Funding
Hungry Planet, a US-headquartered developer of plant-based meat products, has completed a $25m series A round led by consumer packaged goods-focused holding company Post Holdings. The round also featured investment group Trirec and undisclosed others, and it came in the wake of $5.6m in debt financing in April 2020 according to a regulatory filing. The capital will support the growth of its retail, foodservice and e-commerce operations.
Ossa Investments, a subsidiary of Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek has provided about $20m in primary funding for Nium, a Singapore-based cross-border payment platform developer backed by several corporate investors, DealStreetAsia reported today. Formerly known as Instarem, Nium had raised between $75m and $100m in series D funding from financial services firm Bank BRI’s BRI Ventures subsidiary and payment services firm Visa in May 2020, following a total of $59m from investors including telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia’s MDI Ventures unit, financial transfer platform developer Ripple, e-commerce holding group Rocket Internet, financial services firms SBI and Kasikorn Bank – the latter through Beacon Venture Capital – and Temasek’s Fullerton Financial Holdings, which has now transferred its stake to Ossa.
Renovia, a US-based developer of digital treatments for female pelvic floor disorders, has completed a $17m funding round that included Ascension Ventures, the VC fund backed by 13 healthcare providers, and OSF Ventures, which invests on behalf of hospital owner OSF. They were joined by Parian Global Management, Perceptive Life Sciences and Longwood Fund. Renovia had raised a total of $40.5m in equity funding as of 2018, from Ascension Ventures, OSF Ventures, Perceptive Advisors, Longwood Fund, Inova Strategic Investments, Cormorant Asset Management and WTI.
Phenix, a US-based developer of technology that improves the latency of video streaming, has raised $16.7m in a series B round featuring Verizon Ventures, the investment arm of telecoms group Verizon. The round was led by VC firm KB Partners at a $90m valuation according to Forbes, and it included Manheim Investments. The company has reportedly received $40m in total, including $3.5m in a 2017 series A round led by KB Partners that took its overall funding to $5.5m, $5.1m from unnamed investors the following year, $4.1m in February 2019 and $7.6m in another KB Partners-led round in March 2020.
PharmCadd, a South Korea-based developer of drug discovery technology, has closed a $16m series B round that included pharmaceutical company Huons, plastics manufacturer Samyang Holdings and diagnostic product manufacturer SD Biosensor. They were joined by Korea Development Bank’s KDB Capital unit, investment bank KB Securities, KTB Network, Daily Partners, DSC Investment and Maple Investment. The company said it has now raised $22m altogether, having secured $3.9m in series A funding from Daily Partners and KTB Network in July 2020 and the rest through a 2019 seed round.
Germany-based insurance software startup InsureQ has secured €5m ($6m) in seed funding from investors including Flash Ventures, a VC vehicle for e-commerce holding group Rocket Internet, Tech.eu reported yesterday. VC firm Nauta Capital led the round, which also featured Global Founders Capital and which followed an undisclosed amount of seed financing from Flash Ventures in August 2020.
Snowflake Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of data warehousing technology provider Snowflake has supplied an undisclosed amount for Dataiku, a US-based developer of data collaboration software. It had raised a total of $246m as of a $100m series D round featuring CapitalG, a subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet, in August 2020. Its other investors include Stripes, Tiger Global Management, Battery Ventures, Dawn Capital, FirstMark Capital, Iconiq Capital, Alven Capital and Serena Capital.
MassMutual Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance firm MassMutual, has led a $5m pre-series A round for Singapore-based equity management software developer Qapita, The Business Times reported today. The round also featured VC firm Endiya Partners and angel investors including Anjali Bansal and Sujeet Kumar, and it followed a $1.8m seed round led by Vulcan Capital and backed by Alto Partners Multi Family Office, K3 Ventures, KDV Holdings, Mission Holdings and individuals including Koh Boon Hwee, Atin Kukreja and Patrick Walujo in September 2020 and an undisclosed amount from East Ventures in February this year.
The Expert, a US-based company that offers interior design consultations remotely through an online video product, has received $3m in seed capital from investors including new media holding company WndrCo, TechCrunch reported yesterday. VC firm Forerunner Ventures led the round, which included Sweet Capital, Promus Ventures, Golden Ventures and angel investors Brigette Romanek and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Movellus, a US-based system-on-chip production technology provider backed by semiconductor technology provider Intel, is raising $3m in bridge funding from investors including University of Michigan’s Accelerate Blue Fund. It had disclosed a total of $9.5m in funding as of a $6m series A round led by investment fund Stata Venture Partners and backed by Intel subsidiary Intel Capital and University of Michigan’s MINTS fund in 2019.
Logistics service provider Yamato Holdings has led a round of undisclosed size for Japan-based cross-border e-commerce platform Sixty Percent through its Kuroneko Innovation Fund. The round included Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, the VC arm of financial services group Mitsubishi UFJ, as well as Now, the VC firm that had provided an undisclosed amount of funding for the company in January 2020.
Edge, the Japan-based owner of human resources-focused communication platform Airy, has secured ¥156m ($1.4m) from IT services firms Insight and PCI Solutions along with private investor Munenori Ōishi and debt financing from Resona Bank. The capital will support a management buyout of the company.
Oriental Land Innovations, the corporate venturing vehicle for amusement park operator Oriental Land Company, has invested an undisclosed amount in Japan-based personalised education provider Conocer. The startup, founded in January 2020, combines online and offline learning in its offering.
M&A
Agile Content has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire Spain-based wifi hotspot provider Fon, allowing mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, internet technology provider Google and telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom to exit, Digital TV Europe reported yesterday. Fon had raised a reported total of approximately $72m from investors including Qualcomm subsidiary Qualcomm Ventures, Deutsche Telekom, Google, Index Partners, Coral Capital and Atomico as of its last round, when it secured $14m in 2014.
HealthiNation, a US-based provider of health-focused video content, has been bought by telemedicine provider GoodRx for an undisclosed amount. It raised about $4.3m in series A funding in 2007 from investors including MK Capital, which returned for a $7.5m series B round led by Intel Capital, the corporate venturing vehicle for semiconductor technology producer Intel, the following year. The company added $2.2m from unnamed investors in 2014, according to a regulatory filing.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
