Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, the corporate venture capital arm of telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom, invested $10m in Dynamic Signal, the US-based developer of a communications platform for employees, on Tuesday. Dynamic Signal had raised a total of $88m as of February this year when it secured $36.5m from investors including M12, Cisco Investments and Time Warner Investments, respective subsidiaries of software provider Microsoft, networking technology producer Cisco and entertainment and media group Time Warner.
Cazena, the US-based creator of a data platform for software developers, has completed a $10m financing round that included enterprise software provider Persistent Systems as well as Andreessen Horowitz, Formation 8 and Northbridge Venture Partners. The round followed $8m from Andreessen Horowitz and Northbridge in 2014 and a $20m series B round the following year, which was led by Formation 8 and backed by the two existing investors.
Japan-based robotics technology developer Rapyuta Robotics has received ¥1.05bn ($9.5m) in funding from investors including electronics producer Sony’s Innovation Fund, advanced materials manufacturer Japan Material Technologies Corporation’s JMTC Capital subsidiary, financial services firm SBI’s SBI Investment unit and Japan Co-Invest Limited Partnership, The Bridge reported on Monday. Rapyuta had previously raised $13m from SBI Investment, VC firm Cyberdyne and the Swiss government.
SBI Crypto Investment, a subsidiary of financial services provider SBI, acquired a 12% stake in US-based electronic trading platform developer Clear Markets on Monday, likely paying ¥1bn ($9m) in the process, Nikkei Asian Review reported. Clear Markets, a developer of electronic trading marketplaces and technology, was spun off from Quick, a financial news and data subsidiary of media group Nikkei.
Tic:Toc, the Australia-based developer of a digital mortgage application platform, has secured A$11.5m ($8.5m) in a series B round featuring mortgage insurance provider Genworth Australia and non-banking financial services firm La Trobe Financial, Australian Financial Review reported on Monday. The company’s existing investor is financial services provider Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which still owns a 35% stake according to AFR.
Troops, a US-based communication software integration platform backed by communications platform developer Slack, has raised $7.7m in funding according to a regulatory filing on Monday. The cash takes Troops’ total funding to $17.3m, including $7m in series A capital from Slack subsidiary Slack Fund, Felicis Ventures, Aspect Ventures, Susa Ventures, First Round Capital, NextView Ventures, Chicago Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Founder Collective and Vast Ventures that was announced in September 2016.
SkinVision, the Netherlands-based developer of an app that can help detect skin cancer, has received $7.6m in funding from pharmaceutical company Leo Pharma, investment firm PHS Capital and undisclosed individual investors. The company had raised up to $7m in total as of 2015 when it closed $3.5m in funding from Leo and PHS, and the latest funding will support further localisation for an app currently available in English, Dutch and German.
Consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi has co-led a $7m round for Samosa Labs, the India-headquartered developer of a chat-based entertainment platform, the Economic Times reported today, citing multiple people aware of the matter. The round was co-led with Sequoia Capital, the VC firm that provided $1.3m for Samosa’s 2015 seed round, and it increased the company’s overall funding to $9m.
Specialty chemicals producer Croda International provided an amount of funding reported by the Irish Times to be $2.5m in UK-based drug delivery technology developer SiSaf, increasing its latest round to $6.8m. SiSaf raised the first $4.3m from Vickers Venture Partners, Invest NI and Innovation Ulster in May this year, having previously received $620,000 from Innovation Ulster, Clarendon Fund Managers and unnamed private investors in 2015, and $3.5m from Vickers Venture Partners and Exen Capital in September 2016.
US-based invoice management software producer Stampli secured $6.7m yesterday in a series A round led by VC firm SignalFire that included Bloomberg Beta, the big-data focused investment arm of media company Bloomberg, as well as Hillsven Capital and UpWest Labs. Stampli, the developer of a platform that centralises the invoicing system in large and medium-sized businesses, plans to use the funding to support company growth.
Microsoft subsidiary M12 led a $6.2m series A round for Canada-based cybersecurity intelligence tool developer Hyas Infosec yesterday, investing alongside Startup Capital Ventures, 205 Capital, Wesley Clover and angel investors Tim Eades and Tom Noonan. Hyas will use the proceeds from the round to increase the range of products and services it offers as it looks to develop new technologies.
Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia, a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Sumitomo, has joined VC firm Vickers Venture Partners to invest $6m in Canada-based natural language processing (NLP) technology developer Icontek, E27 reported on Wednesday. Icontek is developing NLP and machine learning technology for use in the customer service space.
CMS Medical Venture Investment, a corporate VC vehicle for pharmaceutical company CMS Medical, agreed on Tuesday to make an equity investment of undisclosed size in France-based thrombotic disease drug developer Acticor Biotech in connection with a asset transfer and licensing agreement. Acticor had closed a total of $3.1m in funding from CapDecisif Management, research association Armesa and crowdfunding platform Anaxago before raising another $2m from Primer Capital, Anaxago and CapDecisif in January 2018.
Who Can Fix My Car, the UK-based operator of an online marketplace for vehicle repair services, raised £4m ($5.2m) in funding on Wednesday from investors including oil and gas supplier Shell’s strategic investment vehicle, Shell Ventures, as well as Active Partners, Venrex Investment Management and company chairman Trevor Chinn. The company had previously received undisclosed sums from unnamed backers in 2011, media company Trinity Mirror in 2013, and Chinn and Active Partners in 2015.
63Ideas Infolabs, the India-based owner of agricultural produce supply chain services provider Ninjacart, has secured approximately $4.9m in funding from Accel, NRJN Trust and Mistletoe, VCCircle reported on Monday. The funding follows a total of $8.5m raised from Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of chipmaker Qualcomm, and ZopSmart, the operator of online grocer ZopNow, as well as Accel, NRJN Trust and M&S Partners across two earlier rounds.
