E-commerce firm Alibaba has provided an undisclosed amount of series C1 funding for China-based smartphone recycling service Huishoubao, China Money Network reported today. Huishoubao had previously raised angel funding from Source Code Capital in 2015, series A funding from Chengwei Capital and Citic Capital in 2016 and a similarly undisclosed amount of series A-plus funding from SMC Capital the same year, before adding $45m in a Strait Capital-led round in October 2017, according to China Money Network.
Alibaba has also invested an undisclosed sum in YCloset, the China-based operator of an exchange platform for women’s fashion, China Money Network reported today. YCloset had raised $50m from Alibaba, telecoms group SoftBank’s SB China Capital subsidiary and Sequoia China in September 2017, having previously received $20m from Pan-Lin Asset Management, IDG Capital, ZhenFund and GSR Ventures in six months earlier.
Blue Medora, a US-based technology integration software provider backed by virtualisation software producer VMware, raised $10m from growth equity firm Edison Partners on Tuesday. The investment took Blue Medora’s overall funding to $24.5m, with VMWare taking part in a $4.6m series A round in 2015 that was also backed by eLab, Start Garden and Grand Angels, and an $8.6m round in late 2016 that included all three as well as Lewis & Clark Ventures, which led the round.
SkyX, a Canada-based aerial data services provider that counts technology conglomerate Kuang-Chi as an investor, secured $9.5m of series B funding from Almond Tree/SkyX Limited Partnership, a vehicle led by family office Almond Tree Enterprise, yesterday. The round boosted SkyX’s overall funding to $15.8m, including a $4m investment by Kuang-Chi in May 2017, it said.
US-based customer relationship management software provider CloudCherry received $9m yesterday in a series A round featuring Cisco Investments, the corporate venture capital arm of networking technology provider Cisco. The round was led by Pelion Venture Partners and included Vertex Ventures and IDG Ventures India, and it follows $1m from IDG Ventures India and Chennai Angels in 2015 and a further $6m from Cisco Investments, IDG Ventures India and Vertex Ventures the following year.
Diversified trading group Sumitomo has paid ¥1bn ($9m) for a 40% stake in Reka Cakrabuana Logistik (RCL), an e-commerce logistics services spinoff of Indonesia-based conglomerate Lippo Group also known as Red Carpet Logistics, Nikkei has reported. Sumitomo will get two seats on RCL’s board of directors and will also supply its logistics expertise.
Rubber, plastic and insulation product maker PAR Group and private equity firm Ark Applications have co-led an $8m funding round for Peerfit, the US-based operator of a service that links employers with fitness programs, on Tuesday, participating alongside Causeway Media Partners and assorted angel investors. The round took Peerfit’s total funding to $23m, it said, citing both PAR and Ark Applications as existing backers.
US-based edge computing technology developer Vapor IO has secured an undisclosed amount in a series C round led by investment firm Berkshire Partners that included communications infrastructure operator Crown Castle, which participated as an existing investor. The company has not disclosed specifics on its earlier funding but it raised an undisclosed sum in a 2015 series A round led by investment banking firm Goldman Sachs and backed by AVX Partners.
Dailyhunt, an India-based news aggregation app developer backed by Chinese counterpart Bytedance, has raised $6.4m in funding from hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital, VCCircle reported, citing a regulatory filing. The company had previously raised $65m from Bytedance, Falcon Edge, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, Omidyar Network and angel investor Arun Sarin across two rounds in 2015 and one the following year.
Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, a regional subsidiary of Japan-headquartered Sumitomo, invested an undisclosed amount in US-based metal additive producer Sintavia on Wednesday in connection with a partnership agreement. Private equity firm Neff Capital Management had supplied $10m of funding for the company in 2015 and a further $15m in March 2017.
IngeniousIO, the US-based creator of a collaboration platform for the construction industry, launched on Tuesday having closed a $4m series A round led by American Family Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for insurance firm American Family. The startup’s technology allows every stakeholder in a project, including owners, architects, engineers, project managers, contractors and subcontractors, to work together and share information through a unified product.
