MakinaRocks, the South Korea-based creator of an artificial intelligence-equipped software tool for monitoring manufacturing processes, closed a ₩12bn ($10m) series A round on Wednesday featuring carmaker Hyundai Motor as well as LG Technology Ventures and Applied Ventures, subsidiaries of conglomerate LG and chipmaker Applied Materials, The Korea Herald reported. The round included Korea Development Bank, Daesung Private Equity, Shinhan Investment and HB Investment and it followed an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Hyundai, internet group Naver’s D2 Startup Factory and telecoms firm SK Telecom in 2018, the same year MakinaRocks was spun off from SK Telecom.
Bijnis, the India-based developer of a supply chain facilitation platform for fashion, secured $10m in series A funding from investors including classified listings operator Info Edge, YourStory reported on Wednesday. Matrix Partners India and Sequoia Capital India co-led the round, which also featured Waterbridge Ventures. Formerly known as Shoekonnect, Bijnis had raised a total of $840,000 from Info Edge as of late 2018, before the corporate added $870,000 in April 2019. Indian Angel Network was also an early backer.
E-commerce group Alibaba’s Entrepreneurs Fund has provided an undisclosed amount of series D-plus funding for AirWallex, the Australia-based operator of a cross-border payment system, China Money Network reported on Tuesday citing a company statement. AirWallex closed a $160m series D round in April this year at reported valuation of $1.8bn, raising the money from Salesforce Ventures and Anzi Ventures, on behalf of enterprise software producer Salesforce and financial services firm ANZ Bank, as well as internet group Tencent, DST Global, Sequoia Capital China, Hillhouse Capital and Horizons Ventures.
ProciseDx, the US-based developer of a point-of-care medical diagnostics system, raised $8.5m on Tuesday in a series A equity round led by medical device maker Biosynex, alongside $2m in debt financing. Biosynex has acquired a 37% stake in ProciseDx, which was spun off from food and nutritional product manufacturer Nestlé. The round included unnamed private investors and members of management, and the corporate’s Nestlé Health Science subsidiary retains a minority stake in ProciseDx following the series A round.
Financial services firm HSBC led a $7m series A round on Tuesday for Episode Six, the US-based creator of a digital financial product development platform. The round also featured payment services provider Mastercard and SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services group SBI that had invested an undisclosed amount in Episode Six in 2017 through its FinTech Business Innovation Fund.
BoCloud, a China-based provider of cloud services management software, has completed a series C-plus round of undisclosed size featuring electric vehicle producer Nio’s corporate venturing unit, Nio Capital, and the state-owned CETC Fund, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday, citing a company statement. Nio Capital led BoCloud’s $14.5m series C round in January 2020, investing alongside JD Cloud, the cloud services arm of e-commerce firm JD.com, as well as Tianjin Venture Capital, Szclivia Investment Management, Oriza Holdings and Bondshine Capital.
US-based sweet protein developer Joywell Foods completed a $6.9m series A round on Tuesday that was led by Evolv Ventures, the strategic investment fund backed by packaged food producer Kraft Heinz. The round included Khosla Ventures, SOSV, Alumni Ventures Group and unnamed others. Joywell said it has now raised $13.2m altogether and identified Khosla Ventures and SOSV as participants in its seed round, the details of which remain undisclosed.
Japan-based entertainment technology provider TheCoo secured ¥710m ($6.6m) on Tuesday from Sony Music Entertainment, the record company owned by electronics manufacturer Sony, as well as internet company Yahoo Japan’s YJ Capital unit, confectionery maker Doroquia Holatheta, I-Nest Capital and Da Vinci Project. The company had previously raised a total of about $7.9m across three rounds as of last month and counts corporates Yoshida Masaki and MBS Media Holdings among its earlier backers.
Huddl.ai, the US-based creator of an online video collaboration platform, emerged from stealth on Wednesday having raised $6.25m in seed funding from Bloomberg Beta and Propel Venture Partners, on behalf of media group Bloomberg and financial services firm BBVA, in addition to Bain Capital Partners, BoxGroup and private investor Ronnie Lott. The startup also disclosed an earlier $2.45m angel round featuring individuals including Lip Bu Tan, Sanjay Jha and Pradeep Sindhu.
France-based metallisation technology developer Aveni received a multimillion-euro amount (€1m = $1.15m) of series B funding from venture capital firm Diamond Edge Ventures on Tuesday. Aveni had raised at least $46m as of a $10.5m series B round in 2017, and its earlier investors include Merck Ventures, Aliad and Samsung Ventures, on behalf of pharmaceutical firm Merck Group, industrial gases producer Air Liquide and electronics manufacturer Samsung, as well as electronics producer Panasonic, Idinvest, Auriga Partners, Supernova, CEA Investissement, Rothschild Gestion, SPEF Ventures and AGF Investments.
