Funding
Internet and technology group SoftBank has co-led a $220m series B round for US-headquartered identity verification and authentication software provider Incode with growth equity firm General Atlantic at a $1.25bn valuation. Capital One Ventures and Coinbase Ventures invested on behalf of financial services firm Capital One and digital currency exchange Coinbase, and the round included investment bank JP Morgan, Silicon Valley CISO Investments, DN Capital, 3L Capital, Framework Ventures, Dila Capital and the founders of payment software provider dLocal.
US-based cancer and inflammatory disease drug developer Odyssey Therapeutics has closed a $218m series A round co-led by SR One Capital Management, the venture capital firm backed by pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline. Healthcare investment firm OrbiMed co-led the round, which included Foresite Capital, Woodline Partners, Logos Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments, Colt Ventures and Creacion Ventures.
Heap, a US-headquartered provider of digital experience analytics software, has completed a $110m series D round backed by DTCP, an investment vehicle for telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom. The round, which valued the company at $960m, was led by Sixth Street Growth and also featured investment bank Goldman Sachs’ Asset Management subsidiary, NewView Capital, Menlo Ventures, Triangle Peak Partners, Alliance Bernstein Private Credit Investors, Maverick Ventures and The Private Shares Fund.
Conglomerate SK Group has co-led a $100m financing round for US-headquartered smart window producer Halio with investment firm Capricorn Investment Group. Formerly known as Kinestral, Halio had previously raised $222m from investors including SK, Capricorn, chipmaker maker Hermes-Epitek, Alexandria Venture Investments and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital – subsidiaries of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group – as of a $100m series D round in early 2019.
Anyscale, a US-based application development software provider spun out of University of California, Berkeley’s RiseLab, has raised $100m in series C funding from investors including semiconductor technology producer Intel’s corporate VC arm, Intel Capital, at a valuation reported by Forbes to be over $1bn. The round was co-led by Addition and Andreessen Horowitz and also backed by NEA and Foundation Capital.
Metis Therapeutics, a US-based startup leveraging machine learning to develop treatments for serious diseases, has emerged from stealth with $86m from a series A round co-led by insurance groups China Life and People’s Insurance Company of China, the latter through private equity subsidiary PICC PE. The round also featured Sequoia Capital China, Lightspeed, 5Y Capital, Frees Fund and asset manager CMB International Capital Corporation’s CMBI Zhaoxin Wuji Fund.
Diversified group Hero Enterprise has co-led a $70m series D round for India-based agricultural data provider AgroStar, the Economic Times has reported. The round was co-led with Evolvence, Schroders Capital and CDC and it included media group Bertelsmann and Rabo Frontier Ventures, a VC subsidiary of financial services firm Rabobank, as well as fellow existing investors Aavishkaar Capital, Accel and Chiratae Ventures.
China-headquartered data infrastructure technology producer XSky Data Technology has closed a RMB400m ($62.8m) series F round that included internet and gaming group Tencent. It was joined in the round by Source Code Capital and V Fund, and the deal followed over $183m in funding from investors including financial software producer Hundsun, Tsinghua University’s Tsinghua Holdings vehicle and Legend Capital – the VC firm established by conglomerate Legend Holdings – as of a $110m series E round in September this year.
US-based blockchain intelligence software provider TRM Labs has received $60m in series B funding from investors including digital payment technology provider Block, payment services firms Visa, American Express and PayPal, trading firm DRW and financial services firm Citi – the last four through American Express Ventures, PayPal Ventures, DRW Venture Capital and Citi Ventures. Investment firm Tiger Global Management led the round, which was also backed by Jump Capital, Marshall Wace, B Capital Group, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blockchain Capital, Cap Table Coalition, Castle Island Ventures, Initialized Capital, Operator Partners and various individuals.
Suki, a US-based developer of voice intelligence technology for healthcare, has completed a $55m series C round featuring Philips Ventures, the investment arm of electronics and medical technology producer Philips. The round was led by VC firm March Capital and included Venrock, Flare Capital, Breyer Capital, InHealth Ventures, Gaingels and angel investors Pankaj Patel, Andrew Deutsch and Russell Farscht.
