Funding
US-based virtual training software provider Strivr added $35m from investors including professional services firm Accenture and Workday Ventures – part of human resources software producer Workday – to its series B round yesterday, hiking it to $65m. Growth equity firm Georgian led the extension, which also featured financial services firm Bank of America and Gaingels and which came two years after Georgian led a $30m first tranche also backed by Prologis Ventures, the investment arm of warehouse operator Prologis, as well as Franklin Templeton, GreatPoint Ventures and Alumni Ventures Group.
US-headquartered blockchain analytics provider Flipside Crypto has secured $50m from investors including Hashkey, an affiliate of automotive component producer Wanxiang, as well as blockchain game developer Dapper Labs, stablecoin technology developer Terra and investment and financial services group Fidelity’s Avon Ventures affiliate. The round was led by Republic Capital and also featured True Ventures, Galaxy Digital, M13, Blockchain Coinvestors, Collab+Currency, Lightshed Ventures, Resolute, Boston Seed, Converge, Hutt Capital, Gaingels, Commerce Ventures, Quiet Capital and Tribe Capital.
US-based enterprise blockchain technology provider BlockApps raised $41m yesterday in a funding round featuring blockchain software provider Consensys. Venture capital fund Liberty City Ventures led the round, with Morgan Creek Digital, Eidetic Ventures, Givic, Bloccelerate, Fitz Gate Ventures, Arab Angels, Kenetic Capital and PropelX also participating.
FundGuard, a US-based provider of asset servicing software, completed a $40m series B round yesterday backed by financial services firms Citi and State Street Corporation. The banking groups were joined by Blumberg Capital, LionBird Ventures, Team8 Capital and undisclosed others.
UK-based 3D collaboration software producer Gravity Sketch has received $33m in funding from investors including internet and technology group Alphabet’s GV subsidiary, TechCrunch reported yesterday. VC firm Accel led the round, which also featured Kindred Capital, Point Nine, Forward Partners, Dreamers VC, Thirty Five Ventures and individuals including Tony Fadell, Soleio and Paul Robson.
Carmaker Toyota and air carrier JetBlue took part in a $30m series A round yesterday for Air Company, a US-headquartered developer of consumer products generated using carbon dioxide. The round was led by Carbon Direct Capital Management and included corporate venturing units Toyota Ventures and JetBlue Technology Ventures as well as non-profit organisation Parley for the Oceans.
Canada-based online veterinary services marketplace Vetster secured $30m yesterday in a series B round backed by online pet pharmacy PetMed Express. Alternative investment manager Kensington Capital Partners led the round, which included existing shareholders Whitecap Venture Partners and Brightspark Ventures.
InfoEdge Ventures, the corporate VC arm of classified listings operator Info Edge, co-led a $30m equity and debt round for Recur Technologies, the India-based owner of a digital platform which offers financing for recurring revenue companies. The round was co-led by Village Global and also backed by Aditya Birla Finance, Incred Financial Services, Titan Capital, Adept Ventures, Lykke Capital and private investors S Srinivasan, Bahram Vakil, Archana Priyadarshini and Dhruvil Sanghvi.
DoubleMe, the South Korea-headquartered operator of a mixed reality metaverse platform called TwinWorld, received $25m today in a series A round that included consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung. The round was co-led by Coentry Investment and NH Investment.
Healthcare services provider Optum participated in India-based health insurance provider Loop Health’s $25m series B round yesterday through strategic investment vehicle Optum Ventures. The round was co-led by General Catalyst and Elevation Capital and also backed by private investor Vinod Khosla.
India-based restaurant management software developer UrbanPiper has secured $24m in series B funding from investors including online food delivery services Swiggy and Zomato, TechCrunch reported on Monday. Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global Management co-led the round, which also featured angel investors including Zomato co-founder Pankaj Chaddah, Vara Kuma, Ankit Nagori and Khadim Batti.
Indonesia-headquartered online audio streaming service Noice raised $22m today in a series A round featuring online services and e-commerce group GoTo’s corporate venturing vehicle, Go-Ventures. Private equity firm Northstar Group led the round, with existing investors Alpha JWC and Kinesys also participating.
Block, the digital payment technology producer formerly known as Square, was among the investors in a $20m funding round for US-headquartered music distributor Stem Disintermedia on Monday. The round was led by QED Investors and included existing backers Slow Ventures and Quality Control.
US-headquartered banking software producer NovoPayment received $19m yesterday in a series A round that, according to TechCrunch, included payment services firm Visa’s investment arm, Visa Ventures. The round was co-led by Fuel Venture Capital and IDC Ventures and reportedly also featured Endeavor Catalyst.
Poland-based data virtualisation software developer Enso emerged from stealth yesterday having raised $16.5m from investors including Samsung Next, a corporate VC subsidiary of electronics manufacturer Samsung. The corporate was joined in the round by SignalFire, Khosla Ventures, Day One Ventures, Decacorn Capital, Y Combinator, Harvard’s Endowment, West Coast Endeavors, Innovation Nest and unnamed other investors.
