Arrive, the investment and startup services unit formed by music management firm Roc Nation, provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Robinhood, the US-based creator of a fee-free online brokerage, on Tuesday. Robinhood had previously raised $176m from investors including GV, a subsidiary of internet technology group Alphabet, DST Global, Greenoaks Capital, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Rothenberg Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, Queensbridge Venture Partners, Social Leverage and Vaizra Investments.
Communication network technology producer Carnegie Technologies led a $5m round for Triller, the US-based operator of a music video creation and sharing platform, on Wednesday that will be used to strengthen its video editing technology and introduce a machine learning algorithm intended to increase user engagement. Triller closed its $4.5m seed round in May 2016 and its investors include venture capital firms Lowercase Ventures and Ridge Ventures.
Stadium Goods, the US-based operator of an online marketplace for rare sneakers and streetwear, received an undisclosed amount of funding from LVMH Luxury Ventures, a strategic investment arm of luxury goods producer LMVH, WWD reported yesterday. VC fund SM Ventures invested an undisclosed mount in Stadium Goods at the time of its 2015 launch, before it added $4.6m in series A funding from over-the-top media company Chernin Group and Forerunner Ventures in January 2017.
NAB Ventures, the venture capital arm of financial services firm National Australia Bank, led a A$5.9m ($4.6m) series A round for ActivePipe, the Australia-based creator of an automated communication platform for the real estate sector, on Wednesday that included venture capital firm PieLab Venture Partners and undisclosed strategic investors. Advisory firm Asia Principal Capital had led an A$1.8m pre-series A round for the company in August 2017.
Financial services group SBI has invested an undisclosed amount in US-based finance management app developer Moven reported by American Banker to be in the “multimillion-dollar” range, as part of an agreement to form a joint venture that will operate in Asia. Moven raised $24.4m across three rounds from financial services firms Standard Bank and Sberbank, the latter through its SBT Venture Capital unit, as well as Route 66 Ventures, Anthemis, New York Angels, Raptor Ventures and Life.Sreda, as of late 2015.
Aperio Systems, an Israel-based developer of cybersecurity software for infrastructure, raised $4.5m in seed funding on Wednesday from investors including energy utility EDP. The round included VC firm Jump Capital and VC funds Data Point Capital and Scopus Ventures, and Aperio will put the proceeds toward international growth and product development. EDP’s contribution came in the wake of its participation in a pilot scheme in which Aperio’s software guarded its thermal generation assets.
Nasadiya Technologies, the India-based operator of online self-publishing platform Pratilipi, has secured $4.3m in a series A round that included Times Internet, a subsidiary of media group Bennett Coleman & Co, Inc 42 reported on Monday. The round was led by Omidyar Network and included Nexus Venture Partners, Contrarian Capital, Shunwei Capital, WEH Ventures and private investor Atul Goel. It followed $930,000 from Times Internet, Nexus, Contrarian and angel investors Deepak Gupta, Amit Wadhwa and Amit Banka in mid-2016.
Cavallo Ventures, the strategic investment arm of agricultural product supplier Wilbur-Ellis, has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Beta Hatch, a US-based startup farming insects for use as animal feed. Beta Hatch will use the funding to establish a precommercial plant where it can pilot its technology with a view to eventually transferring it to a full-scale commercial facility.
Turtle Entertainment, the owner of an eSports league, has paid Rs 265m ($4.1m) for a 1.8% stake in India-based digital entertainment provider Nazara, VCCircle reported yesterday, citing a regulatory disclosure. Nazara had raised $51m in funding from IIFL Special Opportunities Fund in December 2017 having previously received $3m from WestBridge Capital and $1.5m from Sequoia Capital.
Cosmetics producer Emami has agreed to acquire a 26% stake in India-based premium hair and skincare brand Brillare in a deal that valued the latter at between Rs 750m and Rs 1bn ($11.7m to $15.6m), the LiveMint reported on Monday. That would place the size of Emami’s investment at up to $4.05m, which will be provided across two rounds of convertible notes that will be redeemable in three years time.
GetTransfer, the US-based operator of an online marketplace for long-distance flight transfers, has received an undisclosed amount of series A funding from aviation and space holding company S7 Group as well as existing backers including investment group Castel Capital. The company’s platform has registered some 13,000 vehicles and it is available in more than 100 countries.
Car Next Door, the Australia-based operator of a peer-to-peer car sharing service, has closed a series B round featuring Caltex, a petroleum subsidiary of energy company Chevron, at A$5m ($3.9m), Startup Daily reported on Tuesday. The round included investment banking firm Macquarie Group, VC fund Larix VC, crowdfunding platform Equitise and angel investor Steve Baxter, and came after Caltex had paid US$1.8m for a 20% stake in the company in early 2016.
