Funding
Indonesia-based online education provider Ruangguru has raised $55m in a funding round led by hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management and backed by venture capital firm GGV Capital. The deal follows a $150m series C round in December 2019 featuring EV Growth, the VC firm formed by conglomerate Sinar Mas, internet company Yahoo Japan and VC firm East Ventures, in addition to financial services firm United Overseas Bank’s UOB Venture Management vehicle, GGV Capital and General Atlantic.
Germany-based banking software provider Tink has secured €40m ($48m) in a series D round co-led by SevenVentures, the investment arm of media group ProSieben, with e-commerce holding company Rocket Internet and investment platform Cadence Growth Capital, Tech.eu has reported. Tink closed a $103m round in December 2020 co-led by Eurazeo Growth and Dawn Capital and backed by postal service Poste Italiane, digital payment processor PayPal and financial services firms ABN Amro and BNP Paribas – through their PayPal Ventures, ABN Amro Ventures and Opera Tech Ventures respectively – as well as HMI Capital and Heartcore, to bring its overall funding to $296m.
Toy producer Lego has led a DKK140m ($22.5m) funding round for Denmark-based adaptive learning software developer Area 9 Lyceum through corporate venturing unit Lego Ventures, Nordic 9 has reported. Vækstfonden and European Investment Bank also took part, along with unnamed family offices and private investors while Lego Ventures managing director Jamie Beaumont is taking a board seat. It had previously raised $30m from the Danish state-owned Vækstfonden in 2018.
Daiz, a Japan-headquartered producer of vegetarian meat substitutes, has received ¥1.85bn ($17.1m) in a series B round featuring amino acid product maker Ajinomoto, conglomerate Marubeni, restaurant operator Kichiri Holdings, steel producer Nippon Steel, trading group Kanematsu, petroleum and metals provider Eneos Holdings and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, on behalf of insurer Mitsui Sumitomo. The round included Kirin Health Innovation Fund, a joint venture between brewery Kirin Holdings and VC firm Global Brain; financial services firms Norinchukin Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ, the latter through its Mitsubishi UFJ Capital unit; Golden Asia Fund and Kemuri Ventures, and it took Daiz’s total funding to approximately $28m. Daiz closed its last funding in November 2020.
Unified Service, the Japan-based developer of a cloud software platform for the renewable energy space, has raised ¥1bn ($9.3m) from Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of enterprise software producer Salesforce, and financial services provider Japan Post Bank’s JP Investment subsidiary. The company, also known as Unisrv, had received undisclosed amounts from Salesforce Ventures in 2016 and JR West Innovations, a corporate VC vehicle for rail operator JR West, the following year. It added $5.6m from Salesforce Ventures, customer service provider Transcosmos, IT consulting firm MI Consulting and Mercuria Investment in 2018.
Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, has supplied Rs 500m ($6.7m) in funding for India-based headphones brand BoAt, the Economic Times has reported. The corporate invested at the same valuation at which Warburg Pincus supplied $100m for the company in January this year – reportedly between $218m and $246m. BoAt had received $900,000 in funding from VC firm Fireside Ventures in 2018.
Chain.io, the US-based developer of an integration software platform for the supply chain, has closed a $5m funding round that included Honeywell Ventures, the strategic investment arm of domestic and industrial product maker Honeywell. The round was co-led by VC fund Grand Ventures and VC firm Mercury Fund and also featured innovation platform Engage.
Shell Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for oil and gas supplier Shell, has provided an undisclosed amount for Celadyne Technologies, a US-based developer of technology intended to enhance the performance of hydrogen fuel cells and electrolysers. Celadyne, a University of Texas at Austin spinout, secured the funding in relation to its participation in the Third Derivative accelerator.
WarpSpace, a Japan-based developer of small optical relay satellites, has raised ¥400m ($3.7m) from financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s SMBC Venture Capital unit, Sparx Innovation for Future’s Space Frontier Fund and professional footballer Keisuke Honda’s KSK Angel Fund for the first close of its series A round. The company had raised a total of $2.9m as of July 2020 when it received an undisclosed amount from financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s Mitsubishi UFJ Capital fund.
CryptoSlam, a US-based company that aggregates data on collectible non-fungible tokens, has secured an undisclosed amount from investors including digital agency Aloomii and custom software services provider Troon Technologies. The round included an entity called GeoAds and was closed with backing from Radical Investments, a vehicle for entrepreneur Mark Cuban.
KiteRa, a Japan-based provider of software that streamlines workloads for social security attorneys, has received ¥300m ($2.8m) from investors including insurance firm Mitsui Suimtomo’s corporate venturing unit, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital. The round also featured Dream Incubator’s Dimension fund, XTech Ventures, Lifetime Ventures, undisclosed individuals and debt financing from Japan Finance Corporation. KiteRa had raised $370,000 from Lifetime Ventures, Incubate Fund and unnamed angel investors in December 2019.
Mobile game publisher Funtap has paid an undisclosed seven-figure dollar amount for a stake in Vietnam-based digital payment technology developer 9Pay, DealStreetAsia reported today. The latter company offers digital payment services and a mobile wallet, and Funtap users will now be able to use the technology to pay for items in its games.
APX, the fund formed by carmaker Porsche and media group Axel Springer, has provided an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding for Exponential Technologies, a Latvia-based developer of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms for experimental design. The cash will support the startup’s growth in Germany’s industrial sector.
M&A
Information services provider Ascential has acquired Perpetua Labs, a US-based e-commerce optimisation technology developer backed by property developer LeFrak, for up to $162m. The deal consists of $52m in cash upfront and deferred consideration set to increase the deal to between $103m and $162m. Perpetua has not disclosed details of its funding but its investors include LeFrak as well as venture capital firm Conversion Capital.
Agribusiness Ag Growth International (AGI) has fully acquired portfolio company Farmobile, a US-based agricultural data provider, for an undisclosed amount. AGI invested an undisclosed amount in the company in mid-2019 following an $18.1m series B round in 2017 featuring crop insurance provider AmTrust Agricultural Insurance Services, existing backer Anterra Capital and undisclosed existing investors that took its total funding to $28m.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
