India-based pop culture merchandise retailer Souled Store has raised $3m in a funding round led by RP-SG Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of diversified group RP-Sanjiv Goenka. The money will help Souled Store boost its manufacturing and backend capabilities, launch additional product lines and increase its presence in brick-and-mortar stores. The company collaborates both with established international brands such as Disney and WWE and with local artists and sports franchises to create dedicated merchandise such as t-shirts and phone covers.
US-based video game publisher Nifty Games launched this week with $3m in seed funding supplied by esports ownership group Axiomatic Gaming together with venture capital firms March Capital Partners and Defy.VC. Nifty Games will develop free-to-play digital sports games.
UK-based heat battery maker Sunamp has attracted £2.2m ($2.8m) in a seed round including gas supplier Osaka Gas, Insider.co.uk has reported. Scottish Investment Bank (SIB), the investment arm of government economic development agency Scottish Enterprise, also backed the round, as did investment firm Equity Gap and venture capital firm Par Equity. Sunamp will use the capital to scale its business with a view to expanding in international markets. [read more about this deal on our sister site, Global University Venturing]
GV, the early-stage investment subsidiary of technology conglomerate Alphabet, has co-led a $2.6m seed round for US-based internet security data provider Censys. The round was co-led by Greylock Partners and also featured assorted angel investors. The money will drive recruitment and allow Censys to collect more data and offer more actionable insights to its clients, which include the US Department of Homeland Security and Nato.
Exein, an Italy-based cybersecurity company focused on the internet of things, industrial and critical infrastructure devices, has secured €2m ($2.3m) in series A capital from venture capital firm United Ventures. Exein was spun out of cybersecurity firm Aspisec in July this year and claims the series A round constituted the largest investment in an Italian cybersecurity technology developer to date.
UK-based blockchain technology developer Aztec has raised $2.1m in a seed round led by blockchain software producer Consensys Labs, with participation from Entrepreneur First, Samos Investments and angel investors Jeffrey Tarrant and Charlie Songhurst. Aztec is working on technology that enables private transactions through the public Ethereum blockchain platform. It is seeking additional funding to further develop its protocol.
Bertelsmann India Investments, a local corporate venturing subsidiary of media conglomerate Bertelsmann, has returned to invest $1.3m in India-based fashion discovery platform Roposo, according to VCCircle. The investment follows a $5m commitment by Bertelsmann in 2016 that brought Roposo’s series B round to $15m. The series B round was led by Tiger Global Management, the same hedge fund that had already led a $5m series A in 2015 with participation from India Quotient and angel investor Binny Bansal. Roposo previously secured $1m of seed capital.
India-based business-to-business footwear marketplace ShoeKonnect has raised $422,000 in funding from internet company Info Edge, according to VCCircle. Info Edge now owns a 27.3% stake in the business, up from 20%. The corporate had invested the same amount in April this year for its initial stake, following ShoeKonnect’s funding round of undisclosed size in 2016 backed by the Indian Angel Network.
Lamudi, a Germany-based real-estate listings platform formed by e-commerce incubator Rocket Internet, has received an undisclosed sum from media companies Ringier and Axel Springer. The money will be spent on further company growth and the two new investors will share a seat on Lamudi’s advisory board. Lamudi most recently raised $31.4m in a series C round backed retailer Tengelmann Group’s investment unit, Tengelmann Ventures, Holtzbrinck Ventures and Asia Pacific Group, a joint venture between Rocket Internet and telecoms firm Ooredoo. Lamudi also raised $18m in a series B round backed by Tengelmann Ventures, Holtzbrinck Ventures and Asia Pacific Internet Group in 2015, after Tengelmann Ventures had supplied $7m in series A funding in 2014.
Betterview, a US-based machine learning software developer backed by insurance provider Nationwide, has secured an undisclosed sum from Plug and Play Ventures and will use the cash to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities. Nationwide supplied an unspecified amount in May this year, following a $2m round in September 2017 led by Compound and backed by reinsurance provider Maiden Re, 645 Ventures, Arab Angel, Winklevoss Capital, Chestnut Street Ventures, Haystack, MetaProp and angel investors Pierre Valade and Edward Lando. Betterview had already closed a $1.5m seed round co-led by Arena Ventures and Metamorphic Ventures in 2016.
CTAccel, a China-based integrated circuit technology producer, has raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding from Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of semiconductor manufacturer Intel, and venture capital fund Ironfire Venutres. The funding will go enable CTAccel to broaden its product range to offer more efficient image processing and analytics tools and to bolster its market presence in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.
UK-based group travel booking platform WeTrip has secured an undisclosed sum in seed capital from InMotion Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, according to FinSMEs. The cash injection will accelerate product development and drive global expansion efforts. WeTrip previously attracted $1m from unspecified backers to launch WeSki, a dedicated tool for groups to book personalised ski holidays.
China-based virtual doctor platform MyAIdoctor has raised an unspecified amount from search engine provider Sogou, China Money Network reported yesterday. Founded in 2014, the company relies on artificial intelligence technology to power virtual doctor services, such as electronic medical records and patient data sharing. MyAIdoctor claims it has helped medical staff save some 9,000 hours of work by automatically following up with 3.5 million patients.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and corporate-backed cryptocurrency holding group Digital Currency Group made an investment of undisclosed size in US-based cryptocurrency and market analysis platform Flipside Crypto yesterday. The round also featured True Ventures, Boston Seed Capital and Castle Island Ventures as well as private investor Jeff Parker. True Ventures previously led a $3.4m funding round in March this year that included media company Chernin Group as well as Resolute Ventures, Boston Seed, Converge and Founder Collective.
US-based patient financial engagement platform MedPilothas obtained $1.7m in funding from investors including healthcare provider Cedars-Sinai and Hudson River Capital Partners, which led the round, FinSMEs reported today. The round also featured Valley Growth Ventures, Techstars and angel investor Tom Hirschfield. The money will drive recruitment and support the launch of additional features that will help healthcare companies further engage with patients.