Media company Bonnier has co-led a SEK155m ($16.4m) financing round for Sweden-based rapid grocery delivery service Kavall through corporate venturing vehicle Bonnier Ventures. The round was co-led with Nicoya and existing shareholders VNV Global and Inbox Capital.
Canada-based micro printing technology developer VueReal completed a $14.4m series B round on Monday featuring glass manufacturer Vitro, microelectronics maker Veeco Instruments and electronics producers TDK, LG Electronics and Samsung, the last through its Samsung Ventures unit. The round was led by Cycle Capital and also backed by BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice and Economic Development Canada.
Soter Analytics, a UK-headquartered developer of ergonomic worker safety technology, raised $12m yesterday in a series A round led by AV8 Ventures, the VC fund backed by insurance group Allianz. It was joined by OTB Ventures, Btov Industrial Technologies Fund, Verve Ventures and Startup Wise Guys.
Singapore-based battery recycling technology developer Green Li-ion secured $11.6m in series A funding today from investors including engineering and procurement services provider GS E&C and EDP Ventures, the corporate VC arm of energy utility EDP. The round was led by Energy Revolution Ventures and also backed by Entrepreneur First, SOSV, Envisioning Partners, IS Holdings, MB Energy Partners and Trirec.
US-based animal-free nugget brand Nowadays has received $7m in seed funding from investors including meat processor Standard Meat, it told TechCrunch on Monday. Stray Dog Capital led the round, which also featured VegInvest Trust, Tenacious Ventures, Cornucopian Capital, Good Protein Fund, Selva Ventures, Vanterra Accelerator Fund, FoodHack, Gaingels, Beyond Impact, Unpopular Ventures and angel investors including Rachel Mansfield, Varsha Rao and Brandon Shainfeld.
Aura Network, the Singapore-headquartered creator of a non-fungible token blockchain, secured $2.5m on Monday in a seed round featuring Coin98 Ventures, Kucoin Labs, MEXC Pioneer, Kyber Ventures and Avatar, on behalf of decentralised finance platform developer Coin98 Finance, cryptocurrency exchanges Kucoin and MEXC, crypto trading protocol developer Kyber Network and smart contract platform developer Avalanche. They were joined by crypto investment platform developer Impossible Finance, blockchain gaming platform operator GuildFi, delivery services provider Ahamove, data management software producer Ecomobi, advertising agency Pencil Group, GBV Capital, TPX Ventures, Redline Dao, OIG, Vanda Capital, and Deo Network.
Consumer packaged goods producer Lemonilo has taken part in Indonesia-based alternative protein developer Off Foods’ $1.7m seed round, e27 reported yesterday. Alpha JWC Ventures led the round, which included Global Founders Capital, Creative Gorilla Capital and United Family Capital.
M&A
Lygos, a US-based sustainable ingredient producer backed by conglomerate LG and food and biotech producer CJ CheilJedang, agreed on Monday to merge with publicly listed biodegradable product manufacturer Flexible Solutions International in a deal set to be boosted by $160m in convertible note financing from unnamed investors. Corporate VC unit LG Technology Ventures invested $5m in Lygos in January 2019 after over $41m in earlier funding from CJ CheilJedang, which only revealed its $5m investment the following September, IA Ventures, First Round Capital, Y Combinator Continuity and OS Fund.
Financial services firms Wells Fargo and Fifth Third Bancorp exited DadeSystems, a US-based provider of automated accounts receivable technology, on Monday in an acquisition of undisclosed size by accounts receivable software provider Versapay. Wells Fargo Strategic Capital supplied an undisclosed amount of series D funding for the company in February 2020, after Fifth Third Capital Holdings joined Napier Park Financial Partners and Ocean Azul Partners in a $9m round three months earlier.
Financial services provider Ant Group agreed on Monday to pay an undisclosed amount for a majority stake in Singapore-based digital payment platform developer 2C2P. The latter company had raised over $10m from investors including internet company GMO (through GMO Venture Partners and GMO Global Payment Fund), Amun Capital, Expara IDM Ventures and Digital Media Partners.
Cross-border payment services provider Thunes has acquired a majority stake in Tookitaki, a Singapore-based developer of money laundering-monitoring software, in return for an undisclosed sum, allowing quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG) to exit. SIG subsidiary SIG Asia joined securities brokerage Nomura Holdings, Illuminate Ventures, Enterprise Singapore, Jungle Ventures, Supply Chain Angels and VWX Capital in Tookitaki’s series A round, which closed at $19.2m in 2019, taking its total funding to $28m.
Funds
Canada-headquartered venture capital firm Impression Ventures secured $64m from limited partners including financial services firms Bank of Montreal and CIBC million for its Impression Ventures IV fund yesterday. The fund has a $70m ceiling and had achieved its first close in December 2021.
Photo courtesy of Strivr Labs, Inc.
