Funding
Barogo, the South Korea-based operator of an on-demand logistics service, has closed a KRW80bn ($71.8m) series B round that included KRW25bn from 11Street, the e-commerce subsidiary of telecommunications firm SK Telecom, and KRW5bn from conglomerate CJ Group, KED Global has reported. The round also featured LB Investment, STIC Ventures, Premier Partners, Korea Investment Partners, YG Investment and Shinhan Venture Investment. It reportedly valued Barogo at $314m pre-money and CJ Group took part as an existing investor.
US-based macrocycle drug developer Circle Pharma received $66m in series C financing from investors including pharmaceutical firms Eli Lilly and ShangPharma yesterday. The round was co-led by The Column Group (TCG) and Nextech Invest and was also backed by Pandect Bioventures, Euclidean Capital, Pavillion Capital, Hartford HealthCare Endowment, LifeForce Capital and Berkeley Catalyst Fund. The company had raised $45m in a March 2020 series B round led by TCG that included ShangPharma, Nextech Invest, LifeForce Capital and Berkeley Catalyst Fund, and its earlier investors include pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and Mission Bay Capital.
Chile-headquartered digital insurance provider Betterfly secured $60 million yesterday in a series B round featuring telecoms and internet group SoftBank’s Latin America Fund as well as QED Investors, Valor Capital, Endeavor Catalyst and partners of DST Global. Formerly known as Burn to Give, Betterfly had received $8.5m from holding company Grupo Prisma, Albatross Capital, Katapult Impact and assorted angel investors in July 2020 before expanding the series A round to $17.5m with backing from QED Investors five months later.
US-based employee organising software provider Gloat raised $57m yesterday in a series C round backed by Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of semiconductor technology producer Intel. Venture capital firm Accel led the round, which included investment and financial services group Fidelity’s Eight Roads Ventures subsidiary, Magma Venture Partners and Pico Partners. It valued Gloat between $300m and $500m according to TechCrunch, and followed a $25m series B round co-led by Intel Capital and Eight Roads Ventures in late 2019 that included Magma Venture Partners and Pico Partners, taking the company’s total funding to $34m.
Israel-based cancer immunotherapy developer Kahr Medical reached the first close of a $46.5m funding round yesterday having secured an undisclosed amount from investors including healthcare provider Hadassah University Hospital’s Hadasit Bio Holdings subsidiary. The tranche was led by aMoon and backed by BVF Partners, Dafna Capital Management, Peregrine Ventures, Shavit Capital and Cancer Focus Fund as well as Flerie Invest, Oriella, Pavilion Capital and Mirae Asset, all four having joined Hadasit Bio Holdings to provide $18m for Kahr in a February 2020 round hiking its overall funding to $35m.
Akur8, a France-based insurance pricing tool developer incubated by insurance group Axa’s Kamet Ventures subsidiary, completed a $30m series B round today that included BlackFin Capital Partners and MTech Capital. The two had previously co-led an $8.9m series A round for the company in March 2020 that followed an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Kamet in 2018.
Germany-based co-living space provider Habyt has closed a €20m ($24.4m) series B round featuring Vorwerk Ventures, the investment arm of direct seller Vorwerk, as well as HV Capital, P101, Picus Capital and Inveready. Habyt had raised $2.3m from P101 in 2018 and $6.9m from Picus Capital, P101 and Italia500 in July 2020. The company also disclosed it has bought Homefully, a domestic peer backed by Vorwerk Ventures, for an undisclosed amount (see below).
Testing and automation equipment producer Teradyne led US-based manufacturing data software developer MachineMetrics’ $20m series B round yesterday, investing alongside Ridgeline Ventures, Tola Capital and Hyperplane. It followed $2.1m from unnamed investors in 2016 and $11.3m in series A funding from Tola Capital, Hyperplane Venture Capital, Long River Ventures, MassVentures, Hub Angels and Firebolt Ventures two years later. River Valley Investors also lists it as a portfolio company.
US-based small molecule drug developer Veralox Therapeutics completed a $16.6m series A round yesterday featuring pharmaceutical firm Sanofi and life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, which invested through Sanofi Ventures and Alexandria Venture Investments respectively. It was led by Hatteras Venture Partners and included Genesys Capital, Point Field Partners, JDRF T1D Fund, Maryland Momentum Fund, VTC Innovation Fund and Tedco. The last four of those had joined Sanofi Ventures, VTC Seed Fund and University of Vermont Health Network in Veralox’s $5.4m seed round in 2019.
US-headquartered recruitment engagement software developer Sense raised $16m in series C funding from internet and technology group Alphabet’s GV unit, Avataar Venture Partners and Accel yesterday. The round boosted Sense’s overall funding to $40m, $10m of which was closed at the time of a 2017 series A round co-led by GV and Accel and backed by Signia Venture Partners, Ridge Ventures and Khosla Ventures. The company added $13.5m in series B financing from GV and Accel in mid-2019.
