Investment holding company Groupe Artemis provided an undisclosed amount for US-based, corporate-backed online sneaker marketplace Goat Group on Tuesday. Goat was valued at $1.75bn in September 2020 when it raised $100m in series E funding from D1 Capital Partners, adding to a $100m investment by sneaker retailer Footlocker in early 2019. Its earlier investors include Index Ventures, Matrix Partners, Webb Investment Network, Upfront Ventures and Accel.
Flexe, the US-headquartered operator of a cloud-based warehouse rental platform, has received $10m in funding from undisclosed investors, Geekwire reported on Wednesday. It will be added to a series C round featuring warehouse operator Prologis’s investment arm, Prologis Ventures, as well as funds advised by investment manager T. Rowe Price, Activate Capital, Tiger Global Management, Madrona Ventures and Redpoint Ventures that stood at $70m as of last month. The company has now raised more than $143m altogether.
Financial services firm Bank of Iwate’s Iwagin Jigyo Souzou Capital unit led a ¥1bn ($9.7m) series C equity and debt round yesterday for Jolly Good, the Japan-based creator of a virtual reality telemedicine system, investing with Jafco and Axil Capital, taking its total funding to over $21m. Mobile game publisher Gumi invested $970,000 in in 2016, recruitment firm DIP and Astart added $3.6m the following year, and Jolly Good closed a $6m series B round featuring SBI Investment, Shinsei Corporate Investment, MBS Innovation Drive and Axil Capital in mid-2019.
Thinkings, the Japan-based developer of a recruitment management system Sonar ATS, secured ¥950m ($9.2m) on Monday in a series A round featuring financial services firm Mizuho Financial Group’s venture capital subsidiary, Mizuho Capital. The round included Incubate Fund, XTech Ventures and I-Nest Capital, and it was announced in the run up to the company’s formation from the merger of Ignite Eye and Infodex at the end of this month.
Indra, a UK-based provider of electric vehicle charging systems, raised £6m ($8.2m) yesterday from investors including oil producer Gulf Oil International. The round was led by venture capital fund Clean Growth Fund and followed an undisclosed amount of seed funding from energy provider Ovo Group’s smart energy technology subsidiary, Kaluza.
Industrial manufacturer JSR Corporation and importer-exporter CBC have taken part in an $8m series B round for India-based artificial intelligence technology developer AlphaICs, VCCircle reported on Wednesday. Endiya Partners and Emerald Technology Ventures co-led the round, which included Canal Ventures, the VC arm of IT services firm Nihon Unisys, as well as Rebright Partners, 3one4 Capital, Aaruha Technology Fund, Ireon Ventures and Whiteboard Capital. The company had already raised $2.4m from unnamed investors in 2017, according to a securities filing.
Landbot, the Spain-based creator of a no-code chatbot development platform, has secured $8m in series A funding from investors including financial services firm Bankinter, TechCrunch reported yesterday. VC firm Swanlaab led the round, which also featured Spanish government agency CDTI, Nauta Capital and Encomenda Smart Capital. It came after Nauta Capital led a $2.2m seed round in 2018 that included Bankinter and Encomenda.
Cumulus Digital Systems, the US-based developer of a software platform that pools industrial data to help make facilities safer, has received $8m in funding from investors including Shell Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of oil and gas producer Shell. The round was led by private equity firm GEC and also featured Brick & Mortar Ventures. Cumulus said it had previously raised $7m, $4.5m coming in a 2018 round led by Brick & Mortar Ventures that included Shell Ventures and Castor Ventures.
Agriculture-focused media, data and investment platform AgFunder has taken part in a $7.9m second seed round for US-based autonomous tractor technology developer Bear Flag Robotics, Crunchbase News reported yesterday. The extension was led by True Ventures and included Graphene Ventures, D20 Capital and Green Cow Venture Capital. It came after True Ventures led a $3.5m first seed round in 2018 that took the company’s total funding to $4.6m.
