Funding
Squire Technologies, a US-headquartered online barbershop booking platform backed by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, has tripled its valuation to $750m in a $60m series D round led by hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management. The round also featured Iconiq Capital, CRV and Trinity Ventures, and all four had joined SoftBank’s Opportunity Fund, New General Market Ventures and various private investors in Squire’s $59m series C round in December 2020. Its overall debt and equity financing now stands at $165m.
Lithic, the US-based developer of a debt and credit card issuing technology platform, secured $60m on Wednesday in a series C round led by growth equity firm Stripes that included diversified holding group Exor and fellow existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Index Ventures and Rainfall Ventures as well as Tusk Venture Partners and Commerce Ventures. The round valued Lithic at $800m according to Bloomberg, and it came just two months after a $43m series B round that boosted its overall funding to over $57m.
Soda, the Japan-based owner of an online sneaker resale platform, raised ¥6.2bn ($56.4m) yesterday from investors including SoftBank subsidiary SoftBank Ventures Asia and Kream, an online sneaker marketplace owned by internet group Naver. They were joined by Altos Ventures and the round came six months after Soda disclosed $24m in series A and B funding from SoftBank Ventures Asia and Colopl Next, the investment arm of mobile game developer Colopl, in addition to design studio The Guild, Base Partners and private investors including Yoshio Aihara.
Suzy, the US-headquartered owner of a market research software platform, completed a $50m series D round on Wednesday featuring Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), a subsidiary of media group Bertelsmann. HIG Growth Partners, an affiliate of investment manager HIG Capital, led the round, which included existing investors Rho Capital Partners, Foundry Group, Triangle Peak Partners and North Atlantic Capital. The company had secured $12m in a February 2020 series C round backed by BDMI to lift its overall funding to $32m.
US-based patient monitoring technology developer BioIntelliSense received $45m in on Wednesday in a series B round that included electronics and medical device producer Philips and healthcare providers Fresenius Medical Care and UCHealth. They were joined by intellectual property manager Pendrell Corporation, TripleTree Holdings and CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, and it followed a $25m series A round featuring Fresenius, UCHealth, CU Healthcare Innovation Fund and TripleTree Holdings that closed in September 2020 together with a newer $12m round.
MedRhythms, a US-based developer of digital therapeutics for neurologic disorders that counts audio equipment producer Bose as an investor, secured $25m in series B financing from 5Y Capital, Advantage Capital and Werth Family Investment Associates on Wednesday. The company had raised $5m in a 2018 series A round led by Werth Family Investment Associates and backed by angel investor Jean Hoffman, before adding $1.5m from unnamed investors in September 2019 according to a securities filing. Bose subsidiary Bose Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in May 2020.
Dell Technologies Capital, the strategic investment arm of computing technology producer Dell, co-led a $23m funding round on Wednesday for Treeverse, the US-based operator of data lifecycle management product LakeFS. The round was co-led byNorwest Venture Partners and Zeev Ventures, and Treeverse said it consisted of the company’s entire funding to date.
QuotaPath, the US-based creator of a commission tracking software tool for sales teams, raised $21.3m in series A funding on Wednesday from investors including enterprise software provider HubSpot’s corporate venture capital unit, HubSpot Ventures. The round was led by growth equity firm Insight Partners and also featured ATX Ventures, Integr8d Capital and Stage 2 Capital. The company secured $1.5m from ATX and unnamed angel investors in a 2018 seed round, before ATX led a $3.5m round in May 2019. It also identified HubSpot Ventures, Integr8d Capital and Stage 2 Capital as existing backers.
Israel-headquartered cybersecurity software developer Cyolo received $21m in series A funding on Wednesday from investors including National Grid Partners, the corporate venturing arm of energy provider National Grid. VC fund Glilot Capital Partners led the round, which also featured Merlin Ventures, Flint Capital, Global Founders Capital and Differential Ventures. The last three had joined undisclosed others to supply $4.2m in seed capital for Cyolo in April 2020.
US-based digital injury insurance provider Spot secured $15m in equity and $2.5m in debt financing on Wednesday from investors including insurance firm Mutual of Omaha and insurance group MS&AD. The round was led by VC firm GreatPoint Ventures and also featured Montage Ventures and Silverton Partners, the last of which had led a $5.8m round for the company in 2018.
Digital content services provider Integra Software has participated in a $15m series A round for India-based digital mortgage financier Easy, the Economic Times reported yesterday. Private equity firm Xponentia Capital Partners led the round, which was also backed by existing investors Harbourfront Capital, Finsight VC, RaSa Future Fund, Navida Capital and angel investor Helena Wasserman Eriksson. Easy had previously secured an undisclosed sum in a July 2019 round led by Harbourfront Capital.
India-headquartered skincare brand Minimalist has received $15m in series A funding from investors including Unilever Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of consumer goods producer Unilever. VC firm Sequoia Capital India led the round, the proceeds of which will be used to enhance the company’s content curation and research and development capabilities as it explores expanding into the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Alibaba Cloud, the cloud services subsidiary of e-commerce group Alibaba, has supplied an undisclosed amount of series B funding for China-based cloud computing and data storage services provider Cloudtogo, 36Kr has reported. SDIC Dongxing had provided $1.5m in seed financing for the company in 2017 before Zhengxuan Investment led its $4.3m series A round in August 2019.
Netherlands-based sleep diagnostics system developer Onera completed a €10.5m ($12.5m) series B round yesterday that included biopharmaceutical company Jazz Pharmaceuticals. The round was led by Innovation Industries and also featured Imec.xpand, a subsidiary of research and innovation hub Imec, as well as Invest-NL, BOM and 15th Rock. Onera had raised an undisclosed amount from BOM and Imec in 2018 before they returned for a $9.3m series A round led by Jazz Pharmaceuticals the following year.
VC firm Amplify Partners led a $12.1m series A round on Wednesday for Hightouch, a US-based data warehousing software developer backed by communication software provider Slack. The round included Bain Capital Ventures, the VC arm of private equity firm Bain Capital, in addition to Y Combinator and Afore Capital. The latter co-led a $2.1m seed round for Hightouch with Slack subsidiary Slack Fund disclosed when it emerged from stealth in December 2020.
Protera, a France-headquartered company that uses artificial intelligence to design and develop sustainable proteins, closed a series A round on Wednesday featuring baked goods producer Group Bimbo and industrial manufacturer ICL Group’s ICL Planet accelerator. VC firm Sofinnova Partners led the round while SOSV contributed to the $5.6m first tranche in June 2020. Protera had taken part in IndieBio’s accelerator the same year.
Algramo, the Chile-based operator of a packaging recycling service, has raised $8.5m in series A funding from investors including Femsa Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of beverage bottler Femsa, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. Dalus Capital led the round, which also featured Angel Ventures, Volta Ventures, Impact Assets, University Venture Fund, Century Oak Capital and Closed Loop Partners’ Ventures Group, the last of which had led a seed round of undisclosed size for Algramo in October 2019.
Financial information provider Fitch Group led a $6m series A round yesterday for Diginex, a China-headquartered developer of environmental and social governance software, through strategic investment vehicle Fitch Ventures. The company did not reveal the identity of the other participants in the round but said its total funding now stands at over $8m.
Mexico-headquartered online insurance marketplace Guros completed a $5.8m funding round on Wednesday featuring US-based counterpart Insurify at a valuation of $30m. The round was led by investment and financial services group Fidelity and included Cometa, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Leap Global Partners and Magma Partners. The last two were among the participants in a $1.2m seed round for the company in July 2020, when it was still known as Arca.
Financial services firm Juroku Bank invested an undisclosed amount in Japan-based electric kickboard sharing service Luup yesterday through VC vehicle Nobunaga Capital Village. The company had raised a total of $8.1m as of July 2020, from investors including corporates Eneos, Obayashi, Akatsuki, The Guild and Breakthrough Company Go before adding an undisclosed sum from construction firm Daito Trust five months later. Juup secured $6.9m in a May 2021 round led by Spiral Capital that included Eneos Innovation Partners, a subsidiary of oil and gas supplier Eneos, as well as fashion retailer Adastria, Anri and unnamed individuals.
Banking firm Barclays co-led a $4m seed round for US-based workforce analytics software developer Revelio Labs yesterday with K20 Fund at a $29m valuation. The round was also backed by Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, a corporate venturing vehicle for media group Bertelsmann, as well as NYU Ventures, BoxOne Ventures, DataFrame Ventures and 840 Venture Partners.
SP Robotic Works, the India-based developer of personalised digital education platform Sparky, has secured $3m in series A funding from investors including coal mine operator BCCL, YourStory reported today. Indian Angel Network (IAN) also took part in the round, as did angel investors including Ajai Chowdhry and Raman Roy. The company has now raised $4m in total, according to YourStory, having received about $300,000 from IAN in 2016.
WorX, the Japan-based creator of technology sales course Tech Sales Camp, received about ¥40m ($360,000) yesterday from investors including CyberAgent Capital, the corporate venturing arm of internet company CyberAgent. It was joined by Japan Startup Support Association and undisclosed companies and angel investors, and the round included debt financing from unnamed financial institutions.
M&A
Software producer Microsoft acquired Suplari, a US-based procurement analytics software developer, for an undisclosed amount on Wednesday, allowing enterprise software provider Workday to exit. The company had raised $10.3m from Workday subsidiary Workday Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures and existing backers Madrona Venture Group and Amplify Partners in a 2018 series A round that took its total funding to $13.4m, before the same investors supplied a further $5m the following year.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
