Funding
Indonesia-based coffeehouse chain operator Kopi Kenangan reached a $96m first close today for its series C funding featuring investors including internet company Kunlun. Investment firm Tybourne Capital Management led the tranche completed at a valuation above $1bn, investing alongside Horizons Ventures, B Capital and Falcon Edge Capital.
China-based drug discovery platform QureBio raised RMB200m ($31m) in a series B round on Thursday led by financial services firm Bank of Communications’ Bocom International unit. Oriza Holdings, Spinnotec, Longmen Capital and Tianfu Sanjiang Capital were also among the participants.
Japan-based digital fan engagement system operator Ventus received ¥275m ($21.4m) in September this year from multiple corporates, it disclosed last Monday. The investors included Anobaka, G-Startup Fund, OLM Ventures, Voyage Ventures, SMBC Venture Capital and Mizuho Capital, part of mobile game publisher KLab, education services provider Globis, animation studio Oriental Light and Magic, travel technology provider Voyage as well as financial services groups Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank respectively. Record label Sony Music Entertainment and internet company United filled out the round together with Samurai Incubate.
Japan-based e-learning platform operator Monoxer secured ¥1.81bn ($16m) last Monday from investors including Z Venture Capital, Salesforce Ventures and UB Ventures, corporate venturing vehicles for internet group Z Holdings, enterprise software supplier Salesforce and business intelligence platform Uzabase. VC firm Global Brain led the round, and World Innovation Lab also took part.
Thailand-based fashion e-commerce platform operator Pomelo Fashion has raised $12.5m in series C3 funding from investors including Orzon Ventures, a corporate venturing arm of oil and gas conglomerate PTT’s Oil and Retail – PTTOR for short – subsidiary, DealStreetAsia reported on Friday, citing filings at Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. The round has a target size of $20m, and the initial tranche also included Ambient Sound Investments, TA Activity Singapore, Suntory One, Lavender Investments, Deverel Development and Marganit International.
Japan-based small molecule drug developer Veritas in Silico received ¥1.4bn ($12.2m) in series C funding today from investors including business intelligence platform M3 and KDDI Open Innovation Fund 3, a subsidiary of telecommunications group KDDI, along with Mizuho Life Science Fund, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and SMBC Venture Capital, respective vehicles for financial services firms Mizuho Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Another financial services group Shinsei Bank unit Shinsei Capital Partners’ New Life Science fund also took part, as did VC firm Global Brain and two funds operated by Innovation Engine.
Japan-based truck trading platform Azoop reached a ¥900m ($7.9m) first close last Friday for its series B funding featuring logistics group Monoful and VC firm Jafco. The company has raised roughly ¥1.37bn ($12m) in total, and it intends to raise additional funding in February 2022 to close the series B round at ¥1.3bn ($11.4m) and push the overall funding to ¥1.8bn ($15.7m).
Japan-based pension scheme operator Better Place raised ¥540m ($4.7m) last Wednesday from investors including business chat software provider Chatwork, disability welfare group Litalico, financial services group Mizuho Bank subsidiary Mizuho Capital and University of Tokyo’s Innovation Platform.
Biophilia, the Japan-based provider of handmade dog food branded Coco Gourmet, closed a ¥560m ($4.9m) series A round last Wednesday led by Dream Incubator’s Dimension fund and backed by internet companies Geechs and United, in addition to Hakuhodo DY Future Design Fund, AG Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Mizuho Capital and SBI Investment, respective vehicles for marketing group Hakuhodo DY, consumer finance provider Aiful and financial services firms Mitsuibishi UFJ, Mizuho Bank and SBI. VC firm Apricot Ventures filled out the participants alongside multiple unnamed individuals.
India-based Ayurveda medical services platform operator NirogStreet completed a $4m round on Wednesday co-led by CE-Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of industrial conglomerate Crescent Enterprises, and investment firm ICMG Partners, according to VCCircle. Gokul Rajaram, Ramakant Sharma, Anuj Srivastava, Rajeev Kannan and Suresh Vasudevan filled out the participants.
Japan-based warehouse sharing service Souco raised ¥400m ($3.5m) last Thursday from IT services firm Nihon Unisys’s Canal Ventures unit, printing services firm Toppan, employment agency Trancom and Mercuria BizTech, a multicorporate-backed joint venture between trading group Itochu and investment firm Mercuria Investment, taking its overall funding to ¥870m ($7.6m).
Japan-based automatic telephone answering service Ivry secured ¥300m ($2.6m) last Wednesday from customer satisfaction analytics tool provider Plaid and VC firm Femto Partners.
