China-based internet-of-things hardware provider Sensoro has closed a series D round of undisclosed size led by venture capital firm GGV Capital and backed by Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), a subsidiary of industrial product maker Robert Bosch, and NGP Capital, the VC firm spun off from communications technology producer Nokia. It had raised $28m from RBVC, NGP Capital, conglomerate Sumitomo and real estate developer New World Development before adding an undisclosed sum from investors including RBVC and internet group Baidu in April 2018.
Cisco Investments, the corporate venturing subsidiary of networking technology provider Cisco, led an $8m series A round for Israel-based data extraction software developer Rookout on Wednesday. The round also featured TLV Partners, Emerge and angel investors including Nat Friedman, John Kodumal and Raymond Colletti,
Youshupai, a China-based developer of software tailored for the textile industry, raised a ‘multi-million dollar’ amount on Tuesday in a pre-series A round featuring Bertelsmann Asia Investments, a corporate venturing vehicle for media group Bertelsmann. The startup’s tools assist textile producers in organising their businesses, and it plans to now add features that help customers increase their exposure and market presence.
Intel Capital, semiconductor and data technology producer Intel’s corporate venturing unit, provided an amount likely to be $6.5m for US-based cybersecurity software developer Capsule8 on Wednesday. Capsule8 had raised a total of $23.5m as of a $15m series B round in August 2018 that was led by ClearSky Security and backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Rain Capital and unnamed strategic investors, and it said the Intel deal took its overall funding to $30m.
SFM Holdings, an investment vehicle for electronic component manufacturer Mursix Corporation, invested an undisclosed sum in US-based capacitor technology developer PolyCharge America on Wednesday. PolyCharge was spun off by industrial technology provider Sigma Technologies in September 2017 and received $7m in debt and equity financing from a single investor in January 2018 according to a regulatory filing.
Japan-based online lending marketplace Crowdport secured ¥630m ($5.9m) last month from investors including Itochu Technology Ventures, diversified trading group Itochu’s corporate venturing unit, it revealed on Monday. The round has a ¥700m target for its close and includes Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, the VC arm of financial services group Mitsubishi UFJ, as well as Global Brain and SV-Fintech Fund, a joint venture for advertising technology producer Voyage Group and VC fund SV Frontier. The company fhad raised $2.9m from Mizuho Capital, B Dash Ventures and AG Capital in March 2018.
China-based audio and video communication technology developer Talk-Cloud has raised an eight-figure renminbi amount in a series A1 round featuring educational services provider Gaosi Education, 36Kr reported on Wednesday. The round also included investment platform Jun Capital, the Tsinghua University-backed Shuimu Tsinghua Alumni Fund, investment firm Innoangel Fund and a fund backed by Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone.
US-based male fertility services startup Dadi completed a $5m funding round yesterday that was led by TCG, an affiliate of over-the-top media company Chernin Group. The corporate invested alongside Firstminute Capital and Third Kind Ventures, which had previously combined to provide almost $2m of seed capital to Dadi in January 2019, in addition to angel investors including Nat Turner and Alex Chung. TCG partner Marco DeMeireles is joining Dadi’s board of directors in conjunction with the round.
E-commerce technology provider Distribusi Voucher Nusantara has paid an undisclosed sum for a 30% stake in Alphanovation Digital Teknindo, the Indonesia-based creator of cloud point-of-sale platform Pawoon, Investor Daily reported on Monday. VC firm Kejora Ventures led a series A round of undisclosed size for the company in March 2017 following its participation in Kejora’s Ideabox accelerator and an undisclosed amount funding from another Kejora vehicle, Mountain Kejora.
Brand Capital, the corporate venturing and ad-for-equity subsidiary of media group Bennett, Coleman & Co, invested $4m in India-based online jewellery retailer JewelMaze on Wednesday. JewelMaze has recorded some 200,000 orders and will use the funding to expand its product range.
HG Ventures, the corporate VC vehicle for industrial, chemicals and materials provider Heritage Group, has supplied $4m in funding for Romeo Power Technology, a US-based developer of electric-vehicle power systems. Automotive technology provider BorgWarner took a 20% stake in Romeo Power in May this year as part of a wider round revealed by a securities filing later the same month to be $88.6m in size, and which followed $30m from backers including family offices and company executives.
Austria-based business information verification provider Kompany received an undisclosed sum on Tuesday from investors including Uniqa Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for insurance firm Uniqa, and Elevator Ventures, the strategic investment subsidiary of financial services firm Raiffeisen Bank International. The round also featured European Super Angels Club, though Kompany did not reveal which of its other existing backers, which include IECT Capital Partners, AC & Friends, Livag and various angel investors, took part.
