Ant Financial, e-commerce group Alibaba’s financial services affiliate, paid an undisclosed amount for a minority stake in Sweden-based payment services provider Klarna through a strategic partnership agreement on Wednesday. Klarna had previously raised more than $1.1bn from investors including fashion retailer H&M, payment services firm Visa and banking group Commonwealth Bank of Australia as of January this year and was valued at $5.5bn as of a $460m round in August 2019.
China-based cloud office software provider Shimo Wendang has raised more than $10m in a series B-plus round featuring Nio Capital, the corporate venturing fund formed by electric vehicle developer Nio, DealStreetAsia has reported. CBC Capital and F&G Venture co-led the round, which included China Growth Capital and which was the fourth to be raised by Shimo, according to DealStreetAsia. It stated that digital media company ByteDance, China Growth Capital, East-Lake Venture Capital and Wuhan Optical Valley Elite Investment Management had supplied its series B funding in 2017.
Malaysia-based e-commerce aggregation service iPrice has secured $10m in funding from investors including Line Ventures, online messaging platform Line’s investment arm, DealStreetAsia reported on Monday. ACA Investments led the round, which also featured Daiwa PI Partners and Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund. The company had received an undisclosed sum from Line Ventures in August 2018, following a total of $9.7m in earlier funding from Line Ventures, Cento Ventures, Venturra Capital, Asia Venture Group, Gobi Partners, Econa and Starstrike Ventures.
Comviva, a mobility services subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Mahindra, exited Netherlands-based payment infrastructure services provider TerraPay on Tuesday, divesting its stake to a consortium made up of Prime Ventures, Partech Partners and the World Bank-managed International Finance Corporation. The three have also provided $9.6m of equity funding for TerraPay, which was incubated by Comviva in 2015.
Japan-based digital transformation services provider Sun Asterisk doubled its overall funding to ¥2bn on Tuesday, raising ¥1bn ($9.3m) from Sony Network Communications and Sony Innovation Fund – both subsidiaries of electronics producer Sony – as well as electronics manufacturer Kaga Electronics, financial services firm Norinchukin Bank, Leave a Nest Capital (which is backed by biofuel provider Euglena) and 15th Rock Ventures. It had received the same amount in a round led by Norinchukin Bank in December 2019.
MassMutual Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of insurance firm MassMutual, co-led a A$14m ($9.2m) series A round for Australia-based debt collection services provider Indebted on Tuesday with VC firm Carthona Capital. The round included Reinventure, the VC firm backed by financial services firm Westpac, which had led a seed round for the company in 2017 that was about $750,000 in size, participating with angel investors Greg Waldorf, Lachlan Heussler, Mike Zimmerman and Craig Carroll.
Patch, a US-based producer of health insurance billing software, has rebranded to Anagram having raised $9.1m from investors including financial services provider Synchrony. The round was led by ManchesterStory and also featured Waterline Ventures, Rogue Venture Partners, Launchpad Digital Health, KEC Ventures and Healthy Ventures. The company has not disclosed firm details of earlier financing.
Arweave, the US-based developer of a blockchain-equipped data storage platform, secured $8.3m in funding yesterday from Coinbase Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of digital currency exchange Coinbase, in addition to VC firms Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures (USV). It had previously raised $8.7m in a June 2018 initial coin offering and $5m in a November 2019 token offering led by Andreessen Horowitz and backed by USV, Multicoin Capital and existing investors 1kx and Techstars.
WhereIsMyTransport, a South Africa-based provider of mass-transport management software, has received $7.5m in a series A round featuring Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the trading arm of carmaker Toyota, as well as internet technology provider Google, financial services firm Nedbank and corporate venture capital fund Liil Ventures. The round was co-led by Global Innovation Fund and Goodwell Investments, WhereIsMyTransport having already raised a total of $5m from aerospace manufacturer Bombardier, Liil Ventures, Goodwell, Global Innovation Fund, Omidyar Network and Horizon Ventures as of January 2019.
Diversified trading group Itochu has co-led a $7m series A round for Finland-based autonomous shuttle bus developer Sensible 4 with deep technology-focused VC fund NordicNinja VC. The company received $1m when it won first prize at the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport in October 2019 and has built an autonomous shuttle bus in partnership with fashion and household goods retailer Muji.
US-based cloud security software developer OpsCompass completed a $6.8m series A round on Tuesday featuring student loan services provider Nelnet. The round was led by growth equity firm Elsewhere Partners and included Dundee Venture Capital, Invest Nebraska, M25 and Nebraska Angels. OpsCompass had secured $1.2m in equity financing in March 2019 according to a regulatory filing, and the latest funding will support product development and the expansion of its go-to-market abilities.