ML Estate, a subsidiary of leasing services group Mizuho Leasing, provided an undisclosed amount last Wednesday for Japan-based property technology developer CCreb’s ¥200m ($1.8m) series B round closed the day after.
Japan-based electroencephalography system developer PGV raised ¥150m ($1.3m) last Wednesday in a second close for its series B funding from pharmaceutical firm Shionogi Pharmaceutical. The corporate had already backed the initial tranche together with J&TC Frontier, a vehicle for engineering firm JFE Engineering and leasing services provider Tokyo Century, and the company’s series B round now stands at ¥450m ($3.9m).
Japan-based railway pass ticket reservation platform Linktivity received ¥150m ($1.3m) last Wednesday from telecommunications group NTT West.
Japan-based space agriculture technology developer Towing secured ¥140m ($1.2m) in pre-series A funding last Monday from financial services firm Juroku Bank’s Nobunaga Capital Village, investment and consulting firm Epist Ventures and Nagoya University–Tōkai Region-wide University Venture Fund 2, a vehicle formed by investment firm Beyond Next Ventures, Nagoya University, Gifu University, Toyohashi University of Technology, Nagoya Institute of Technology and Mie University. The round took its overall funding to ¥180m ($1.6m).
Japan-based sauna reservation infrastructure developer Habitat received about ¥100m ($876,000) in pre-series A funding last Tuesday from investors including marketing group The Breakthrough Company Go, mobile game developer KLab and amusement park operator Oriental Land, the last two through Oriental Land Innovations and Anobaka respectively. Multiple unnamed individuals filled out the participants in the round, which took the company’s total funding to ¥130m ($1.1m).
Hanon Care System, the Japan-based operator of home-visit nursing station Hokan Tokyo and electronic medical record service Hanon, raised ¥100m ($874,000) last Friday from multiple investors including Mizuho Capital, a vehicle for financial services firm Mizuho Bank.
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, a venture capital subsidiary of financial services group Mitsubishi UFJ, invested an undisclosed amount in Japan-based small synthetic aperture radar satellite developer Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, last Tuesday.
Japan-based online network launch platform Share Village received an undisclosed amount last Wednesday from media community operator Inquire, consulting and investment firm Makoto Group, online membership non-profit scheme MiraTuku as well as angel investors Shun Akiyama, Tetsuya Sawada and Masato Handa.
Financial services firm Chugoku Bank and its Chugin Lease subsidiary both invested an undisclosed sum last Wednesday in Japan-based consultancy Bridge Consulting Group.
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, a vehicle for financial services group Mitsubishi UFJ, invested an undisclosed amount last Thursday in PowerSpin, a Japan-based developer of spintronics technology that uses the research conducted at Tohoku University.
Financial services provider Mitsubishi UFJ subsidiary Mitsubishi UFJ Capital provided an undisclosed sum last Friday for Rexev, a Japan-based electric vehicle-focused battery producer.
Japan-based consumer energy and rental management service GrandData secured an undisclosed amount of funding today from employment agency CRG Holdings’ CRG Investment unit.
Japan-based cricket mass production system developer Ecologgie received an undisclosed amount of seed funding today from Leave a Nest Capital, a subsidiary of research firm Leave a Nest; Weru Investment, a vehicle affiliated with Waseda University; and unnamed individuals.
Japan-based fashion industry’s digitalisation service Brandit secured an undisclosed sum today from CRG Investment, a vehicle for recruitment group CRG Holdings, through a strategic agreement.
US-headquartered vaccine technology developer VLP Therapeutics received $21m today in series A-1 funding from pharmaceutical firm Nobelpharma, conglomerate Sojitz Corporation, financial services firm MUFG Bank, Kyoto University-linked Miyako Capital, private investor Robert Hisaoka and VC firm SK Impact Fund.
Talent and Assessment, the Japan-based operator of an AI-enhanced interview service dubbed Shain, raked in an undisclosed sum today from real estate developer Sunnexta Group and Shizuoka Capital, a vehicle for financial services firm Shizuoka Bank.
Funds
E-commerce group JD.com, cybersecurity technology provider Qi-Anxin Technology Group, Chinese government-run economic development scheme Beijing E-town International Investment & Development and Beijing Heyin Investment are among the limited partners in the China-based RMB3bn ($470m) Shoudu Pan Healthcare Industry Fund, which targets healthcare technology developers based in the Chinese capital of Beijing, PEdaily reported last Monday. The vehicle has reached a $157m first close, and Huagai Capital has been appointed investment manager.
Brown Venture Group, a US-based VC firm that concentrates on entrepreneurs of black, Latin American and indigenous backgrounds, has received an undisclosed amount of commitment for its first vehicle from financial services group Bank of America, it said on December 9.
