Automotive manufacturer Porsche has paid an undisclosed amount to increase its stake in Croatia-based electric sports car developer Rimac Automobili from 10% to 15.5%. The carmaker invested an undisclosed amount in Rimac in June 2018 in return for a 10% share, after battery producer Camel Group, battery and electric vehicle maker China Dynamics, Integrated Asset Management Asia and Frank Kanayet Yepes had provided $47.8m across two rounds. Hyundai Motor Company and its Kia subsidiary added $93.7m in May this year.
Caper, the US-based creator of a smart shopping trolley, completed a $10m series A round on Tuesday that included supermarket chain Red Apple Group as well as additional strategic investors that were not named. The round was led by Lux Capital and featured First Round Capital, Y Combinator, Hardware Club, Sidekick Fund and FundersClub, all of which took part in a $2.2m seed round in January 2019 with Precursor Ventures, Cogito Ventures, Redo Ventures and various angel investors, taking Caper’s total funding to $3m.
Myia Labs, the US-based developer of a patient monitoring platform, has secured $10m in a series A round led by a $5m investment by telehealth provider Mercy Virtual, MobiHealthNews reported on Wednesday. Consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, Zetta Venture Partners, BootstrapLabs and B Capital Group also contributed to the round, which followed approximately $6.8m in seed capital from Boston Consulting, BoostrapLabs and Zetta in December 2018. The cash will fund hiring and an expansion into new health areas.
Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank has provided $10m in funding for Sweden-based solar cell developer Exeger Operations, taking up an option included in an earlier $10m investment by the corporate in Exeger in March this year. The company had already received $5.5m from Fortum Technology and New Ventures, a corporate venture capital subsidiary of energy utility Fortum, in 2016 at a $110m valuation.
LG Technology Ventures, a corporate VC subsidiary of diversified conglomerate LG, has joined Mitsui Kinzoku-SBI Material Innovation Fund, a vehicle for mining company Mitsui Kinzoku and financial services group SBI, to invest $8m in US-based nano-coating technology developer Forge Nano. The cash will be added to a series A round that now totals $18m, Forge Nano having received $10m from carmaker Volkswagen in January this year. Forge Nano had previously raised $20m in a round led by investment firm Townsend Capital in 2016.
US-based men’s cosmetics e-commerce platform Hawthorne has completed an $8m series A round featuring Comcast Ventures, mass media group Comcast’s corporate venturing vehicle, BeautyMatters reported on Wednesday. VC fund Imaginary Ventures led the round, which included Founder Collective and angel investors including Shana Fisher, Yael Alflalo and Tom Chapman. It came after $2.2m from investors including Comcast Ventures, Founder Collective and Shana Fisher in late 2017.
Ermium Therapeutics, a France-based autoimmune disease drug developer, secured €6.3m ($6.9m) on Wednesday in a series A round that will potentially include up to $3.2m from biopharmaceutical company Domain Therapeutics. The round was also backed by regional tech transfer office Satt Erganeo, VC firm Kurma Partners and growth equity firm Idinvest, and it will fund work on treatments for autoimmune disease and potentially neurological diseases, cancer and rare diseases.
Redefine Meat, an Israel-based startup developing a 3D printer that will create artificial meat, closed a $6m seed round on Wednesday featuring poultry product distributor PHW Group. The round was led by CPT Capital, the VC arm of private equity investor Jeremy Coller’s family office, and was also backed by VC fund Hanaco Ventures and undisclosed angel investors. It intends to use the capital to finalise development of the product ahead of a planned launch in 2020.
Diversified trading group Itochu invested an undisclosed amount in KeepTruckin, a US-based fleet management software producer, in connection with the formation of a strategic alliance on Tuesday. KeepTruckin had raised a total of more than $228m as of April 2019 when it secured $149m from GV, a subsidiary of internet and technology group GV, as well as Greenoaks Capital, IVP, Index Ventures and Scale Venture Partners, at a $1.25bn valuation.
Kovrr, the Israel-based developer of a software platform that models cyber risk, disclosed on Tuesday that it has raised $5.5m from investors including financial services firm Banco Sabadell. The round was co-led by VC funds StageOne Ventures and Mundi Ventures, and included undisclosed additional investors. It comes after Kovrr graduated the accelerator run by from Founders Factory in late 2018.
US-based urgent paediatric care startup Brave One has completed a $5m seed round that included Collab+Sesame, the joint venture between children’s television producer Sesame Workshop and VC firm Collaborative Fund, TechCrunch reported on Monday. Greycroft, Refactor Capital, Fifty Years, Indicator Ventures and Founders’ Co-op also contributed to the round, which will support development of a specialist electronic health records system and the opening of additional clinics around the city of Portland, Oregon.
Amira, the Belgium-based creator of a smart learning assessment tool, has secured $5m in a series A round led by VC fund Owl Ventures and backed by educational textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, GSV Accelerate and Rethink Education, EdSurge reported on Wednesday. The deal came in the wake of a $3m seed round led by Vertical Venture Partners in September 2018.
US-based cleaning products supplier Truman’s raised $5m yesterday in a seed round led by chemical and cleaning goods producer Henkel. The round also featured Uncommon Denominator, Starting Line and BFG Partners. Truman’s provides non-toxic cleaning products it sells directly to the consumer and aims to cut out the cleaning industry’s dependency on single-use plastic bottles.
US-based gas sensor technology developer SeekOps has received an undisclosed amount of series A-1 funding from Equinor Technology Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for energy company Equinor, and energy investment fund OGCI Climate Investments. The company, which was spun off from government agency Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, had previously raised $3.3m from 11 investors in July 2018, according to a regulatory filing.
Evonik Venture Capital, chemicals provider Evonik’s corporate venturing vehicle, has led an eight-figure renminbi (RMB10m = $1.4m) series A-plus round for Medvance, a China-based provider of 3D-printed medical implants, PEDaily has reported. Zhongnuo Ventures, Morningside Ventures and Puhua Capital also contributed to the round, the latter two having already participated in a series A round of undisclosed size for the company.
New Culture, a US-based developer of animal-free cheese, completed a $3.5m seed round on Tuesday that was led by Evolv Ventures, the food-focused VC fund backed by packaged food producer Kraft Heinz. The round included Bee Partners, Mayfield Fund, CPT Capital, Boost VC and SOSV, the latter having previously suppled pre-seed financing through accelerator IndieBio.
BigOne Lab, the China-based creator of an alternative-data analysis platform, received a ‘multi-million dollar’ amount from investors including financial data provider S&P Global on Wednesday. The corporate was joined by China Growth Capital, the VC firm that led a reported eight-digit dollar round for BigOne in March 2018. The company’s earlier backers also include VC firm ZhenFund.
Go-Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of ride hailing service Go-Jek, led a $3m series A round for Indonesia-based micro-savings platform developer Pluang on Tuesday. The company, which used to be known as EmasDigi, will use the capital to add a US dollar savings product and a fixed return offering to the gold-based savings product it recently launched.
SoftBank closed a $3m investment in Meditation.live, a US-based company that provides app-based meditation and wellness services and activities, through its SoftBank Capital NY unit on Wednesday. The capital will fund the addition of more experts to the platform as well as the introduction of new classes and support for language translation.
Zippity, the US-based operator of a service that enables users to get repairs done on their cars while they are at work, has raised $3m in seed capital from BP Ventures, a subsidiary of oil and gas supplier BP, as well as investment firm Schooner Capital, which led the tranche, and angel network LaunchPad Ventures. It had previously secured $3.2m in total, $2.7m of which came from BP Ventures, LaunchPad Ventures and A3Ventures, the VC arm of roadside assistance provider AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah, in November 2018.
Tool producer Stanley Black & Decker’s strategic investment arm, Stanley Ventures, joined investment firm Concord Health Partners on Wednesday to provide an undisclosed amount of series A funding for US-based patient monitoring system developer VitalTech. In addition to investing in VitalTech, Stanley Black & Decker will distribute the company’s VitalCare and VitalBand products through its Stanley Healthcare division.
Qiuya Technology, the China-based developer of a data analytics platform for the energy industry, has secured RMB20m ($2.8m) in a pre-series A round led by consumer electronics manufacturer Lenovo, Volanews reported on Tuesday. The company had not publicly disclosed details of any earlier funding.
Japan-based taxi-sharing app developer NearMe raised approximately ¥300m ($2.8m) in pre-series A funding on Wednesday from investors including insurer Nippon Life’s Nissay Capital unit, property developer Tokyu Land’s TFHD Open Innovation Program and SMBC Venture Capital, the VC arm of financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. The round also featured DBJ Capital and it came three weeks after NearMe launched a smart shuttle service.
US-based enterprise data software startup Argyle completed a $2.6m seed round yesterday featuring background-screening software provider Checkr and Bain Capital Ventures, the VC arm of private equity firm Bain Capital. The funding will be used to further develop the company’s Argyle Data Network, which enables businesses to access the workplace data of their customers in order to snoop on the state of their finances.
Petroleum supplier Shell has invested an undisclosed amount in Travis Road Services, a Netherlands-based provider of road-services automation software for fleet managers. The company is present in nine European countries and the funding will help it expand throughout the continent in the coming years.