Medical device maker MicroPort has led a S$8m ($5.8m) series A round for Singapore-based surgical robotics technology developer NDR Medical Technology, KrAsia reported on Monday. The round included Kava Ventures and the government-owned SG Innovate, and MicroPort agreed to lead it in May this year. SG Innovate had invested an undisclosed sum in NDR in April 2018 and the latest funding will support a planned expansion into the United States as well as regulatory submissions in other overseas markets.
Japan-based semiconductor manufacturing technology developer Photon Electro Soul has raised ¥620m ($5.8m) from Japan Post Capital, JMTC Capital, Okasan Capital Partners and OKB Capital, on behalf of postal service Japan Post, advanced materials producer JMTC, securities firm Okasan Securities and financial services firm Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank, as well as game developer Ateam, insurance provider Dai-ichi Life, leasing firm Juroku Lease, and Aichi Bank and VC firm Shizuoka Capital’s Aigin Fund. It followed $4.3m from cutting tool manufacturer OSG, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Beyond Next Ventures, Tiger & Beyond, Keizu Capital and angel investor Dai Seda in January 2019.
Claim Genius, the US-based creator of a system that uses artificial intelligence to assess vehicle damage, completed a $5.5m series A round on Wednesday featuring insurance software provider Financial Link and IT services firm Siri Information Solutions. The company said it had previously received $2.3m in a 2018 seed round but did not reveal the investors. It will put the series A funds into launching new products and strengthening its sales and development activities.
Roundtrip, the US-based operator of a ride hailing service for medical facilities, closed a $4m funding round on Tuesday led by Motley Fool Ventures, the corporate VC arm of investment news and advice provider The Motley Fool. It was joined by UH Ventures, the investment vehicle for care provider University Hospitals, as well as medical technology producer Zoll Medical Corporation, Grays Ferry Capital, Johns Hopkins University and Ben Franklin Technology Partners. It had previously raised $7m as of a May 2019 series A round.
Medical device maker Medtronic has provided an eight-figure renminbi amount (RMB10 = $1.4m) for China-based neurosurgical robotics technology developer Sinovation Medical, EqualOcean reported on Monday. The investment was made through the $60m China fund it launched in 2015.
SPH Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of media company Singapore Press Holdings, led a $3.5m series A round for Partipost, the Singapore-based operator of an online platform that links marketers to social media influencers, KrAsia reported on Wednesday. The round included VC firm Quest Ventures and undisclosed other investors, and SPH Ventures chief executive Chua Boon Ping is joining Partipost’s board of directors.
Investment banking firm JP Morgan has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for FitBank, the Brazil-based operator of a cloud business payment platform, Valor Econômico has reported. Renata Vilanova Lobo, Brazilian head of treasury services for JP Morgan, is joining FitBank’s board of directors in conjunction with the round, which will support an international expansion drive.
South Africa-based cryptocurrency exchange Valr has received R57m ($3.4m) in a series A round led by 100x Ventures, a VC subsidiary of 100x Group, the owner of cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform BitMex, VentureBurn reported on Tuesday. Crypto trading platform Bittrex also took part in the round, along with 4DiCapital and Michael Jordaan, the former chief executive of First National Bank. Bittrex led Valr’s last round in March 2019, when it secured $1.5m from investors also including Jordaan’s Montegray Capital vehicle.
Engie New Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for energy utility Engie, invested in Energyworx, a Netherlands-based provider of cloud energy management software, as part of a funding round of undisclosed size on Monday. The round included EDP Ventures, a subsidiary of fellow power provider EDP, as well as VC firm Set Ventures. It came after EDP Ventures led a $1.1m series A round for Energyworx in November 2019 that boosted its total funding to $3.8m. Set Ventures was an earlier backer, as was HenQ.
Station A, the US-based operator of a renewable energy marketplace, announced on Wednesday that it has closed a seed round featuring energy utility Southern Company and Schneider Electric Ventures, power and automation equipment producer Schneider Electric’s investment arm, in addition to Renewal Funds, Powerhouse Ventures and Howard Wenger, former president of solar system installer SunPower. The size of the round was not disclosed but a securities filing last month indicates the startup had raised $3.1m in a round with a $5.1m target.
Food producer Danone led a $3m funding round for US-based allergy prevention technology developer Ready, Set, Food on Monday through corporate venturing subsidiary Danone Manifesto Ventures. Food-based VC fund AF Ventures and angel investor Mark Cuban also contributed to the round, which followed $2.2m in pre-seed funding in July 2019 from Amplify.LA, PLG Ventures, Wavemaker360, Pasadena Angels and individuals including Adam Miller, David Rogier and John Burry.
