Funding
Diversified conglomerate Reliance Industries’ Jio Platforms subsidiary agreed yesterday to provide $200m in series D funding for Glance, a Singapore-headquartered provider of digital content for mobile device lock screens. The round valued Glance at $1.7bn to $1.8bn according to Reuters, and it followed $145m in funding from internet technology provider Google and Mithril Capital in late 2020 at a valuation exceeding $1bn.
Internet and telecommunications group SoftBank has led a $100m series D round for Sobot, a China-based developer of intelligent customer service software, through its Vision Fund 2, The Information reported yesterday. GL Ventures, Yunqi Partners and Mirae Asset Global Investments filled out the round’s participants.
Financial services firm Siam Commercial Bank has invested $100m in Indonesia-based online consumer finance provider Akulaku, Bangkok Post reported today. The company had previously raised $125m in a 2021 co-led by Silverhorn Group, it said this week, and sources told DealStreetAsia it may look to soon pursue an initial public offering. Its earlier investors include financial services provider Ant Group and financial data software producer FinUp.
China-headquartered high-performance computing chip developer Smart Logic has closed a $100m series C round that included display control technology producer Chipone Technology. The corporate was joined by TFTR Investment, CICC Capital and Grand Flight Investment.
STV, the venture capital firm backed by telecoms firm Saudi Telecom, co-led a $96m series B equity and debt round for Saudi Arabia-based digital freight transport network Trukker yesterday. The equity portion was co-led by ADQ and included Mubadala, Riyad Taqnia Fund and Shorooq Partners while the $50m venture debt portion came from a Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fund, Mars Growth and the Silicon Valley Bank-backed Partners for Growth.
Soul Machines, a US-based developer of software which autonomously creates digital people, secured $70m yesterday in a series B1 round led by telecoms and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. The round included Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of enterprise software producer Salesforce, as well as Cleveland Avenue, Liberty City Ventures, Solasta Ventures, Temasek and Horizons Ventures. Soul Machines said its total funding now stands at $135m.
Financial services firm Intesa Sanpaolo supplied £40m ($54.1m) in funding for UK-headquartered banking software provider Thought Machine yesterday through a deal which will involve the latter’s technology powering Intesa Sanpaolo’s digital banking offering. Thought Machine was valued above $1bn in a $200m series C round in November 2021 featuring fellow banks ING, JPMorgan Chase, SEB, Standard Chartered and Lloyds.
US-headquartered sales intelligence software developer Databook raised $50m yesterday in a series B round featuring enterprise software provider Salesforce and diversified software producer Microsoft, which invested through Salesforce Ventures and M12 respectively. VC firm Bessemer Venture Partners led the round, which included DFJ Growth, Threshold and Haystack and which valued the company at $550m.
UK-based fusion energy technology developer First Light Fusion completed a $45m series C round yesterday backed by internet group Tencent. The round also attracted Braavos Capital, Oxford Science Enterprises, IP Group and Hostplus, the last three having previously supplied $25m in funding for First Light in December 2020.
US-based genomic medial test developer Variantyx received $41.5m in series C2 funding yesterday from investors including industrial technology and appliance manufacturer Robert Bosch’s corporate VC unit, Robert Bosch Venture Capital. The round was led by VC fund New Era Capital Partners and also featured Peregrine Ventures, 20/20 HealthCare Partners, and Pitango HealthTech.
Lundbeck Foundation, the owner of pharmaceutical producer Lundbeck, took part in a €35m ($39.7m) funding round for Denmark-based neuromuscular disorder drug developer NMD Pharma yesterday alongside pharmaceutical firms Novo and Roche. The round was led by private equity firm Jeito Capital and included Inkef Capital while Roche participated through its Roche Venture Fund.
Germany-headquartered digital coaching service Sharpist closed a $23m series A round yesterday featuring sports car manufacturer Porsche and consumer goods distributor Vorwerk, which invested through Porsche Ventures and Vorwerk Ventures respectively. Endeit Capital and Capnamic co-led the round, which was also backed by Founders Future, Btov Partners and angel investors including Julien Codorniou.
Financial services firm Bank of America co-led a $20m series A round for UK-based mobile payment software developer Banked yesterday with Edenred Capital Partners, the investment arm of corporate services firm Edenred. The corporates were joined by Acrew Capital, Force Over Mass Capital, Firestartr, OM2, Love Ventures, 9Yards Capital, Sidekick Capital, Kuvi Capital and angel investors Paul Forster and Huey Lin.