Singapore-based online food ordering service Grain has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-series B funding from food services provider FoodXervices and restaurant operator First Gourmet as well as NSI Ventures, 500 Startups, Majuven and angel investor Ivan Lee, E27 reported yesterday. Grain received $1.7m in a January 2016 round led by NSI Ventures that included 500 Startups, Ivan Lee and Digital Media Partners (DMP), before adding an undisclosed sum from NSI, Lee and DMP in December the same year.
Zeals, the Japan-based creator of messenger marketing platform Fanp, has secured ¥420m ($3.8m) in series B funding from marketing technology provider FreakOut Holdings and private equity firm Jafco, The Bridge has reported. FreakOut had previously supplied $720,000 of funding for Zeals in May 2017, following an undisclosed amount from human resources provider Will Group in 2015.
Etobee, an Indonesia-based courier services marketplace backed by telecommunications firm Axiata, has received $3.5m from undisclosed investors through a post-series A bridge round, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. Axiata subsidiary Axiata Digital Services joined Kejora Ventures, Skystar Capital and Gobi Partners for Etobee’s last round in 2015, in which it raised an undisclosed amount.
Tyson Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for packaged food producer Tyson Foods, invested an undisclosed amount in smart oven producer Tovala on Tuesday. Tovala raised $9.2m in a December 2017 round led by Origin Ventures, the VC firm that led its $1.6m seed round in late 2016, which included online media company Gree, New Stack Ventures and Service Provider Capital. Tovala had raised $500,000 in a pre-seed round led by Origin Ventures and backed by Valor Equity, New Stack Ventures and various angel investors, in January 2016.
We Got Pop, a UK-based film and television production management software provider backed by film facilities operator Pinewood Group, has secured £2m ($2.8m) in a round led by Octopus Ventures and backed by angel investors Andy Phillipps, Henrik Kraft, Ricardo Schäfer, Richard Fearn and Richard Northcott, Startups reported yesterday. Pinewood led a $660,000 round for the company in early 2016 that included Northcott and Fearn.
Media company Bonnier has co-led a €1.6m ($2m) funding round for Blok, the Finland-based creator of a software platform that automates real estate sale services, with Lifeline Ventures, Business Insider Nordic reported yesterday. The round came after Picus Capital and assorted angel investors had provided the startup with an undisclosed amount of seed funding in October 2017.
India-based online higher education access platform CollegeDekho has raised $2m from investors including e-commerce services provider GirnarSoft and family office Man Capital, Press Trust of India has reported. Girnar invested $1m in CollegeDekho in 2015, before Man Capital added $2m in pre-series A funding in April 2016.
Kenya-based on-demand delivery platform Sendy has closed a series A round reported by Techmoran as being $2m in size, securing funding from CFAO Automotive, a distribution arm of automotive manufacturer Toyota, as well as impact investment firm DOB Equity, which led the round. Sendy will use the funds to expand its vehicle network and geographical coverage and grow its sales and technology teams as it prepares to enter other East African countries.
Oil and gas technology and services provider Aker Solutions invested an undisclosed sum in Principle Power, the US-based developer of a floating foundation for offshore wind turbines, on Wednesday. Principle’s shareholders include EDP Ventures and Repsol Energy Ventures, respective subsidiaries of energy utility EDP and oil and gas company Repsol, as well as Portugal Ventures, but members of Keiretsu Forum supplied $2.3m in convertible note financing for the company in 2008 before KIC InnoEnergy added $4.4m in funding in July 2016.
Singtel Innov8, the corporate VC arm of telecoms firm Singapore Telecommunications, provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based cybersecurity deception technology producer Attivo Networks on Tuesday. Attivo did not confirm the size of the investment but said the deal took its overall funding to $47.5m, up from the $45.7m total it reached in an October 2017 round featuring Trident Capital Cybersecurity, Omidyar Technology Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures. Semiconductor supplier Macnica is an earlier investor.
Vouch Insurtech, the Singapore-based operator of a peer-to-peer buying platform for car insurance, received S$1m ($760,000) in seed funding from investors including Gree Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of digital media company Gree, on Monday. VC management firm Nogle Capital Management also took part in the round alongside unnamed angel investors.
Propstack, an India-based real estate analytics platform backed by media company Daily Mail & General Trust (DMG), has raised an undisclosed amount from angel investors S. Sriniwasan, Ashish Khandelia, Shanti Ekambaram and TS Sivashankar, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday. The funding follows a $3m series A round in 2015 led by DMG subsidiary DMG Information that included data and analytics software provider Real Capital Analytics.
Financial services firm ICICI Bank has paid Rs 9.9m ($150,000) for a 9.9% stake in India-based payment technology startup Tapits Technologies, Moneycontrol has reported. Tapits’ biometric authentication technology enables merchants to accept payment using a customer’s fingerprint.