AAA Daily Deal Round Up: April 23, 2021

Daily Deal Round Up: April 23, 2021

Funding

Kandji, a US-based developer of electronic device management software, has secured $60m in a series B round that included Okta Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of identity management technology producer Okta. The round was led by venture capital firm Felicis Ventures and also featured SVB Capital, Greycroft, and The Spruce House Partnership. The company had raised a total of about $28m as of a $21m series A round in October 2020 led by Greycroft and backed by Okta Ventures, B Capital Group and existing investors including First Round.

Cherre, a US-based provider of data management software for the real estate space, has received $50m in funding from investors including semiconductor technology provider Intel’s corporate VC unit, Intel Capital. The round was led by Trustbridge Partners and also featured Glilot Capital Partners, Navitas Capital, Carthona Capital, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and private investor Mark Schwartz. Intel Capital, Navitas Capital, Carthona Capital, Zigg Capital, Dreamit Ventures and SVB had supplied $16m in series B funding in February 2020 to take Cherre’s total funding to $25m.

Current Health, a US-based developer of remote care management software, has completed a $43m series B round featuring hospital operator OSF HealthCare. The round was led by Northpond Ventures and included LRVHealth, Section 32, Elements Health Ventures and unnamed existing investors. It has now raised approximately $65m altogether, financial services firm Legal & General, MMC Ventures, Par Equity and Scottish Investment Bank having provided $11.5m in series A funding in late 2019.

GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet, has led a $30m series B round for online higher education provider Outlier.org that also featured Unusual Ventures, Gaingels, GSV and Harrison Metal. The company said it had secured a total of $16m as of an $11.7m series A round in January 2020 led by GSV Ventures and backed by Tectonic Capital, Jackson Square Ventures and Harrison Metal, the last of which had led a previously undisclosed seed round.

Femsa Ventures, the investment arm of beverage bottler Femsa, has participated in a $22m series A round for Colombia-based virtual kitchen operator Muncher, Forbes reported yesterday. TMT Investments and Copernion Capital Partners co-led the round, which also featured MGM Innova and Amador Holdings. The company operates almost 250 kitchens across Colombia, Mexico and Peru and now plans to expand into Brazil.

US-based hydrogen-fuelled aircraft developer Universal Hydrogen has raised $20.5m in series A funding from investors including conglomerate Sojitz Corporation and fuel cell system developer Plug Power as well as Airbus Ventures, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Toyota AI Ventures and Fortescue Future Industries, on behalf of aerospace manufacturer Airbus, air carrier JetBlue, carmaker Toyota and mining group Fortescue Metals respectively. The corporates joined Playground Global, which led the round, Coatue, Global Founders Capital and Future Shape.

US-based health insurance startup Brella has secured $15m in a series A round featuring insurance providers Fidelity Security Life Insurance and New York Life, the latter through New York Life Ventures. The round was led by Brewer Lane Ventures and included SymphonyAI, Digitalis Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures and Founder Collective, all four of which backed Brella’s $7m seed round alongside reinsurance firm Reinsurance Group of America’s RGAx unit, Operator Partners and Ron Bouganim in August 2020.

Rinri Therapeutics, a UK-based developer of stem cell therapies for hearing loss, has received £10m ($13.9m) from Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) and UCB Ventures, which invested on behalf of pharmaceutical companies Boehringer Ingelheim and UCB Pharma, in addition to BioCity and the UK government’s Future Fund. It came after BIVF and UCB Ventures co-led a $1.8m seed round for the company in mid-2019 that also featured BioCity.

Pharmaceutical company Takeda has taken part in a $12m series A round for US-based health data software developer Seqster PDM through its Takeda Digital Ventures subsidiary. The round was led by a vehicle called OmniHealth Holdings and included Anne Wojcicki, founder and chief executive of genetic data provider 23andMe. Seqster had previously raised an undisclosed amount from Takeda in February 2020.

Driver assistance software provider Terranet has invested approximately $3.9m to lead a €10m ($12m) series A round for Holoride, a Germany-based developer of mixed reality technology for use in cars, TechCrunch reported yesterday. The round included game developer Schell Games and assorted Chinese angel investors, and it valued the company, which was spun off by automotive manufacturer Audi, at $36m.

RNAimmune, a messenger RNA (mRNA) drug and vaccine developer, has been spun off by US-headquartered RNA therapeutics developer Sirnaomics and agreed $10m in seed financing. The round is being co-led by industrial manufacturer Hong Kong Hongrun and an entity known as Smooth River with backing from vaccine producer Walvax’s Shanghai Walga Biotechnology subsidiary, High Forest Investment and Terra Magnum Sigma.

Crypto, blockchain and digital asset technology provider Net Savings Link has paid an undisclosed amount for a ‘significant’ stake in US-based ride hailing service Rydehails. Rydehails’ service makes use of a dedicated crypto wallet for payment in addition to a personalised platform for each user.

Thailand-based, hobbyist-focused online retailer Mercular has secured $3m in series A funding from investors including internet company CyberAgent, e27 reported today. VC firm Kairous Capital led the round, which was also backed by 500 Startups, N-Vest Venture and Premier Advisory Group.

India-based online medical booking service HealWell24 has raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding from investors including Kemexel Ventures, the investment arm of e-commerce services provider Kemexel, VCCircle reported yesterday. The corporate co-led the tranche with Tainwala Family Office, participating alongside angel investors including Abhishek Raj Pandey, Puneet Krishna and Vineet Krishnan. The company aims to close the round at $3.5m and it follows an undisclosed amount from unnamed individuals in 2017 and $200,000 from other angel investors the following year.

Department store chain operator Parco has provided an undisclosed amount for Japan-based healthcare automation technology developer Dricos through a strategic partnership deal. Cosmetics producer Shiseido invested an undisclosed sum in Dricos in 2016 through its Shiseido Venture Partners unit and joined coffee product retailer DyDo Drinco, brokerage Daiwa’s Corporate Investment unit, mobile game publisher KLab’s Venture Partners vehicle and Freebit Investment in a $1m round in 2017. It added $2.1m from electronics producer Kaga Electronics, financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ’s Mitsubishi UFJ Capital subsidiary and Energy & Environment Investment in 2018.

Tent, the Japan-based creator of consumer product rental service Kauriru and rental inventory management tool Zaika, has received ¥110m ($1m) in funding from investors including Saison Ventures and JR East Start Up, which invested on behalf of payment services firm Credit Saison and rail operator JR East respectively. The round was led by VC fund 15th Rock Ventures and backed by an undisclosed corporate investor. It followed an eight-figure yen amount (¥10m = $90,000) from Framgia Holdings, the IT services firm now called Sun Asterisk, and multiple individuals in 2018.

Business development services firm Infcurion has invested an undisclosed amount in Net Protections Holdings, the Japan-based operator of an e-commerce-focused buy-now, pay-later service. Payment services provider JCB invested $56.4m in the company in February this year at a $551m valuation, and its other shareholders include advertising agency Hakuhodo DY Holdings and leasing services firm Ricoh Leasing.

Vivola, the Japan-based operator of an online platform called Cocoromi that enables users to search for infertility treatment options, has raised ¥30m ($280,000) in seed capital from investors including telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s artificial intelligence fund, Deepcore. The corporate was joined in the round by VC firm Anri.

Japan-headquartered mobile blockchain game producer Axel Mark has supplied an undisclosed amount of seed funding for Ascella Biosystems, a US-based developer of digital medical diagnostics technology. It is developing a quick test for covid-19 based on molecular diagnostics research by Eric T. Kool at Stanford University.

Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.

By Robert Lavine

Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing.