Consumer electronics manufacturer HTC invested $5m in virtual reality content studio Steel Wool Studios on Wednesday, with the funding set to support development of several releases, which Steel Wool claims will combine game, simulation, and narrative-based concepts. HTC, producer of the Vive virtual reality headset, has formed a VR alliance with several other companies and formed a $100m accelerator, but its investment appears to have been made independently of both.
US-based oncology diagnostics startup Cernostics raised $5m on Wednesday in a round led by UPMC Enterprises, the commercialisation branch of healthcare provider and insurer UPMC, which provided the money as part of a strategic collaboration agreement. Cernostcos had previously raised approximately $6m in equity and $500,000 in debt from investors including care provider Geisinger Health System, Novitas Capital and Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse.
US-based enterprise cloud software provider Cloud Technology Partners closed a series C round of undisclosed size on Tuesday that included cloud computing company Rackspace, financial services firm State Street Bank and Pritzker Group Venture Capital. The company had previously raised approximately $38m in funding from investors including State Street, Pritzker Group and Oak Investment Partners, according to press reports and regulatory filings.
Kufu, the Japan-based operator of human resources automation platform SmartHR, has raised $4.9m in a round led by World Innovation Lab that included Beenext and 500 Startups Japan, Tech in Asia reported on Tuesday. The round follows a round sized at “a few hundred-thousand dollars” in January this year backed by DG Incubation, the seed-stage corporate venturing subsidiary of internet company Digital Garage, as well as Beentext and East Ventures.
Abodo, the US-based operator of an apartment listing app, closed a $4.8m series A round on Wednesday led by 4490 Ventures and backed by American Family Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of insurance group American Family, and Flyover Capital. The round took Abodo’s total funding to more than $8m since it was founded in 2012, and follows $1.25m provided by American Family Ventures, 4490 Ventures and Lakewest Venture Partners in August 2014.
US-based electric vehicle battery technology developer Nohms Technologies closed its series B round on Monday having raised an undisclosed amount from chemical and advanced materials producer Solvay, venture capital firm Phoenix Venture Partners, which led the round, New York State Innovation Venture Capital Fund and undisclosed angel investors. A securities filing earlier this month indicated Nohms had secured $2.5m of a $6.5m round, having raised approximately $1.9m in equity and $250,000 in debt since 2010.
Lyke, the Indonesia-based developer of a mobile fashion and beauty marketplace app, has secured $4m in a series A round led by VC firm Holtzbrinck Ventures that included Asia Pacific Internet Group, the joint venture formed by e-commerce group Rocket Internet and telecom company Oredoo, E27 reported on Monday. Launched in February 2016, Lyke will put the cash toward product development and expanding its 20-strong team.
Revuze, an Israel-based developer of artificial intelligence technology for brand management, received $4m on Wednesday in a seed round co-led by media data provider Nielsen, consumer data firm NPD Group and supply chain services company Tic Group. The startup will use the funding to expand its US operations by opening offices in San Francisco and New York.
Space Market, a Japan-based startup that markets unused buildings and spaces, has raised ¥400m ($3.9m) in a round led by Opt Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of digital marketing firm Opt, The Bridge reported on Monday. The round included Recruit Strategic Partners, the strategic investment subsidiary of human resources provider Recruit, Mizuho Capital, SBI Investment and Orix, and came after $940,000 from Mizuho Capital and CyberAgent Ventures, a subsidiary of internet company CyberAgent, in late 2014.
Biopharmaceutical company Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company supplied an undisclosed amount of series A financing to Kleo Pharmaceuticals, a US-based developer of treatments for cancer and infectious diseases, yesterday. The investment will be used to advance the antibody recruiting molecules and synthetic antibody recruiting molecules on which Kleo is working.
Japan-based deep learning system developer LeapMind has received ¥340m ($3.3m) from Itochu Technology Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of diversified conglomerate Itochu, Visionnaire Ventures and Archetype Ventures, The Bridge reported on Monday. Founded in 2012, LeapMind is a graduate of telecom group KDDI’s incubator and previously raised an undisclosed amount from Archetype in August 2015.
