Diversified conglomerate Balcom has invested $10m in Uzbekistan-based agricultural chemicals provider Ifoda Agro Kimyo Himoya, Reuters reported on Monday. The company’s facility manufactures about 100,000 tonnes of fertilisers and pesticides per year and will channel the funding into expanding its exports and support growth activities.
Contractbook, a Denmark-based developer of automation software for legal documents, completed a $9.4m series A round on Wednesday featuring Gradient Ventures, the artificial intelligence fund owned by internet technology provider Google. Venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners led the round, which included unnamed existing backers and which followed $3.9m in a November 2019 round co-led by Gradient Ventures and ByFounders that came after an undisclosed amount from Henrik Holmark, Stig Hølledig and Lars-Erik Houmann Christensen in 2017.
Cavallo Ventures, the strategic investment arm of agribusiness Wilbur-Ellis, has co-led a $9.3m round for Beta Hatch, a US-headquartered provider of insect-based feedstock and agricultural nutrients, with VC firm Innova Memphis, AgFunder News reported yesterday. The round was closed with backing from Brighton Jones Investment Partners, AccelR8 and SeaAhead, the company having previously received $2.1m in funding from Cavallo Ventures, Element 8 Fund, Keiretsu Capital, NQV8 and Frontier Angels in 2018.
Flex Lighting, a US-based LCD lighting system developer backed by petrochemical producer Sabic, secured $9m on Wednesday in a funding round led by VC firm Anzu Partners. The company raised $5m in equity funding in 2015 and $3.1m in debt financing two years later, according to regulatory filings, before it completed a $9m series B round in late 2018 that was led by VC fund Energy Foundry and backed by Sabic’s investment arm, Sabic Ventures, as well as Bascom Ventures and undisclosed others.
US-headquartered automation software developer Adapdix Corporation closed an $8m series A round on Tuesday that included Micron Ventures, the corporate venturing representative of computer data and storage technology producer Micron Technology. The round was led by venture capital firm WRVI Capital and also featured X2 Equity, the investment holding company that invested an undisclosed amount in Adapdix in October 2019.
US-based building analytics software provider KGS Buildings rebranded to Clockworks Analytics on Wednesday having raised $8m from investors including energy and automation equipment maker Schneider Electric. The round was co-led by Carom Growth Partners and Evans Capital Management, and Clockworks said it has now raised $13m altogether, $2m of which came from Schneider Electric in 2016.
Boost Biomes, the US-based creator of a microbiome technology platform that will help it develop new agricultural products, completed a $2m extension to its series A round from investment firm Universal Materials Incubator yesterday, lifting it to $7.5m. Fertiliser producer Yara International invested $3m in the company in June this year to lead a $5m first tranche of the round that included Viking Global Investors and Y Combinator, following a $2.05m seed round led by Nimble Ventures and backed by internet group Tencent and Viking Global in early 2018.
US-based advanced materials developer UbiQD closed a $7m series A round on Wednesday featuring nanotechnology producer Nanosys. The round was co-led by Scout Ventures and Keiretsu Forum and included Sun Mountain Capital, Epic Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures and Arcview Collective Fund, comprising $4.5m in new funding and $2.5m in convertible note financing, founder and CEO Hunter McDaniel told Crunchbase News. UbiQD had raised $240,000 in January 2018 and $100,000 in April 2019 according to securities filings.
US-based natural skincare product brand Bybi has secured $7m in series A funding from investors including consumer goods manufacturer Unilever’s corporate venturing unit, Unilever Ventures, Beauty Independent reported on Wednesday. Growth equity firm Point King Capital led the round, which came in the wake of an undisclosed amount of seed capital from Unilever Ventures in 2018.
India-based online payment platform developer MobiKwik has secured Rs 520m ($7m) in a funding round led by Hindustan Media Ventures, the subsidiary of media company HT Group that supplied $5.5m in series E funding for the company last month, VCCircle has reported. Family office Pratithi also participated in the latest round, and MobiKwik had raised a total of $190m as of March 2020, its earlier backers including corporate investors Cisco, GMO, American Express, MediaTek, Net1, New Delhi Television and Bajaj Finance.