US-based Flatfile disclosed details of its first external funding on Tuesday, the spreadsheet management software startup having received $2m from Gradient Ventures, internet technology provider Google’s AI-focused VC fund, as well as Afore Capital, Founder Collective, Designer Fund, Liquid2 Ventures and assorted angel investors. A securities filing indicates it raised $2.2m from undisclosed investors in July this year, though it has not officially confirmed the two equate to the same round.
Liberaware, the Japan-based creator of an aerial drone for use in small spaces, secured an undisclosed amount of funding from NEC Capital Solutions, which invests on behalf of IT product supplier NEC Corporation, and VC firm Venture Labo Investment on Wednesday. It will spend the cash on improving its Ibis drone, which it released commercially in April this year.
Israel-based advanced scent creator Moodify received $1.6m on Wednesday in a funding round led by mobility-focused VC fund Next Gear Ventures and backed by Toyota AI Ventures, carmaker Toyota’s corporate venturing vehicle. Moodify said it has now raised $2.3m altogether and will put the funding into developing additional scents as it prepares to publicly demonstrate its first product at the Frankfurt Motor Show later this month.
Xpring, an investment and incubation subsidiary of blockchain financial-transfer service Ripple, has joined Blockchain Finance Fund to provide $1.5m in funding for Coinme, a US-based provider of cash-to-Bitcoin kiosks, Geekwire reported yesterday. The participation of the funds was confirmed today in a press release by Coinme, which revealed they were part of an ongoing series A-1 round. It had previously raised $1.6m between March 2017 and December 2018 according to securities filings.
Coffee shop chain Killiney Group has led a S$1.7m ($1.2m) seed round for Singapore-based food reformulation technology startup Hoow Foods, Business Times reported on Monday. The round included VC firm Trive Ventures and government-owned, food-focused incubator Innovate360, and the cash will support research and development and the expansion of its team. Killiney invested in connection with a strategic partnership.
Kenmei Technologies, a Spain-based developer of mobile network intelligence technology, has secured €1m ($1.1m) in seed capital from GoHub Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for water utility Global Omnium, and VC firm R2 Seed Investments. The cash will go to international growth and the recruitment of client support and sales staff.
Pegara, the Japan-based developer of research computing platform GPU Eater, received more than $1m in seed capital from drone technology developer ALI Technologies, investment firm Miraise and various angel investors yesterday to take its total funding to $1.5m. It will use the cash to increase headcount as it looks to developer an artificial intelligence application programming interface.
Denda, the Chile-based owner of an online platform that helps consumers make sustainable buying choices, has raised $1m in a round co-led by impact investor Sudamerik and VC firm Dadneo that included undisclosed angel investors. The startup had been incubated within Engie Factory, the accelerator scheme run by energy utility Engie.
JLL Spark, the strategic investment fund owned by property services provider JLL, has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Qdesq, an India-based developer of flexible workplace management software, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. Qdesq had secured an undisclosed sum in a 2016 round led by Redcliffe Capital and backed by various angel investors, before various individuals added an undisclosed amount of funding later the same year.
Ijigen, the Japan-based operator of retail subscription service Always, received an undisclosed amount of funding from Saison Ventures, the venture capital arm of payment services firm Credit Saison, on Tuesday. The companies will collaborate on sales activities, and Credit Saison will offer customers the option of linking their cards to the service.
Diversified conglomerate Reliance Industries has supplied Rs 50m ($700,000) in funding for New Emerging World of Journalism (Newj), an India-based provider of curated mobile video content, through investment vehicle Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings, Entrackr has reported. Newj had previously received approximately $140,000 from the same investor in November 2018, according to Entrackr.
Japan-based mixed reality technology developer HoloLab raised an undisclosed sum last month from Mizuho Capital, the VC arm of financial services firm Mizuho Bank and fellow banking corporate venturing unit Mitsubishi UFJ Capital as well as Golden Asia Fund Ventures, a joint venture between Mitsubishi UFJ Capital’s parent company Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and the Taiwan state-owned Industrial Technology Investment Corporation. It has raised ¥180m ($1.7m) between this round and a previous one that closed in July 2018.
Marketing software producer MailChimp has invested an undisclosed sum in US-based enterprise feedback software provider BigTeam, VentureBurn reported on Tuesday. The deal comes after BigTeam raised $120,000 from accelerator operator TechStars in June 2018, and the startup is collaborating with MailChimp on the development of a survey tool.
Japan-based preventative medicine technology developer Japan Healthcare received ¥11m ($100,000) from e-commerce and internet company DMM and undisclosed angel investors last month, it announced today. Japan Healthcare has developed a system that utilises 3D printing to create customised insoles to prevent musculoskeletal diseases. DMM participated in the round through corporate venturing unit DMM Ventures.
Photo courtesy of Rimac Automobili.
