Funding
Aforza, the UK-based creator of a sales enhancement software product for the consumer goods industry, raised $22m in series A funding yesterday from investors including industrial equipment and appliance maker Siemens’ Next47 unit. Venture capital firm DN Capital led the round, which also featured Bonfire Ventures and Daher Capital, both of which had joined enterprise software producer Salesforce’s investment arm, Salesforce Ventures, in a seed round of undisclosed size for Aforza in 2019.
Japan-based bespoke skincare product provider Sparty received ¥2bn in equity funding ($18m) today in a round led by the Japanese state-backed JIC Venture Growth Investments that included existing investors including mobile game publisher Akatsuki’s Heart Driven Fund and retailer Marui Group. It was raised alongside ¥2.1bn in debt financing from Resona Bank, Mizuho Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, and took Sparty’s total funding to approximately $37m, it said. Cosmetics manufacturing services provider Saticine had invested an undisclosed amount in the company in 2018 before it added $5.5m from Akatsuki, Marui, eyewear brand Jins Hodings and XTech Ventures in January 2020.
Artificial intelligence and analytics software provider Fractal invested $14m in Senseforth.ai, a US-headquartered developer of conversational artificial intelligence technology, yesterday. Senseforth had raised $450,000 from undisclosed investors in 2017 according to a regulatory filing, and its technology will be offered to Fractal’s clients through an agreement sealed alongside the funding.
Youreka Labs, the US-based creator of an app development software platform for frontline workers, secured $8.5m yesterday in a series A round featuring Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of enterprise software provider Salesforce. The round was co-led by Boulder Ventures and Grotech Ventures, and Karen Mehal, vice-president of product management for Salesforce Field Service, is joining the company’s board of directors.
Educational content provider Pearson provided $7m in series A funding on Wednesday for Smashcut, the US-based creator of an online learning platform for media and visual arts, through corporate venturing unit Pearson Ventures. The company has not revealed details of earlier funding but its existing investors include VC firm Learn Capital.
Oil and gas provider Saudi Aramco co-led a €5m ($5.9m) series A round for Ireland-based heating and cooling technology developer HT Materials Science on Wednesday through its Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures vehicle. The round was co-led by Progress Tech Transfer, which had previously led the company’s $2.4m seed round in August 2020, investing together with Enterprise Ireland.
Branch Energy, a US-based startup that uses data and artificial intelligence technology to provide affordable green energy to consumers, received $4.5m on Wednesday in a seed round led by Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of mass media group Comcast. The round also featured Global Founders Capital, Inovia Capital and Assaf Wand, chief executive of digital home insurance provider Hippo.
Nirmata, a US-based developer of software for container orchestration system Kubernetes, has secured $4m in pre-series A funding from investors including Samsung Next, a corporate venturing subsidiary of consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung, YourStory reported on Wednesday. Z5 Capital led the round, which was also backed by Uncorrelated Ventures, Benhamou Global Ventures and angel investors Saqib Syed and BV Jagadeesh. It came after an undisclosed amount of seed financing from Arka Venture Labs in September 2020.
American Express Ventures, the corporate VC arm of payment services firm American Express, provided an amount of series A-plus funding reported by Accounting Today to be $2.5m for US-based connected accounting platform developer Lockstep on Wednesday. The company did not confirm the size of the investment but said it has now raised $17m in total, $10m having come in a February 2021 series A round led by Point72 Ventures and backed by Clocktower Ventures, Avid Ventures and Revel Partners.
Patricia, the developer of an online alternative payment platform, has invested $1.5m in Nigeria-based streetwear brand Rooomxix, TechCabal reported yesterday. The cash will be channelled into the company’s domestic expansion as well as expanding its inventory so it can better serve customers elsewhere in Africa.
Media, data and investment firm AgFunder has co-led a $675,000 pre-seed round for Bite Ninja, the US-based developer of an online remote recruitment platform for the restaurant industry, TechCrunch reported on Friday. Accelerator operator Y Combinator and VC fund Manta Ray Ventures co-led the round, which came five months after the startup launched its product.
M&A
Laboratory services provider Labcorp bought Ovia Health, the US-based developer of a female-focused health information app, for an undisclosed amount yesterday, enabling health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to exit. Formerly known as Ovuline, the company had raised a total of $15.7m as of a $10m round in 2016 co-led by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts vehicle Zaffre Investments and Martin Ventures that included fellow existing investors Lightbank Ventures, LionBird Venture Capital and Techstars Ventures.
Consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung, media group Bertelsmann and Maker Studios, the digital media company acquired by entertainment and media group Walt Disney, exited US-based online streaming content provider Jukin Media yesterday in a purchase of undisclosed size by lifestyle media group Trusted Media Brands. Jukin had disclosed a total of $4.2m in funding as of a $2m investment by corporate VC unit Samsung Ventures in 2015. Its backers also included Karlin Ventures, Canyon Creek Capital, Kombo Ventures and Launchpad LA.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
