Funding
Financial services firm Mizuho Bank has led a $200m series E round for Vietnam-headquartered mobile wallet provider Momo at a valuation exceeding $2bn. Ward Ferry Management and existing backers Goodwater Capital and Kora Management also contributed to the round.
China-based silicon wafer manufacturer Jiangsu Meike Solar Technology has secured RMB1.2bn ($188m) in a series B round led by the state-owned Beijing Financial Street Capital and backed by power producer State Power Investment Corp and China Huaneng Group, the latter through subsidiary Huaneng Capital, DealStreetAsia has reported. They were joined by China Merchants Capital, a partnership between warehouse operator GLP and China Merchants Group, in addition to financial services firm China Construction Bank’s CCB Investment unit and private equity firm Cloudview Capital.
US-based blockchain infrastructure and services provider Figment has received $110m in series C funding from investors including Binance Labs, a subsidiary of digital currency exchange Binance, as well as cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp, blockchain scaling technology provider StarkWare and DTCP, which invests on behalf of telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom. The round was led by Thoma Bravo at a $1.4bn post-money valuation and also backed by Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global vehicle, Mirae Asset, ParaFi Capital, Avon Ventures, CMS Holdings, Two Sigma, B Capital Group and Franklin Templeton.
Colombia-headquartered buy now, pay later service provider Addi has raised $80m in a series C round featuring internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Latin American Fund at a $700m valuation, Forbes Colombia has reported. The round was led by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and included existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, GGV Capital, Greycroft, Monashees and Union Square Ventures’ Opportunity Fund. The cash was secured alongside $125m in debt financing.
Insurance provider PICC Group’s PICC Capital Insurance Asset Management subsidiary has co-led a RMB500m ($78.5m) series A-plus round for China-based RNA therapeutics and vaccine developer NeoCura with private investor Yahui Zhou, DealStreetAsia has reported. CDH Investments, Shunxi Fund and Jiayin Fund filled out the participants in the round, which followed $39m in series A funding from Kunlun Fund, IDG Capital, Alwin Capital and Skycus Capital in 2020 according to DealStreetAsia.
Mexico-headquartered digital freight forwarder Nowports has completed a $60m series B round featuring telecoms and internet group SoftBank’s Latin America Fund and Mouro Capital, the venture capital firm spun off by financial services firm Santander. The round was led by investment firm Tiger Global Management and included DST Global, Monashees, Base10 Partners, Broadhaven Ventures and Foundation Capital.
India-based online computer education provider InterviewBit has secured $45m in series B funding from investors including e-commerce holding company Rocket Internet, DealStreetAsia has reported, citing a regulatory filing. Lightrock led the round with a $30.8m investment while existing shareholders Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global Management and Global Founders Capital also took part.
Telecoms and internet group SoftBank has co-led a $45m series B-plus round for South Korea-based payment technology provider Chai through its SoftBank Ventures Asia unit, DealStreetAsia has reported, citing a company statement. The round was co-led by VC firm Nyca Partners and included Samsung Next, a subsidiary of electronics manufacturer Samsung; KT Investment, on behalf of telecoms firm KT Group; Conductive Ventures, which is funded by electronics producer Panasonic; Nordstar Capital and B Capital.
Data centre builder EdgeConneX has invested an undisclosed amount in China-headquartered peer Chayora. The latter had raised $64m in series B funding from financial services firm Standard Chartered’s Principal Finance Real Estate division in 2016 and $180m in series C financing from the same investor – since spun off as Actis Asia Real Estate Fund – in October 2019.
Germany-based online dermatology care portal Formel Skin has received €30m ($33.8m) in a series A round that included Vorwerk Ventures, the investment arm of direct selling group Vorwerk, Sifted has reported. VC firm Singular and healthtech-focused VC fund Heal Capital led the round, which also featured Heartcore Capital and Cherry Ventures.
China-based digital medical technology provider Synapsor has raised ‘tens of millions of dollars’ in a financing round led by consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi, DealStreetAsia has reported, citing a company statement. Source Code Capital and Shunwei Capital also participated in the round, which followed an undisclosed amount of pre-series A funding from Xiaomi and Source Code Capital in early 2021, according to DealStreetAsia.
Kneron, a US-headquartered chipmaker focusing on the transport sector, has completed a $25m funding round that included optoelectronic equipment manufacturer Lite-On Technology, communication system component distributor Alltek and engineering equipment producer PalPilot, founder and CEO Albert Liu told TechCrunch. Sand Hill Angels and Gaingels also contributed to the round, which lifted the company’s overall funding to $125m.
Bureau, an India-based developer of digital identity verification software, has raised $12m in series A funding from investors including identity management technology provider Okta’s corporate venturing unit, Okta Ventures. VC firm Quona Capital led the round, which also featured Commerce Ventures, XYZ Ventures, Blume Ventures, Village Global, EMVC, Sweat Equity Ventures and angel investors Mark Britto and Bobby Mehta.
GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet, has co-led an $11m seed round for UK-headquartered photo sharing app developer Lapse. The round was co-led with Octopus Ventures and also featured Speedinvest and angel investors including Soleio Cuervo. The startup had raised $1.4m in an August 2021 pre-seed round led by Speedinvest and backed by individuals including Claire Nooriala and Matt and Ian Hogarth.
Planet42, the South Africa-headquartered operator of a subscription-based car rental service, has secured $6m in an equity funding round led by $3.4m from media and e-commerce group Naspers through its Naspers Foundry unit, TechCrunch has reported. Change Ventures, Startup Wise Guys and angel investors Ragnar Sass and Martin and Markus Villig also took part in the bridge round, which was raised alongside $24m in debt financing.
