Funding
US-based geometric search software provider Physna secured $56m yesterday from investors including internet and technology group Alphabet’s GV unit. Hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management led the round, which also featured venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. Physna had raised almost $2m from unnamed investors as of 2018 before Drive Capital led a $6.9m series A round in July 2019, returning for a $20m series B in January this year that included Sequoia Capital, boosting its overall funding to over $29m.
South Korea-based study app developer Mathpresso received $50m in series C funding yesterday from investors including SoftBank Ventures Asia, a vehicle for telecommunications and internet group SoftBank; Smilegate Investment, on behalf of video game developer Smilegate; and Legend Capital, the VC firm formed by conglomerate Legend Holdings. They were joined by Yellowdog, GGV Capital, Goodwater Capital, KDB, SKS Private Equity and Mirae Asset Venture Investment. Mathpresso said the round lifted its overall funding to $105m and it followed a $14.5m series B led by Legend Capital in late 2019.
Codat, a UK-based provider of financial data sharing software, raised $40m yesterday in a series B round featuring digital payment processor PayPal’s strategic investment arm, PayPal Ventures. Tiger Global Management led the round, which included VC firm Index Ventures and which came in the wake of an undisclosed amount of series A financing from PayPal Ventures and American Express Ventures, a subsidiary of payment services firm American Express, four months ago. Index Ventures had invested $10m in June 2020.
Diagnostics software producer Dedalus Group and contract research organisation (CRO) Novotech Health Holdings co-led a $31m financing round for US-based virtual CRO ObvioHealth yesterday with a combined $18.5m. The rest of the cash came from Sprim Global Investments, AT Capital Group and unnamed existing investors. The company had received $3m in a 2018 series A round led by TKS1, a joint venture between Sprim and Tikehau Capital still described as its lead investor at the time of a $17m round in May 2020.
Inshur, a US-based commercial automotive insurance provider backed by reinsurance firm Munich Re, closed a series B round of undisclosed size yesterday led by VC firm JVP and also backed by Viola Fintech and MTech Capital, bringing its total funding to $35m. Munich Re Ventures led a $7m series A round for the company in February 2019 that also featured MTech Capital, before Viola Fintech added $1.5m six months later.
Home365, the US-based developer of an online investment management platform focused on real estate, has completed a $16.3m funding round that included telecoms firm Verizon’s corporate VC unit, Verizon Ventures. The round was led by Greensoil PropTech Ventures II and also featured OG Tech, Lool Ventures, North First Ventures and private investor Eyal Ofer. The company said it has now raised $24m in total and named Verizon Ventures, Ofer, OG Tech, Lool Ventures and North First Ventures as existing investors.
Mouro Capital, the VC firm spun off by financial services firm Santander, a led a $16m series A round for Mexico-headquartered digital freight forwarder Nowports yesterday. The round also featured Foundation Capital as well as Broadhaven Ventures, Monashees, Base10 Partners and Y Combinator, the four having joined Soma Capital, Partech, Tekton and angel investor Paul Buchheit in Nowports’ $5.3m seed round in June 2019. The company said its total funding now stands at $24m.
SeekOps, the US-based creator of a sensor for the detection of methane leaks, secured $14m yesterday in a series B round led by oil and gas services firm Schlumberger. Oil and gas provider Equinor and construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar also took part in the round, investing through Equinor Ventures and Caterpillar Venture Capital respectively, as did OGCI Climate Investments. The company had received an undisclosed amount from Equinor Ventures and OGCI in 2019, following $3.3m from unnamed investors the previous year.
Mintable, the Singapore-headquartered operator of an online platform where non-fungible tokens can be minted and traded, has received $13m in series A funding from investors including currency exchange and remittance network Ripple and mobile game developer Animoca Brands, The Block reported yesterday. The corporates took part alongside Metapurse and angel investors Doug Band, Jon Oringer and John Kim. It had raised an undisclosed sum from private investor Mark Cuban in March this year.
E-commerce and cloud computing group Amazon led a $3.6m pre-series A round for India-based new energy technology developer Ion Energy yesterday through its Climate Pledge Fund. The round was also backed by Climate Capital, YourNest Venture Capital, Riso Capital, Venture Catalyst and undisclosed individuals. Ion had received an undisclosed amount from angel investors including Aakrit Vaish, Swapan Rajdev and Sushill Jiwarajka in 2017, and $1m from unnamed investors the following year according to a securities filing.
Uello, the Brazil-based operator of an on-demand logistics service aimed at medium-sized and large companies, has completed a R$17m ($3.4m) series A round that included Btomorrow Ventures, the corporate venturing unit formed by tobacco product manufacturer British American Tobacco, Startupi has reported. Capital Lab and Invest Tech also contributed to the round, which the company said increased its overall funding to roughly $4.6m.
Financial data provider Solactive supplied an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday for Right, the Germany-based developer of a software platform which measures climate change impact. The company had previously secured a similarly undisclosed amount from Solactive in February 2020.
M&A
Magnite, the operator of a sell-side advertising platform, bought SpringServe, a US-based developer of advertising management software for connected TV, yesterday for an undisclosed sum, enabling video advertising software producer SpotX to exit. SpringServe had raised an undisclosed amount from SpotX in July 2020.