US-based data labelling technology startup Labelbox emerged from stealth on Monday with $3.9m in seed capital from investors including Gradient Ventures, the artificial intelligence-focused VC fund owned by internet technology provider Google, TechCrunch reported. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the round, which also featured fellow VC firm First Round.
Financial services firm Legal & General provided £3m ($3.9m) in funding for UK-based mortgage intermediary software developer Smartr365 on Tuesday, investing the cash through its fintech business. Smartr365 had already received $1.3m from VC group Fig in November 2017, and Nick Frankland, Legal & General’s managing director of fintech, will join its board of directors in connection with his company’s investment.
Blueprint Power, the US-based developer of a system that helps building owners sell renewable energy to the grid, raised $3.5m on Tuesday in a round featuring home builder Lennar; 174 Power Global, a subsidiary of renewable power producer Hanwha Energy; and Urban-X, the accelerator formed by carmakers BMW and Mini. The round included Congruent Ventures, MetaProp Ventures, Fifth Wall Ventures, Urban.us and angel investors Fred Wilson, Brad Burnham and Craig Robins, and followed $500,000 from Lennar and Fifth Wall in December 2017.
ZecOps, a US-based cybersecurity startup that is still in stealth mode, completed a $3.5m seed round on Tuesday led by KPN Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for telecoms firm KPN, that include Evolution Equity Partners, Plug and Play Silicon Valley, Wise Ventures, Array Ventures and undisclosed angel investors. The funding will support the commercial launch of ZecOps’ products after months of work with clients in the technology, finance and telecoms sectors.
Veritonic, the US-based creator of an analytics platform that assesses the quality of audio input, received $3.5m on Tuesday in a seed round featuring MDC Ventures, the VC arm of advertising firm MDC Partners. The round was led by Newark Venture Partners with contributions from Imagination Capital, Kiwi Venture Partners and Swan & Legend Venture Partners. The company’s earlier backers include Haatch and Upstage Ventures.
E-commerce group Alibaba’s Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund has co-led a pre-series A round of undisclosed size for China-based energy use optimisation software developer En-trak with CLP Innovation Ventures, the strategic investment arm of energy utility CLP Holdings. The round’s close came after En-Trak won up to $1m in funding from Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund in the unit’s Jumpstarter 2017 competition, in November 2017.
Classified listings operator Info Edge has agreed to pay Rs 200m ($2.9m) for a 23.5% stake in India-based brick-and-mortar printing service chain Printo Document Services, Equity Bulls reported on Tuesday. The deal was announced alongside Info Edge’s sale of its 70.5% stake in professional photography services marketplace Canvera Digital Technologies, in which it had invested a total of about $17.7m, to Printo Document Services for what was described as a nominal consideration.
SBI Holdings has supplied an undisclosed amount of equity and debt financing for US-based computing and data centre technology developer Lancium Technologies. The investment will support the further development of Lancium’s wind energy-powered data centres, and SBI will base part of its cryptocurrency mining activities at the company’s facilities.
SBI has also led a series B round of undisclosed size that has been closed by Indonesia-based online lending marketplace operator Investree, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday. The round included Mandiri Capital Indonesia, a VC offshoot of financial services firm Bank Mandiri, as well as 9F Fintech Holdings Group, Persada Capital, Endeavor Catalyst and Kejora Ventures, the latter of which had invested an undisclosed sum in the company in a June 2016 series A round.
PopulStay, a Singapore-based startup that provides booking and property management services for homeowners renting out properties through short-term accommodation platforms, has secured $2.25m in seed capital from investors including cryptocurrency mining company Bitmain, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday. Handsome Capital, Sharp Eye Capital and Jove Capital also participated in the round, and the funding was raised as PopulStay prepares to begin commercial operations.
Bauer Media Sweden, a local subsidiary of Germany-headquartered media company Bauer, has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Sweden-based radio broadcaster Mad Men Media (MMM). The investment was made in conjunction with a partnership agreement that will involve Bauer representing MMM in media sales, and will fund the company’s expansion into the cities of Stockholm and Gothenburg.
Hazy, a UK-based developer of compliance-focused data sharing technology, raised $1.8m on Wednesday to increase its seed round to $2.8m, securing the funding from building society Nationwide, brand management firm Pentland, UCL Technology Fund, Amadeus Capital Partners and AI Seed. The initial funding was supplied by Microsoft’s M12 unit and Notion Capital in May 2018, after Hazy had raised $460,000 from UCL Technology, AI Seed, London Co-Investment Fund and Ascension Ventures four months before.
NFL Players Association (NFLPA), which represents American football professionals in the NFL, invested an undisclosed amount in SportsCastr, the US-based developer of a livestreaming platform that allows users to provide their own commentary for games, on Tuesday. The funding was provided through NFLPA’s accelerator, OneTeam Collective, and the transaction also involved Sportscastr becoming an official licensee for NFPLA content across web and mobile platforms.
PatientWisdom, a US-based healthcare data platform developer backed by care provider OSF Healthcare, has received $1m in series A funding from VC firm OCA Ventures and unnamed existing investors on Tuesday to take its total funding to $3.45m, the company said. It had raised an undisclosed amount of funding from OSF’s corporate venturing unit, OSF Ventures, in September 2017.
India-based science and technology media startup NextGen Science Media has raised Rs 10m ($145,000) from publisher DC Books, VC fund Emerge Ventures and undisclosed angel investors, Business Line reported on Monday. The funding was disclosed as NextGen launched its first title, Future Medicine, and its publications will operate in a dual print and online format.