E-commerce and classified listings company Info Edge has led a Rs 204m ($3m) round for India-based professional photography services platform Canvera, investing $2.6m and increasing its stake from 49% to 57%, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday, citing a regulatory filing. The funding, secured at a $32m valuation, brings Info Edge’s overall investment in Canvera, whose other backers include Footprint Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Mumbai Angels, to more than $16m.
KuangChi Science, a division of advanced technology group Kuang-Chi Group, led a $3m series A round yesterday for Beyond Verbal, an Israel-based developer of voice-driven emotional analytics technology, investing from the $300m Global Community of Innovation fund it announced in May this year. Launched in 2013, Beyond Verbal had previously raised more than $7m from investors including Winnovation, SingulariTeam and Genesis Angels.
Tank Utility, a US-based developer of tracking software and monitors for truck-delivered fuels, completed a $2.2m seed round on Tuesday backed by power generation system manufacturer Generac Power Systems. The round was co-led by Energy Foundry and Blue Fog Capital, and included Bolt and undisclosed strategic angel investors.The cash was secured alongside a strategic partnership that will involve the startup’s technology being offered to Generac’s customers.
Camino Financial, a US-based provider of small business loans to Hispanic-owned companies, raised $2m in equity financing on Monday from investors including Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for mass media company Comcast, which invested through its Catalyst Fund. The round was co-led by Collaborative Fund and Hunt Holdings with backing from Impact America Fund, and followed $750,000 in seed funding from institutional and angel investors in November 2015.
Mitra Integrasi Informatika, a subsidiary of information and communication technology group Metrodata Electronics has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount for a 20% stake in Indonesia-based enterprise software developer Dwitunggal Solusindo Prima and will take another 17.5% from unnamed existing investors.
Internet service provider Nifty Corporation made a “significant investment” as part of $1.3m in seed capital raised on Tuesday by Mode, a US-based developer of cloud integration technology for hardware manufacturers. Mode previously received $775,000 from Metamorphic Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and undisclosed angel investors in May 2015.
US-based data science startup DefinedCrowd received $1.1m in seed funding yesterday from Sony Innovation Fund, a subsidiary of electronics producer Sony, as well as e-commerce firm Amazon’s Alexa Fund and VC firm Portugal Ventures. The money will go to developing DefinedCrowd’s software, which uses data science and machine learning to help businesses enhance their artificial intelligence and natural language processing applications.
Kenya-based mobile-based survey provider mSurvey has secured an undisclosed amount of seed capital from Safaricom Spark Venture Fund, the strategic investment fund operated by telecom company Safaricom, TechCrunch has reported. Venture capital firm Cross Culture Ventures and angel network Alpha Angels also took part in the round, which will support growth across Africa and in other emerging markets.
Far East Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for property developer Far East Organisation, has led a $385,000 pre-series A round for Fynd, the Singapore-based operator of an on-demand mobile device repair service, according to E27. Fynd is available in Hong Kong, and the round, which included angel investor Koh Boon Hwee, will enable it to expand across Southeast Asia beginning with Jakarta, Indonesia.
SmartBite, a Malaysia-based food ordering service that caters for professionals, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from food and beverage group Rhombus Food Holdings, Marna Capital, Noodles Digital and an unnamed angel investor, E27 reported yesterday. SmartBite launched its service earlier this year and although it currently serves only in the city of Kuala Lumpur, the startup intends to operate across Southeast Asia within five years.
Inclov, the India-based developer of a dating app for the differently abled, has raised Rs 10m ($150,000) in a seed round featuring digital media company Quintillion Media and Intellecap Impact Investment Network, VCCircle reported on Tuesday. The round also included angel investors Rohan Gogari, Apparswamy Subramanian, Praveen Visesh, Narayanan Venkatraman and Sarbvir Singh, formerly the managing director of Capital 18, media company Network18’s corporate venturing unit.