Internet group Tencent has invested an undisclosed amount in France-based mobile game developer Voodoo at a $1.4bn valuation, Les Echos reported on Monday. The company will use the connection to China-headquartered Tencent to expand the presence of its casual free-to-play games in Asia, and the Tencent deal came after investment banking firm Goldman Sachs provided Voodoo with $200m in funding in May 2018.
Padsplit, the US-based operator of an online marketplace for rental accommodation, has raised $10m in a series A round featuring communications and media group Cox Enterprises and financial services firm Citi’s Impact Fund, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. Core Innovation Capital, Alate Partners, Kapor Capital and Impact Engine also contributed to the round, which followed $4.6m in seed funding from Cox, Core Innovation Capital, Impact Engine, Kapor, Techstars Ventures, 1984 Ventures, Metaprop and Enterprise Community Partners in April 2019.
US-based intraocular lens producer LensGen yesterday completed the $10m first tranche of a bridge financing round expected to close at $20m, with optical product maker Hoya Group leading it through a corporate venturing subsidiary likely to be Visionary Ventures. Hoya unit Hoya Ventures had led a $21m series A round for LensGen in 2017 that also featured Relativity Healthcare Partners, following $1.25m in equity funding over 2013 and 2014.
Japan-based influencer marketing agency BitStar secured ¥1bn ($9.4m) on Monday from marketing group Dentsu, retailer Marui Group, furniture distributor Forit, fan engagement platform developer Skiyaki, mobile content services provider BeMap, video game publishers Sega Sammy Holdings and Colopl, and media company Asahi Broadcasting – the latter two through subsidiaries Colopl Next and ABC Dream Ventures – along with unnamed private investors. It had previously raised a total of $18m as of an $11.7m series C round in 2018.
Indonesia-based digital ledger app developer BukuKas received $9m in pre-series A funding from investors including payment services firm Credit Saison, KrAsia reported on Tuesday. Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India’s Surge fund also took part in the round, as did VC fund Speedinvest. The round boosted the company’s overall funding to $12m according to KrAsia and the round came after it raised seed capital from Credit Saison, Surge and various angel investors in April this year.
US-based senior care monitor developer Tellus You Care secured ¥730m ($6.9m) yesterday in a series A round led by University of Tokyo Edge Capital that included mobile network operator NTT Docomo – through NTT Docomo Ventures – and DG Daiwa Ventures, which is backed by internet company Digital Garage, as well as Energy and Environment Investment, All Turtles and unnamed angel investors. It had disclosed $2.75m in funding from most of the same investors in May this year.
Insurance firm Massachusetts Mutual led a $7m series A round for Singapore-based stroke-prevention software developer See-Mode Technologies yesterday through its MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia subsidiary. The round included Entrepreneur First, the accelerator from which See-Mode graduated in 2018, and fellow existing backers Blackbird Ventures, Cocoon Capital and SGInnovate, which had combined to invest $1m in See-Mode in February 2019.
US-based online network technology developer Ananda Networks emerged from stealth on Tuesday with $6m in seed capital from investors including networking and virtualisation software provider Citrix and cybersecurity technology producer Jiran. The corporates joined MizMaa Ventures, Gefen Capital, Cyber Mentor Fund, GreatPoint Ventures, J-Ventures and undisclosed angel investors in the round, which was announced alongside the launch of Ananda’s first product.
Israel-based mobility insurance technology developer Bambi Dynamic has secured $6m in a series A round led by MS&AD Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance group MS&AD, Tech.eu has reported. Fellow insurer Phoenix Insurance also contributed to the round, participating as an existing investor according to Bambi. The company’s software combines data from a range of sources to calculate insurance rates.
Healthcare provider Mount Sinai Health System and laboratory equipment manufacturer EKF Diagnostics co-led a $5m seed round yesterday for Trellus Health, a developer of digital health treatments for chronic conditions. The startup’s technology is being licensed from Mount Sinai where it was initially developed.
Internet company Yahoo Japan provided ¥500m ($4.7m) in seed funding yesterday for Stand.fm, a Japan-based app that helps users distribute and monetise their podcasts. The cash will be used to support its monetisation programme, strengthen marketing activities and hire more engineers.
MSuite, the US-based creator of a collaboration software platform for the construction industry, closed a $4m seed round yesterday co-led by Stanley Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker, and VC firm Next Level Ventures. The round also featured U.S. CAD, a consulting firm for the construction and engineering industries.
Japan-based wireless internet technology provider PicoCela raised an undisclosed amount on Tuesday from Japan Post Capital, the investment arm of postal service Japan Post, in addition to general contractor Shimizu Corporation, trading group Sojitz and Okasan Capital Partners, the VC subsidiary of securities firm Okasan Securities. The company had previously received an undisclosed sum from rail operator JR East’s corporate venturing unit, JR East Japan Start Up, in December 2018.
