Funding
Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank led a $300m funding round for ElasticRun, the India-based operator of a service which helps local retailers source inventory, through its Vision Fund 2 yesterday. The round valued the company at $1.5bn and included Prosus Ventures, the venture capital arm of internet group Prosus, as well as investment bank Goldman Sachs, Innoven Capital and the Abu Dhabi-owned Chimera Investments vehicle. Sources told the Economic Times the cash was raised alongside a $32m secondary share sale.
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 also co-led a $200m series B round for Aleo, a US-headquartered creator of blockchain application development software, yesterday with emerging markets investment firm Kora Management. The round included Sea Capital and Samsung Next – on behalf of e-commerce, gaming and fintech group Sea and consumer electronics producer Samsung – as well as Tiger Global Management, Slow Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
Canada-based driver assistance system developer LeddarTech has raised $116m in series D equity funding and $24m in debt financing from investors including photonics technology manufacturer Osram. The equity portion also featured funds managed by Fidelity Investments Canada – part of investment and financial services group Fidelity – as well as Investissement Québec, BDC Capital, Go Capital, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Export Development Canada, Desjardins Capital, UI Investissement, Cowen Investment and members of LeddarTech’s management team, while Desjardins Group supplied the debt facility.
Vivid Money, the Germany-based operator of a personal finance management app, secured €100m ($114m) in series C funding today from investors including internet and telecoms group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. The round, which increased Vivid’s valuation from $437m in April 2021 to $885m, was led by internet investment firm Greenoaks Capital and also featured fellow existing backer Ribbit Capital.
Conglomerate New Hope Group has led a RMB400m ($62.8m) financing round for China-based flexible assistance robot developer Rokae, China Money Network reported today. The deal came nine months after the company secured $31.4m in a series C-plus round co-led by Shenzhen Capital Group and Grand Flight Investment.
Hikky, the Japan-headquartered promoter of a virtual reality-based event called Virtual Market, added ¥500m ($4.3m) from e-book agency Media Do today to a series A round now sized at $61.4m. The first tranche closed in October 2021 and included mobile network operator NTT Docomo.
Koneksa, a US-based developer of digital biomarkers for use in drug development, closed a $45m series C round yesterday featuring pharmaceutical distributor McKesson and drug producers Takeda, Merck & Co and Novartis, which invested through McKesson Ventures, Takeda Ventures, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and dRx Capital. The round was led by Matrix Capital Management’s AyurMaya affiliate and included Velosity Capital, Spring Mountain Capital and Waterline Ventures.
Morai, a South Korea-headquartered developer of simulation tools for use in autonomous driving software development, received $20.8m in series B funding today from investors including internet group Naver’s D2 Startup Factory subsidiary, carmaker Hyundai Motor Group and Kakao Ventures, the corporate VC arm of internet company Kakao, TechCrunch reported. Korea Investment Partners co-led the round with KB Investment and Korea Development Bank and it also featured Atinum Investment.
Merz Therapeutics, the pharmaceutical subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Merz Group, added $3m to a series C round for Israel-based urology therapeutic device developer Vensica Therapeutics yesterday, expanding it to $19m. Medical device producer Laborie had joined Israel Biotech Fund, Agriline, The Trendlines Group and Lew Pell in the round’s $16m first tranche in November 2021.
Japan-based digital content producer Culture Entertainment raised ¥1.44bn ($12.5m) in funding today from talent management firm Amuse, media agency Inclusive, printing services group Toppan, publisher Nippan Group, media group Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, e-book distributor Booklive, leasing services firm Fuyo Lease, digital entertainment provider Mixi’s Entertainment Fund 1 and magazine publisher MediaBoy.
Curve Health, the US-based operator of a suite of remote healthcare management products, secured $12m in series A funding yesterday from investors including nursing home operator Recover-Care and design agency Ideo. Investment firm Morningside Ventures led the round, which was also backed by healthcare innovation hub Inflect Health, Alumni Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Correlation Ventures, Rosecliff Venture Partners, Kapor Capital, WTI and private investor Ben Jealous.
Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of enterprise software producer Salesforce, supplied an undisclosed amount of series B funding today for PrimeNumber, the Japan-based operator of user data analytics service Trocco. The company had raised $11.4m for the round’s first close in December 2021, from brokerage Daiwa Securities and financial services firms SBI and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (through Daiwa Corporate Investment, SBI Investment and SMBC Venture Capital respectively) as well as Coral Capital and One Capital.
