Funding
Financial services group Mizuho Bank led a $131m series B round for Philippines-headquartered digital bank operator Tonik Financial today. Prosus, the internet holding company formed by e-commerce and media group Naspers, took part in the round through its Prosus Ventures unit and was also joined by investment fund Sixteenth Street Capital, family office Nuri Group and private investor Rahul Mehta.
Digital payment processor PayPal and private equity firm Carlyle invested $100m in Germany-headquartered e-commerce software producer Shopware yesterday. Carlyle supplied its share of the funding through its Carlyle Europe Technology Partners fund.
Happy Money, the US-based operator of an online unsecured lending platform which works in collaboration with credit unions, completed a $50m series D-1 round yesterday featuring mutual insurer Cuna Mutual Group’s strategic investment arm, CMFG Ventures. The round included Anthemis Group and undisclosed other investors, and the cash was raised at a $1.1bn pre-money valuation.
China-headquartered intelligent vending machine producer Feng1 has closed a RMB300m ($47.1m) series A round led by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank through its SoftBank Ventures Asia vehicle, 36Kr reported yesterday. CICC Capital’s CICC Cultural Consumer Industry Equity Investment Fund also took part in the round, as did Shenzhen Innovation Investment Group. The company had been incubated within logistics service provider SF Express.
US-based geothermal energy developer Quaise Energy completed a $40m series A round yesterday featuring oil and gas drilling contractor Nabors Industries’ Energy Transition Ventures fund. Safar Partners led the round, which also attracted The Engine, Prelude Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures, Collaborative Fund and undisclosed others. The Engine had previously led a $6m seed round in 2020 before Quaise picked up $12m in funding from Nabors Industries in August 2021.
France-based insurance brokerage software provider Seyna raised €33m ($37.7m) today in a series A round that included insurance group Allianz. Technology investment firm White Star Capital and venture capital firm Elaia Partners co-led the round, which was also backed Global Founders Capital and Financière St James – both, like Allianz, having taken part in the company’s $15.5m seed round in 2019.
US-based immersive event software provider Airmeet secured $35m yesterday in a series B round backed by DG Daiwa Ventures, the joint venture for internet company Digital Garage and brokerage Daiwa, as well as telecoms firm KDDI Open Innovation Fund, conglomerate Sistema’s Asia Fund, consulting firm Nexxus Global, RingCentral Ventures and Prosus Ventures, which invested on behalf of communications software producer and internet holding group Prosus respectively. They were joined by Sequoia Capital India and Accel India.
Telecoms and internet group SoftBank, property developer SRE Holdings, internet company Digital Garage’s DG Ventures unit and employment agency CRG Holdings participated in a ¥3.5bn ($30.3m) series D round for Japan-based mortgage services marketplace iYell today. The round included financial services firms SBI and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (through its SuMiTrust Innovation Fund) as well as investment and financial services group Fidelity, Global Catalyst Partners Japan, Venture Labo Investment and six unnamed other investors.
Utilidata, a France-based developer of software which helps electric grids distribute energy, received approximately $26.8m yesterday in a series B round featuring software producer Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund and graphics processing unit manufacturer Nvidia. The round was led by Moore Strategic Ventures and included Keyframe Capital, Braemar Energy Ventures and Muus Asset Management.
Verdagy, a US-based hydrogen generation technology spinoff from chemical producer Chemetry, raised $25m today in a funding round led by electronics manufacturer TDK’s investment arm, TDK Ventures. It included BHP Ventures, Doral Energy Tech Ventures, Orbia Ventures and Shell Ventures – on behalf of mining company BHP, renewable power producer Doral Group, industrial conglomerate Orbia and petroleum supplier Shell – as well as Khosla Ventures and Temasek.
Insurance provider Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings led a $25m funding round for Israel-headquartered digital money transfer service Rewire today. Financial services firms Standard Bank and BNP Paribas also took part in the round, as did Glilot Capital, Opera Tech Ventures, Viola Fintech, Moneta Capital Partners, Renegade Partners, OurCrowd and private investors including Yehuda Zisapel and Jerry Yang.
LoanStreet, a US-based developer of loan management and analytics software, completed a $25m series B round yesterday that included bank holding company Coastal Financial Corporation and financial services firm Sterling Bancorp. The round was led by Portage Ventures, the VC subsidiary of investment management firm Sagard, and also featured Curql Collective’s Curql Fund I, SilverCircle, Third Prime Capital and Arbor Ventures.
Bugworks Research, a US-based developer of anti-infective and immuno-oncology therapeutics, secured $18m today in a series B1 round featuring office furniture and real estate conglomerate Featherlite Group India. The round was led by Lightrock India and included University of Tokyo Edge Capital, Global Brain, 3One4Capital India, Acquipharma Holdings and IM Holdings.
Rift Finance, a US-headquartered provider of protocol-based liquidity for decentralised autonomous organisations, publicly launched yesterday with $18m in funding from investors including Coinbase Ventures, the corporate VC vehicle for digital currency exchange Coinbase. The round was led by Pantera Capital and also backed by Two Sigma Ventures, Spartan Group, Defiance Capital, Hashed, Jump Capital, Vessel Capital and Morningstar Ventures.
