Funding
Dishangtie Car Rental, the China-based electric vehicle leasing service also known as DST, closed a $200m series D round today featuring Ingka, the holding group for more than 420 outlets of furniture retailer Ikea. The first tranche was led by CICC Capital and Ingka joined an unnamed additional investor in the latest close. The company’s earlier investors include diversified trading group Itochu.
China-headquartered chip manufacturer Axera completed a RMB800m ($126m) series A-plus-plus round today that included e-commerce and online services portal Meituan and its Dragon Ball Capital subsidiary as well as Legend Star, a corporate venturing vehicle for conglomerate Legend Holdings. They joined Qiming Venture Partners, Inno-Chip, Heju Investment and Glory Ventures.
US-based crypto-asset software provider Lukka secured $110m on Friday in a series E round featuring trading services group Miami International Holdings, reinsurer SiriusPoint, financial information provider S&P Global and accounting technology producer CPA.com. The round was led by Marshall Wace at a valuation in excess of $1.3bn and it included Summer Capital, Soros Fund Management and Liberty City Ventures.
Two-wheeled vehicle manufacturer Hero Motorcorp has provided Rs 4.2bn ($56.5m) in funding for India-based electric scooter provider Ather Energy, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. Hero reportedly held a 34.8% stake in Ather prior to the latest investment, having participated in a $35.1m series D round in late 2020 that lifted its overall funding to at least $128m.
Indonesia-based used vehicle marketplace Moladin has raised $42m in series A funding from investors including diversified conglomerate Berjaya Group, DealStreetAsia reported today. Northstar Group and Sequoia Capital India co-led the round, which also featured K3 Ventures and Global Founders Capital.
Fermata Energy, a US-based developer of technology that enables electric vehicles to store energy, received $40m from investors including Verizon Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of telecommunications firm Verizon, on Friday. Carlyle Group, Skyview Ventures, ClearSky and I Squared Capital also contributed to the round, which followed a total of $10.5m in equity funding and over $9m in debt financing between 2018 and October 2021 according to securities filings.
Investors including mobile entertainment provider OnMobile added $15m to a series A round for Tech4Billion Media, the India-based owner of online video-sharing platform Chingari, now totalling $28m. The second tranche was led by Republic Capital and included research and development lab Protocol Labs, JPIN Venture Catalysts, Hill Harbour, AngelList, Venture Collective, Makan Family, Cowa Ventures, MVC Friends and unnamed family offices. The April 2021 first close was led by OnMobile.
Eight Roads, a VC subsidiary of investment and financial services group Fidelity, led a $17m series A round for UK-based logistics management software provider 7bridges that included Maersk Growth, a subsidiary of shipping firm Maersk, as well as LocalGlobe and Crane Venture Partners. The last two had combined to provide $3.4m in seed funding for the company in June 2020.
Online services platform operator Movile led a R$92.8m ($16.7m) series B round for Brazil-based open finance software developer a55 on Friday. Mouro Capital, the VC firm spun off by financial services firm Santander, also participated in the round.
Singapore-based trucking management software developer Haulio secured $7m today in series A round featuring port operator PSA and public transport operator ComfortDelGro, through PSA UnboXed and ComfortDelGro Ventures respectively. Heliconia Capital led the round, which included Ondine Capital and XA Network and which appears to be a later close of the $5.75m series A round disclosed by the company last month.
Internet technology provider Google’s Gradient Ventures fund co-led a $7m funding round for Legal OS, a Germany-headquartered provider of legal services digitisation software, on Friday. The round was co-led by 10x Group and also backed by HV Capital – the VC firm backed by publisher Holtzbrinck – as well as Speedinvest, the two having provided $2.2m in seed capital for the company in 2019.
Gradient Ventures also co-led a $5m seed round for Zowie, a US-based developer of customer service automation software, with VC firm 10xFounders today. They were joined by existing backer Inovo Venture Partners and angel investors Jack Altman and Markus Giesswein.
