Pharmaceuticals and diagnostics technology producer Roche spun off Nimble Therapeutics, a US-based developer of chemical-synthesis drug discovery and development technology, on Tuesday with an amount of series A funding reported by Fierce Biotech to be $10m. Healthcare investment firm Telegraph Hill Partners led the round, which was closed as Nimble prepares to forge partnerships with other pharmaceutical companies.
Hangzhou Fansheng Technology, the China-based operator of insurance services platform Duobaoyu Insurance, has raised about $10m in series A-plus funding from investors including Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), a corporate venturing vehicle for media group Bertelsmann, China Money Network has reported. Lightspeed China Ventures led the round, which also featured ZhenFund, and which came after BAI and ZhenFund had provided approximately $3m in series A funding for the company, according to China Money Network.
Awair, the US-based developer of a system that monitors air quality, secured $10m yesterday in a series B round featuring engineering services firm Emerson Electric and robotics technology producer iRobot. The round was led by venture capital firm Westly Group and included Altos Ventures and Nuovo Capital. It comes after Awair (formerly known as Bitfinder) raised $6.7m from electronics producer Samsung, internet group Kakao, marketing firm R/GA, Altos Ventures and Global Brain over rounds in 2013 and 2016.
CommerzVentures, the strategic investment arm of financial services firm CommerzBank, co-led a $9m series A round on Monday for Mosaic Smart Data, a UK-based developer of data analytics software for capital markets. The round was co-led by VC firm Octopus Ventures and also featured investment banking firm JP Morgan, which invested having previously provided an undisclosed amount of equity financing for Mosaic in March 2018.
New Zealand-based climbing robot developer Invert Robotics closed an $8.8m round yesterday that included Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley, a subsidiary of motor vehicle producer Yamaha Motor. The round was led by Finistere Ventures and also featured existing investors Inception Asset Management, New Zealand Venture Investment Fund and angel investor Allan Moss. It followed $4.7m in funding in January 2018, and Invert’s investors also include Powerhouse Ventures and Guildford Investments.
South Korea-based digital insurance startup Bomapp has raised ₩10bn ($8.6m) in a funding round that included ₩2bn from Lotte Accelerator, a corporate venturing subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Lotte Corporation, Pulse News has reported. The rest of the capital was supplied by KB Investment, DS Asset Management, PIA Asset Management, KB Securities, SJ Partners and Idea Bridge Partners, and Lotte’s investment followed Bomapp’s participation in incubator subsidiary L-Camp in 2016.
Phoenix Energy Technologies, a US-based provider of internet-of-things technology for buildings that counts energy utility Duke Energy as an investor, received an undisclosed amount of growth funding on Tuesday from Spring Lake Equity Partners, Energy Innovation Capital and members of its own management team. Duke Energy had paid an undisclosed sum to acquire a majority stake in Phoenix in 2015.
Samsung Ventures, a corporate VC arm of Samsung, has led a $7m series A round for Swingvy, the Singapore-based developer of a human resources management software platform, DealStreetAsia reported on Monday. Insurance firm Aviva took part in the round through its Aviva Ventures unit, alongside Big Basin Capital, Bass Investments and Walden International, and it followed $1.1m in seed capital from Big Basin Capital and Walden International in April 2017 and $500,000 from Aviva Ventures in May 2018.
InCountry, the US-based creator of a residency-diverse data software platform, raised $7m in seed funding yesterday from investors including Bloomberg Beta, media company Bloomberg’s data-focused investment arm. The corporate was joined by Caffeinated Capital, Felicis Ventures, Ridge Ventures, CRV, Global Founders Capital, Parade Ventures, MState and unnamed angel investors. The cash will be used to increase headcount and the range of services offered by InCountry as it looks to scale its presence from 50 countries to 100.
China-based cancer care management platform developer QTC Care has completed a $7m series A round led by internet group Tencent that included additional China-headquartered investors whose identity was not disclosed. Proceeds from the round will fund further development of QTC’s Digital Therapeutics software as well as the construction of a medical network it will use to work with insurance firms.