Music video and short-form content provider Loop Media acquired a 20% stake in Singapore-based music marketing and talent agency Eon Media Group on Tuesday, through an undisclosed amount of funding and stock. Ithaca Holdings, the holding company formed by music talent manager Scooter Braun, had invested in Eon Media in 2015 and is selling shares to Loop as part of the transaction.
Sunlight, a UK-based provider of virtualisation technology tailored for data-intensive applications, completed a $6m series A round on Tuesday that included Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the strategic investment arm of industrial equipment and appliance producer Robert Bosch. The round was led by VC firm OpenOcean and the capital will go to expanding the company’s commercial operations.
Einblick, the US-based developer of a software platform for visual data computing, emerged from stealth on Wednesday with $6m in seed capital from investors including Samsung Next, a corporate venturing unit owned by consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung. The round was led by Amplify Partners and also featured fellow venture capital firm Flybridge. The startup’s technology is based on research conducted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brown University.
Voodle, the US-based creator of a short-form video product designed for use in remote work, raised $6m on Wednesday from investors including M12, Cisco Investments and Hearst Ventures, the respective corporate VC vehicles for software provider Microsoft, networking technology producer Cisco and media company Hearst. The round was co-led by VC firm Madrona Venture Group and Vulcan Capital, the investment firm formed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
Healthcare analytics software provider Cerner Corporation supplied an undisclosed amount for US-based healthcare research organisation Elligo Health Research on Tuesday. Hatteras Venture Partners and Noro-Moseley Partners co-led a $16m series B round for Elligo in March 2018 that included FS Healthcare, Excelerate Health Ventures and all the investors in its $5.7m series A round in 2017, including Shumway Capital, before it added $20m in series C funding from Piper Jaffray Merchant Banking and all its existing backers, in May 2019.
Consumer electronics producer Sony’s Innovation Fund and VC firm IA Capital Group provided $5m in funding for Smartvid.io, the US-based creator of a construction safety platform, on Wednesday. Smartvid had raised $3.4m from CommonAngels Ventures, Launchpad Venture Group and unnamed angel investors in 2015 before closing a series A round featuring design software producer Autodesk, Borealis Ventures and unnamed existing investors at $9.5m in 2017, and adding $3.9m from undisclosed backers in February 2019.
SC Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of financial services group Standard Chartered, invested an amount likely to be $5m in OpenFin on Wednesday to increase its overall funding to $50m. OpenFin had secured a total of $45m as of a series C round that stood at $22m in December 2019. Its earlier investors include HSBC, through its Strategic Innovation Investments unit; fellow financial services firms Wells Fargo and Barclays; DRW Venture Capital, part of trading firm DRW; CME Ventures, the investment arm of exchange operator CME Group; and brokerage NEX’s Euclid Opportunities vehicle.
GV, the subsidiary of internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet, has led a $4.9m seed round for US-based enterprise data science and machine learning technology developer Ursa Computing, EE Times reported yesterday. Walden International, Nepenthe Capital, Amplify Partners and RStudio also participated in the round along with undisclosed angel investors.
US-based gene engineering chip developer Mekonos closed a $4.6m financing round last month led by pharmaceutical firm Novartis. The round also featured Hike Ventures, CRCM Ventures and existing backers including Good AI Capital and Elementum Ventures. The last two were identified as existing investors, though Mekonos has not revealed details of earlier financing, and it is also a graduate of the Berkeley Launch, Berkeley SkyDeck and Creative Destruction Lab initiatives.
US-based transit data software developer Swiftly raised an undisclosed amount from growth equity firm JMI Equity and Shakti Ventures on Wednesday. It had previously secured a total of $12.5m as of a $10m series A round in June 2019 featuring Via ID, Total Energy Ventures, RATP Dev and Samsung Next – on behalf of motor servicing provider Mobivia, oil and gas supplier Total, transport operator Groupe RATP and electronics producer Samsung – as well as Aster Capital, Wind Capital, 1776, Plug and Play Group, Elemental Excelerator and Stanford-StartX Fund.
