ¥200m ($1.8m) in funding for Japan-based cloud factoring service provider Olta yesterday through corporate VC subsidiary Japan Post Capital. The company had previously raised $28m including $16.8m in equity funding from financial services firms Shinsei Bank and SBI – the latter through SBI Investment – Jafco and Beenext in June this year, alongside $6.5m in debt financing from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank.
National Grid Partners, energy utility National Grid’s strategic investment arm, has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Urbint, the US-based developer of artificial intelligence technology for use in gas safety. The company has not disclosed firm details of its past funding but said in May this year it had raised $18.5m from Energy Impact Partners, Urban US, Fifth Wall and undisclosed angel investors. Its earlier backers also include Metaprop.
Engie Rassembleurs d’Energies, a corporate venturing subsidiary of energy utility Engie, led a $1.6m series B round for Australia-based pay-as-you-go biodigester service provider Atec* Biodigesters on Wednesday. Impact Investment Exchange’s IIX Growth Fund, Fondation Ensemble and Phitrust Asia also contributed to the round, which came in the wake of a $700,000 series A investment by IIX in August 2017.
Infofed, the Thailand-based owner of esports software and services platform Thailand E-Sports Arena, has received an undisclosed amount of pre-series A funding from video game media company GameWith, e27 reported yesterday. The company had secured a similarly undisclosed sum from event management platform developer EventPop and VC fund KK Fund in February this year.
Video game developer Coffee Stain Studios has invested an undisclosed sum in Sweden-based game studio Kavalri, Gamesindustry.biz reported on Tuesday. The cash was provided as part of an initiative called Levelling the Playing Field, through which Coffee Stain funds developers where more than half the staff are female. Kavalri, which focuses on equestrian-themed games, had raised $220,000 from Goodbye Kansas Game Invest in November 2018.
China-based media analytics software provider Cloudbreakr has secured HK$10m ($1.3m) in a pre-series A round that included e-commerce firm Alibaba’s Entrepreneurs Fund, Tech in Asia reported on Tuesday. Startup platform Hong Kong X Technology Fund led the round, which also featured Beyond Ventures and the Mahagitsiri family, and the proceeds will fund product development and expansion in markets including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
YJ Capital, internet company Yahoo Japan’s corporate venturing unit, joined VC firm East Ventures yesterday to supply an undisclosed amount of seed funding for Cookpy, the Japan-based creator of a software platform that allows users to open their own virtual kitchens. The startup will also participate in Code Republic, the accelerator set up by YJ Capital and East Ventures in 2016.
Bond, the Japan-based operator of Japanese language learning platform BondLingo, received an undisclosed amount of pre-series A funding from exam revision school Meiko Network Japan, and investment firm PE & HR’s SocialEntrepreneur3 fund today. The capital will go to expanding the services offered by its platform, which targets foreign migrants in Japan.
Japan-based human resources platform operator Dig raised ¥115m ($1m) in debt and equity financing today from investors including fan engagement platform developer Skiyaki. The company has now secured a total of approximately $1.8m in funding, an undisclosed amount coming in a 2016 round featuring public relations and staffing group Mynavi Corporation.
Property developer Sun Frontier Real Estate provided an undisclosed amount of funding today for Sky Estate, the Japan-based operator of a training school for drone pilots. Sky Estate, which has also created an app that matches drone pilots with vacant positions, will now look to expand into real estate inspection services using unmanned aerial vehicles.
Cyclebit, a Canada-based developer of cryptocurrency payment technology, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from NEM Ventures, the investment arm of distributed ledger technology provider NEM. The company has distributed more than 200,000 of its point-of-sale systems and is preparing to launch a mobile crypto wallet in partnership with smart banknote developer Tangem early next year.