Veruna, a US-based developer of agency management software for the insurance industry, closed a $6m series A round on Wednesday, raising the cash from two undisclosed insurance carriers that were indicated by a securities filing to be Tuscarora Wayne Insurance Company and EMC Insurance Companies. The funding will support the next stage of growth for Veruna, which was founded in 2015, and which will involve growing brand presence and strengthening its sales capabilities.
MS&AD Ventures, the strategic investment arm of insurance firm MS&AD, has led a $6m series A round for WorldCover, a US-based provider of insurance for African farmers, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Y Combinator, Western Technology Investment and EchoVC also took part in the round, which comes after an undisclosed amount from online lending platform Creditease’s Fintech Investment Fund in 2017. Its other backers include Catalyst Fund, Omidyar Network and Ace & Company.
Kitab Sawti, the Sweden-based operator of a streaming platform for Arabic language audiobooks, has raised $6m in in funding from investors including telecommunications company Paltel Group and Bonnier Ventures, media company Bonnier’s corporate venturing unit, Tech.eu reported today. Kaaf Investments, Northzone and individual investor Abdulla Elyas also participated in the round, which came after $1.4m in funding from Creades and Inbox Capital in September 2017 and $1.1m from Northzone 12 months later.
US-based spa and beauty facility operator Milk + Honey received an undisclosed amount of funding from Emil Capital Partners, the US investment management arm of Germany-headquartered retail group Tengelmann, as well as private investor Tim Ferriss and Keller Capital, the investment vehicle for realtor Gary Keller and his partners. It will use the capital to expand the presence of its spas in addition to its own-brand line of beauty, bath and skincare products.
US-based cash management software provider Trovata.io closed a $5.5m seed round on Tuesday that was led by VC firm Fintop Capital and backed by financial services firm JP Morgan Chase. The latter made its contribution to the round in December 2018, and Jason Tiede, global head of innovation and wholesale payments, has joined Trovata’s board of directors as an observer.
Roundtrip, the US-based operator of a medical transportation services platform, has completed a $5.1m series A round led by financial media and services company The Motley Fool through its Motley Ventures unit, Technical.ly reported on Wednesday. An unnamed healthcare software and medical device producer also took part, along with Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University, both of which joined Abell Foundation and Brown Advisory for Roundtrip’s $1.9m seed round in March 2018.
BetterPT, the US-based creator of a digital platform that connects patients, doctors and physical therapists, secured $5m on Tuesday in a series A round led by VC firm 5Lion Ventures that included healthcare provider Hospital for Special Surgery and ID Fund. The company had previously raised $1.5m from unnamed investors in January 2017 and a further $1.5m in February 2018 according to regulatory filings.
Diversified trading group Mitsubishi Corporation led a C$6m ($4.5m) seed round for Canada-based transportation management software developer Spare Labs on Tuesday. The capital will fund the expansion of the company’s Spare Platform as well as the recruitment of sales, support and operations staff, and Mitsubishi will work with Spare Labs to supply software that will support commercial on-demand transit services in areas beginning with the Japanese city of Fukoka.
Payment services firm Visa invested an undisclosed amount in UK-based digital banking software provider Bankable on Tuesday in connection with the formation of a strategic partnership. The deal means Visa’s customers will be able to use Bankable’s system to provide digital banking and real-time payment offerings, and the company raised the funding as it prepares to expand to the North America, Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa regions in the next year.
US-based blockchain technology provider Consensys spun off Truffle Blockchain Group, a developer of tools for the Ethereum cryptocurrency, in February this year with $3m of its own funding, Forbes reported on Monday. Truffle will put the cash into enhancing its blockchain creation and development tools, and ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin is one of its board members.
US-based cancer analysis software producer Kiyatec completed the first portion of its series B2 round on Wednesday having secured $3m from investors including healthcare diagnostics technology producer LabCorp and early-stage investment firm VentureSouth, which led the tranche. It had previously raised at least $3.1m in equity and $180,000 in debt financing since 2012 according to regulatory filings, from investors including NMT Capital and Upstate Carolina Angel Network.
