Funding
UK-based on-demand meal kit provider Gousto raised $230m today in a funding round led by internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, the month after it invested $100m in the company. Investment and financial services group Fidelity, Grosvenor Food & AgTech and Railpen also took part in the round.
US-based electric moped sharing service Revel secured $126m yesterday in a series B round featuring automotive manufacturer Toyota, tyre maker Goodyear, conglomerate Obsidian Group and oil and gas producer Shell, through corporate venturing units Toyota Ventures, Goodyear Ventures, Obsidian Ventures and Shell Ventures respectively. BlackRock led the round and was also joined by St Baker Energy Innovation Fund and Knighthead Capital Management.
US-based protein degradation technology developer Plexium closed a $102m funding round yesterday that included internet and telecoms group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, pharmaceutical firm Merck Group’s M Ventures unit and Pivotal BioVenture Partners, a vehicle for property developer Nan Fung’s biotech subsidiary, Nan Fung Life Sciences. The round was co-led by The Column Group’s TCG X fund and BVF Partners, and it also featured Surveyor Capital, Pappas Capital, DCVC Bio, Lux Capital, CRV, RA Capital Management and Neotribe Ventures.
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 also took part in a $66m series C round for RightHand Robotics, a US-based developer of autonomous logistics robots, yesterday, alongside workplace management software provider Zebra Technologies, electronics manufacturer Epson and internet technology group Alphabet’s GV subsidiary. They were joined by investment and financial services group Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital subsidiary, Safar Partners, Thomas H Lee Partners, Global Brain, Menlo Ventures, Matrix Partners and Future Shape.
US-based data compliance software developer Secureframe secured $56m yesterday in a series B round yesterday featuring internet technology provider Google’s Gradient Ventures vehicle and healthcare services provider Optum’s corporate venturing unit, Optum Ventures. VC firm Accomplice led the round, which included Kleiner Perkins, Soma Capital, Impatient Ventures and Gaingels.
US-headquartered data streaming software developer Redpanda received $50m yesterday in a series B round led by GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet technology group Alphabet. The round was also backed by VC firms Lightspeed Venture Partners and Haystack VC.
Genetics testing services provider Fulgent Genetics is investing $40m in Spatial Genomics, a US-based developer of special analysis technology for clinical use, it revealed yesterday. The company is leading a $56m series A round for Spatial that includes 12 West Capital and unnamed other investors.
US-based property leasing platform developer Funnel Leasing raised $36.5m on Tuesday in a series B round that inclued apartment manager Morgan Properties. The round was led by venture capital firm RET Ventures and also featured real estate investment trusts Camden Property Trust and Essex Property Trust as well as Camber Creek, Wilshire Lane Capital and Trinity Ventures.
Wap, a Brazil-based producer of home appliances, has received $30m in funding from investors including online fashion retailer Malwee. VC firm Quartz led the round and was also joined by Echo Capital and Pipo Capital.
Israel-based machine learning model monitoring software provider Aporia secured $25m on Tuesday in a series A round feauturing Samsung Next, a corporate VC vehicle for electronics manufacturer Samsung. Investment firm Tiger Global Management led the round, which was filled out by Vertex Ventures, TLV Partners and Tal Capital.
Internet group Tencent led a $23m series D round yesterday for Academia.edu, the US-headquartered operator of an online platform where research papers can be shared. True Ventures and Greyrock also participated in the round.
Aluminium and energy producer Hydro invested $20m in Verdox, a US-based carbon capture technology developer spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on Tuesday. The companies had formed a collaboration agreement in early 2021.
Conglomerate Lakson Group and Saison Capital, a subsidiary of payment services firm Credit Saison, took part in a $13m seed round for Pakistan-based messaging and payment app developer NayaPay today. The round was co-led by Graph Ventures and MSA Novo and also backed by Maple Leaf Capital and private investor Warren Hogarth.
Energy and mobility group Copec’s corporate venturing unit, Wind Ventures, led an $11m funding round yesterday for Busbud, the Canada-based operator of an online platform which sells tickets for intercity bus travel. The round was filled out by Canadian Business Growth Fund, Export Development Canada and K3 Ventures.
Gaming and blockchain technology developer Animoca Brands co-led a $10m series A round today for Ucollex, the China-headquartered operator of an art-focused non-fungible token (NFT) platform. The round was co-led by asset manager MCP Asset Management’s MCP IPX One Fund.
US-based social media content aggregator TagBoard received $8m on Tuesday in a series A round backed by mass media company Sinclair Broadcast Group. VC firms Grayhawk Capital and Next Frontier Capital co-led the round, which also featured Wise Ventures.
Postal service Poste Italiane and investment banking firm BNY Mellon provided an undisclosed amount of growth funding for US-headquartered cloud payment and financial messaging software provider Volante Technologies yesterday. Volante had raised $10m from financial services firm Wells Fargo’s Strategic Capital subsidiary in October 2021 to take its total funding to $45m.
US-based regenerative agriculture technology developer 99 Counties has raised $3.8m in pre-seed funding form investors including internet technology conglomerate Alphabet’s GV subsidiary, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. Omers Ventures led the round with additional backing from Union Labs and Supply Change Capital.
Canza Finance, the Nigeria-based operator of a decentralised finance platform, secured $3.3m in seed financing on Tuesday from investors including Hashkey, a digital asset affiliate of automotive component producer Hashkey, as well as blockchain technology developers Consensys, XanPool and Protocol Labs, cryptocurrency exchange Mexc Global and crypto wallet developer Bixin Wallet’s strategic investment arm, Bixin Ventures. VC firm Fenbushi Capital led the round, which also featured NGC Ventures, Dominance Ventures, Emergo Ventures and various angel investors.
US-based medical device producer Lazurite Holdings received an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday from health system operator University Hospitals Health System’s investment arm, UH Ventures.
M&A
Agricultural machinery producer Yanmar acquired a majority stake in US-based boat rental marketplace GetMyBoat yesterday, providing $21m in series B funding. The company had previously received $3.5m from Yanmar in 2018.