Reebelo, the Singapore-headquartered operator of an online tech device marketplace, secured $20m in series A funding yesterday from investors including internet group Naver’s Kream affiliate. The round was co-led by Cathay Innovation and June Fund with additional backing from FJ Labs, Moore Strategic Ventures, French Partners, Gandel Invest, Antler and angel investors including Maximilian Bittner and Michael Cassau.
Japan-based video training software provider ClipLine added ¥450m today to a series E round now sized at ¥1.05bn ($9.1m), from investors including DG Daiwa Ventures, SMBC Venture Capital and Yamaguchi Capital, on behalf of internet company Digital and financial services firms Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Yamaguchi Financial Group respectively. The second tranche also featured Aizawa Asset Management and it followed a first close in September 2020.
ProfilePrint, a Singapore-based provider of technology which can track food through the supply chain, raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding today from investors including food ingredient producer Olam, agribusiness Louis Dreyfus and coffee distributor Sucafina, The Business Times reported. Greenwillow Capital and Real Tech Global Fund also took part in the round, which followed a seven-figure amount of pre-series A financing from Glocalink Singapore, Leave a Nest and Seeds Capital last month.
Financial services firm Credit Suisse’s Entrepreneur Capital subsidiary co-led a $4.5m pre-series B round for AlgoTrader, a Switzerland-based developer of digital asset trading technology, today. The round was co-led with C3 Management’s C3 EOS VC Fund and included SBI Investment, a vehicle for financial services provider SBI, as well as Fenbushi Capital, Verve Ventures, Quonota Investments and NeueCapital.
Singapore-based cyber insurance provider Cyber Sierra has closed a $4.3m seed round that included payment services firm Credit Saison, Technode reported today. Leo Capital led the round, which also featured AppWorks and undisclosed individuals.
Indonesia-headquartered digital freight forwarder Andalin received $4m in funding from investors including aviation and food services provider Cardig Group today. The round was led by VC firm Intudo Ventures and included Beenext and unnamed strategic investors.
UK-based non-fungible token marketplace Fayre secured $3.8m from investors including research and development laboratory Protocol Labs yesterday. Outlier Ventures, Titans Ventures, China Polka and BMW Capital, a crypto asset manager unrelated to the eponymous carmaker, also took part in the round, as did undisclosed Dutch crypto investors.
Low-sugar beverage brand Barcode raised $2.2m from investors including premium supermarket chain Erewhon Market yesterday. It was joined in the round by Trousdale Ventures, Midnight Venture Partners, Cathexis Ventures, Silas Capital, Gaingels and angel investors Kelly Rowland and Maurice Harkless.
Financial technology provider M-Daq led a $1.4m funding round for Singapore-headquartered digital wallet developer HolyWally yesterday. Finmirai and Creitive also contributed to the round, which will support research and development, recruitment and product commercialisation efforts.
Plastics recycler Repeats Group invested an undisclosed amount in Anviplas, a Spain-based provider of low-density polyethylene, yesterday. The deal was touted as a route to building a pan-European plastics recycling business.
Sweden-based solar heating and energy storage financier Solis Calor launched yesterday with a total of SEK250,000 ($27,000) of funding from solar heating services provider Absolicon and solar heating project developer Solid. The corporates will each take a 20% stake in the company through the transaction.
M&A
Video game publisher Krafton purchased South Korea-based mobile game studio 5minlab yesterday through a $19.9m earnout payment, providing an exit for Line Games, a subsidiary of messaging app developer Line. The company had raised $17.7m in series A funding from Line Games, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, HYK Partners and Aju IB Investment in October 2020 following an investment of undisclosed size by Line Games the previous year.
Public Markets
Essentium, the US-headquartered 3D printing technology developer that counts 3D printing software provider Materialise and chemicals producer BASF as investors, has terminated a reverse merger agreement with special purpose acquisition company Atlantic Coastal Acquisition Corp that would have given it a Nasdaq Capital Market listing at a $974m valuation. It had disclosed $22.2m in series A funding prior to the December 2021 agreement.
Funds
Japan-based digital content management service Firebug launched a ¥300m ($2.6m) investment vehicle called Wondertainer Fund today to back startups developing entertainment digitalisation technology at seed stage. Digital media company Gree, apparel and cosmetics vendor Newn, internet company United, branding agency Ageha, creator studio Cork, event organiser Party and mass media group Geek Pictures are among the fund’s limited partners, as are 13 private investors. It has already invested in Japan-based personalised video letter producer LetterFan.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles.