Beer and Tech, the Japan-based owner of flower and plant subscription service HitoHana, raised ¥500m ($4.4m) today from investors including Nissay Capital and Globis Alumni Growth Investment, vehicles for insurer Nippon Life and education services provider Globis University’s Graduate School of Management respectively. The company had received $890,000 from Global Brain and Anri in 2017 following an undisclosed amount of earlier funding from Anri, Primal Capital and East Ventures.
Japan-based data science education and consulting service Datamix received ¥231m ($2m) today from investors including IT services group HCS Holdings, professional education provider Jikei Group, enterprise learning system operator Kiyo Learning, market intelligence platform developer Speee, media group Kips’ The Independents Angel fund and human resources technology provider AIcross’ AIX Tech Ventures unit. They were joined by Edge Labs, Innovation Engine and unnamed angel investors, and the round followed $690,000 from corporate training provider Insource and Innovation Engine in 2019.
Benners, the Japan-based owner of seafood subscription service Fishelle, secured ¥32m ($280,000) today in a round featuring mobile game publisher Akatsuki and Saison Ventures, the strategic investment arm of payment services firm Credit Saison. They participated in the round alongside angel investor Satoshi Umino.
M&A
Online fundraising platform developer GoFundMe has agreed to purchase Classy, a US-headquartered peer focused on non-profit organisations, for an undisclosed amount in a deal which would allow enterprise software provider Salesforce to exit. Salesforce subsidiary Salesforce Ventures took part in Classy’s most recent round, a $118m series D in April 2021 that boosted its overall funding to at least $199m.
Social robotics technology provider Furhat Robotics has acquired Misty Robotics, a US-based personal robot developer spun off by robotic toy manufacturer Sphero, it revealed today. Misty had raised $11.5m in a 2017 series A round featuring Venrock and Foundry Group, adding $11m from unnamed investors the following year and $2m in January 2020 according to regulatory filings.
Imagine Marketing, the parent company of audio technology producer boAt, bought Singapore-based KaHa, a Singapore-based internet-of-things technology developer backed by watch and jewellery brand Titan, today. KaHa’s total funding stood at $10.7m as of a $6.2m round in 2019 featuring ICT Fund, and its existing backers include Spring Seeds Capital, Jungle Ventures and YourNest.
Mobile gaming provider Nazara Technologies’ Nodwin Gaming subsidiary has paid an amount indicated by a regulatory filing to be Rs 49m ($660,000) to acquire Planet Superheroes, an India-based licensed merchandise retailer backed by mobile game publisher Akatsuki. The corporate’s AET Fund had taken part in a $2m round for Planet in 2019 led by DSG Consumer Partners, four years after it raised $540,000 in pre-series A funding from DSG, merchandise distributor The Character Group, Lead Angels and individuals including Gaurav Mathur.
Investment firm Akmazo Capital has acquired a majority stake in JRNI, a US-based developer of experiential relationship management software that counts real estate operator Somerston Group as an investor. Somerston joined PeakSpan Capital and Downing Ventures in a $6m extension in 2019 that lifted JRNI’s series C round to $19.4m and its overall funding to $23.2m.
Public Markets
Tado, a Germany-based smart thermostat producer backed by property control technology manufacturer Noventric, e-commerce group Amazon, oil and gas supplier Total, electronics provider Siemens, power producer Statkraft and energy utilities Eon and Čez Group, agreed today to merge with GFJ ESG Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, at a combined €450m ($513m) valuation. The company had raised a total of $102m as of 2018, adding $46.2m from Noventric and undisclosed others in May 2021.
Funds
Vietnam-headquartered mobile game publisher Funtap announced today it is backing a $10m venture capital fund called Funverse Capital. The vehicle will invest up to $1m in developers of blockchain technology for gaming and finance and is headed by managing director Phillips Dao, vice-president of Funtap’s game business.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
