Funding
Shipping firm AP Moller – Maersk and diversified holding company Almajdouie Holding co-led a $42m financing round for Egypt-based digital freight marketplace Trella yesterday through corporate venturing units Maersk Growth and Raed Ventures respectively. The round consisted of $30m in equity funding from investors also including freight services provider Flexport, Algebra Ventures, 4DX Ventures, Vision Ventures, Next Billion Ventures, Venture Souq and Foundation Ventures, and a $12m debt facility from by Lendable. It followed a $600,000 pre-seed round led by Algebra Ventures in February 2019.
China-based lidar technology developer Zvision has closed hundreds of millions of yuan (RMB100m = $15.5m) in series B funding from investors including Intel Capital, the corporate venture capital unit owned by semiconductor technology producer Intel, CnEVPost has reported. The round included VC firm Sinovation Ventures and valued the company at about $15.5m, according to Chedongxi. The company had raised $9.9m from Fosun RZ Capital, a subsidiary of conglomerate Fosun, and Green Pine Capital Partners, in an April 2020 series A-plus round.
Iplus Mobot, a China-based developer of robotics technology for the logistics industry, has also raised hundreds of millions of yuan, in a series B-plus round featuring digital media company ByteDance and Lenovo Capital, an investment vehicle for consumer electronics manufacturer Lenovo, China Money Network reported today. The round was led by Xianghe Capital and included Shenzhen Capital Group while Bytedance was described as an existing backer.
1data Technologies, a China-based developer of robotic process automation technology, has received RMB200m ($31m) in series A-plus funding from investors including quantitative trading firm Susquehanna international Group (SIG), DealStreetAsia reported today. IDG Capital, Sequoia Capital China and Eastern Bell Capital also participated in the round, and DealStreetAsia identified SIG as an existing backer.
Indonesia-headquartered digital insurance provider Fuse has secured about $30m in series B funding from investors including EV Growth, the joint investment venture backed by internet company Yahoo Japan and conglomerate Sinar Mas, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday, citing sources close to the transaction. The round also featured Jack Ma’s family office and Blue Pool Capital, and it came in the wake of a $2m series A led by EV Growth in 2019, according to DealStreetAsia.
Cryptocurrency exchange operator Coinbase and digital asset market makers Wintermute and Woorton took part in a $25m series A round for Finland-headquartered digital asset lender Tsseract yesterday. Augmentum Fintech led the round, which also featured Icebreaker.vc, BlackFin Capital Partners, Concentric, DN Capital, Jabre Capital Partners Family Office, LeadBlock Partners and Sapphire Ventures. Coinbase was represented by strategic investment vehicle Coinbase Ventures and the round followed an undisclosed amount from Icebreaker.vc in 2018.
Healthcare provider Capio co-led a SEK134m ($15.5m) private placement for Sweden-based telemedicine platform developer Doctrin yesterday with financial services firm Swedbank Robur and VC firm HealthCap. The round also featured Norron Asset Management and which followed $350,000 from various angel investors in August 2016, $750,000 from existing backers four months later, $2.6m from assorted individuals in February 2017, an undisclosed amount from health media company Add Health Media in June, $12m from Capio, HealthCap, Inbox Capital and Norrsken Foundation in December 2017 and $9m in a June 2020 round co-led by HealthCap and Swedbank Robur.
US-headquartered podcast publisher WaitWhat completed a $12m series B round today that included Capital One Ventures and Burda Principal Investments, representing financial services firm Capital One and media company Hubert Burda respectively. The round was led by Raga Partners and also featured Emerson Collective, Lupa Systems, Maywic Select Investments, GingerBread Capital, Cue Ball Capital and private investor Reid Hoffman. It came after Burda Principal Investments and Cue Ball co-led the company’s $4.3m series A round in early 2019.
UK-based construction services provider Modulous raised £5m ($6.9m) today from Cemex Ventures, the strategic investment arm of building materials producer Cemex, as well as Blackhorn Ventures and GroundBreak Ventures. The company had previously received an undisclosed amount from Cemex Ventures in January this year and also identified Blackhorn Ventures as an existing investor.
Woven Capital, an investment vehicle for automotive manufacturer Toyota, has provided an undisclosed amount for US-headquartered connected vehicle technology developer Ridecell. The company had raised a total of $133m as of a $45m series C round in December 2020 featuring LG Technology Ventures, a subsidiary of consumer electronics producer LG, as well as automotive component manufacturer Denso, Fort Ross Ventures, Solasta Ventures, Activate Capital and Initialized Capital.
BEKHealth, the US-based developer of a data software platform for medical research, received $4m from investors including healthcare technology provider Change Healthcare yesterday. VC firm Excelerate Health Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Boston Millennia Partners, Connecticut Innovations and Martin Ventures.
Qwoted, the US-based owner of a network of sources for media, completed a $3m seed round yesterday featuring public relations agencies Integral, Caliber Corporate Advisers, Haymaker PR, FHS Partners, Red Lab and Prosek Partners, the last through corporate VC unit Prosek Venture Partners. The round was led by VC firm Third Prime and included Gaingels, Vested and angel investors Caleb Silver, David Siegel and Tom Rovak. It followed an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from Prosek Venture Partners in August 2019.
Edgeless Systems, a Germany-based developer of software code protection technology, secured €1.45m ($1.7m) in seed funding from investors including financial infrastructure services provider Six Group yesterday. The corporate joined Acequia Capital, Inventures, Venture Creator and unnamed angel investors in the round.
M&A
Enterprise technology provider Hewlett Packard Enterprise purchased US-based deep learning software developer Determined AI for an undisclosed amount yesterday, allowing internet and technology group Alphabet to exit. Alphabet subsidiary GV led the company’s $11m series A round in early 2019, investing alongside Amplify Partners, CRV, Haystack, SV Angel, The House and Specialized Types. It followed $2.6m in seed funding from unnamed investors two years earlier.
Cable and wire manufacturer Polycab has agreed to acquire Silvan Innovation Labs, an India-based developer of automation technology backed by consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung, for about $2.5m, CE Pro reported yesterday. Silvan was one of four recipients of a total of $8.5m from Samsung unit Samsung Venture Investment Corporation in mid-2019, following $500,000 from The Chennai Angels in 2016, $900,000 from Infuse Ventures later the same year and $650,000 from 1Crowd, Infuse Ventures and unnamed individuals in 2018.
Image courtesy of Trella.