Cybersecurity software producer SentinelOne has participated in a $50m series B round for Torq, the US-based developer of a no-code software platform for the automation of cybersecurity. Growth equity firm Insight Partners led the round, which also featured existing backers GGV Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Diversified conglomerate Jardine Matheson has led a $37m series B round for China-headquartered on-demand logistics provider Pickupp that included e-commerce firm PChome Online and real estate developer Swire Properties as well as conglomerate Far Eastern Group’s Drive Catalyst fund. The corporates were joined by Temasek subsidiary Reefknot Investments and asset manager Cathay Holdings’ Cathay Venture vehicle.
Payment services group SPG, which oversees digital payment software platform Shieldpay and payment disbursement software product Paycast, has received $34m in a series A round co-led by card issuing technology provider Marqeta and payment services firm Mastercard. The round was backed by online lending marketplace CreditEase, Elliott Management and Techstars.
Germany-based reality capture and digital twinning technology developer NavVis has raised €25m ($28.2m) in equity funding from investors including architectural and engineering firm Kozo Keikaku Engineering. The round was led by Cipio Partners and also featured BayBG, MIG, Target Partners and Digital+ Partners.
Semiconductor and data technology producer Intel has led a $19m series A round for Grip Security, an Israel-based developer of software-as-a-service focused security technology. The round was led through the corporate’s Intel Capital unit and included YL Ventures, which had previously led a $6m seed round for the startup in April this year that also featured angel investors including George Kurtz, Andy Ellis, Michael Sutton, Sounil Yu, Omkhar Arasaratnam, Sameer Sait and Adi Sharabani.
US-based digital therapeutics developer Limbix has almost doubled its overall funding to $31m with a $15m series A2 round featuring another digital medication provider, Bixink, as well as internet company Digital Garage. VC firm GSR Ventures led the round, which included Storm Ventures, DN Capital, Korean Investment Partners, E&Investment, Gaingels, MVP, Operator Partners, Mana Ventures and Pacific Health Ventures.
STV, the VC firm backed by telecoms firm Saudi Telecom, has co-led a $13.5m seed round for Bahrain-headquartered personalised meal subscription service Calo with Khwarizmi Ventures and Nuwa Capital. Diversified holding company Al Faisaliah Group also took part in the round, as did Vision Ventures, 500 Startups, Savour Ventures, Nama Ventures and undisclosed angel investors.
Serve Robotics, a US-based provider of autonomous delivery vehicles, has completed a $13m seed round featuring on-demand ride provider Uber, food delivery service Delivery Hero’s DX Ventures unit and 7-Ventures, the investment arm of retail chain 7-Eleven. They were joined by Wavemaker Partners and its Wavemaker Labs studio as well as Neo, Western Technology Investment and angel investor Scott Banister.
US-based operational intelligence software developer NetSpring.io has received $13m in a series A round led by computing technology producer Dell’s investment arm, Dell Technologies Capital. It was joined in the round by Wipro Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of IT services firm Wipro, and VC firm Khosla Ventures.
Binance Asia Services, a subsidiary of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has paid an undisclosed amount for an 18% stake in Hg Exchange (HGX), the Singapore-based operator of a private securities exchange. HGX was formed by wealth management firm PhillipCapital, financial services group PrimePartners and Fundnel, the operator of an investment technology platform.
Atomis, a Japan-based producer of porous coordination polymer materials developed at Kyoto University, has secured ¥1.2bn ($10.6m) in a series B round featuring agricultural machinery producer Kubota, chemical and pharmaceutical group Nagase, shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines’ MOL Plus unit and financial services firm Bank of Kyoto’s Kyogin Bright Future Support Fund as well as Mitsui Kinzoku-SBI Material Innovation Fund, on behalf of mining group Mitsui Mining & Smelting and financial services firm SBI. The round was led by Mirai Creation Fund.
Financial services provider Ohm Stock Broker has co-led a $10m series A round for LenDenClub, the India-based operator of a peer-to-peer lending platform, at a valuation of over $51m. The round was co-led with Tuscan Ventures, Artha Venture Fund and Kunal Shah, and it included fellow angel investors Alok Bansal, Ramakant Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Krishna Bhupal.
US-based healthcare delivery system developer Pair Team has raised $7.3m from investors including NTTVC, a VC affiliate of telecoms group NTT. The round also featured VC fund Newark Venture Partners and VC firm 8VC.
