AAA Corporate venturing deal net: 30 January-3 February 2017

Corporate venturing deal net: 30 January-3 February 2017

Caterpillar Ventures, the strategic investment subsidiary of construction machinery producer Caterpillar, supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based aerial drone services provider Airware yesterday. Airware has now raised a total of $90m from investors also including corporate venturing units GE Ventures, GV and Intel Capital, as well as Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Next World Capital and angel investor John Chambers.

OpenGamma, the UK-based creator of an analytics and risk management platform for derivatives trading, received an undisclosed amount of funding from Japan Exchange Group, the operator of exchanges including the Tokyo Stock Exchange, on Tuesday. The investment follows approximately $34m of equity funding and $4m of debt financing from investors including NEX Group, the financial data and risk mitigation firm formerly known as Icap that co-led OpenGamma’s last round, a $13.3m round in October 2016.

US-based Radish launched a platform for short-form serialised fiction platform on Tuesday with $3m of seed funding from investors including talent agency United Talent Agency as well as Softbank Next Media Innovation Fund and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, respective subsidiaries of telecommunications firm SoftBank and media group Bertelsmann respectively. The round also featured Greylock, Lowercase Capital, Sherpa Capital and angel investors including author Amy Tan.

China-headquartered medical device exporter Vincent Medical Holdings has paid $3m for a 15% stake in Israel-based emergency medicine and trauma care product developer Inovy Medical Solutions, Globes reported on Monday. Vincent Medical’s investment came after hospital group Rhön-Klinikum invested “several million dollars” in Inovy in November 2016, according to Globes.

US-based drug producer Biscayne Pharmaceuticals has spun out a subsidiary called Biscayne Neurotherapeutics to develop biopharmaceutical assets for the treatment of neurological disorders. The spinout has raised $3m in series B funding from Global Health Sciences Fund, the joint venture between venture capital firm Quark Venture and investment bank GF Securities, as well as Mesa Verde Venture Partners and unnamed existing Biscayne Pharmaceuticals investors.

Automotive and motorcycle producer Pierer Industrie provided an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday for Nuviz, the US-based creator of a display system for motorcycle riders, as part of a partnership covering marketing, distribution and product integration. Nuviz will use the investment for product development and to enhance sales and marketing as it prepares to launch its product.

Entrypoint, a US-based developer of interactive video creation technology, has completed a $2m seed round co-led by electronics producer Samsung’s Next investment subsidiary and Two Sigma Ventures, part of hedge fund Two Sigma Investments, Fortune has reported. KBS Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of advertising agency KBS+, also took part, as did Indicator Ventures, Galvanize Ventures, Social Starts, Female Founders Fund and Virtual Reality Investments.

Geneva Health Solutions, the US-based cardiac monitoring technology developer formerly known as Geneva Healthcare, received $1.9m in funding on Wednesday from healthcare system Nebraska Medicine and angel investor Don Cohn. The company had previously raised approximately $1.8m from undisclosed investors in 2014.

GoldenKey, the US-based creator of a digital real estate services platform, raised $1.7m on Wednesday from investors including Lowe’s Ventures, the strategic investment vehicle for home improvement retailer Lowe’s, and startup accelerator NFX Guild. The company, then known as SoloPro, had previously closed $1.6m in funding from Lowe’s, media firm Capitol Broadcasting’s New Media Group, Duke Angel Network, Duke Innovation Fund, Oxpoint Investments, Buchanan Ventures, Blue Seed Capital and Arnold Capital in late 2015.

InMotion Ventures, the strategic investment arm of automotive manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, made its first investment on Monday, contributing to a $1m seed round for US-based carpooling app startup GoKid. VC firm Fontinalis Partners also took part in the round, which was closed after GoKid graduated from the 2016 batch of accelerator initiative Techstars Mobility.

Credit Engine, the Japan-based operator of an online lending platform for small and medium-sized businesses, closed ¥110m ($980,000) in seed funding on Monday after raising ¥60m from Freebit Investment, the corporate venturing subsidiary of internet service provider Freebit, as well as 500 Startups and 500 Startups Japan, The Bridge reported. Online media and e-commerce firm Voyage Group and Draper Nexus Ventures provided the first ¥50m in September 2016.

CommIT Capital, the corporate VC subsidiary of telecommunications firm Rostelecom, has acquired a 25% stake in Transportation Information Technologies, the Russia-based developer of a software platform that tracks freight, and has agreed to initially invest RUB40m ($670,000) in the company. Rostelecom is working on a government-mandated electronic system for the registration and tracking of international cargo, and the companies will partner on electronic registration and tracking standards for cargo transport.

Freebit Investment has also led a ¥70m ($620,000) pre-series A round for Xtreme Design, the Japan-based operator of supercomputing services provider Xtreme DNA, The Bridge reported on Wednesday. The round, which also featured angel investors Kotaro Chiba and Yasumasa Manabe, follows $260,000 in funding from angels and the company’s founders in January and March 2016.

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