Funding:
France-based synthetic DNA producer DNA Script has completed a $200m series C round featuring pharmaceutical firm Merck Group, genomics technology provider Illumina, laboratory equipment maker Agilent, life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities and conglomerate Danaher. The latest tranche included Healthcor Management, EureKare, Irving Investors and accounts and funds advised by T Rowe Price and Baillie Gifford. The $165m first tranche in October 2021 was also backed by investment and financial services group Fidelity, BPIfrance’s Large Venture, Arrowmark Partners, Farallon Capital, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Moore Strategic Ventures, LSP, Kurma Partners and Casdin Capital.
Transcarent, the US-based operator of a personalised healthcare platform for employers, raised $200m yesterday in a series C round featuring pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co’s Global Healthcare Innovation Fund and healthcare providers Rush University Medical Center, Northwell Health and Intermountain Healthcare. The round was co-led by Kinnevik and Human Capital and also featured General Catalyst, 7wireVentures, Alta Partners, Jove Equity Partners, Threshold Ventures and GreatPoint Ventures.
MS&AD Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance provider MS&AD Insurance Group, has taken part in a $193m funding round for UK-based underwriting and risk management software provider Accelerant that was led by insurance firm Eldridge at a valuation of $2.2bn, Bloomberg reported today. Altamont Capital, Deer Park and Marshall Wace filled out the participants.
China-based pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organisation Shanghai ZhenGe Biotech closed a $100m series C round yesterday that included pharmaceutical firm Novo. It was co-led by investment banking firm Goldman Sachs’ Asset Management unit and Sofina and also backed by Qiming Venture Capital, IDG Capital, Lyfe Capital, Junxin Capital and Cowin Capital, bringing the total raised by the company to $225m.
Pluang, the Indonesia-based operator of a digital wealth management platform, secured $55m today from investors including online services and commerce group GoTo’s corporate venturing subsidiary, Go-Ventures, and financial services firms United Overseas Bank and Bank BRI, through UOB Venture Management and BRI Ventures respectively. They were joined by Openspace Ventures, Gold House, Square Peg Capital and private investors Trung Nguyen, Andy Ho, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, Jeffrey Zirlin, Alexa Von Tobel, Daniella Binatti, Jannick Malling, Leif Abraham, Raghu Yarlagadda and Sergio Jimenez.
US-based autonomous building software developer PassiveLogic received $34m yesterday in a series B round backed by RET Ventures, a vehicle backed by numerous real estate companies including conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway and real estate developers Hunt, MG Properties, Centerspace and Amli Residential. The round was co-led by Addition Capital and Keyframe and also featured Brookfield Growth, Era Ventures and A/O Proptech.
India-based gold-based lender Rupeek Fintech has raised $34m from investors including media group Bertelsmann at a valuation of $634m, taking its total funding to $134m, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Lightbox and GGV Capital also participated in the round.
Mangata Networks, the US-based operator of a satellite and terrestrial communications network, completed a $33m series A round yesterday featuring satellite service provider KTsat. Venture capital firm Playground Global led the round, which included Temasek, Scottish Enterprise UK, Promus Ventures’ Orbital Ventures Fund and MetaVC Partners.
Japan-based funeral digitisation service Yoriso raised ¥3.5bn ($30.4m) in series E funding today from investors including Hakuhodo DY Ventures, Norinchukin Capital, Sony Innovation Fund by IGV and Sumisei Innovation Fund, vehicles for marketing firm Hakuhodo DY, financial services provider Norinchukin Bank, electronics manufacturer Sony and insurer Sumitomo Life respectively. Linen provider Yamashita and investment and financial services group Fidelity filled out the round, which consisted of ¥3.09bn in equity funding and ¥430m in debt financing, alongside HT Asia Technology Fund. It lifted the company’s overall funding to approximately $54.6m.
Ubiquitous Energy, a US-based developer of transparent solar technology, closed a $30m series B round yesterday featuring window and door manufacturer Andersen and oil, gas and mining group Eneos. The round included Red Cedar Ventures, the VC fund for university endowment MSU Foundation, as well as superannuation fund Hostplus, Safar Partners and Riverhorse Investments. The company said it has now raised $70m altogether, including $8m from Eneos in March 2021.
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment makers Ferguson and Reece invested in a $27.6m series B equity round for US-based HVAC support app developer Bluon yesterday through their respective corporate venturing units: Ferguson Ventures and Superseed Ventures. The round was led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund and also featured growth equity firm MacKinnon, Bennett & Company. It came in the wake of $9m in debt financing recently secured by Bluon.
US-based childcare management software developer Wonderschool secured $25m yesterday in a series B round backed by financial services firm Citi’s Impact Fund. Investment banking firm Goldman Sachs led the round and was also joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Uncork Capital, Imaginable Futures, Gaingels and Unusual Ventures.
Automotive component manufacturer BorgWarner led a $24m series C round yesterday for Qnovo, a US-based producer of software which enhances battery performance. Power producer Exelon Corporation also invested, through its Constellation Technology Ventures vehicle, while US Venture Partners, RockPort Capital and OGCI Climate Investments filled out the participants in the round.