Wakuwaku, the Japan-based operator of a brokerage for renovated properties, has secured ¥700m ($6.2m) in series B funding from investors including internet company Digital Garage’s DG Ventures unit. The round was led by Midas Capital and also backed by Mercuria Investment.
Payment technology producer Stripe has contributed to a $4.5m seed round for SendOwl, the UK-headquartered creator of an online platform where digital products can be sold, TechCrunch has reported. VC firm Defy.vc led the round, which included undisclosed additional participants.
Japan-based livestreaming production manager Prime has increased its overall funding to ¥500m ($4.4m) with an undisclosed amount of funding from Hakuhodo DY Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of digital marketing firm Hakuhodo DY. The cash will go to recruitment and business expansion.
E-commerce firm Rakuten has invested ¥460m ($4m) in Japan-based ticket distribution software developer Ecbo Square and now owns a 7% stake. The company said its other investors include Internet Research Institute (31.7%) and financial services firm SBI’s AI & Blockchain Investment Limited Partnership (17.6%).
Japan-based mobility data technology developer MaaS Tech Japan has received ¥320m ($2.8m) from investors including navigation technology provider Zenrin’s Future Partners subsidiary, insurer Tokio Marine Nichido, trading group Mitsubishi Corporation and SMBC Venture Capital, a VC vehicle for financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. The round was led by Development Bank of Japan through its DBJ Capital subsidiary.
Business process outsourcing service City Computer has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Gowell, the Japan-based operator of a recruitment service focused on international workers. The companies have also formed a capital and business alliance which will involve them leveraging each other’s resources to expand at home and abroad.
M&A
Semiconductor technology producer Intel is acquiring portfolio company Screenovate, an Israel-based provider of screen duplication software, for a price sources told Globes is $100m. Intel subsidiary Intel Capital invested an undisclosed amount in Screenovate in 2014, and the sources said it had provided a total of between $8m and $9m for the company.
Financial technology services provider Rapyd has agreed to buy Neat, the China-based operator of an online platform which facilitates cross-border trade, in a deal of undisclosed size that will allow insurer Massachusetts Mutual Life and payment services firm Visa to exit. Both corporates took part in Neat’s series A round, which closed at $15m in August 2020 to increase its overall funding to $20m.
Industrial equipment and appliance maker Siemens has exited US-based vehicle charging services provider Amply Power in an acquisition of undisclosed size by oil and gas supplier BP. Amply had raised a total of $17m as of a $13.2m series A round in April 2020 led by Soros Fund Management and backed by Siemens and existing investors PeopleFund, Obvious Ventures and the University of California-affiliated Congruent Ventures.
Public Markets
Alvotech Holdings, an Iceland-headquartered biosimilar drug developer backed by pharmaceutical firms Baxter and Fuji Pharma, has agreed to a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Oaktree Acquisition Corp II at an implied initial enterprise valuation of approximately $2.25bn. Alvotech had raised at least $195m as of May this year and its existing backers are supplying a further $50m which will be raised alongside $150m in private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing. The combined business will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
BenevolentAI, a UK-based drug development software provider that counts pharmaceutical producers Lundbeck and Upsher-Smith Laboratories as investors, has agreed to list on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange through a reverse takeover with SPAC Odyssey Acquisition valuing the combined company at €1.5m ($1.7bn). The Singapore state-owned Temasek had invested $90m in the company in 2019 at a reported $1bn valuation to increase its overall funding to over $290m. The transaction is backed by $152m in PIPE financing from investors including Temasek and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.
US-based weather intelligence provider Tomorrow.io has agreed to merge with Pine Technology Acquisition Corp, a SPAC listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, at a combined $1.2bn valuation. Formerly known as ClimaCell, Tomorrow’s total funding stood at over $185m as of a $77m series D round in March this year, and its investors include air carrier JetBlue, carmaker Ford and telecoms and internet group SoftBank. The deal will be boosted by $75m in PIPE financing from Koch Strategic Platforms and National Grid Partners – on behalf of industrial group Koch and energy supplier National Grid – as well as JetBlue Technology Ventures, SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy and Pine Technology Sponsor.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