PayLead, the France-based developer of a data analysis software platform for banking, closed a €6m ($6.7m) series A round yesterday that included Open CNP, the strategic investment arm of insurance firm CNP Assurances. The round also featured investment fund Side Capital and angel investors including Hugues Le Bret, and it came after Side Capital led a $730,000 seed round for the company in early 2018.
Venture debt investor InnoVen Capital has provided $6.5m in convertible note financing for Bounce, an India-based scooter rental service backed by mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, VCCircle reported on Tuesday. Bounce had raised $194m as of a $105m series D round in January this year that included Qualcomm subsidiary Qualcomm Ventures as well as Accel, B Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Falcon Edge, Maverick Ventures, Omidyar Network India, Sequoia Capital India and, reportedly, trustee services provider Vistra ITCL.
XYZ Reality, a UK-based developer of augmented reality technology for the construction industry, has completed a €5.7m ($6.4m) series A round that included construction firm J Coffey Construction, EU-Startups reported on Monday. Amadeus Capital Partners and Hoxton Ventures co-led the round, which also featured Adara Ventures and which will support the growth of XYZ’s technology and development teams along with its sales and marketing capabilities.
Medcare, the Japan-based developer of health insurance management platform Medically, received an undisclosed amount of series B funding on Monday from electric utility Chubu Electric Power and House Foods Group-SBI Innovation Funds Limited Partnership, which was formed by packaged food producer House Foods and financial services firm SBI. The company secured an undisclosed sum from staffing firm Recruit’s RSI Fund in April 2017, from financial services provider Orix four months later, and from RSI Fund, Orix, pharmacy chain Cocokara Fine Holdings, conglomerate Mitsui, Euglena, SMBC Venture Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Weru Investment in May 2018.
UK-based financial advice platform developer Youtility has secured £4.5m ($5.8m) in funding from investors including Barclays Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of financial services firm Barclays, The Telegraph has reported. Barclays was joined by VC firm Ascension Ventures’ Fair By Design Fund and private investor Michael Spencer, and the round will support hiring and the expansion of Youtility’s product range.
Computing technology producer Advantech paid an undisclosed amount for a 20% stake in Taiwan-based systems integration services provider Impelex Data Transfer on Monday, according to Digitimes. The investment was made alongside a strategic partnership that will involve the companies collaborating on intelligent manufacturing technology for metal processing and the production of hand tools.
Jassby, the US-based developer of a family financial management app, received $5m in funding from investors including financial services firm Needham Bank yesterday. Moneta Capital, Blumberg Capital, Correlation VC and Plug n’ Play Ventures also contributed to the round, which the company said doubled its overall funding to $10m. Blumberg Capital, Correlation VC and Moneta were identified as investors when Jassby launched in October 2018 and it described Plug n’ Play Ventures as an existing backer this week.
US-based deep learning software developer DeepSig has raised $5m in a series A round featuring aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s corporate venturing vehicle, Lockheed Martin Ventures. The round was led by VC firm Leawood Venture Capital and included Scout Ventures and Blu Venture Investors. The company had previously received $3.5m in funding including $1.5m in a May 2018 seed round led by Scout Ventures.
Lockheed Martin Ventures also invested an undisclosed amount in Ayar Labs, a US-based developer of technology that improves the interconnect bandwidth density of semiconductor and computing systems, on Monday. Ayar raised $2.5m in a 2016 seed round led by FF Science and backed by TechU Angels, before Playground Global led a $24m series A in late 2018 that also featured FF Science owner Founders Fund, semiconductor producer GlobalFoundries and Intel Capital, chipmaker Intel’s corporate venturing unit.
Japan-based robotics technology developer Yukai Engineering received ¥500m ($4.7m) in series A funding yesterday from investors including gas utility Tokyo Gas, voice recognition technology provider FueTrek and VC firms Nippon Venture Capital and Energy Environment Investment. Yukai had secured $960,000 from Kansai Science City ATR-Venture NVCC Investment Limited Partnership – a joint venture between research firm Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International and Nippon Venture Capital – in 2016.
Power and automation equipment producer ABB co-led a series A round of undisclosed size for US-based electric vehicle charging technology provider In-Charge Energy through corporate venturing subsidiary ABB Technology Ventures on Wednesday. The round was co-led by Macquarie Capital, the VC arm of investment bank Macquarie Group. Greg Callman, a Macquarie Capital senior managing director who is also its head of energy technology, is taking a board seat at In-Charge in connection with the round.
Memed, a Brazil-based digital prescription platform developer that counts mobile chipmaker Qualcomm as an investor, has secured $4.5m in a series B round led by investment partnership DNA Capital and backed by Redpoint eVentures. The company received $500,000 from Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit, Qualcomm Ventures, when it won the fund’s Latin American QPrize in 2015, and its earlier investors also include Redpoint and Monashees.
