Fund
Puerto Rico-based growth equity firm Linse Capital has raised $700m from limited partners including commercial automotive producer Daimler Truck and mobile operator Taiwan Mobile. Other investors including Oppenheimer and more than 400 family offices and high-net-worth individuals filled out the list of LPs.
M&A
Enterprise video management platform Vbrick has acquired Ramp Holdings, a US-based digital content processing network backed by mass media groups Comcast and Hearst, for an undisclosed amount. Ramp had raised a total of $40m as of a $15m series C round featuring Hearst Interactive Media and Comcast Ventures in 2012.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has paid an undisclosed sum to fully acquire portfolio company Tokocrypto, an Indonesia-based digital asset trader. Binance said it already owned a majority stake in the company, having invested an undisclosed amount in May 2020. It added an undisclosed sum from Signum Capital in December 2021.
Reverse merger
Kineta, a US-based immunotherapy developer backed by real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, automotive parts producer Cheongbo Industrial and clinical research firm MPI Research, has closed a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed peer Yumanity Therapeutics. The combined entity will trade as Kineta on The Nasdaq Capital Market.
MariaDB, the Finland-based cloud database operator that counts corporates Alibaba, Intel, OnCorps and ServiceNow as investors, has completed a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Angel Pond Holdings Corporation that was announced in February this year. The merged entity will be an Irish public limited company called MariaDB.
Funding
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moneyhub | Open finance and payment platform | Financial | UK | N/A | 66.9 (updated) | 19/12/2022 | Phoenix Group (Standard Life), Legal & General, Lloyds Banking Group (equity); Shawbrook Bank ($6m in debt) |
| Helm.ai | Autonomous driving software developer | Transport | US | C | 31 | 19/12/2022 | Honda Motor, Goodyear (Goodyear Ventures), Sungwoo Hitech; Freeman Group (lead), ACVC Partners, Amplo |
| TransVoyant | Intelligent supply chain technology provider | Services | Canada | N/A | 25 | 13/12/2022 | Merck & Co (Merck Global Health Innovation Fund) (co-lead); P74 Ventures (co-lead) |
| Protillion Biosciences | Drug discovery technology developer | Healthcare | US | A | 18 | 19/12/2022 | Illumina (Illumina Ventures); Arch Venture Partners (lead) |
| Aquaconnect | Online aquaculture product marketplace | Industrial | India | A | 15 | 20/12/2022 | Louis Dreyfus Company (Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures); Lok Capital (lead), Suneight Investment, Omnivore, Rebright Partners, Flourish Ventures, Hatch, unnamed debt providers |
| RegAsk | Regulatory compliance software provider | IT | Singapore | A | 10 | 15/12/2022 | Sprim (Sprim Global Investments); Monograph Capital (lead) |
| Ranmai Technology (RM Group) | Operator of virtual influencer Ayayi | Media | China | A | 10 | 20/12/2022 | Bertelsmann (BAI Capital) (lead) |
| Revel.xyz | Social digital collectibles platform | Financial | US | Seed | 7.8 | 19/12/2022 | Polygon; Dragonfly Capital (lead), Union Square Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, Gaingels, Sfermion, Wagmi Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Global Impact Ventures, Hansa Labs |
| Rest Less | Middle aged worker-focused recruitment portal | Services | UK | N/A | 7.2 | 20/12/2022 | Sony (Sony Financial Holdings/Sony Financial Ventures); Moneta Venture Capital (lead), Exceptional Ventures, QED Investors, Viola Fintech, Octopus Ventures, MTech Capital, 1818 Venture Capital |
| Zaphiro Technologies | Smart grid software provider | Energy and Natural Resources | Switzerland | A | 7 | 19/12/2022 | ABB (ABB Technology Ventures); CDP Venture Capital (Corporate Partners I fund – Energy Tech sub-fund), Excellis, Club degli Investitori, Technologiefonds, unnamed private investor |
| Vint | Online wine investment platform | Financial | US | Seed | 5 | 20/12/2022 | MS&AD (MS&AD Ventures); Montage Ventures (lead), Goat Rodeo Capital, Fintech Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, IrrvntVC, Western Technology Investment |
| Varietas | Developer of image-based online student community Iverse | Media | Japan | Pre-A | 3 | 20/12/2022 | With Us |
| Intellifi Technologies | Operator of B2B services platform BizeeBuy | IT | India | N/A | N/A | 20/12/2022 | Indifi Technologies |
| TechTorch | Business development platform provider | IT | US | N/A | N/A | 20/12/2022 | DynPro |