Fit4D, the US-based developer of a diabetes management platform, secured $4m on Tuesday in a financing round led by VC partnership SJF Ventures that included insurance provider Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, C&B Capital, North Haven Capital, StartUp Health and angel investor Esther Dyson. The company had previously raised a sum indicated by a securities filing to be $2.8m from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, SJF Ventures and healthcare provider Sovereign Health System in 2015.
India-based fashion rental service Flyrobe has received $3.7m in a funding round co-led by IDG Ventures and Sequoia Capital that included Gree Ventures, the VC arm of digital media company Gree, VCCircle reported yesterday, citing two people directly aware of the matter. Flyrobe raised $7m in funding in 2016, securing $1.7m in seed capital from Sequoia Capital and various angel investors in July before adding $5.3m from Gree Ventures, Sequoia India and angel investors including Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Leon Seynave two months later.
Prosegur Tech Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of private security provider Prosegur, has invested R$12m to lead a R$15m ($3.6m) funding round for Brazil-based credit reconciliation services provider Concil, TI Inside reported on Monday. The round also featured DGF Investimentos and SP Ventures, the former of which had invested R$4m in Concil in 2014, before Paulista Development Agency added $350,000 the following year.
Investment management firm Two Sigma supplied an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday for Crux Informatics, the US-based creator of a platform to manage the data and information supply chain. The investment came after a $10m series A round led by Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments Group, a subsidiary of investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, in November 2017, and a further $11m from financial services group Citi in March this year.
Increase, the Argentina-based developer of a payment management system for merchants, has raised $3m from financial services group Supervielle Group, e-commerce firm Mercado Libre, which invested through its Mercado Libre Fund subsidiary, Agrega Partners, Arfintech, Lucens Capital and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. Proceeds from the round will fund expansion in Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Peru.
US-based computer vision technology developer Mad Street Den has received an undisclosed amount of funding from telecommunications company KDDI, which invested through the KDDI Open Innovation Fund 2 managed by investment firm Global Brain, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. The company had raised $1.5m from Reservoir Investments and GrowX Ventures in 2015, and a further $2.7m from undisclosed investors in May 2017 according to a securities filing.
Australia-based Valiant has closed a A$4m ($2.9m) series A round featuring Reinventure, the VC firm funded by financial services firm Westpac, Australian Financial Review reported on Monday. Carthona Capital led the round, which included Full Circle Venture Capital and Black Sheep Capital, and which followed a $600,000 round in 2016 that was led by Reinventure and backed by H2 Ventures and angel investors Mitchel Harad and Vincent Turner.
Entertainment producer T&B Media Global provided $2.25m in funding for Cinelytic, a US-based developer of artificial intelligence technology that can help improve decision making in the entertainment industry. Cinelytic has built a cloud software platform that uses AI and machine learning technology to help assess factors such as talent and audience tastes.
Cigarette producer Djarum Group has invested an undisclosed amount in Cermati, the Indonesia-based operator of an online marketplace for financial products, in a round that allowed e-commerce company Beenos Plaza, East Ventures and Finch Capital to exit, Tech in Asia reported yesterday. The three had invested an undisclosed amount in Cermati in 2015 and another $1.9m in 2016.
Haystack TV, the US-based developer of a news streaming app, has secured $2m in funding from investors including Vestel Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of manufacturing group Vestel, Altair Capital, SVLinks and Stanford StartX, Variety reported on Tuesday. StartX, SGH Capital, Inspovation Ventures, DeltaG Ventures and angel investors Peter Kellner, Larry Braitman and David Anderman had supplied $1.7m in seed capital for Haystack in 2015.
IT and data services provider Accesstage has provided R$5m ($1.2m) in funding for Negocie Online, a Brazil-based operator of automated debt collection software for businesses, Baguete has reported. The deal follows a $530,000 investment by Accesstage in another Brazil-based financial technology startup, Moneto, earlier this year.
India-based unmanned aerial vehicle technology developer Droni Tech has received Rs 35m ($500,000) in seed capital from backers including private security provider Eagle Group and unnamed angel investors, The Indian Wire has reported. The company, which also offers drone management software, will put the funding into sales and marketing and research and development.