Financial data provider Minkabu The Infonoid and DG Daiwa Ventures, a joint venture between internet company Digital Garage and securities brokerage Daiwa, took part in a ¥400m ($3.8m) round yesterday for Cryptact, the Japan-based developer of a cryptocurrency profit calculation system. The round included VC firm Jafco and followed $2.9m from finance management tool developer Money Forward, Jafco, Smart Capital, SV Frontier, Venture Labo and DV4 in September 2018.
Motherson Innovations Company, a subsidiary of automotive manufacturing services provider Motherson Group, invested an undisclosed amount in US-based wireless charging system developer Aira yesterday. Aira, which had secured $500,000 in debt financing in June this year according to a securities filing, will put the cash towards further development of its FreePower technology.
Quell, the UK-based creator of a gamified mobile fitness app, has secured $3m in seed capital from investors including internet group Tencent, TechCrunch reported on Monday. Khosla Ventures, Heartcore, Social Impact Capital and JamJar Investments also participated in the round, along with angel investors Naval Ravikant, Josh Hannah, Kevin Lin and Emmett Shear. It came after Quell graduated from accelerator Y Combinator in August this year.
VC firm Flying Fish Partners led a $3m funding round for US-based identity verification technology developer Vouched yesterday that included healthcare-focused financial services provider Bankers Healthcare Group. Vouched had secured a total of $700,000 from Madrona Venture Labs and assorted angel investors as of April 2019, and its existing backers also include SK Ventures and SeaChange.
Cosmetics brand L’Oréal has invested an undisclosed amount in Replika Software, the US-based creator of a software platform that helps social sellers engage with online customers, WWD reported yesterday. It had raised $305,000 from undisclosed investors in 2017 before closing $900,000 in equity funding and $1m in debt financing from unnamed backers in October this year, according to regulatory filings.
Roxx, a Japan-based developer of online recruitment technology, received ¥200m ($1.9m) in series B funding from VC firm One Capital on Monday and said it has now raised about $23m altogether. That figure stood at $18.6m as of an $8.4m series A round in May this year led by VC firm Global Brain and backed by postal service Japan Post Capital’s investment arm, Japan Post Capital. Its earlier investors include internet company CyberAgent and subsidiaries of recruitment firm Persol and financial services firms Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
Stock exchange operator Nasdaq has provided an undisclosed amount for Matter, the Denmark-based creator of a software tool that helps investors assess the environmental, social and corporate governance status of their portfolios. The capital was provided through the corporate’s strategic investment arm, Nasdaq Ventures, and it comes after Matter took part in accelerator Startupbootcamp’s 2018 FinTech & CyberSecurity initiative.
HealNow, the US-based creator of a digital payment system for pharmacies, has raised $1.3m from telecoms and internet conglomerate SoftBank’s Opportunity Fund and Alabama Futures Fund, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. The company, part of Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator’s winter 2018 class, will use the capital to expand its sales and marketing as it looks to strengthen its presence on the East Coast of the US.
JusticeEye, the Japan-based creator of a camera surveillance system that uses AI to protect privacy, secured ¥130m ($1.3m) today from investors including Gree Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of digital media company Gree, as well as phone retailer, human resources and healthcare services provider Glink, construction equipment rental service NihonSafety and digitisation services studio Sun Asterisk. It is known as Senrigan in its home country.
Snowflake Ventures, the recently formed corporate venturing subsidiary of data management software producer Snowflake, added an undisclosed sum to the $15m in series A funding raised by Israel-based cybersecurity startup Hunters in July this year. Software provider Microsoft’s M12 unit co-led the first close with VC firm US Venture Partners, investing with identity management technology producer Okta’s corporate venturing unit, Okta Ventures, Blumberg Capital and YL Ventures to take Hunter’s total funding to $20.4m.
GAM-SWT, a subsidiary of sugar producer Grupo Azucarero Mexico, has led a $1.2m seed round for Come Bien, the Mexico-based owner of a healthy food subscription service, Forbes Mexico reported on Monday. VC firm 500 Startups also participated in the round, and co-founder and chief executive Denis Cantú told Crunchbase News it had previously raised $200,000 in funding.