Financial services firm Barclays has led a €3m ($3.6m) seed round for Offr, the Ireland-based creator of a digital property transaction platform, EU-Startups reported yesterday. The round included fellow financial services firms Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland (through its partnership with Delta Partners) as well as Enterprise Ireland, European Investment Fund and Frontline Ventures. The company has now raised about $4.7m altogether, according to EU-Startups.
Persefoni, the US-based creator of a software product that measures the carbon footprint of organisations, completed a $3.5m seed round on Tuesday that included Carnrite Ventures, the VC arm of energy and industrial consulting firm Carnite Group. The round was led by oil and gas-focused investment fund Rice Investment Group and also featured unnamed individual investors.
Speak Buddy, the Japan-based English language conversation app developer formerly known as AppArray, secured ¥300m ($2.8m) in series B funding on Wednesday from real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan’s 31Ventures Global Innovation Fund and VC firm Global Brain. Software publisher SourceNext paid $560,000 for a 4.9% stake in the company in July 2019, a month after it raised $2.8m from recruitment firm Dip and Reality Accelerator. It had received $270,000 from East Ventures, Slogan Coent Limited Liability Partnership, Viling Venture Partners and angel investor Nobuyoshi Yamagishi in February 2016 and $530,000 from human resources firm Will Group and Nippon Venture Capital 10 months later.
Japan-based employee collaboration software startup BeaTrust has received ¥300m ($2.8m) in a seed round featuring CyberAgent Capital, Itochu Technology Ventures, Strive and Mizuho Capital, on behalf of internet company CyberAgent, trading group Itochu, digital media company Gree and financial services firm Mizuho respectively, TechCrunch reported yesterday. They were joined by Delight Ventures, the VC firm backed by internet company DeNA; machine learning technology provider Pksha and asset manager Sparx’s Algorithm Investment fund; DNX Ventures and One Capital.
Bangkok Bank and Bank of Ayudhya have co-led a $2m pre-series A round for Thailand-based agricultural analytics software provider Ricult through respective subsidiaries Bualuang Ventures and Krungsri Finnovate, KrAsia reported on Wednesday. It had raised $1.85m in seed funding from investors including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in June 2018 and has now secured $5m altogether, according to KrAsia, which named printing services firm Chanwanich Group, Dtac Accelerate, Wavemaker Partners and 500 Tuktuks as additional investors.
Makoto Capital, the investment arm of consulting firm Makoto, provided an undisclosed amount of funding on Monday for Japan-based drone inspection software provider Clue through its Stage Up Fund. Clue received $2.9m from Dentsu Ventures and i-Mercury Capital – on behalf of marketing group Dentsu and internet company Mixi – as well as mobile marketing technology provider Adways, business development firm Dream Incubator, Anri, Drone Fund, Spiral Ventures, Real Tech Fund, co-founder Yūsuke Satō and private investor Kazuma Ieiri in 2017, after an undisclosed amount from Anri, Satō and angel investor Kōtarō Chiba the previous year.
Advertising technology provider Affle has agreed to pay Rs 198m ($1.6m) for an 8% stake in India-based social keyboard developer Bobble AI, the Economic Times has reported. The company, formally known as Talent Unlimited Online Services, raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding from investors including growth equity firm SAIF Partners in 2015, and SAIF’s stake now stands at 19.4%. Its largest investor is consumer electronics producer Xiaomi, which owns 27.6%, though it has not disclosed details of its funding.
Picki, the Japan-based operator of a fashion e-commerce platform, secured ¥120m ($1.1m) on Tuesday from CyberAgent Capital and Saison Ventures, which invested on behalf of internet company CyberAgent and payment services firm Credit Saison. The proceeds will go to brand development and marketing, and the round follows $540,000 from CyberAgent Capital, fan engagement platform Cork, VC fund Coral Capital and Voyage Ventures, travel technology provider Voyage’s corporate venturing vehicle.
Monex Ventures, the VC subsidiary of currency exchange provider Monex, joined investment firm North Base Media to provide $1m in funding for Zaiko, the Japan-based operator of a digital ticketing platform, on Tuesday. Zaiko had secured an undisclosed amount from North Base Media and music entertainment provider Space Shower Networks in April 2019, and it expects to close a series B round in early 2021.
Vegan confectionary producer Katjes Group has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Germany-based pet food brand Younikat through impact investment arm Katjesgreenfood, Nordic 9 reported on Monday. Younikat provides vegan and gluten-free dog food and was founded in 2015.
Aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin has invested an amount likely to be $800,000 in US-based artificial intelligence technology startup Fiddler through corporate venturing unit Lockheed Martin Ventures. VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners led its $3m seed round in January 2019, participating with Bloomberg Beta, an investment arm for media group Bloomberg, and Haystack Ventures. The seed investors returned for a $10.2m series A eight months later that included Lux Capital.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
