Funding
RenoRun, the Canada-headquartered operator of an online marketplace for construction and building materials, completed a $142m series B round yesterday featuring energy and automation equipment producer Schneider Electric’s SE Ventures unit. The corporate was joined by BDC Capital’s Women in Technology and Growth Venture Co-Investment Funds, Investissement Quebec, Fifth Wall, Desjardins Capital, Nicola Wealth, Export Development Canada, TriplePoint Capital and existing backers including ScaleUp Ventures, Obvious Ventures, Inovia Capital, Real Ventures, Maple VC and Silicon Valley Bank.
Mobile semiconductor technology producer Qualcomm took part in US-based television marketing software provider MNTN’s $119m series D round yesterday. Funds and accounts managed by BlackRock co-led the round with investment and financial services group Fidelity – the two committing $110m of the capital – and it also featured Baroda Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Mercato Partners and Rincon Venture Partners.
Oil and gas supplier Saudi Aramco paid an undisclosed amount to purchase a 7.4% stake in Norway-headquartered industrial data software provider Cognite yesterday. The corporate’s Aramco Overseas Company subsidiary acquired all the shares held by Aker BP, a joint venture for petroleum provider BP and industrial investment firm Aker. Cognite had previously raised a total of $225m from technology investment firm TCV and venture capital firm Accel, and was valued at $1.6bn as of May 2021, a figure which would place Aramco’s investment at about $118m.
League, a Canada-based provider of healthcare engagement software, received $95m in series C funding yesterday from investors including staff and payroll management software provider Workday’s corporate VC unit, Workday Ventures. The round was led by investment firm TDM Growth Partners and also backed by unnamed existing investors that could include Telus, the telecommunications firm which took part in a $47m series B round in 2018 boosting League’s overall funding to $76m.
Storage product manufacturer Iris Ohyama provided ¥10bn ($87.4m) in funding for SoftBank Robotics Group, a robotics technology subsidiary of internet and telecommunications group SoftBank, today through a strategic partnership agreement. The companies had formed a joint venture known as Iris Robotics in February 2021.
Austria-headquartered microdrink brand Waterdrop secured €60m ($67.6m) yesterday in a series B round that included Bitburger Ventures, the VC affiliate of brewery group Bitburger. Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek led the round, which also featured Founders Future – like Bitburger Ventures, an existing investor.
Energy technology producer Baker Hughes led a C$79m ($62.2m) funding round for Canada-based hydrogen production technology developer Ekona Power yesterday that included power producer TransAlta, diversified conglomerate Mitsui, steel producer Severstal and petroleum suppliers ConocoPhillips and Continental Resources. The participants in the round were filled out by NGIF Cleantech Ventures and BDC Capital.
Withco, the US-based creator of a software platform designed to help small businesses manage commercial property, said yesterday investors including homebuilder Lennar’s Len X subsidiary has supplied it with a total of over $30m in equity funding. It named Canaan, Founders Fund, Initialized Capital and NFX as lead investors and Enlightened Hospitality Investments, Thirty Five Ventures, Dreamers VC, BoxGroup, Not Boring Capital, Quiet Capital and private investors including Ken Chenault and Venus Williams as additional backers.
Oil and gas provider Saudi Aramco’s Prosperity 7 Ventures vehicle invested $25m in US-headquartered neurocomputing platform developer Rain Neuromorphics today. The company did not reveal the other participants in the round but its existing backers include aerospace manufacturer Airbus’s strategic investment arm, Airbus Ventures.
Japan-based fusion energy system developer Kyoto Fusioneering received $11.7m in series B equity funding and $6.9m in debt financing today from investors including JGC Mirai Innovation Fund, a vehicle for engineering firm JGC Holdings. The round also featured existing investor Coral Capital as well as Daiwa Corporate Investment – on behalf of brokerage Daiwa – DBJ Capital, Jafco Group and JIC Venture Growth Investments. The company said its total equity funding now stands at approximately $14.7m.
Japan-based human resources software developer HR Brain raised ¥1.8bn ($15.7m) today in a round that included ¥200m in debt financing, with insurance firm Dai-ichi Life among the investors. The round also featured financial services firm Mizuho Financial Group’s Mizuho Capital subsidiary, investment and financial services group Fidelity’s Eight Roads Ventures Japan fund and Seiga Asset Management.
Krista Software, the US-based creator of an artificial intelligence-equipped automation software platform, secured $15m from investors including workflow and process management software producer iGrafx yesterday. Grotech Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Rally Ventures.