Australia-based online home insurance provider Honey Insurance publicly launched yesterday with A$15.5m ($11.8m) in seed capital from investors including RACQ, the insurance firm underwriting the startup’s policies, TechCrunch reported. Digital settlement services provider Pexa, homebuilder Metricon, property development and construction group ABN, real estate developer Mirvac and energy utility AGL also took part, as did SFG, Apex Capital and angel investors including Larry Diamond, Anthony Eisen, Jamie McPhee, Graham Mirabito, Tim Fung and Peter Tonagh.
Coinme, a US-based cash-to-Bitcoin exchange service backed by finance transfer service Ripple, has secured $10m from undisclosed existing investors to increase its overall funding to $30m, Geekwire reported yesterday. Ripple subsidiary Xpring and Blockchain Finance Fund had invested $1.5m in the company in September 2019 before Pantera Capital led a $5.5m round in May 2020.
Ochre Bio, a UK-based developer of RNA therapeutics for chronic liver diseases, completed a $9.6m seed round yesterday that included semiconductor technology producer Hermes-Epitek. VC firm Khosla Ventures led the round, which also featured Backed VC, Apollo Health Ventures, Selvedge Venture and Hoxton Ventures.
Tire producer Bridgestone Americas provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Kodiak Robotics, a US-based developer of autonomous driving technology for the freight industry, yesterday. The financing came after technology investment firm Battery Ventures led Kodiak’s $40m series A round in 2018, investing alongside CRV, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Tusk Ventures.
Markerr, the US-based creator of a software platform that uses artificial intelligence to analyse real estate pricing, secured $5m in series A funding from investors including real estate operator Continental Realty Corporation yesterday. Real estate technology-focused investment firm RET Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Twin Shores Capital and angel investors Edward Norton and Joe Lettween.
US-based, menopause-focused wellness brand Kindra received $4.5m on Tuesday in a seed round backed by media content producer Katie Couric Media. VC fund Female Founders Fund led the round, which included Primetime Partners, The Community Fund, H Ventures and angel investors Anne and Susan Wojcicki.
XCharge, a China-headquartered developer of electric vehicle charging technology, completed a series B round of undisclosed size yesterday that included oil and gas supplier Shell’s corporate venturing unit, Shell Ventures. The company’s website states that VC firms GGV Capital and ZhenFund co-led a series A round of undisclosed size for the company in 2017, following earlier funding from consumer electronics producer Samsung and ZhenFund.
Yield Guild Games, a US-based developer of play-to-earn games, closed a $4m series A round yesterday featuring Ideo CoLab, a vehicle for design agency Ideo. The round was led by Bitkraft and was also backed by A.Capital Ventures, Atelier Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Greenfield One, Mechanism Capital, ParaFi Capital and Third Prime Capital. The startup had raised $1.3m in March this year from Gumi Cryptos Capital, a subsidiary of mobile game publisher Gumi, as well as crypto research provider Delphi Digital, Scalar Capital, BlockTower Capital, Ascensive Assets and Youbi Capital.
IT services firm Systems Limited has invested roughly $3m in Salesflo, the Pakistan-based operator of business-to-business marketplace Jugnu, as part of a PKR518m ($3.3m) funding round, Kr Asia reported yesterday. The round also featured undisclosed angel investors and it gave Systems a 20% stake in Saleflon, according to Kr Asia.
MyYogaTeacher, a US-based provider of on-demand, interactive yoga classes, raised $3m yesterday in a seed round that included Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, a corporate venturing vehicle for media group Bertelsmann. VC fund TSVC led the round, which also featured Leonis Partners, Weekend Fund and All Access Fund.
ClearEstate, the Canada-based developer of an online estate settlement platform, secured C$2.5m ($2.1m) in seed funding yesterday from investors including mass media group Torstar Corporation and undisclosed funeral home operators. They were joined by Triangle Capital Corporation, NAventures and Diagram Ventures.
M&A
Co-living space provider Habyt has acquired Germany-based peer Homefully for an undisclosed amount, allowing direct seller Vorwerk to exit. Homefully had secured an undisclosed amount from HV Capital and Ru-net in 2018, and Vorwerk’s corporate venturing unit, Vorwerk Ventures, lists it as a portfolio company, as does VC firm RTP Global. Habyt announced the deal at the same time as a $24.4m series B round that included Vorwerk Ventures (see above).
Thrasio, a holding company for consumer brands on the Amazon e-commerce platform, has bought portfolio company Yardline, a US-based developer of software that helps online merchants strengthen their businesses on external platforms, it announced yesterday. Yardline had launched in November 2020 with a reported $10m in equity and debt financing from Thrasio and various angel investors.