Japan-based clinical support app developer Hokuto received ¥825m ($7.2m) in series A funding today from investors including GMO VenturePartners and Gree Ventures, on behalf of internet company GMO and digital media group Gree respectively. They were joined by East Ventures, Genesia Ventures, Global Brain and assorted angel investors, and Hokuto said the series A is now sized at approximately $9.8m altogether.
New energy engineering firm Technip Energies led a funding round of undisclosed size for X1 Wind, the Spain-headquartered designer of a floating platform system for offshore wind turbines, yesterday, taking a 16.3% stake in the process. The European Commission-owned European Innovation Council also participated in the round, along with unnamed existing investors.
Saison Capital, a strategic investment vehicle for payment services provider Credit Saison, joined Sequoia Capital India’s Surge fund, Y Combinator, Starling Ventures, Alpha JWC and AppWorks to add $4m to a seed round for Vietnam-based online investment platform developer Infina totalling $6m as of today. The first $2m was supplied by Saison Capital, Venturra Discovery, 1982 Ventures, 500 Startups, Nextrans and unnamed angel investors in June 2021.
Japan-based interactive video game developer IzanagiGames raised ¥430m ($3.7m) today from video streaming platform developer Bilibili and mobile game publishers Akatsuki and Colopl, which invested through Colopl Next and Hode HK respectively. The company has now secured about $7.3m in total, including $1.6m from Akatsuki and Colopl Next in January 2021.
Vietnam-headquartered social commerce platform developer Selly received $2.6m today in a pre-series A round that included financial services firm Kasikorn Bank’s Kvision subsidiary and CyberAgent Capital, the corporate venturing arm of internet company CyberAgent. They were joined in the round by Do Ventures, Genesia Ventures and Jafco Asia.
Professional services firm Accenture supplied an undisclosed amount of funding today for SwayBrand, the US-headquartered operator of a service which connects brands with diverse social media influencers. It is the first investment for the corporate’s Black Founders Development Program in North America.
Construction, real estate and investment firm MRK led a $1.1m pre-seed round for Saudi Arabia-headquartered personalised loan marketplace Tamawal yesterday. 500 Falcons filled out the round with undisclosed individuals.
Ababa, the Japan-based operator of an online recruitment service focused on recent graduates, raised ¥60m ($520,000) in seed funding today from investors including human resources provider Will Group’s HRTech Fund 2. The corporate participated in the round alongside Setouchi Startups Fund 1 and undisclosed angel investors.
M&A
Payment technology producer Fiserv agreed yesterday to pay $650m to purchase the remainder of the shares of portfolio company Finxact, a US-based provider of banking software. Fiserv had not previously revealed details of its investment, Finxact having most recently raised $32.8m from unnamed investors in February 2021 according to a securities filing. It had previously secured $30m in a 2019 round featuring payment technology producer First Data and Accenture Ventures, a subsidiary of consulting firm Accenture, to take its total funding to $42m.
Telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom and energy utility Engie exited US-headquartered mobility analytics provider StreetLight Data yesterday in an acquisition of undisclosed size by professional services firm Jacobs. Streetlight’s overall funding stood at just over $40m as of a $15m series D round in 2020. Engie New Ventures and Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners were among its investors, as were Osage University Partners, Macquarie Capital, Activate Capital, Vision Ridge Capital Partners and Ajax Investment Strategies.
Walker & Dunlop agreed yesterday to buy GeoPhy, a Netherlands-headquartered real estate information provider backed by media group Hearst, for an undisclosed amount. Hearst subsidiary Hearst Ventures had joined Index Ventures and Inkef Capital in the company’s $33m series B round in 2019.
Mobile game publisher iCandy Interactive is acquiring a 51% stake in Singapore-based gaming platform developer Storms for A$8m ($5.7m) in stock, according to a regulatory filing. Storms was set up by venture builder Fatfish Group with telecoms firms Advanced Info Services, SK Telecom and Singapore Telecommunications in 2020 and its existing investors include blockchain entertainment app developer Animoca Brands and the Singaporean state-owned EDB New Ventures.
Public Markets
Arcellx, a US-based developer of cellular therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease, has floated in an initial public offering sized at almost $124m, selling 8.25 million shares priced at the foot of its $15 to $17 range. The company had raised a total of $227m from investors including conglomerate LG, drug developer Cambrian Biopharma and pharmaceutical firms GlaxoSmithKline, Novo and Takeda as of its $115m series C round in April 2021. Its shares are trading at $17.09 at time of writing, equating to a $574m market capitalisation.