My.Games, a free-to-play game developer subsidiary of internet company Mail.ru, disclosed investments of undisclosed size in three companies on Monday through corporate venturing unit My.Games Venture Capital. The cash is going to Cyprus-based mobile game studio AppLife and Belarus-based peers Purple Games and Appyfurious, and the deals give My.Games the option to acquire controlling stakes in each portfolio company.
Bombay Play, the India-based developer of a card-focused mobile game, has secured $1m in seed funding from investors including mobile game studio PlayCo, VentureBeat has reported. The round was led by interactive entertainment fund Lumikai and also featured Leo Capital, the VC fund that led an earlier $1.5m seed round in June this year. That tranche included angel investor Ramakant Sharma, and PlayCo was also identified as an existing investor in the latest round.
Philippines-based social commerce platform developer Resellee raised $1m last month in a seed round featuring digital banking software provider Mintech Enterprises and investment firm Hofan Capital, Technode has reported. The startup works with a range of products but is initially concentrating on groceries.
Switch Smile, the Japan-based owner of location marketing app Pinable, received an undisclosed amount on Tuesday from marketing agency Hakuhodo DY Holdings. It followed an undisclosed sum from digital gifting service Giftee in July this year, its earlier backers including retail display technology producer Crest, rescue services provider Japan Best Rescue System, appliance and IT systems provider Sanden Retail Systems, IT services firm Evolable Asia and marketing agency Vector.
Colopl Next, the corporate venturing arm of mobile game developer Colopl, was among the participants in a seed round of undisclosed size yesterday for Mepple, the Japan-based creator of wellness protein product Koredake. The corporate was joined by angel investors including Shōji Kodama, Yasushi Fujita and Takanori Kataishi.
Torana, the Japan-based owner of toy rental service Toysub, secured ¥100m ($960,000) on Monday from VC firms Samurai Incubate and Anobaka, the latter rebranded from mobile game producer KLab’s corporate venturing unit, KLab Venture Partners. It raised $920,000 in December 2019 from of game developer Colopl’s corporate venturing unit, Colopl Next, as well as Samurai Incubate and KVP, having received an undisclosed amount from 15 angel investors in 2017.
Japan-based home sharing service Unito raised ¥100m ($960,000) yesterday from Gree Ventures, an investment vehicle for digital media company Gree, and SE Holdings and Incubations, the holding group for publisher Shoeisha, as well as game testing service Gaiax, VC firm IT-Farm Corporation, individuals including Kōji Hayami, Shōkei Suda, Hideto Fujino and Masashi Takahashi and debt financing from unnamed financial institutions. It had raised $1.1m as of a $630,000 round in February 2020, from Gaiax, consulting firm Skylight Consulting, Japan Finance Corporation and various angel investors.
Magazine publisher Bungeishunjū made a strategic investment of undisclosed size in Japan-based content publishing platform developer Note yesterday. Formerly known as Piece of Cake, Note raised undisclosed amounts from Femto Partners in February 2012 and internet company CyberAgent’s investment arm, CyberAgent Ventures, five months later; $3.6m from media company Nikkei, Nippon Venture Capital and Niigata Venture Capital in July 2018; and an undisclosed sum from influencer partnership platform developer Uuum in July 2019.
Sun SEA Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Sunway Group, has led a pre-series A round of undisclosed size for Wise AI, a Malaysia-based provider of customer verification technology, e27 reported on Wednesday. The funding will support the company’s growth across the Southeast Asia region.
Japan-based online sake recommendation platform Sakeai received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from internet company Yahoo Japan’s YJ Capital unit and VC firm East Ventures yesterday. The investment was made in connection with the startup entering Code Republic, the accelerator formed by the two investors, alongside Viverta, the Japan-headquartered operator of an online community. Code Republic generally invests ¥7m ($67,000) in each participant.
Kuroneko Innovation Fund, a joint venture for logistics firm Yamato Group and VC firm Global Brains, provided an undisclosed amount on Monday for Yours Technology, a China-based developer of artificial intelligence algorithms for delivery robots. The deal marks the $48m fund’s first investment.
Home improvement retailer Cainz Corporation invested an undisclosed amount in Japan-based professional football club TheSpaKusatsu Gunma yesterday. The company has partnered the club on its kit since 2006 through one of its subsidiaries.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