Tribeau, the Japan-based operator of an online marketplace for cosmetic surgery services, secured ¥350m ($3.3m) yesterday from insurer Nippon Life’s corporate VC unit, Nissay Capital, as well as Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, W Ventures and debt financing from Japan Finance Corporation. The company has now raised approximately $4.2m since it was founded and will invest the latest funding in talent acquisition and business growth.
Reliability Solutions, a Poland-based developer of industrial business planning software, has raised €3m ($3.3m) in series A financing from investors including EEC Magenta, the investment vehicle formed by VC fund manager EEC Ventures that is backed by energy holding company Tauron Polska Energia. The round also featured Icos Capital, whose partners include corporates Nouryon, Bühler Group and Royal Cosun, and it follows an undisclosed amount of earlier funding from Giza Polish Ventures and Polish Institute for Research and Development, the company said.
DailyHunt, an India-based news aggregation platform backed by digital media company Bytedance, has received Rs 206m ($2.9m) from a Cayman Islands-registered entity called Stonebridge, YourStory reported yesterday, citing a regulatory filing. The company was reported in March this year to have raised $35m in series F funding at a $470m pre-money valuation, and it secured $22m from investment firm Sofina two months later. It had previously raised a total of $65m from investors including Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, Omidyar Network and Falcon Edge Capital.
Prosek Ventures, public relations firm Prosek Partners’ corporate VC arm, invested an undisclosed sum in Qwoted, the US-based operator of a platform that connects PR staff to experts, on Monday. Qwoted was spun off by marketing agency Vedted in late 2018 and will channel the funding into sales and marketing, customer service and the addition of new features to its platform.
Statespace, a US-based provider of eSports training tools, has raised $2.5m in seed capital from investors including media holding company WndrCo, TechCrunch reported yesterday. VC firm FirstMark Capital led the round, which also featured Expa and Lux Capital, and which increased the startup’s overall funding to $4m according to TechCrunch. Its earlier investors include Social Starts and Joyance Partners.
WndrCo has also participated in a $2.3m seed round for US-based podcast monetisation platform developer Glow, Variety reported yesterday. Greycroft led the round, which included Norwest Venture Partners, PSL Ventures, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest fund and angel investors Nasir ‘Nas’ Jones and Ken Moss. The startup hosts podcasts in addition to processing payments, having launched in beta in June this year.
AI Travel, the Japan-based operator of an online platform where business trips can be booked and organised, received ¥200m ($1.9m) on Monday from investors including Canal Ventures, JR East Japan Start Up and Yokohama Capital, subsidiaries of IT services provider Nihon Unisys, property developer JR East and financial services firm Bank of Yokohama. The round also featured AG Capital and Genesia Ventures, and debt financing from providers including Japan Finance Corporation. AI Travel has now raised a total of about $3.1m, including $360,000 from Genesia, Venture United and TLM in August 2017.
ActEvolve, the Japan-based creator of live virtual reality entertainment platform Vark, secured approximately ¥200m ($1.9m) on Wednesday in a series A round featuring game publishers KLab and Gumi, the latter investing through subsidiaries Gumi Ventures and Gumi X Reality. The round included Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and undisclosed additional backers, and ActEvolve will use the cash to expand from influencer-based programming to animated characters, in addition to hiring, content production and product development.
Review, the Japan-based creator of an app called Macci that sources offline urban information, completed a series A round of undisclosed size yesterday that included human resources service providers Precious Time and Career Index, advertising services provider Digital Advertising Consortium and real estate agency Open House. It will use the cash for product development while increasing the range of data provided by the platform.
New Zealand-based insurance chatbot creator Cove closed a NZ$2m ($1.3m) funding round last month that included Greenlight Re Innovations, a subsidiary of reinsurance firm Greenlight Re, in addition to undisclosed existing investors. The startup said the round, which took place less than a year after the launch of its platform, took its overall funding to NZ$5m, and it intends to put the money into product development.
Internet group Smile has led a seed round of undisclosed size for India-based photo and image management platform developer Spyne, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday. The corporate was joined by unnamed angel investors, and the cash will support development of tools for the platform covering areas such as face detection, automatic tagging and smart video editing.
Indonesia-based human resources software provider Mekari raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding in December 2018 from investors including property developer Midplaza Holding, personal finance management platform developer Money Forward and Mandiri Capital Indonesia, a corporate venturing subsidiary of financial services firm Bank Mandiri, CEO Suwandi Soh told DealStreetAsia today. East Ventures and Beenext also contributed to the round, which will fund product development and user acquisition.
Japan-based travel advice platform developer Ava Intelligence received more than ¥40m ($380,000) yesterday from investors including radiator and air conditioner manufacturer Trad and CyberAgent Capital, the corporate VC arm of internet company CyberAgent. The round also featured Incubate Fund, J-KISS financing from accountancy and legal firm Shiodome Partners Group and debt financing from Japan Finance Corporation and Mizuho Bank.
Photo courtesy of Sensoro Co., Ltd.
