M&A
Media and automotive group Cox Enterprises agreed yesterday to acquire portfolio company Axios Media, a US-based digital media platform. Axios was valued at $430m when it raised an undisclosed sum from Cox in a November 2021 series D round that followed at least $30m of earlier funding from investors incluidng media and entertainment group NBC Universal.
Beauty e-commerce marketplace Nykaa has agreed to buy Little Black Book, a digital content platform developer backed by video game publisher Akatsuki’s AET Fund, for an undisclosed amount. The company had closed a $5m series A round in 2019 featuring AET Fund that took its overall funding to over $7.3m.
Public markets
MicuRx Pharmaceuticals, a China-based antibiotic developer backed by conglomerate Legend Holdings’ Legend Capital affiliate, has listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star Market. The company raised RMB960m ($142.2m) by issuing 130 million shares priced at RMB8.16 apiece. It had secured about $255m in total pre-IPO, having received $107m in a series E round led by Legend Capital in late 2020.
Funding
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geek+ | Autonomous mobile robot technology provider | Industrial | China | E1 | 100 | 08/08/2022 | Intel (Intel Capital); Vertex Growth, Qingyue Capital Investment |
| Betr | Sports-focused micro-betting platform developer | Media | US | A | 50 | 08/08/2022 | Simplebet, Stronach Group, Magic City Casino; Aliya Capital Partners (co-lead), Fuel Venture Capital (co-lead), Boston Celtics, Miami Marlins, Florida Funders, 8vc, FinSight Ventures, Travis Scott, Ezekiel Elliott, Richard Sherman, Dez Bryant, DeSean Jackson, Braxton Berrios, Palm Tree Crew, Roger Ehrenberg, Mark Wan, Russell Galbut, David Grutman, Deirdre Bigley, Gary Barber, Anti Fund, 305 Ventures, Elizabeth Street Ventures, Riverside Ventures, Gaingels, Moving Capital, Elysium Venture Capital, FJ Labs, Tampa Bay Ventures, Trog Hawley |
| Black Buffalo | Smokeless tobacco alternative provider | Consumer | US | A | 30 | 08/08/2022 | United Tobacco Company (UTC Ventures); The Pritzker Organization (lead), Listen Ventures, Watchfire Ventures, Vice Ventures |
| Utility Global | Sustainable hydrogen system developer | Energy and Natural Resources | US | B | 25 | 08/08/2022 | Samsung (Samsung Ventures), Saudi Aramco, Saint-Gobain (Nova); Ara Partners (lead) |
| Forage | Grocery-focused food stamp payment processor | Financial | US | A | 22 | 09/08/2022 | PayPal (PayPal Ventures); NYCA Partners (lead), EO Ventures, Apoorva Mehta |
| Bigspoon Foods | Cloud kitchen group | Consumer | India | A | 12.9 | 09/08/2022 | Nava (NB Ventures), GoTo (Go-Ventures); Indian Angel Network (lead), IndiePitch Solutions (LetsVenture), Grip Invest, Anicut Capital |
| Zap-Map | EV charging point discovery app | Transport | UK | A | 10.9 | 08/08/2022 | Good Energy, FleetCor |
| Stockmark | Business text-based data analytics platform | IT | Japan | C | 8.2 | 09/08/2022 | Digital Holdings (Bonds Investment Group), NTT Docomo (NTT Docomo Ventures), Hakuhodo DY (Hakuhodo DY Future Design Fund), United, Mitsubishi UFJ (Mitsubishi UFJ Capital); Tohoku University (Tohoku University Venture Partners), Daiwa Securities (Daiwa Corporate Investment), World Innovation Lab |
| Node.energy | Energy transition software provider | Energy and Natural Resources | Germany | A | 7.2 | 09/08/2022 | Helen (Helen Ventures); BitStone Capital (lead), 10x Founders, BonVenture, High-Tech Gründerfonds |
| OneOrder | Online hospitality product marketplace | Consumer | Egypt | N/A | 6.5 | 08/08/2022 | Contact Financial Holding (Contact Factoring) |
| Apotekamo | Southeastern Europe-focused pharmaceutical marketplace | Healthcare | Sweden | N/A | 2.6 | 08/08/2022 | EPTI; Angelgate, Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidzic |
| Medpeer | Online medical physician community | Healthcare | Japan | N/A | N/A | 09/08/2022 | EPS Holdings |
| Sitateru | Clothing production digitalisation service | Consumer | Japan | N/A | N/A | 09/08/2022 | Hokkoku Bank (QR Investment)/Mitani Sangyo (CarbonVentures) (Hokuriku Region Venture Fund) |