Australia-based digital receipt product developer Slyp has received A$25m ($17.9m) in series A funding from investors including financial services firms National Australia Bank, ANZ and Commonwealth Bank of Australia as well as Reiventure, the VC firm funded by Westpac Bank, Australian Financial Review reported today. They participated alongside Sayers Group and private investors Gabby and Hezi Leibovich.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s investment arm, Coinbase Ventures, took part in a $17.1m series A round for Aside, the US-based operator of online charity donation platform Daffy Charitable, yesterday. Ribbit Capital led the round, which also featured XYZ Capital and more than 50 individuals including Reid Hoffman, Aaron Levie, Amy Chang, Dylan Field, John Lilly and Mike Schroepfer.
India-headquartered corporate payment card provider Karbon Card secured $15m today from investors including corporate card producer Ramp. The round was co-led by Olive Tree Capital, Harmony and Avenir Growth Capital and also backed by Mercury and Orios Venture Partners. It followed a $12m pre-series A round in September 2021 that took the company’s total funding to $13m.
Blockchain entertainment product developer Animoca Brands, trading firm Capital Markets Trading’s CMT Digital unit and Delphi Infinft, a joint venture for cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital and private investor GmoneyNFT, took part in a $14m round yesterday for MetaStreet, a US-based developer of non-fungible token routing and scaling technology. The round, which consisted of $3m in seed capital and $11m in initial protocol liquidity, was led by Dragonfly Capital and included Ethereal Ventures, Sfermion, Nascent Capital, Alliance, Seed Club Ventures, Republic Realm, Volt Capital, Kerve Capital, Bitscale Capital, QCP Capital, Big Brain Holdings and Taureon.
Computing technology producer Dell led a $12m series A round for Oloid, a US-headquartered developer of software-based physical access technology, through subsidiary Dell Technologies Capital yesterday. The round also featured consumer technology manufacturer Honeywell and identity verification technology provider Okta, which invested through Honeywell Ventures and Okta Ventures, in addition to unnamed existing backers.
Alp, the Japan-based owner of sales and billing management service Scalebase, secured ¥1.25bn ($10.8m) today from investors including Globis Capital Partners, GMO VenturePartners and Dentsu Ventures, subsidiaries of education services provider Globis, internet company GMO and marketing firm Dentsu respectively. The round was also backed by DNX Ventures and increased the company’s total funding to about $16.5m.
Marketing and industrial product distribution services provider Vinmar International has led a series A round of undisclosed size for BluePallet, the US-based operator of an online industrial product and services marketplace, through investment vehicle Vinmar Ventures yesterday. Internet technology provider Google’s artificial intelligence fund, Gradient Ventures, also participated.
US-based energy efficiency services provider Allumia completed a $7.5m series A2 round yesterday that included energy utility American Electric Power. Investment adviser JW Asset Management led the round, which also featured Duke Investments.
Sweden-based spectroscopy technology developer Spec-Imaging raised an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday from Stena New Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of recycling and steel trading group Stena Metall, as well as tech transfer office LU Holding and company chairman Fredrik Rosenqvist. Mats Torring, head of new ventures at Stena New Ventures, will join Spec-Imaging’s board of directors in connection with the round.
Captain Experiences, the US-based operator of an online platform where users can book outdoor sports, has raised $2m in a seed round that included law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. VC firm Looking Glass Capital led the round, which also featured Not Boring Capital, Goodwater Capital, Psion Capital, Correlation Ventures, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Capital Factory and angel investor Andrew Chen.
Blast, the Japan-based owner of female underwear brand Nagi, secured ¥150m ($1.3m) in series A funding yesterday from investors including Saison Ventures, a VC vehicle for payment services firm Credit Saison. The round included VC firm Anri, private investor Yu Akasaka’s Angel Fund and debt financing from Japan Finance Corporation.
Online merchant support group ECbeing invested an undisclosed amount in CrossC, a Japan-based provider of cross-border business services between its home country and China, today. The company had previously received a similarly undisclosed sum from price comparison service Aucfan in 2019.
M&A
Automotive e-commerce marketplace Cars.com agreed today to purchase US-based vehicle valuation and appraisal software developer Accu-Trade for $65m in cash, providing an exit for automotive data provider TrueCar. Cars.com anticipates the deal will be boosted by a $63m earn-out payment, and it comes after TrueCar paid an undisclosed amount for a 20% stake in the company in 2019.
Germany-based business travel booking service Comtravo agreed yesterday to be acquired by travel and expense management service TripActions in a deal of undisclosed size that will allow software producer Microsoft’s M12 subsidiary and airline ticket wholesaler AerTicket to exit. Comtravo had raised a total of about $43m as of early 2020 when it received $9.9m from M12 and private investor Joop Drechsel.
Law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati exited US-based DNA sequencing technology developer Loop Genomics yesterday in an acquisition of undisclosed size by peer Element Biosciences. Loop had raised $8m in a 2018 round led by Khosla Ventures and backed by Wilson Sonsini, Fusion Fund, DN Capital, Y Combinator and Wisemont Capital.
Funds
South Korea-based, climate-focused venture capital firm Envisioning Partners has closed a $64m fund backed by conglomerates Hanwha and GS Group, construction firm IS Dongseo, composite manufacturer Hankuk Carbon, waste management services provider Insun ENT, online fashion retail and media platform developer Musinsa and gas distributor Yesco Holdings, TechCrunch reported today. The fund’s limited partners also include impact investor Yellowdog Corp.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles.