VC fund Drone Fund supplied an undisclosed amount of funding on Wednesday for SkyX, a Canada-based aerial data provider backed by technology conglomerate Kuang-Chi. The company had previously raised $15.8m including $4m from Kuang-Chi in 2017 and $9.5m in series B funding from family office Almond Tree Enterprise’s Almond Tree/SkyX Limited Partnership the following year.
India-based consumer lifestyle video platform Trell has received $4m in a pre-series A round that was co-led by Fozun RZ Capital, a corporate venturing vehicle for diversified conglomerate Fosun, Inc 42 reported on Tuesday. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge fund and KTB Network, and it included Beenext, WEH Ventures and Sprout Ventures. The latter three had provided $1.25m in seed capital for Trell in July 2018 alongside angel investors including Rajan Anandan and Anupam Mittal.
Professional Credentials Exchange (ProCred), the US-based developer of a digital marketplace for healthcare credentialing, closed a $3.5m seed round yesterday led by Spectrum Health Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for health system operator Spectrum Health. The round included medical staffing provider Hardenbergh Group, Martin Ventures, Florida Funders and unnamed individuals. ProCred was formed as a joint venture between healthcare innovation studio Hashed Health and consulting firm Tenon Consulting Solutions.
Electronics and consumer technology producer Honeywell invested an undisclosed sum in US-based quantum computing software developer Zapata Computing on Tuesday through its corporate VC arm, Honeywell Ventures. Zapata had previously raised $31m including $21m in an April 2019 series B round co-led by mass media group Comcast’s investment vehicle, Comcast Ventures, that included two other corporate venturing units: BASF Venture Capital and Robert Bosch Venture Capital.
Honeywell Ventures also provided an undisclosed amount of funding for another quantum computing software provider, UK-based Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC), on Tuesday. CQC raised an undisclosed amount from computer manufacturer IBM last month and the Honeywell investment was made following an extended period of partnership between the companies on quantum computing.
Consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung has led a $3m series A round for India-based online video publishing network Flickstree Productions through its Samsung Venture Investment unit, VCCircle has reported. LionRock Capital, Accretio Investments, Venture Catalysts, MOX and angel investor LD Sharma also took part in the round, which came after $460,000 from Venture Catalysts, Moksh Sports Ventures and various angel investors in 2017, and MOX was also described as an existing investor in the new round.
End Game Interactive, a US-based developer of multiplayer mobile games, has raised $3m in seed capital from investors including mobile game publisher Supercell. The round also featured Makers Fund and angel investors Kevin Lin, Hubert Thieblot, David Helgason, Scooter Braun, Danny Epstien and Alexandre Cohen. The cash will go to growing headcount as End Game prepares to release its next title, Fate Arena.
Payment services firm Mastercard is leading a series B round of undisclosed size for Digiasia, an Indonesia-based company that is developing a framework for financial technology providers located in the country, e27 reported on Tuesday. Mastercard will also provide strategic, networking and cybersecurity assistance for the company in connection with its investment.
Travel app developer Ixigo has led a round of undisclosed size for India-based intercity transport provider GogoBus, YourStory reported on Tuesday. The corporate was joined by angel investors including Rajesh Sawhney and Abhishek Sharma, and the proceeds from the round – the first to be raised by the company – will support the recruitment of product and technology personnel and the launch of its service in northern India.
UK-based vitamin brand Nourished has received more than £2m ($2.6m) in seed capital from investors including HenkelX Ventures, the open innovation vehicle formed by chemicals producer Henkel, BusinessLive reported on Tuesday. Private equity house Apater Capital and undisclosed angel investors also contributed to the round. The company utilises 3D printing technology to produce personalised vitamin tablets for its customers.
Chubu Electric Power and medical care provider Solasto have supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Plus Medi Corporation, the Japan-based developer of an app called MyHospital that helps improve the efficiency of the medical treatment process. Plus Medi raised undisclosed sums from medical device producer Nippontect Systems, SMBC Venture Capital, Vector, AStart and Tadashi Masuoka in 2017; from business development firm Dream Incubator and Japan Medical Information Research Institute in late 2018; and from insurance firm Sumitomo Life in May 2019.
WithGreen, the Japan-based operator of a chain of salad stores, raised ¥230m ($2.2m) in funding from investors including agriculture technology provider Farmship today. The round also featured financial services firm Norinchukin Bank, public-private partnership A-Five and family office Nakashimato. The funding will support the opening of new branches in the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama.
Travel processing software provider Amadeus Group provided an undisclosed amount of funding on Tuesday for Airside, the US-based creator of an identity verification platform that can be used as a passport. Blazar Ventures and Grotech Ventures co-led Airside’s $6m series A round in 2017, which included Bain Capital Ventures and 8VC, and which was followed by $2m in debt financing in October 2019.
