Kitchen United, a US-based startup that aggregates data to find the best locations for fledgling food businesses, competed a $10m series A round led by GV, an early-stage investment vehicle for internet and technology provider Alphabet, on Monday. It will use the capital to open offices in the cities of Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Columbus, Phoenix, Seattle and Denver while also expanding its real estate, marketing, engineering and operations activities. Adam Ghobarah, a general partner at GV, will join its board of directors.
GV also participated in a $10m round for Machinify, the US-based developer of a platform that helps businesses more easily access artificial intelligence data, on Monday. Venture capital firm Battery Ventures led the round, which included private equity firm Matrix Partners. The company was founded in 2016 by ex-members of Vudu, the home entertainment provider acquired by retail group Walmart in 2010.
TabSquare, a Singapore-based developer of self-service ordering systems for restaurants, has raised $10m in a funding round led by e-commerce company Kakaku, the Straits Times reported on Wednesday. Beverage bottling service provider Coca-Cola Amatil, holiday resort operator Resorts World and VC firm Walden International also took part in the round, the latter having led TabSquare’s $2.6m series A round in 2016, participating with Infocomm Investments, Phillip Private Equity and private investment vehicle Raging Bull.
Industrial automation and robotics technology provider Hahn Group led a $10m series A round for Israel-based industrial inspection technology developer Kitov Systems on Wednesday. VC fund Global IOT Technology Venture also participated in the round, and the proceeds will be used for technology development.
Israel-based endpoint cybersecurity technology developer Nyotron received $10m in funding from IT product provider Ingram Micro yesterday. The company had raised $10m in a 2015 round led by private investor Mivtach Shamir before adding $21m in a July 2017 round led by technology holding company DGB Investments that included Shamir and fellow existing investors Gil Agmon and Shmuel Harlap.
Software provider Microsoft agreed on Monday to invest an undisclosed amount in Singapore-based on-demand ride provider Grab in connection with a strategic partnership that will involve Grab adopting its Azure platform as its preferred cloud computing option. Grab had previously raised about $5.9bn in funding from investors including telecommunications group SoftBank, carmakers Hyundai and Toyota, insurer Ping An, ride hailing service Didi Chuxing, media company Emtek and financial services firm Tokyo Century.
UK-based tenancy management software developer Goodlord completed a £7m ($9.2m) series B round on Monday that was led by VC firm Finch Capital and backed by e-commerce holding company Rocket Internet and VC fund Global Founders Capital (GFC). The company said the round took its total funding to £17m, and it last raised capital in an $8.8m round in March 2017 that was led by GFC, which invested together with LocalGlobe and Ribbit Capital.
Chevron Technology Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of energy company Chevron, co-led a series A round of undisclosed size for US-based industrial cybersecurity software developer Mission Secure on Wednesday with Energy Innovation Capital. The round included R/GA Ventures, a corporate VC subsidiary of advertising group Interpublic, as well as Felton Group, Macquarie Capital, Blue Bear Capital and University of Virginia Seed Fund. Mission Secure had previously raised $6.6m between 2014 and August 2017 according to securities filings.
Printing services provider Online Printing Group has led a $7.7m series A round for Singapore-based online printing services startup Gogoprint that included undisclosed private and institutional investors, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday. The company, which was founded in Thailand in 2015, will use the funding to expand into South Korea, Australia and New Zealand in the next year.
RevUp Software, the US-based developer of a predictive analytics platform for political fundraising, completed a $7.5m series A round on Monday that was led by VC firm Spero Capital and backed by Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of enterprise software provider Salesforce, as well as Alumni Ventures Group, Royal Street Ventures and various angel investors. The company had previously raised more than $5m in an early 2016 round featuring Salesforce Ventures and marketing group WPP.
Understory, the US-based operator of a weather prediction platform for insurance providers and farmers, has received $6.5m in funding from eight undisclosed investors, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. It has now raised a total of $15.9m, including $7.5m in an early 2016 series A round co-led by Monsanto Growth Ventures, agribusiness Monsanto’s strategic investment fund, and VC fund 4490 Ventures, with participation from True Ventures, RRE Ventures, SK Ventures and CSA Partners.
Classting, a Taiwan-based educational social media platform that counts SoftBank and consumer electronics producer Samsung as investors, secured $4m from VC fund Mistletoe on Wednesday together with $2.5m from Korea Development Bank making a total of $6.5m. SoftBank subsidiary Softbank Ventures Korea invested $880,000 in Classting in 2013, before Samsung Venture Investment, a corporate venturing subsidiary of Samsung, provided $2.5m in January 2017.
South Korea-based lidar (light detection and ranging) technology developer SOS Lab has raised more than $6m in a series A round featuring automotive component supplier Mando as well as credit services provider KDB Capital, financial services firm Mirae Asset and Hancom Investment, a subsidiary of enterprise software provider Hancom. The round also included Hyundai Investment Partners, SL Investment, WM Investment, BA Partners, RyukyungPSG Asset Management and Future Play.
US-based retail marketing software provider CiValue secured $6m on Tuesday in a series A round co-led by media and consumer data provider Nielsen and Sonae IM, the corporate venturing arm of telecoms company Sonae. The round included commercial real estate developer Emery Investments and followed a $2.4m seed round in early 2016 backed by Nielsen subsidiary Nielsen Innovate, telecoms group Deutsche Telekom and VC fund Mac Fund.
