US-based conversational artificial intelligence technology developer Kasisto secured $9.2m today in a series A round led by Propel Venture Partners that included payment services firm Mastercard. The round also featured Commerce Ventures and financial services provider DBS Bank, as well as Two Sigma Ventures, Partnership Fund for New York City, New York Angels and Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of New York, the investors in Kasisto’s $2.25m seed round in 2014 along with Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator.
France-based personal finance management app developer Bankin’ raised €8.4m ($8.9m) on Tuesday in a series A round featuring CommerzVentures, the strategic investment arm of financial services firm Commerzbank, as well as Omnes Capital and Generation NewTech. Bankin’, which was founded in 2011, has built an app that enables users to monitor all their bank accounts from a single place, and has accumulated more than 1.5 million users.
Molecular Stethoscope, the US-based developer of a blood-based disease monitoring test, has closed an $8.2m seed round backed by pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and venture capital firms DCVC and Index Ventures. The round, which also included what the startup described as a top five US research university and various undisclosed angel investors, was completed alongside the formation of a two-year research collaboration deal with Pfizer to develop a test that can track disease progression in cardiometabolic conditions.
HousingAnywhere.com, the Netherlands-based operator of an accommodation listings platform for students, received €5m ($5.3m) in funding on Tuesday from Real Web, the owner of real estate portal Immobiliare.it, and HenQ, the VC firm that had previously led the company’s €1m seed round. The capital will be put towards an expansion drive as HousingAnywhere looks to enter more university cities in Western Europe and the US.
Share Rocket, the US-based creator of a social media audience measurement platform for broadcasters and digital publishers, raised $5m on Wednesday in a series A round led by led by Tribune Media, the media group that had previously taken part in the company’s seed round. The series A round also featured media providers Fox Television Stations and Capitol Broadcasting.
US-based diagnostic testing data platform Avalon Healthcare Solutions has received an undisclosed amount of funding from health insurance provider BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Mosaic Health Solutions and Francisco Partners which will be administered by Mosaic partner Echo Health Ventures. Francisco Partners had invested an undisclosed amount in Avalon in a January 2016 deal the company described as its second round, but it has not disclosed details of earlier funding.
US-based sneaker and sporting apparel marketplace Stadium Goods secured more than $4.6m in yesterday in an equity round led by VC firm Forerunner Ventures and backed by investors including media firm The Chernin Group. Stadium Goods launched in October 2015 with an undisclosed amount of seed capital from VC fund SM Ventures.
Eighteen94 Capital, the corporate venturing fund launched by packaged food manufacturer Kellogg in June 2016, made its first investment on Wednesday, leading a $4.25m series A round for Kuli Kuli, a US-based producer of food products based on a plant protein called moringa. InvestEco and S2G Ventures also participated in the round, which followed $400,000 raised through crowdfunding campaigns in 2013 and 2014, and $75,000 in February 2016 from accelerator Village Capital’s VilCap Investments subsidiary and Radicle Capital.
Deutsche Telekom Strategic Investments, the corporate venturing arm of telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, provided $3.1m for Roambee, a US-based enterprise logistics and asset management company, yesterday as part of a $4.1m series B round that included undisclosed Silicon Valley investors. Roambee, which raised $2.45m in funding in July 2016 according to a regulatory filing, has also formed a partnership with T-Systems, Deutsche Telekom’s ICT equipment services subsidiary.
Ronnie Screwvala, founder of venture capital firm Unilazer Ventures, has invested Rs 240m ($3.5m) in India-based online eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions at a valuation of approximately $295m, the Economic Times reported on Monday. Lenskart had previously raised about $95m from backers including IDG Ventures India, an investment affiliate of media company International Data Group, as well as Unilazer Ventures, TPG Growth, TR Capital, International Finance Corporation and Adveq Management.
SnapMD, a US-based telemedicine platform developer backed by property developer JF Shea, raised $3.25m in series A financing from undisclosed investors on Monday, taking its overall financing to $9.15m in the process. JF Shea participated in a $5.3m round for the company in January 2016 that included Tylt Labs and Whittier Ventures, a subsidiary of family office Whittier Trust, after combining with Whittier for a $600,000 seed round in 2013.
US-based eSports franchise Immortals received an undisclosed amount of funding on Tuesday from backers including entertainment studio Lionsgate. The round also featured VC fund CrossCut Ventures and angel investors Michael Milken, Steve Kaplan, Gregory Milken and Allen DeBevoise.
Semiconductor provider Semtech Corporation has supplied $3m in series A funding for US-based internet-of-things (IoT) technology developer MyDevices. The capital will be used to strengthen the company’s IoT project development platform, Cayenne, which helps users advance their projects from the prototype stage to mass production.
Pharmaceutical company Betta Pharma has led a $2.9m funding round for Capio Biosciences, the US-based developer of a diagnostics test that can detect circulating tumour cells in the blood, Milwaukee Business Journal has reported. The round, which Capio expects to close at $4.5m, was first disclosed at the end of December when the startup made a regulatory filing indicating it had raised the $2.9m.
Japan-based crowdfunding platform Campfire has raised ¥330m ($2.8m) from investors including internet companies GMO Internet and DeNA, online advertising firm Septeni Holdings and marketing software provider Freakout Holdings, The Bridge reported on Tuesday. The round also included SMBC Venture Capital, the VC branch of financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, as well as D4V, East Ventures, ISGS Investment Works, Suneight Investment and angel investors including Mamoru Taniya.
UK-based metal organic framework technology developer MOF Technologies received an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday from investors including Excelsa Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of conglomerate Sturrock and Robson Group. The round also featured Qubis, the research commercialisation arm of Queen’s University, which incubated the company in 2012.
US-based sports media startup The Athletic has raised $2.3m in a round led by Courtside Ventures, a partnership between marketing agency WPP, investment firm Bruin Sports Capital and private investor Dan Gilbert. The round included Bertelsmann Digital Media Investors, a subsidiary of media group Bertelsmann, as well as Advancit Capital and Luminari Capital, and was announced together with Courtside investments in StockX, GameCo, The Drone Racing League, LiveLike VR, Tappp, Kite & Lightning, Rebel Mail, Enso, Lisnr, Percepto, Unmute and VSporto.
IDG Ventures India, a VC affiliate of IT media company International Data Group, has led a $1.35m round for India-based mobile app management platform, Hansel.io E27 reported on Wednesday. The round also featured Endiya Partners, the VC fund that took part in a seed round of undisclosed size for Hansel in February 2016 through funding platform TracxnSyndicate alongside various angel investors.
Lobster, the UK-based creator of an online search and licensing platform for user-generated content, has secured £1m ($1.2m) from backers including angel investors Nikolay Katorzhnov, who invested £500,000, and Vlad Huber, Tech City News has reported. It had previously raised about £500,000 from investors including Wayra UK, an accelerator subsidiary of telecom group Telefónica, from which Lobster graduated in 2014.
IDN Financials, a video and technological platform for the Indonesia Stock Exchange, has invested $1m in Nearcircles, the Singapore-based developer of a group messaging app for local communities, Tech in Asia reported yesterday. Nearcircles will use the capital to grow its Indonesia team as it looks to expand beyond Jakarta and the Indian city of Mumbai.
– Image courtesy of Kasisto