Funding
Brazil-based online finance provider Creditas raised $260m yesterday in a series F round featuring telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 1 and Latin America Funds at a $4.8bn valuation. Investment and financial services group Fidelity also took part, as did Actyus, Greentrail Capital, QED Investors, VEF, Kaszek Ventures, Lightock, Headline, Wellington Management and Advent International’s Sunley House Capital affiliate.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 has led a €200m ($225m) series D round for Spain-headquartered last-mile delivery service Paack, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Infravia Capital Partners, First Bridge Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Unbound, Kibo Ventures, Big Sur Ventures, RPS Ventures, Fuse Partners, Rider Global and Castel Capital also contributed to the round along with private investor Iñaki Berenguer.
US-headquartered gene editing technology developer Metagenomi completed a $175m series B round yesterday featuring pharmaceutical producers Bristol Myers Squibb, Novo, Moderna and Bayer, the last through its Leaps by Bayer subsidiary. The round was co-led by PFM Health Sciences, Farallon Capital Management and an unnamed investment firm while Eventide Asset Management, Deep Track Capital, Frazier Life Sciences, Pura Vida Investments, Irving Investors, Millennium Management, Surveyor Capital, Marshall Wace, RA Capital Management and Humboldt Fund also participated.
US-based data lake software provider Dremio raised $160m in series E funding yesterday from investors including Cisco Investments and DTCP, which took part on behalf of networking technology producer Cisco and telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom respectively, at a $2bn valuation. Adams Street Partners led the round, which included Sapphire Ventures, Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and StepStone Group.
GV, the subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet formerly known as Google Ventures, co-led a $140m series B round for Netherlands-headquartered respiratory virus drug developer Leyden Laboratories yesterday. Casdin Capital co-led the round, which also featured internet and telecoms group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, investment and financial services group Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital vehicle, Invus, Bluebird Ventures and Byers Capital. Vali Barsan of Softbank Investment Advisers, which manages Vision Fund 2, is taking a board seat at Ledyen in connection with the round.
SparkCognition, a US-based developer of enterprise-focused artificial intelligence software, completed a $123m series D round yesterday backed by AEI Horizon X, the joint venture between aerospace manufacturer Boeing and private equity firm AE Industrial Partners. The round valued the company above $1.4bn and included March Capital, Doha Venture Capital, B Riley Venture Capital, Temasek and private investors Alan Howard and Peter Löscher.
Instadeep, a UK-headquartered developer of intelligent decision-making software, secured $100m in series B funding yesterday from investors including internet technology provider Google, immunotherapy developer BioNTech, artificial intelligence technology producer Group 42 and public transport operator Deutsche Bahn, which took part through its Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures unit. The round was led by Alpha Intelligence Capital and also backed by CDIB Capital International and Chimera Investments.
Telecoms firm KPN participated in an €80m ($90.8m) series A round for Germany-based office equipment rental service Lendis yesterday through corporate venturing unit KPN Ventures. The round consisted of €30m in equity funding and €50m in debt financing and was co-led by Circularity Capital and Keen Venture Partners with additional backing from HV Capital, the venture capital firm backed by publisher Holtzbrinck, as well as Coparion, HGDF, DN Capital and Picus Capital. The company said its total funding stands at over €100m and named HV Capital, DN Capital and Picus Capital as existing backers.
US-based cell therapy developer Kyverna Therapeutics completed an $85m series B round today that included biopharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences and Intellia Therapeutics. VC firm Northpond Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Westlake Village BioPartners, Vida Ventures, RTW Investments, CAM Capital, Insight Partners, HealthCor, Lyfe Capital, Argentum Peak, Hudson Bay Capital and jVen Capital.
Wandelbots, a Germany-based developer of industrial robotics software, secured over $84m yesterday in a series C round featuring software producer Microsoft as well as industrial technology manufacturer Siemens’ Next47 fund. Growth equity firm Insight Partners led the round, which included 83North, Paua, Atlantic Labs and EQT.
US-headquartered autonomous vehicle technology developer May Mobility raised $83m in series C funding yesterday from investors including insurance firm Tokio Marine and carmakers BMW and Toyota, which took part through BMW i Ventures, and Toyota Tsusho and Toyota Ventures respectively. The round was led by Toyota-backed fund Mirai Creation Fund II and also featured Millennium Technology Value Partners, Cyrus Capital Partners, 1843 Capital and Bay Lake Ventures.
Pharmaceutical and chemical producer Bayer led an $80m series A round for Cellino Biotech, the US-based creator of an autonomous system for cell therapy manufacturing, yesterday. The corporate invested through its Leaps by Bayer unit and was joined by 8VC, Humboldt Fund, Felicis Ventures, The Engine and Khosla Ventures.
US-based connected vehicle software provider Sibros completed a $70m series B round yesterday that included internet technology provider Google and Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of mobile semiconductor technology producer Qualcomm. VC firm Energy Impact Partners led the round, which also featured Fontinalis Partners, Iron Pillar, Nexus Venture Partners and Moneta Ventures.
Hunters, an Israel-based developer of security operations centre software, raised $68m in series C funding yesterday from investors including enterprise software producer Databricks as well as M12, DTCP, Snowflake Ventures and Cisco Investments, the last four representing software provider Microsoft, telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom, data software developer Snowflake and networking technology provider Cisco. The round was led by Stripes and also backed by YL Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, US Venture Partners and Blumberg Capital.
BCB Group, a UK-based provider of financial and trading services for the digital asset market, secured $60m yesterday in a series A round featuring PayU and Blockchain.com Ventures, on behalf of internet group Prosus and cryptocurrency services provider Blockchain.com respectively, as well as crypto market maker Wintermute and online finance provider Circle. BCB said the round was co-led by Foundation Capital and it included Menai Financial Group, Backed VC, Digital Currency Group, Nexo, Tokentus Investment, Cowa Ventures, Profluent Ventures and LauncHub Ventures, North Island Ventures, Rockaway Blockchain Fund, Pantera and L1 Digital.
UK-based investment app developer Moneyfarm has raised £44.1m ($59.6m) from investors including postal service Poste Italiane, Reuters reported today. Wealth management firm M&G Wealth led the round in connection with a strategic partnership which will involve the companies collaborating on a digital investment product for UK retail investors.
US-based consumer credit ratings provider SavvyMoney received $45m in funding from credit scorer TransUnion and growth equity firm Spectrum Equity yesterday. The company had raised an undisclosed amount in a 2016 series D round led by TransUnion and backed by TB Capital and Tugboat Ventures.
US-headquartered carbon offset ratings provider Sylvera secured $32.6m yesterday in a series A round that included Salesforce Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of enterprise software producer Salesforce. VC firm Index Ventures co-led the round with growth equity firm Insight Partners while LocalGlobe and undisclosed angel investors also took part. The startup said it has now raised $39.5m altogether.
Business-to-business marketplace IndiaMart has supplied approximately $8.2m for India-based accounting, sales and inventory tracking software developer Vyapar’s Rs 2.18bn ($29.2m) series B round, Business Today reported yesterday. The round was led by WestBridge Capital at an $118m valuation and included India Quotient.
Addionics, an Israel-based developer of chemistry-agnostic battery technology, received $27m in series A funding yesterday from investors including car importers Union Group (through Union Tech Ventures), Talcar and Delek Motors, aluminium producer Novelis, car component maker Magna International, mining and metals group JX Nippon and Doral Energy Tech Ventures, part of renewable power producer Doral. The round was led by Deep Insight and also featured Catalyst Fund, 8090 Partners, GiTV, Bridges Israel, NextGear Ventures, Magna Capital Partners, Vasuki Global Tech Fund and angel investors Jeff Horing, David Deak and Boaz Schwartz.
Kakao Games, a subsidiary of internet group Kakao, led a $25m series A round for US-headquartered real-time strategy developer Frost Giant Studios yesterday. Video game developer Riot Games also contributed to the round, which was also backed by Bitkraft Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Gaingels and Mantis Venture Capital.
Reimagine Care, a US-based provider of home cancer care technology, closed a $25m funding round yesterday featuring medical product distributor McKesson’s investment arm, McKesson Ventures, cancer care provider City of Hope and CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, an affiliate of healthcare provider University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The round was co-led by Santé Ventures, Martin Ventures and LRVHealth and also backed by Sable Investments.