Manufacturing services firm Foxconn and semiconductor producer Winbond provided an undisclosed amount for US-based artificial intelligence chipmaker Kneron on Wednesday. Kneron had raised a total of $73m as of a $40m round in January 2020 led by VC firm Horizons Ventures, and its earlier investors include e-commerce group Alibaba’s Entrepreneur Fund, fabless semiconductor manufacturer Himax, mobile internet technology producer Thundersoft, CDIB, Sequoia Capital and Cyzone Angel Fund.
Lohum Cleantech, an India-based producer of lithium-ion battery packs, has raised $7m in funding from investors including vehicle component manufacturer Talbros Automotive Components, YourStory reported on Monday, citing a company statement. Private equity fund Baring Private Equity Partners India led the round, which fund the expansion of Lohum’s production facilities including the launch of a US-based recycling plant.
Electrical appliance manufacturer V-Guard Industries has invested $5m in India-based energy-efficient battery technology developer Gegadyne Energy Labs, VCCircle has reported. Mumbai Angels Network had provided an undisclosed amount for Gegadyne in 2018.
Israel-based vehicle-inspection system developer UVeye received at least $4.5m in funding from investors including automotive manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company on Tuesday. UVEye said it has now raised more than $40m in total, up from the $35.5m it had secured as of a $31m round in mid-2019 co-led by insurance provider WR Berkley Corporation and carmakers Volvo Cars and Toyota – the latter through its Toyota Tsusho subsidiary – and backed by investment firm FIT Ventures and unnamed others.
Pneumagen, a UK-based spinout of University of St Andrews working on a nose spray to prevent and treat respiratory infections, has obtained £2.5m ($3.4m) in an extension backed by an undisclosed corporate and unnamed, existing investors. The company raised an initial $4.9m tranche in May 2020 from Thairm Bio and Scottish Investment Bank. Pneumagen has now raised approximately £9.5m ($13m at current exchange rates) altogether, it said.
Build38, a Germany-based developer of mobile app-focused cybersecurity software, completed a €3m ($3.6m) pre-series A round on Monday, raising the money from Caixa Capital Risc, the VC arm of financial services firm La Caixa, and VC firm eCapital Entrepreneurial Partners. The company was formed by currency management technology producer Giesecke+Devrient in 2018 and seeded with an undisclosed amount of funding from its corporate venturing unit, G+D Ventures.
US-based construction management software provider TraceAir closed a $3.5m series A round on Wednesday featuring construction firm Independent Construction and engineering consultancy Engeo. The round was led by XTX Ventures and included Liquid 2 Ventures, Gem Capital, GPS Ventures, angel investor Andrew Filev and existing backers including Metropolis.VC. The round doubled TraceAir’s total funding to $7m, $2.5m coming in a 2018 pre-series A round led by conglomerate Sistema and backed by Engeo and Independent Construction.
US-based solar power provider Solstice Power Technologies has closed a $3.1m round led by Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures, a subsidiary of petroleum supplier Total. The round included energy technology producer Schneider Electric’s investment arm, Schneider Electric Ventures, and insurer American Family Insurance’s Institute for Corporate and Social Impact as well as Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Next Wave Impact, Active Impact Investments, Powerhouse Ventures, Gratitude Railroad, H/L Ventures, SustainVC, Halcyon Angels, and unnamed individuals.
Media company Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting provided an undisclosed amount of funding on Monday for Neuet, the Japan-based owner of bicycle rental service Charichari. Neuet had raised $5.3m as of a $2.8m round last month featuring broadcasters Tokai Television Broadcasting and Nagoya TV (which invested through Nagoya TV Ventures), as well as retail group Marui, driving school operator Minami Holdings’ Minami Incubate unit, printing and communications services firm Nishikawa Communications and unnamed others.