ErisX, the US-based operator of a spot market for digital assets, raised an undisclosed amount of series B funding on Tuesday from investors including Consensys, technology and trading firms Tradestation, Flow Traders, Virtu Financial, DRW (through DRW Venture Capital), CTC and Susquehanna International Group, and exchange operators Cboe Global Markets and Nasdaq, the latter through its Nasdaq Ventures unit. The round also featured Arc Light Securities, Castle Island Ventures, Dragonfly Capital Partners, CMT Digital, ED&F Man Capital Markets, Pantera Capital and New York Digital Investment Group.
Automotive manufacturer TVS Motor has invested more than $2.5m in US-based industrial internet-of-things software developer Altizon Systems, Business Standard has reported. The company had previously received $100,000 from technology services provider Persistent Systems in 2014, $4m from IT services provider Wipro’s corporate venturing unit, Wipro Ventures as well as Lumis Partners, The Hive and Infuse Ventures two years later, and about $1m from Wipro Ventures, The Hive and Pi Ventures in July 2018.
Financial services firm Citi provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Zūm, the US-based operator of a ride management platform for transporting schoolkids, on Tuesday through its VC arm, Citi Ventures. The company had raised a total of $67m in funding as of March this year, from BMW i Ventures and Volvo Cars Tech Fund, subsidiaries of carmakers BMW and Volvo, as well as NGP Capital, Clearvision Ventures, Draper Nexus, Sequoia Capital and Spark Capital.
Editional, the US-based creator of a blockchain-powered app for the distribution of collectible digital art, has secured $1.5m in seed capital from Consensys Ventures, digital currency-focused VC firm Digital Currency Group and cryptoasset investment and research organisation CoinFund, Cointelegraph reported on Tuesday. The cash was raised as Editional’s app went live on the iTunes Appstore.
Mobile game publisher Animoca Brands has invested $750,000 to lead a $1.5m pre-seed round for Brinc AOA, a spinoff of China-based startup accelerator Brinc that provides consulting services for accelerators and incubators. Animoca’s investment was made alongside a deal agreed on Wednesday whereby it and Brinc will exchange $750,000 worth of shares with each other.
Media company Media Nusantara Citra (MNC) has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Malaysia-based online streaming platform iFlix, e27 reported today. The company had received about $308m from investors including corporates Liberty Global, Sky, Catcha Group, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and Zain as well as Evolution Media Capital, which was co-founded by talent agency CAA, and EDBI, Jungle Ventures and clients of financial services firm DBS as of August 2017. Talent agency Yoshimoto Kogyo added an undisclosed amount earlier this month.
FinKey, the France-based developer of a financing recommendation tool, has raised €800,000 ($890,000) in funding from investors including Crédit Agricole Alpes Développement, an investment vehicle for banking cooperative Crédit Agricole, EU-Startups has reported. The round also featured B612 Participations, BPIfrance and undisclosed angel investors, and the capital will go to recruitment and the enhancement of FinKey’s software as it looks to improve its matchmaking abilities.
Krungsri Finnovate, the VC subsidiary of financial services firm Krungsri Bank, has invested an undisclosed amount in Thailand-based customer relationship management and point-of-sale technology developer Choco CRM, in the form of an extension to its series A round, DealStreetAsia reported on Monday. Choco had received approximately $1.25m in series A funding from telecoms company InTouch’s corporate venturing unit, InVent, in September 2018.
Khatabook, the India-based creator of a mobile payment management platform for small businesses, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including classified listings operator Info Edge, YourStory has reported. The round also featured VC firm Sequoia Capital’s Surge accelerator as well as another accelerator operator, Y Combinator.
Argentina-based blockchain game developer Experimental has completed its seed round, having secured more than $500,000 from investors including Animoca Brands, Animoca revealed on Monday. Argentinian state-backed VC firm Yavu also participated in the round, as did angel investors Sumit Gupta, Pato Jutard and Julien Turri. Animoca is also partnering Experimental on projects including the launch of the latter’s first game, CryptoWars, in Asia.
GigaMune, a US-based cancer cell therapy developer spun off from biotherapy developer GigaGen, revealed on Monday that it raised an undisclosed amount of convertible note financing earlier in April. The financing was supplied by a consortium of angel investors that included undisclosed CEOs of technology and biotech companies.