US-based Emerge launched its debut product, a virtual gathering space utilising virtual reality, last week, announcing $13m from investors including patent firm Schox at the same time. Existing backers M13 and Vulcan Capital also took part in the round, as did private investors Marc Merrill, Kevin Lin and Kurt Petersen.
Insurance provider Dai-ichi Life and Yamaguchi Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Yamaguchi Financial Group, took part in a ¥1.3bn ($11.4m) series D round today for Caster, the Japan-based owner of online assistant service Caster Biz. Axiom Asia Private Capital, Green Co-Investment and Incubate Fund also contributed to the round.
Boost Technologies, the Japan-based developer of a software platform called Energy x Green which visualises carbon dioxide emissions, raised ¥1.2bn ($10.5m) today in a series A round led by Globis Capital Partners, a vehicle for education services provider Globis. The round included NTT Docomo Ventures, a subsidiary of mobile network operator NTT Docomo, as well as University of Tokyo’s Edge Capital fund.
Lifting and material processing product maker Terex joined energy utility Duke Energy to supply an undisclosed amount of series B funding for Viatec, a US-based producer of electronic power take-off systems, yesterday. A representative of Terex will also take a seat on the company’s board of directors.
Financial technology producer BlueVine has led a $7.5m seed round for Bizi, an Israel-based provider of finance for small and medium-sized businesses. Insurance firm Phoenix and non-banking finance provider Orshay filled out the round.
Nestcoin, a Nigeria-based cryptocurrency product developer and investor, completed a $6.45m pre-seed round yesterday that included Gumi Cryptos Capital – a vehicle for mobile game publisher Gumi – and trading firms Alameda Research and Capital Markets Trading, the latter through CMT Digital, according to TechCrunch. Distributed Global, Alter Global, Serena Ventures, A&T Capital, MSA Capital, 4DX Ventures, Raba Capital, Goat.vc, Old Fashion Research, Electric Capital, Social Capital, CoinFund, DeFi Alliance, Ventures Platform, Future Africa and Voltron Capital also took part.
Amitruck, a Kenya-headquartered provider of digital logistics services, has increased its overall funding to $5m with $4m in seed capital from investors including freight forwarder Flexport, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Better Tomorrow Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Dynamo Ventures, Rackhouse Venture Capital, Knuru Capital, Launch Africa Ventures, Uncovered Fund and undisclosed angel investors.
Blockchain entertainment producer Animoca Brands co-led a $4m seed round for US-headquartered overlay game developer Azarus on Monday with fellow existing investors Galaxy Digital and Kleiner Perkins. They were joined by Gaingels, Red Beard Ventures and angel investors Mike Verdu, Bernard Kim and Kun Gao.
Japan-based eyesight evaluation equipment developer Crewt Medical Systems raised ¥320m ($2.8m) today from investors including leasing services firm Fuyo General Lease. The round was led by University of Tokyo’s Innovation Platform, which invested ¥200m, and it also featured consulting and investment group Future Partners.
AI Travel, the Japan-based operator of an online platform for business trip planning, secured ¥300m ($2.6m) today from investors including Aozora Corporate Investment and Okasan Capital Partners, which invested on behalf of financial services firm Aozora Bank and brokerage Okasan Securities Group respectively. VC firm Nippon Venture Capital also took part in the round along with unnamed others.
M&A
Cybersecurity software producer Forescout Technologies purchased CyberMDX, a US-based healthcare cybersecurity technology developer backed by insurance firm Sham, for an undisclosed amount yesterday. The corporate had led a $20m round for CyberMDX in 2020 that included Pitango Venture Capital and Qure Ventures to increase its overall funding to $30m.
Germany-based education management platform developer UniNow has been acquired by online job listing service Jobware in a deal of undisclosed size allowing media group Aschendorff to exit. The company has not revealed when it invested in UniNow but its corporate VC arm, Aschendorff Next, lists UniNow as a portfolio company.
Funds
Japan-based venture capital firm Genesia Ventures reached a ¥10bn ($87.4m) first close of its third fund, which has a ¥15bn target for its close, today with backing from Oriental Land Innovations and Canal Ventures – on behalf of amusement park operator Oriental Land Company and IT services firm Nihon Unisys – as well as digital media group Gree, financial services firm Mizuho Bank and its Mizuho Capital unit. The limited partners also include Japan Investment Corporation and unnamed others.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu. Photo courtesy of RenoRun Inc.
