Investment firm and company builder Accelerator Life Science Partners has launched Proniras Corporation, a US-based developer of seizure disorder treatments, with an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including Alexandria Venture Investments, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and WuXi AppTec Corporate Ventures, respective subsidiaries of real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities and pharmaceutical firms Johnson & Johnson and WuXi AppTec. The units were joined by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, Arch Venture Partners, Watson Fund and WRF Capital.
US-based software testing technology developer Cobalt.io secured $5m on Wednesday from investors including DG Incubation, a subsidiary of internet company Digital Garage. VC fund ByFounders led the round, which also featured eLab Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures and Draper Associates, and which followed a $1m round in 2014 featuring Kima Ventures and angel investors including Draper Associates founder Tim Draper, and a $1.5m in an eLab Ventures-led seed round in 2016 that included Draper Associates.
Hospitality group Huazhu Hotels has led a series A+ round of undisclosed size for ParkBox, the China-based owner of a network of public fitness pods, Kr Asia reported on Tuesday. ParkBox, which has opened more than 50 of the mini gyms in the city of Shanghai, will use the funding to support an expansion into another city, Hangzhou, and into hotel-based projects, 500 of which are set to be installed at Huazhu hotels Group in the next two years.
US-based mobile power technology startup EcoFlow has raised more than $4m in series A funding from battery cell producer Guangzhou Penghui Energy, battery pack maker Scud Group and moulding and tooling services provider ESID. The round also featured Delian Capital and Chunjia Assets, and the capital will go to research and development and sales as EcoFlow, which also has an office in China, prepares to expand into new markets.
Eruvaka, the India-based developer of an agricultural data system, has secured an undisclosed amount in a series B round led by animal nutrition and aqua feed product supplier Nutreco, VCCircle reported on Monday. Nutreco picked up a 25% stake through the round, which included Omnivore, the impact investor that provided an undisclosed amount of seed funding for Eruvaka in 2013.
Credit union TwinStar supplied $3m of funding for Constellation Digital Partners, the US-based operator of an online marketplace for credit unions, on Monday as part of a strategic partnership deal. Constellation has now raised a total of $29m and its past investors include credit unions Vizo Financial, Coastal Credit Union, Teacher’s Credit Union, CFCU Community, Meritrust, Farmers Insurance Federal, Georgia’s Own, Affinity Federal, Kinecta Federal and Nusenda, and credit union services provider CU Solutions.
Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung, provided $3m of seed capital for Loom.ai, a US-based developer of a platform that enables users to create personalised 3D avatars, yesterday. Loom.ai has now raised a total of almost $5.9m, its earlier funding coming from Dentsu Ventures and Gree VR Capital, respective subsidiaries of marketing firm Dentsu and digital media company Gree, as well as DHVC, Presence Capital, Anorak Ventures and Zach Coelius’ AngelList syndicate.
Chile-based recycling services provider TriCiclos has received $2.6m in a funding round led by FCP Innovación, the corporate venturing vehicle for public utility EPM, Economía y Negocios reported on Monday. FIS Ameris, Small Giants and angel investor William McDonough also contributed to the round, which followed an undisclosed amount of funding from VC firm MOV Investimentos in 2014.
Tyson Ventures, the strategic investment arm of meat product supplier Tyson Foods, led a $2.2m seed round on Wednesday for Future Meat Technologies, the Israel-based developer of a cell-based meat production system. Food producer Neto Group, S2G Ventures, BitsXBites, Agrinnovation and HB Ventures also invested in the round, with the proceeds to go to setting up an engineering team and expanding Future Meat’s biological research activities.
Fifth Third Capital Holdings, a subsidiary of financial services firm Fifth Third Bancorp, provided an undisclosed amount of funding for DadeSystems, a US-based creator of software that automates invoice-to-cash applications, on Monday as part of a strategic relationship agreement. VC fund Ocean Azul Partners had invested $2m in DadeSystems in April 2017, and the latest funding will be used to strengthen engineering.
Substack, a US-headquartered developer of tools for the creation of subscription-based online newsletters, has raised $2m from investors including over-the-top media company Chernin Group, Axios reported on Tuesday. Fifty Years, ZhenFund, Garage Capital and angel investors Emmett Shear and Justin Waldron also took part in the round, which came after the company graduated from Y Combinator’s accelerator in March this year.
Credit information provider Experian has invested an undisclosed amount in Danal, the US-based developer of an identity authentication system for mobile phones, as part of a strategic partnership agreement. Danal’s earlier investors include payment services firm Discover Financial Services, telecommunications firm Orange, financial services firm Bangkok Bank and VC and private equity firm Morgenthaler Group, and it had raised $9.5m in 2007 and $5m in 2013 from undisclosed investors, according to securities filings.
Media company Aller Media has provided NOK8.8m ($1.1m) in funding and advertising space for automotive e-commerce marketplace Nettbil, Nordic 9 has reported. Aller will take a 34% stake in Nettbil through the deal, which followed an undisclosed amount of funding from VC firm Tjuvholmen Ventures. Tjuvholmen owned a 25% stake in the company, which was founded in 2015 as Carvy, prior to the Aller investment.
Swingvy, the Malaysia-based developer of a human resources platform for small and medium-sized enterprises, has raised an undisclosed amount of bridge funding from Aviva Ventures, the strategic investment arm of insurance firm Aviva, E27 reported yesterday. The startup had previously received $1.1m in an April 2017 seed round co-led by Big Basin Capital and Walden International.
Water purifier and battery producer SAR Group has supplied Rs 65m ($970,000) of series A funding for My Finance Care Advisors, the India-based owner of online lending marketplace MyLoanCare, VCCircle reported on Tuesday. The company had previously raised Rs 15m from undisclosed investors in 2015, co-founder and chief executive Gaurav Gupta told VCCircle.
Norway-based educational app developer Poio has received NOK6m ($750,000) in funding from investors including media company Schibsted, which paid NOK4m for a 12.5% stake in the company, Nordic 9 has reported. Angel investor Halgrim Thon supplied the rest of the cash, which followed $120,000 from VC firm Founders Fund in January 2017 and an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investor Johan Brand later the same year.
Cancer care provider HealthCare Global Enterprises has paid Rs R.6m ($84,000) for a 12% stake in India-based stem cell researcher International Stemcell Services through a secondary transaction, VCCircle reported on Tuesday. In addition to its financial contribution, HealthCare Global will also assist the company on its cancer work.