Pathee, the Japan-based operator of an online directory for local services, has received ¥650m ($5.9m) in funding from diversified conglomerate Mitsui; SMBC Venture Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; fellow financial services provider Dai-ichi Kangyo Credit Cooperative; Eight Roads Ventures Japan, Regional Revitalization Solution and Seqvel, The Bridge has reported. It has now raised a total of $9.7m, its earlier investors including digital marketing agency Opt, Daiwa PI Partners and Samurai Incubate.
Travel services provider Thomas Cook India has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum for a 24% stake in TravelJunkie Solutions, the India-based operator of local recommendation app Ithaka, through its TC Tours subsidiary, the Economic Times has reported, citing a stock exchange filing. The company had previously received $325,000 in seed funding from angel investors including Ankit Gupta and Puneet Motihar.
US-based mobility data startup Coord completed a $5m series A round yesterday that was led by Alliance Ventures, the VC partnership formed by carmakers Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi. The round included DB Digital Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of rail operator Deutsche Bahn, as well as Trucks Venture Capital, Urban.Us and Sidewalk Labs, the Alphabet subsidiary that focuses on urban innovation. Sidewalk took part as an existing investor but has not disclosed details of its earlier participation.
Boeing HorizonX Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for aerospace manufacturer Boeing, has led a $3m funding round for US-based spacecraft propulsion technology developer Accion Systems that included GettyLab, BostInno reported on Wednesday. Accion had previously raised $9.5m in equity funding including $7.5m in a May 2016 series A round led by Shasta Ventures that included RRE Ventures, Founder Collective and Slow Ventures.
Dekoruma, an Indonesia-based furniture and home renovation retailer and service provider, has raised an undisclosed “multi-million” amount of series B funding from AddVentures, the corporate VC subsidiary of building materials supplier Siam Cement Group, as well as e-commerce company Global Digital Niaga (GDN), Skystar Capital, Convergence Ventures and Beenext, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. The latter two took part as existing investors but Dekoruma has not revealed details of its earlier funding.
Mysphera, a Spain-based developer of internet-of-things technology for the health sector, closed a €2.5m ($2.9m) funding round on Tuesday that included Aliad and Sabadell Venture Capital, respective corporate venturing subsidiaries of industrial gas provider Air Liquide and financial services firm Banco Sabadell. The round also featured Swanlaab Venture Factory and the capital will support the growth of Mysphera’s domestic business and an expansion into the US, Europe and Latin America.
Japan-based property management services provider Housmart has secured ¥300m ($2.7m) in a round that included Freebit Investment, a subsidiary of IT services firm Freebit, according to TechCrunch Japan. The round also featured Daiwa Corporate Investment, a subsidiary of brokerage firm Daiwa Securities, as well as Accord Ventures, SX Capital and CAC Capital, and it followed ¥100m from Opt Ventures, a subsidiary of marketing firm Opt, Beenext and Yamato Enterprise in 2016.
Japan-based marketing automation technology developer F-Code has received ¥280m ($2.5m) in funding from investors including information services provider MyNavi, TechCrunch Japan reported last month. The capital increased F-Code’s series A round to about $3.8m and the proceeds will be used to accelerate growth.
Indonesia-based warehousing service provider Waresix has completed a $1.6m pre-series A round that included Sinar Mas Digital Ventures, the VC arm of diversified conglomerate Sinar Mas, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday. The round was co-led by East Ventures and Monk’s Hill Ventures and included Triputra Group. It comes after the startup raised an undisclosed amount of seed capital from East Ventures in February this year.
Stringr, the US-based operator of an online marketplace where media companies can buy video content from freelance and amateur videographers, has raised more than $1m from investors including media companies The Associated Press and McClatchy. The round also featured Advection Growth Capital and G5 Capital, and followed $1.5m from Matter, Founder.org and Signia Ventures in 2015.
StrongDM, a US-based database access and compliance software developer backed by media companies Bloomberg and Hearst, received $1m in funding from undisclosed investors yesterday. Bloomberg subsidiary Bloomberg Beta led an $800,000 round for StrongDM in 2015 that included Data Collective, SocialStarts and Jerry Neumann, and Bloomberg, SocialStarts and Neumann returned for a $3m round featuring True Ventures, Laconia Capital Group in 2016. Hearst unit HearstLab invested $250,000 the same year.
Singapore-based cross-border payment platform developer Wallex has secured an undisclosed sum in a pre-series A round led by Beenext that included Central Capital Ventura, the VC arm of financial services firm Bank Central Asia, as well as investment holding company Indonusa Dwitama, E27 reported on Wednesday. Wallex, whose existing investors include 500 Startups, KDV Capital and Amand Ventures, will use the funding to expand its business in its home country.
Smart Crowd, a United Arab Emirates-based operator of a crowdsourced real estate investment platform, has completed a $600,000 seed round featuring smart contract technology provider Abaxx Technologies, Magnitt reported on Monday. Shorooq Investments led the round, which included 500 Startups and undisclosed angel investors, and which will be used for technology development.
Consulting and software services provider ASM Technologies has invested about Rs 20m ($270,000) in India-based software-defined networking technology developer Lavelle Networks at a valuation of about $5.2m, VCCircle reported on Monday, citing a “person in the know”. Lavelle had previously raised approximately $600,000 from VC fund Ideaspring Capital in March 2017.
Mobile game developer Crooz has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Japan-based livestreaming production services startup LiverRights, The Bridge reported late last month. LiverRights will put the funding toward expanding its network of broadcasters.