Pakistan-based payment card services provider SimpliFi has received $5.1m in funding from investors including diversified holding company Almajdouie’s Raed Ventures subsidiary. It was joined by Global Founders Capital, 4DX Ventures and Rally Cap Ventures, and the round came four months after the startup raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round led by Raed Ventures and backed by Rally Cap, Sukna Ventures and indviduals including Chris Adelsbach, Idris Bello, Osama AlRaee and Abdullah Mohammed Al-Dosari.
US-headquartered cryptocurrency asset management firm Lucy Labs has raised $3m in funding from investors including financial services firm Cogent Bancorp. VC firm DeepWork Capital led the round, which also featured Red Building Capital, Immeasurable and undisclosed other participants.
Electronics producer TDK has invested an undisclosed amount in US-based driverless vehicle hardware developer Faction Technology through its TDK Ventures subsidiary. Trucks Venture Capital and Fifty Years had co-led the startup’s $4.3m seed round in June this year, a deal that came in the wake of an undisclosed sum from Y Combinator earlier in the year.
Vietnam-based play-to-earn game developer Cowboy Snake has secured a total of $2.1m in seed and private funding from investors including DareNFT, a provider of cloud non-fungible token services, as well as music streaming service Blockbeats, blockchain researcher Jade Labs’ Onus vehicle, consulting firm BAS Ventures and crypto trading service MEXC. They were joined by AKA Ventures, Arc Capital, Axia8 Ventures, Clovers Ventures, CMC Community, CoinF, CoinLab, Coins Group, Crypto Holic, Crypto Space, DD Community, DoraHacks Ventures, DTS, Kiwi Group, Krypital Group, MoniHub, OrenCT Ventures, The Leak Capital, ThuanCapital, TienThuatToan Capital and UFIN.
Blockchain app developer Animoca Brands has led a funding round of undisclosed size for Fantico, the India-based operator of a non-fungible token platform focusing on Indian celebrities, e27 has reported. The round also featured angel investors including Hemant Tucker.
M&A
Keto supplement producer Prüvit has agreed to acquire Sunbasket, a US-based meal kit provider backed by consumer goods group Unilever, kitchenware provider Tyler Florence Group and homebuilder JF Shea, in a deal that will value the merged business – to be called PSB Holdings – at $1.3bn, according to Business Insider. The company had raised a total of $125m as of a $30m series E round in mid-2019 that included Unilever subsidiary Unilever Ventures, while JF Shea had previously invested through Shea Ventures.
Footwear producer Alpargatas has agreed to acquire almost 50% of Rothy’s, a US-headquartered sustainable fashion brand that counts consumer product distributor Grace Beauty as an investor. The company will make a $200m primary investment in Rothy’s and buy $275m of shares from existing shareholders at a $1bn valuation. Rothy’s had raised a total of $42m as of a $35m investment by Goldman Sachs in 2018.
Human resources software provider Sage has agreed to pay $299m for the 83% of UK-based business management technology developer Brightpearl which it does not currently own. Sage led the company’s $33.5m series C round in December 2020, investing alongside existing backers including Cipio Partners, Notion Capital and Verdane to increase its overall funding to $30.5m.
Media analytics provider Comscore has bought US-based social media data provider Shareablee for an undisclosed sum, enabling internet and telecoms group SoftBank to exit. SoftBank subsidiary SoftBank Capital led the company’s $6m series A round in 2014, investing alongside Valhalla Partners, which had led a $750,000 seed round the previous year.
Domestic services provider SweepSouth has paid an undisclosed amount to purchase Egypt-based peer FilKhedma, which counted consulting firm Glint as an investor. The deal came after The Cairo Angels invested an undisclosed amount in FilKhedma earlier this month, and it had raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Glint and Algebra Ventures in 2017 and $1.2m from the same investors in October 2019.
Public Markets
ZeroFox, a US-based cybersecurity software producer backed by semiconductor technology provider Intel, has agreed to a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company L&F Acquisition Corp at a $1.4bn valuation. The company had raised $162m as of a $74m round in February 2020 led by Intel subsidiary Intel Capital, and the latest deal will be boosted by $170m in financing from Blue Venture Fund, which invests on behalf of various Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurers, as well as Monarch Alternative Capital, Victory Park Capital, Corbin Capital, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Highland Capital, Alsop Louie Partners, Peloton Equity, Forgepoint Capital and private investor James C Foster.
Senti Biosciences, a US-based gene therapy developer that counts chipmaker Intel, pharmaceutical firm Amgen and pharmaceutical and chemicals group Bayer as investors, has agreed to a reverse takeover with special purpose acquisition company Dynamics Special Purpose Corp valuing the merged business at $601m. All three corporates took part in a $105m series B round in January this year that pushed Senti’s total funding to $158m. The merger will be backed by $66m in private placement financing from Amgen unit Amgen Ventures, 8VC, Invus, LifeForce Capital, NEA, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price and funds and accounts managed by Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global subsidiary.
CinCor Pharma, a US-headquartered cardiorenal therapy developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, has filed to raise up to $100m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market. The company had raised a total of $193m as of a $143m series B round in October this year featuring Eli Lilly vehicle Lilly Asia Ventures. It was founded in 2018 as a subsidiary of pharmaceutical company CinRx Pharma, which has retained a 10.8% stake.
