RepairPal, a US-based creator of an estimator platform for car maintenance, secured $5m from car retailer CarMax on Wednesday as part of an expanded commercial partnership. The cash forms part of a new funding round for RepairPal, though further details have not yet emerged. RepairPal previously obtained an undisclosed amount from financial services provider USAA in 2014, adding to a $13m series B round in 2013 backed by lubricants producer Castrol and auto marketplace Cars.com. Existing backers also include VC firms TugBoat Ventures and Wasabi Ventures.
Liquid Comics, an India-based media company whose subsidiary Graphic India focuses on graphic novels and animation, has received $5m in funding from media group Start Media, 3One4 Capital, Julian Farrior and Neeraj Bhargava, TechCrunch reported today. Liquid Comic previously secured $2.8m in 2015 led by CA Media, the Asian investment unit of media firm Chernin Group with participation from Start Media and angel investors. In 2013, CA Media purchased a minority stake in the business in return for a $2.5m investment.
Samsung Ventures, an investment subsidiary of consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung, has helped close a $5m series A-2 round for US-based big data computing company Emu Technology. Blu Ventures and IrishAngels also joined the round, which will help Emu scale its technology. Emu previously obtained a total of $6m across two rounds, according to regulatory filings.
Aerial & Maritime, a US-based spinout of nanosatellite producer GomSpace, has raised $5m from a group of unnamed investors, according to SatelliteToday. The company, which has now reportedly raised $12.2m in total funding, will use the cash to expand its roster of nanosatellites from four to eight as it gears up to enable the tracking of civilian aircraft and vessels around the equator in 2018, with global coverage targeted by 2021.
US-based communications, navigation and surveillance technology producer UAvionix has closed a $5m series B round led by Airbus Ventures, the investment division of aerospace company Airbus, according to FinSMEs. Playground Global and Redpoint Ventures also participated in the round, which follows a $5m series A round in April 2016 led by Playground. Thomas d’Halluin, chief executive of Airbus Ventures, has joined UAvionix’s board of directors.
US-based biotechnology company Sermonix Pharmaceuticals has closed a $4.2m seed round that featured pharmaceutical firm Endoceutics and private investor Richard DeSchutter. Sermonix is working to repurpose lasofoxifene, a drug for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, as a therapy for metastatic breast cancer.
India-based online gaming company Passion Gaming has raised $3.75m from online games platform Stride Gaming in return for a 51% stake. The deal gives Stride the option to acquire the remaining 49% over three to five years. The investment will drive Passion Gaming’s expansion into new markets and new verticals.
Medical device manufacturer Biotex has taken part in a $3.2m series A-3 round for US-based biotech firm Base Pair Biotechnologies. The round was co-led by Eventi Capital Partners and Base Pair Canada, with participation from Ashok Gowda, co-founder of Base Pair and president and CEO of Biotex. Base Pair was spun out of Biotex in 2012. It has not disclosed details about previous funding rounds.
Empiric Health, a US-based data platform for health system, closed a $3m round on Wednesday that it has dubbed “super seed”. The cash was provided by healthcare company Intermountain Healthcare, which co-founded Empiric with Oxeon Partners earlier this year. Empiric will use the funding to commercialise its products and expand its offering of workflow optimisation tools.
Internet company Tencent has taken part in a $3m series A round for China-based student-focused news platform CollegeDaily.cn. China Media Capital and HG Capital also contributed capital to the funding round.
Nvidia GPU Ventures and Samsung Next, respective investment subsidiaries of graphics processing unit (GPU) producer Nvidia and Samsung, have put $2.9m into a seed round for BlazingDB, a US-based GPU-accelerated data warehouse developer. Both corporates will act as strategic partners, with Nvidia taking a board seat and Samsung taking an observer seat. BlazingDB will use the money to hire additional staff and accelerate enterprise deployment of its technology.
Zeelo, a UK-based developer of an artificial intelligence (AI) platform aimed at the coach travel market, has raised £1.2m ($1.6m) in funding from investors including carmaker Jaguar’s InMotion Ventures unit and private investors Michael Leibreich and Simon Woodroffe. Zeelo will use the money to roll out its platform, which allows coach service providers to generate unscheduled routes, across the UK and Europe.
India-based fitness apps provider Mobiefit has obtained $1.35m in pre-series A funding that featured insurance provider MediAssist and was led by investment fund NB Ventures. Mobiefit, which operates apps that provide virtual fitness classes, previously raised $1m in a seed round led by MediAssist with participation from angel investors Siddharth Parekh and Mahesh Murthy in 2015.
Link Sports, a Japan-based amateur sports management platform, has raised $900,000 in funding from publisher Mainichi Newspapers, iSGS Investment Works and KLab Venture Partners. The company will now grow its its platform, called TeamHub, with a view of adapting it for rugby, basketball and volleyball teams.
Lute, a Japan-based media company that produces content for social media platform Instagram, has raised $710,000 in seed funding from video production firm Candee, advertising company Allfuz and Gumi Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of game developer Gumi, as well as an undisclosed private investor, according to The Bridge. The cash will help Lute promote its video content production and media operations.
Semiconductor manufacturers KLA-Tencor and Lam Research have invested an undisclosed sum in TetraVue, a US-based high-definition Lidar technology developer. Tsing Capital also participated in the round, which appears to have been an extension of TetraVue’s $10m series A round in February 2017. That transaction was co-led by Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the corporate venturing arm of industrial product manufacturer Robert Bosch and Nautilus Venture Partners and also included contract manufacturer Foxconn and Samsung Catalyst Fund, a subsidiary of Samsung.
VisionLabs, a Russia.-based facial recognition, data analysis and robotics technology developer backed by conglomerate Sistema, has welcomed financial services firm Sberbank as an investor, according to Finextra. Sberbank purchased a 25% in the startup for an undisclosed amount through its fintech fund Digital Business Development Administration.
Japan-based medical care and management app provider Plus Medi has received an undisclosed amount in its seed round from medical device maker Nippontect Systems, SMBC VC, the investment arm of financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, marketing group Vector and investment firm AStart, according to Tech in Asia. The money will drive the development of the company’s app, called MyHospital.
Ayopop, an Indonesia-based mobile bill payment platform, has secured an undisclosed amount of series A funding in a round led by Finch Capital. Ayopop’s existing shareholders include Gree Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for digital media company Gree, which led a $1m seed round in April 2017.
India-based two-wheeler ride-sharing app Pathao has received an undisclosed sum from transport company Go-Jek in return for a minority stake, DealStreetAsia has reported citing two people familiar with the matter. Neither company have confirmed the deal, which reportedly closed several weeks ago.
Frontdesk Anywhere, a US-based hotel property management platform, has closed a funding round of undisclosed size that was backed by marketing conglomerate Getz and venture capital firm Glynn Capital. Frontdesk dubbed the cash injection a “new funding round”, though it has not released details about previous rounds.
Healthcare-focused investment firm Flare Capital Partners has injected an undisclosed amount into VisitPay, a US-based healthcare billing software producer that raised $15m in a series A round earlier this month from investors including Ascension Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for healthcare provider Ascension Health. The series A round was led by Norwest Venture Partners.