Allegion Ventures, the $50m fund formed by safety equipment manufacturer Allegion, invested an undisclosed amount in Openpath, the US-based creator of a mobile access control system for offices, on Tuesday. Openpath had raised $7m in seed funding as of May 2018, from investors including Upfront Ventures, Sorenson Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Fika Ventures. They all returned for a $20m round described by Forbes as a series B round that was led by Emergence Capital two months later.
Training and networking services provider Nour Nouf Knowledge Company has co-led a $1.5m round that represented the first external funding for Aanaab, a Saudi Arabia-based provider of online skills courses for teachers, MenaBytes has reported. Wamda co-led the round, which included undisclosed angel investors.
Respeecher, a Ukraine-based developer of human voice modelling technology, has received an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by VC firm FF Venture Capital and backed by Acrobator Ventures and ICU Ventures, a subsidiary of asset manager ICU, AIN has reported. A report by Finsmes on Wednesday this week stated the funding was supplied in the form of a $1.5m seed round. It follows Respeecher’s participation in media group Comcast NBCUniversal’s Lift Labs Accelerator, powered by Techstars scheme in July 2019.
Polymer producer Covestro has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for France-based forensic and identity authentication technology developer Crime Science Technology through a strategic partnership deal. The investment was made in connection with Covestro’s manufacturing of special films for use in identity documents.
EventBank, a China-based marketing software developer backed by enterprise software provider Beijing Join-Cheer Software, has secured RMB10m ($1.4m) in series B funding from investors including investment firm GSR Ventures, China Money Network reported on Tuesday. The report identified Join-Cheer and VC firm Sinovation Ventures as earlier investors in the company but did not provide additional details.
Online education provider Yuanfudao has led a pre-series A round of undisclosed size for India-based video tuition platform developer Oda Class, YourStory reported on Monday. Oda Class claims to have accumulated 1 million users since the platform was launched in November 2019 and is targeting 10 million by the end of 2020, according to YourStory.
Omnisien, a South Africa-based provider of secure data-sharing software, has raised an amount of pre-series A funding co-founder Anton Grutzmacher told Ventureburn was below R20m ($1.3m) in size, from investors including financial services firm Nedbank’s Corporate and Investment Banking division, Ventureburn reported on Wednesday. Investec Private Capital and Compass Venture Capital also took part in the round.
ActEvolve, the Japan-based operator of virtual reality entertainment platform Vark, received an undisclosed amount from private investors Tomohide Kamei and Yōhei Sadoshima on Tuesday. It had raised an undisclosed sum from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Crooz Ventures, on behalf of financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Crooz, and angel investor Genki Shiota in June 2018, $1.9m from game publishers KLab and Gumi (through both Gumi Ventures and Gumi X Reality), Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and unnamed additional investors in August 2019, and an undisclosed amount from VC firm Now in December.
Energy utility Engie provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Spain-based hydrogen production system developer H2Site yesterday through its Engie New Ventures subsidiary. H2Site has also entered into a research cooperation partnership with the corporate’s Engie Lab Crigen subsidiary.
Quantitative crypto trading firm Alameda Research has supplied more than $1m in funding for Panama-based quant trading firm and liquidity provider Folkvang, CoinDesk reported on Tuesday. The companies said in a statement they already have a strong trading relationship, and Folkvang will use the funding to expand to other markets.
India-based language learning app developer Multibhashi has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including medical communication services provider Cactus Communications, TechCircle has reported. Angel investment platform Inflection Point Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Param Capital and individual investors Mukul Agarwal and Anurag Goel. Multibhashi had raised an undisclosed sum from Startup Oasis and angel investor Aniruddha Malpani in 2017, and from language school operator RareJob in November 2019.
Rockets, the Japan-based creator of sales lead acquisition platform Makibisi, received ¥100m ($930,000) in funding on Monday from SMBC Venture Capital, the VC arm of financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and startup accelerator operator Reality Accelerator. The company had previously raised an undisclosed amount from Reality Accelerator in May 2018.
Singapore-based consumer credit provider Hoolah has raised a six-figure amount in a series A round featuring resort and casino operator Genting Group’s corporate venturing unit, Genting Ventures, Tech in Asia reported on Wednesday. Investment firm Allectus Capital led the round, which included iGlobe Capital Partners and angel investors Max Bittner and Tim Neville. It followed a seven-figure sum provided by iGlobe, AccelerAsia Ventures, Aletra Capital Partners and unnamed angel investors in October 2018.
Venture builder STI Holdings has invested an undisclosed sum in Jupviec, a Vietnam-based domestic services provider backed by internet company CyberAgent, in a deal that will make it the largest shareholder in the company. CyberAgent supplied a six-figure amount of seed funding for the company in 2016 before VC fund Patamar Capital added an undisclosed amount in August 2018.
Photo courtesy of Klarna AB.