Vestr, a Switzerland-based creator of software that helps asset managers digitise the issuing of actively managed certificates, has completed a series A round of undisclosed size led by Six Group, the operator of the Swiss Exchange. The oversubscribed round also featured financial services firm Zuercher Kantonalbank, EquityPitcher and European Investment Fund vehicle European Angels Fund. Vestr had received an undisclosed amount from Six Group’s Six FinTech Ventures fund in November 2018.
Media group Bertelsmann participated in a $2.15m seed round closed by Canada-based talent assessment tool developer Knockri on Wednesday through subsidiary Bertelsmann Investments. The round was led by VC fund Differential Ventures and also featured VC firm Grand Ventures, and Knockri said it has now raised a total of nearly $2.5m since it was founded in 2016.
Video advertising software provider SpotX supplied an undisclosed amount for SpringServe, the US-based operator of an online video ad serving platform, on Monday through a collaboration agreement. SpringServe, which was founded in 2015, will partner SpotX on providing ad serving, inventory management and programmatic advertising technology for their customers.
Bridge Consulting Group, a Japan-based support service for accountants, secured ¥200m ($1.9m) on Monday in a series B round featuring merger and acquisition services firm Nihon M&A Center, IT recruitment firm Geechs and debt financing from unnamed financial institutions. Persol Tempstaff, a subsidiary of human resources firm Persol, supplied an undisclosed amount for the company in June 2018 and it said this week its overall funding stands at about $2.8m.
Financial services firm UBS has invested an undisclosed sum in Houzy, a Switzerland-based home ownership tools and advice provider. UBS recently launched a real estate finance service called Key4 and will offer assistance to its customers through a strategic relationship with Houzy.
Singapore-based insect protein producer Protenga completed a $1.6m seed round on Wednesday that included biotech provider Roslin Technologies. The round also featured Seeds Capital, a VC arm of government agency Enterprise Singapore, and the proceeds will fund product development and growth in the Southeast Asian market. Protenga is also working with Roslin on identifying new insect strains it can add to its black solider fly-based products.
Fave, the Malaysia-based developer of a digital payment and loyalty system for retailers and restaurants, raised an undisclosed sum from digital payment software provider Pine Labs on Wednesday through a strategic partnership. The company had received an undisclosed amount of venture debt from Innoven Capital in September 2019, following $20m in series B funding from quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group’s SIG Asia unit, Sequoia Capital India and Venturra Capital in September 2018.
Rapyuta Robotics, the Japan-based creator of robotics control system Rapyuta.io, received an undisclosed amount of series B2 funding on Monday from BizTech Fund, a joint venture for trading group Itochu and private equity firm Mercuria Investment Japan. Warehouse operator Global Logistic Properties’ Monoful subsidiary had joined electronic component maker Yaskawa Electric to invest an undisclosed sum in Rapyuta in February 2020 following $22.5m in earlier funding from investors including electronics producer Sony and advanced materials provider JMTC.
Nissay Capital, the VC arm of insurance firm Nippon Life, provided ¥150m ($1.4m) in pre-series A financing for Japan-based local services listing portal Otokoro on Monday. Otokoro had previously received approximately $490,000 in funding from unnamed investors in April 2019 and its existing investors also include IT services firm Co-Well.
Lategra, a Japan-based developer of mixed reality streaming technology, has secured an undisclosed amount from online video streaming platform Bilibili and literary publishers Shogakukan and Tohan. The cash will fund the recruitment of marketing and engineering staff and it comes after $1.35m from publisher Kadokawa’s online gaming subsidiary, Dwango, in December 2018.
Software development services firm Globant has supplied a total of more than $300,000 for driver safety software developer Woocar and Drixit, which produces software that monitors safety compliance at automotive manufacturing plants, Info Technology has reported. Both companies are based in Argentina and the money was invested through corporate venturing unit Globant Ventures.
Crypto consulting firm Canow has invested an undisclosed amount in D4Enterprise, the Japan-based digital content publisher that has created retro gaming app PicoPico. The app enables users to play classic console games on their smartphone, and the startup intends to fully launch it later this year.
Roomvo, a UK-based creator of augmented reality software that enables users to overlay features on to their rooms, is raising £200,000 ($250,000) from flooring product retailer Flooring Superstore, Bdaily reported on Tuesday. The technology would support Flooring Superstore’s online offering, which it said has seen increased uptake during the recent coronavirus lockdown.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