Carmaker BMW took part in a $25m series B round for Verusen, the US-based developer of a materials management software platform for the supply chain, through its BMW i Ventures unit yesterday. Scale Venture Partners led the round, which also featured Glasswing Ventures, Flyover Capital, Zetta Venture Partners, Forte Ventures and Kubera Venture Capital.
Bokksu, a US-headquartered importer of Japanese snack foods, has raised $22m in series A funding from investors including food and beverage producer St. Cousair. The round was led by Valor Siren Ventures and also featured Company Ventures, World Innovation Lab, Headline Asia and Gaingels.
Japan-based small satellite constellation developer ArkEdge Space received ¥1.67bn ($14.6m) today in a series A round featuring insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, which took part through VC vehicle Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital. The round was led by Incubate Fund and included investment partnership Real Tech Fund, the two having supplied $3.6m in series A funding for the company in March 2021.
Mobile casino game producer Playtika provided $7m in seed capital for Israel-headquartered blockchain gaming startup Spring Games yesterday. The company intends to develop play-to-earn games on the blockchain having previously raised $1.5m in pre-seed funding from its chief executive, Idan Amir.
400F, the Japan-based operator of an online financial consulting service, secured ¥360m ($3.2m) today from investors including financial data aggregator Minkabu the Infonoid; Rakuten Securities, a subsidiary of e-commerce firm Rakuten; and financial services firm SBI, through its SBI Investment subsidiary. VC firm Skyland Ventures led the round, which also featured Dream Incubator’s Dimension fund.
Latrico, the Japan-based owner of online pharmacy Tokyo Bihadado Clinic, received ¥300m ($2.6m) today from Colopl Next and Money Forward Venture Partners, which participated on behalf of mobile game publisher Colopl and accounting software provider Money Forward, respectively. Money Forward Venture Partners invested through its Hirac Fund and Latrico’s total funding now stands at approximately $4.8m.
Tatsuno Information Systems, the Japan-based creator of e-learning system LearningBox, raised ¥88m ($770,000) today, including ¥50m in equity funding from Minato Growth Company Mirai Fund 2 – a joint vehicle for Minato Bank and its Minato Capital unit – as well as fellow financial services firm Resona Group’s Resona Capital subsidiary. The round was filled out by ¥38m in debt financing from Minato Bank.
M&A
E-commerce software producer Sirclo purchased Indonesia-based retail management technology developer Warburg Pintar today, providing an exit for messaging app developer Line, internet company Digital Garage, digital payment technology provider Ovo and conglomerates Triputra Group and Sinar Mas. The corporates all took part in Warburg Pintar’s $27.5m series B round in 2019, before it added $6m from East Ventures and Vertex Ventures in July 2021 to boost its total funding to $41.5m.
Educational software producer PowerSchool agreed yesterday to buy Kinvolved, the US-based developer of a communication, attendance and engagement software platform for secondary education. Kinvolved raised $1.5m from customer engagement software provider Twilio’s Impact Fund and Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation in 2018 following $950,000 in debt financing the previous year. Academic medical centre Penn Medicine and Wharton Social Impact Initiative’s joint investment venture later added an undisclosed amount.
Workspace provider WeWork agreed yesterday to purchase Common Desk, a US-based flexible workspace provider backed by office equipment provider Vari, for an undisclosed sum. Common Desk had secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Vari in 2019 and its acquisition will add 23 locations to WeWork’s portfolio across 13 cities in Texas and North Carolina.
Public Markets
Core Scientific, a US-based company looking to develop net carbon-neutral blockchain infrastructure, has closed its reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp. The company had received $1m from undisclosed investors in 2018 and $54m from cryptocurrency loan provider Celsius in July 2021. The combined company will take the spot on the Nasdaq Capital Market secured by the SPAC in a $300m initial public offering in February 2021.
Funds
Payment services firm Credit Saison is among the limited partners in the $40m first fund for India-headquartered VC firm White Ventures, the Economic Times reported yesterday. Co-founders Amrish and Sweta Rau have supplied $15m while Sequoia Capital India, TVF Capital, Hummingbird Ventures and private investor Kunal Shah are also LPs.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