Indonesia-based solar power services provider Xurya raised $21.5m today in a series A round that included energy management and automation equipment manufacturer Schneider Electric. It was joined in the round by East Ventures, Saratoga Investama Sedaya and New Energy Nexus Indonesia.
Internet group Prosus led a $20m series B round yesterday for Edume, a UK-based provider of remote workforce training software. The round included enterprise software provider Workday’s corporate venturing unit, Workday Ventures, in addition to VC firm Valo Ventures.
Azibo, the US-based creator of a digital financial services platform for renters, raised $19m in series A funding yesterday from investors including insurance groups Assurant and Liberty Mutual’s respective investment subsidiaries: Assurant Ventures and Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures. The round was led by SVB Capital and also featured Camber Creek, RET Ventures, Victory Park Capital, Gaingels, Canaan, Khosla Ventures, QED Investors and Context Ventures.
GS Futures, the corporate venturing arm of conglomerate GS Group, took part in a $15m funding round for AmazeVR, the US-based developer of a virtual concert platform, alongside travel retailer Everrich Group and Timewise Investment, a subsidiary of conglomerate CJ Group, yesterday. The round was co-led by Partners Investment and Murex Partners and was filled out by Smilegate Investment, Base Investments, Quantum Ventures Korea, ABC Partners, Dunamu & Partners, Mirae Asset Capital and Mirae Asset Venture Investment.
Estie, the Japan-based creator of an analytics software platfrom for real estate data, raised ¥1bn ($8.7m) today from investors including education services provider Globis, through subsidiary Globis Capital Partners. It was joined in the round by University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners.
Acorn Finance, a US-based online lending marketplace for home improvement financing, secured $8.4m yesterday in a series A round led by insurance firm Massachusetts Mutual Life’s corporate venturing unit, MassMutual Ventures, bringing its total funding to $12.4m. VC firms Moderne Ventures, Vestigo Ventures, Accomplice and MetaProp also took part in the round.
Stock exchange operator London Stock Exchange led a series A round for BondCliq, the US-based operator of a consolidated quote platform for the bond market, sized at $7.5m according to a securities filing. Insurance provider Aflac’s corporate venturing unit, Aflac Ventures, also took part, as did financial services firm SEI.
Sozi, the Japan-based operator of a support service for digital creators, received ¥410m ($3.6m) in series A funding today from investors including e-gifting platform developer Giftee, mass media group Geek Pictures, OLM Ventures and SMBC Venture Capital, the last two on behalf of animation studio OLM and financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Group respectively. The participants were filled out by Samurai Incubate and Headline Asia.
Social media network Twitter has made a minority investment of undisclosed size in US-based digital advertising services provider Aleph Group in October 2021, it revealed yesterday. Aleph already partners the corporate on advertising in 74 countries.
Starbots, a British Virgin Islands-registered developer of games on the Solana blockchain, has secured $2.4m from investors including blockchain technology developer Tomochain along with its investment arm LuaVentures, gaming guilds Good Games Guild, Quadhorn Guild and Real Deal Guild, blockchain monitoring and workflow automation software provider Parsiq, Solana scanning tool developer Solscan and blockchain-based liquidity hub Kyber Network. It also featured cryptocurrency exchamge OKEx’s Blockdream Ventures unit, Impossible Finance, Defi Alliance, BigCoin Capital, TK Ventures, Game Studio, Solar Eco Fund, Kyros Ventures and assorted private investors.
IppoPay, the India-based creator of a digital payment platform for freelancers and small and medium-sized businesses, raised $2.1m yesterday from investors including cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s corporate venturing unit, Coinbase Ventures. The corporate joined Blume Founders Fund, Better Capital and unnamed angel investors in the round.
Sustainable packaging manufacturer Printpack provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based advanced recycling technology producer Nexus Circular yesterday.
NirogStreet, the India-based operator of a digital healthcare platform focusing on traditional medicine, has secured $1m in pre-series B funding from investors including Dell APAC, a subsidiary of computing technology producer Dell, VCCircle reported yesterday. It took part along with RB Investment and private investor Namrata Ganatra.
CryptoLab, the Japan-based creator of a blockchain-powered business planning software platform, raised an undisclosed amount todat from semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturer Axell. The investment came through a strategic alliance.
Japan-based data management software developer Smart Craft received ¥50m ($430,000) in seed capital today from investors including mobile game producer KLab’s Anobaka subsidiary. The round was also backed by Genesia Ventures.
M&A
Optimus Ride, a US-based driverless vehicle technology developer is winding down after its underlying technology and intellectual property was purchased by automotive supplier Magna International yesterday. Financial terms were not disclosed but the deal includes Optimus Ride’s assets while 120 engineers will also make the move to Magna. Optimus Ride had raised more than $73m, including $5.3m in a 2016 seed round featuring graphics chip producer Nvidia.
Additional reporting by Robert Lavine, Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles.
