Portugal-based language processing platform Unbabel raised $5m on Monday in a round co-led by Caixa Capital, the venture capital arm of bank La Caixa, and Notion Capital that featured existing investors including Faber Ventures and Schilling Capital Partners. The round took Unbabel’s overall funding to $8m and follows $1.5m in seed capital from internet company Digital Garage and various angel investors in July 2014, and an undisclosed sum from enterprise software provider Workday a year later.
AirPR, a US-based developer of analytics tools for the public relations industry, secured $5m on Tuesday in a series B round led by VC firm Storm Ventures that included Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of enterprise software provider Salesforce.com. Existing backers Mohr Davidow and Correlation Ventures also invested, having previously taken part in a $1m seed round featuring Correlation Ventures and 500 Startups in 2012, and a $4m round with Correlation two years later.
Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce firm Alibaba, confirmed on Tuesday it has acquired a 20% stake in Thailand-based online payment and microfinance platform Ascend Money. The China-headquartered investor has received an option to buy another 10% of Ascend, a spinout of conglomerate True Corporation, according to a regulatory filing in June this year.
United Arab Emirates-based music streaming app developer Anghami raised an undisclosed amount on Wednesday in a series B round led by private equity firm Samena Capital that included telecommunications company Du. Middle East Venture Partners provided seed funding to Anghami in 2012 before leading a 2014 series A round that included media group MBC and Mobily Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of another telecom network, Mobily.
Education services provider Z-Kai has invested $2.4m in Japan-based real-time online tutoring platform Mana.bo, Tech in Asia reported on Tuesday. The capital was provided alongside a strategic partnership agreement that will involve Mana.bo’s online services collaborating with Z-Kai’s offline cram schools.
EatWith, the US-based operator of a social eating platform, has secured an undisclosed amount in a round led by travel review platform TripAdvisor and backed by VC firm Greylock Partners, Skift reported yesterday. Greylock had previously joined existing investor Genesis Partners and undisclosed angel investors for EatWith’s $8m series A round in 2014.
US-based semiconductor inspection services provider Exnodes completed a $2m seed round featuring memory chip producer SK Hynix and Samsung Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung. Exnodes will put the proceeds from the round, which included angel investors Gordon Eubanks and Joseph Goodman, towards technology development.
Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of mass media group Comcast, led a $2m round for US-based petcare services platform PetCoach on Wednesday that included Maveron, DreamIt Ventures and company CEO Brock Weatherup. PetCoach has built a website and app that enables pet owners to get personal advice and round-the-clock access to certified vets and pet nutritionists, trainers and groomers.
Media company Channel 4’s ad-for-equity unit, Commercial Growth Fund, has provided a seven-figure sterling (£1=$1.25) amount of advertising for UK-based men’s fashion e-commerce brand The Idle Man, The Industry has reported. The company had previously raised $4.6m, including $1.2m from private equity firm Foresight Group in 2014 and $1.9m from Foresight and angel investor Peter Mullen in August this year.
Indio, the US-based creator of a digital platform for commercial insurance brokers, has raised $2m in seed funding from investors including UK-listed insurance provider Hiscox, Insurance Journal reported on Tuesday. VC firms New Enterprise Associates, Merus Capital, 500 Startups and Compound, the latter formerly known as Metamorphic Ventures, also contributed to the round, which will be used to develop Indio’s platform and expand its user base.
Nextlaw Labs, the VC development platform launched by law firm Denton’s, has collaborated with seed-stage VC fund Seedcamp on investments in two startups, each of which received an undisclosed amount of funding. Clause is the US-based developer of technology that helps create automated and data-integrated contracts while UK-based Libryo has built a platform that allows businesses to easily check their legal obligations.