Sports betting media company Better Collective has paid DKK17m ($2.8m) to increase its stake in Mindway AI, a Denmark-based developer of software that identifies problematic gambling habits, from 20% to 90%. It acquired the original stake in September 2019 with an investment of $590,000, and the remaining 10% of Mindway will be held by its founder, Kim Mouridsen, a professor at Aarhus University.
United Arab Emirates-based payment app developer Ziina has received an undisclosed amount of seed capital from investors including internet company Jabbar Internet Group, Wamda reported on Tuesday. Wamda itself also took part in the round, which was led by VC fund Jasoor Ventures and also backed by Class 5 Global, Long Journey Ventures, Graph Ventures and FJ Labs.
Ireland-based market intelligence provider SalesOptimize has secured €2m ($2.4m) from investors including telecoms firm Telefónica and its Wayra subsidiary, Independent.ie has reported. Enterprise Ireland and unnamed friends and family made up the round, which came after Elkstone Partners, Enterprise Ireland and undisclosed individuals added $1.3m to earlier funding from Wayra and various angel investors, in 2018.
Financial services firm KB Financial Group has provided an undisclosed amount of series A funding for Vietnam-based digital wallet developer Gpay, Tech in Asia reported on Tuesday. The round valued Gpay, a subsidiary of technology group G-Group Technology Corporation, at $18.5m post-money, and was announced alongside a $13m joint venture between KB Financial and G-Group.
Clean energy and water supplier Photon Energy led a PLN7.5m ($2m) funding round for Lerta Energy, a Poland-based developer of virtual power plant technology, on Wednesday. The corporate paid approximately $1.1m for a 12% stake in Lerta, investing alongside ValueTech Seed Fund and unnamed existing backers. ValueTech Seed Fund led a $680,000 seed round for the company in 2018 that included PGE Ventures, the strategic investment arm of energy utility PGE.
Ame×tsuchi Design, the Japan-based owner of regional tourism revitalisation platform Cocodake, raised an undisclosed amount from website developer Abilive, IT services firm Equation and investment and business development firm PayForward yesterday. The company named Abilive as an existing investor but did not provide further details.
US-based immunological therapy developer Slate Bio completed a $1.75m round on Tuesday featuring drug development services provider PharmaDirections. The round was led by VC firm Epidarex Capital and included members of Slate Bio’s management team in addition to University of Virginia’s Licensing & Ventures Group Seed Fund, Center for Innovative Technology’s GAP BioLife Fund and VTC Ventures’ Seed Fund.
Japan-based image recognition technology developer Hutzper has secured ¥100m ($965,000) in a pre-series A round from Chugin Infinity Fund and Hiroshima Venture capital, respective venture capital units of financial services firms Chugoku Bank and Hiroshima Bank, as well as Anri, East Ventures and GA Investment Union. The company received tens of millions of yen (¥10m = $93,000 at contemporary rates) from undisclosed investors in May 2020.
AZ-Star, an investment vehicle for financial services firms Aozora Bank and Tokyo Star Bank, trading group Kanematsu and accounting consultancy Es Networks, has provided ¥18.35m ($177,000) for Rongo, a Japan-based live commerce service operator.
Cloud computing and big data services provider Inspur Group invested an undisclosed amount in China-headquartered artificial intelligence chip developer Moxin on Monday. Moxin’s founders include artificial intelligence scientists from Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, and it plans to release its first product later this year.
Home renovation services provider Noble Home, department store operator Mito Keisei and system integrator Aoi Systems provided an undisclosed sum for Japan-based football club Mito Hollyhock yesterday. The team has raised undisclosed amounts from a range of corporates in the past few months, most recently in December 2020. Its existing investors include Appreciate, Ono Group, Chikarakobu Holdings, Ibaraki Toyopet, Book Ace, Cosmo Sogo Kensets, Asahibussan, Kokusai Logitec, Ibaraki Kotsu, Nikko Ibaraki Measurement Keisoku and Sekikawa Tatami Shouten.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles
