M&A
Car vision technology provider Nexar is set to acquire Veniam, a Portugal-based vehicle communications service backed by telecommunications firms Verizon and Orange, networking equipment manufacturer Cisco and motor equipment producer Yamaha Motor, for an undisclosed amount. The company had closed a $22m series B round in 2016 that took its total funding to nearly $27m.
Funds
Lockheed Martin Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin, has had its capital allocation doubled from $200m to $400m. The US-based corporate formed Lockheed Martin Ventures in 2007 and said it has since backed more than 70 companies including 11 this year.
US-based venture capital firm L’Attitude Ventures has closed its first fund at more than $100m, securing capital from limited partners including insurer MassMutual and Cisco Investments, a subsidiary of networking equipment provider Cisco, through its Aspire Fund. Investment banking firm JP Morgan anchored the fund through its JPMorgan Chase unit, also investing alongside financial services firms Bank of America, Barclays, Royal Bank of Canada, Nuveen, Morgan Stanley and Trujillo Group in addition to UC Investments and Polaris Limited Partners.
US-headquartered mobile game publisher Playstudios has formed a $10m corporate VC vehicle in a bid to invest in Web3 gaming technology developers. The news came alongside the launch of Playstudios’ blockchain division.
Taiwan-headquartered financial services conglomerate Cathay Financial Holdings’ Cathay Life Insurance unit has agreed to commit $30m to Vista Equity Partners Fund VIII, part of Vista Equity Partners, and an additional $50m to Silver Lake Partners VII, a vehicle for another private equity firm, Silver Lake.
Funding
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nexeon | Battery materials developer | Energy and Natural Resources | UK | A | 170 | 03/08/2022 | Ingevity Corporation, Geely (GLY Mobility Fund), SKC, Daishin Financial Group (Daishin Private Equity); SJL, Shinhan Investments |
| Aisera | Employee and customer management platform | Services | US | D | 90 | 03/08/2022 | Zoom (Zoom Ventures); Goldman Sachs (Growth Equity) (lead), True Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Icon Ventures, Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, World Innovation Lab, Maynard Webb, Ram Shriram, Silicon Valley Bank |
| F2G | Fungal infection therapy developer | Healthcare | UK | N/A | 70 | 04/08/2022 | Novo; Forbion (co-lead), Sofinnova Partners (co-lead), Morningside Ventures, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Advent Life Sciences |
| Common Ground | Co-working space operator | Services | Malaysia | N/A | 51.5 | 03/08/2022 | Catcha Group (Catcha Investments); Emissary Capital |
| Arena | AI-equipped decision-making tool provider | IT | US | A | 32 | 02/08/2022 | Flexport; Initialized Capital (co-lead), Goldcrest Capital (co-lead), Founders Fund, David Petraeus, Peter Thiel, Michael Seibel |
| Oui Therapeutics | Suicide prevention therapy platform | Healthcare | US | N/A | 26 | 02/08/2022 | CVS Health (CVS Health Ventures); First Round Capital |
| Eleven Therapeutics | AI-driven nucleic acid therapeutics developer | Healthcare | Israel | Seed | 22 | 02/08/2022 | Harel Insurance & Finance (Harel Technology Investments); Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Kindred Capital, NFX Bio, Entrée Capital, Innovate UK Smart Grant |
| QLM Technology | Photonics technology developer | Energy | UK | A | 14.5 | 04/08/2022 | Schlumberger, Green Angel Syndicate, Enterprise100 Syndicate, Development Bank of Wales, Newable Ventures, Quantum Exponential, undisclosed private investors |
| Boisson | Non-alcoholic beverage retailer | Consumer | US | Seed | 12 | 04/08/2022 | Creative Artists Agency (Connect Ventures) (co-lead); Blue Scorpion Investments (co-lead), Francis Ngannou, Midnight Ventures, Red Krypton. |
| Flow Security | Data security software provider | IT | Israel | Seed | 10 | 03/08/2022 | Amdocs (Amdocs Ventures); Amiti (lead), GFC, Udi Mokady, Slavik Markovich |
| MerQube | Indexing and rules-based investing technology developer | Financial | US | N/A | 8 | 04/08/2022 | Citi, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS; Laurion Capital Management (lead) |
| CredAble | Retailer-focused working capital financing service | Financial | India | N/A | 6.9 | 02/08/2022 | Axis Bank |
| Nano | Earned wage access service | Financial | Vietnam | Pre-A | 6.4 | 03/08/2022 | KVision; Openspace (lead), Partech Partners, Tekton Ventures, IT Farma, Sketchnote Partners, Golden Gate Ventures, Febe Ventures, FJLabs, Venturra, TO Ventures, Ace & Company, Goodwater Capital |
| Spinach.io | Business chat and meeting platform | Media | US | Seed | 6 | 02/08/2022 | Atlassian (Atlassian Ventures) (lead), Zoom (Zoom Ventures); Y Combinator, Maven Ventures, Tuesday Capital, Cardumen Capital |
| Debt DAO | Crypto credit protocol provider | Financial | UK | Seed | 3.5 | 01/08/2022 | GSR; Dragonfly Capital (lead), Numerous, Fasanara Capital, Balaji Srinivasan, David Post, Ryan Rodenbaugh |
| Smart Soda | Healthy beverage brand | Consumer | US | N/A | 3 | 02/08/2022 | Refreshing USA |
| Aqua Carpatica | Sparkling mineral water provider | Consumer | US | N/A | N/A | 02/08/2022 | PepsiCo |
| Prisma Photonics | Critical infrastructure monitor developer | Industrial | Israel | N/A | N/A | 02/08/2022 | Israel Natural Gas Lines |
| Hello Tractor | Tractor services marketplace | Industrial | Kenya | N/A | N/A | 02/08/2022 | Deere & Company |
| Huupe | Smart basketball hoop provider | Consumer | US | Seed | N/A | 02/08/2022 | Paradigm Sports (lead); F Street Ventures, Reform Ventures, Tundra Angels, JB Fitzgerald, Ball Tek Ventures, Thaddeus Young, Trevor Booker |
| Xona Space Systems | Low Earth orbit-driven navigation technology developer | Industrial | US | N/A | N/A | 04/08/2022 | Lockheed Martin (Lockheed Martin Ventures), Toyota (Toyota Ventures), SRI International (SRI Ventures); First Spark Ventures (lead), Velvet Sea Ventures, Gaingels, Airstream Venture Partners, Space.VC, Seraphim Space, 1517 Fund, MaC Venture Capital, Stellar Ventures |
| SKCS.io | KuCoin Community Chain-based liquidity-staking protocol provider | Financial | Seychelles | N/A | N/A | 04/08/2022 | KuCoin (KuCoin Ventures) |
| Trinova Technology | Autonomotive safety technology producer | Transport | China | B+ | N/A | 03/08/2022 | SAIC Motor (Hengxu Capital) (co-lead), Chery Automobile (Ruicheng Fund) (co-lead), Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC Industrial Investment); Shanghai Guohe Capital, Yichen Capital, Citic Capital, Zhongnuo Fund, Longding Investment, Zhongguancun Frontier Fund, Delian Capital, Tsinghua Holdings (Tsinghua Holdings Capital) |
