Funding
South Africa-based digital currency exchange Valr secured $50m today in a series B round featuring cryptocurrency exchanges Bittrex and Coinbase – the latter through its Coinbase Ventures unit – as well as trading firms Capital Markets Trading (through CMT Digital), Alameda Research and GSR. The round was led by Pantera Capital at a $240m valuation and included investment and financial services group Fidelity’s Avon Ventures affiliate, Cadenza, Distributed Global, Third Prime, Avon Ventures, 4Di Capital and unnamed other investors.
US-based healthcare automation software provider Qventus raised $50m from investors including healthcare services firm Premier and care provider Thedacare yesterday. Private equity firm Thomas H Lee Partners led the round, which also featured existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund and Norwest Venture Partners.
South Korea-based RNA therapeutics developer Biorchestra has closed a $45m series C round backed by conglomerate GS Holdings and pharmaceutical company Chong Kun Dang. They were joined by SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services provider SBI, as well as Smilegate Investment, an affiliate of video game publisher Smilegate, and Daily Partners, IMM Investment, LSK Investment, E&Venture Partners, Quantum Ventures Korea, STIC Investment, Widwin Investment and NH Securities.
US-based autonomous delivery robot developer Starship Technologies secured $42m today in a series B round that included tyre manufacturer Goodyear and TDK Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of electronics producer TDK. The round was co-led by NordicNinja and Taavet+Sten and followed $57m of recent financing from European Investment Bank.
US-headquartered blockchain infrastructure technology provider InfStones has completed a $33m series B round featuring quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group. The firm invested alongside Dragonfly Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, DHVC, A&T Capital, Ince Capital and Value Internet Fund.
France-based medicine intelligence software developer Synapse Medicine received €25m ($27.9m) in funding from investors including mutual insurer MACSF today. The round was led by Korelya Capital and also backed by BNP Paribas Développement, a vehicle for financial services firm BNP Paribas, as well as XAnge and Mutuelles Impact.
Better Dairy, a UK-headquartered developer of yeast-based dairy products, has raised $22m in a series A round co-led by Vorwerk Ventures, the corporate venture capital vehicle for household goods distributor Vorwerk, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Happiness Capital and RedAlpine co-led the round, which included Manta Ray, Acequia Capital and Stray Dog Capital.
Arweave Team, the creator of decentralised database product Arweave, recently took part in a $17.2m funding round for ArDrive, the developer of a data storage system built on the Arweave platform. The round was co-led by Blockchain Capital and Sino Global Capital.
US-based gourmet cat food startup Made by Nacho has completed a $14m series A round that included confectionery and petfood manufacturer Mars’ Companion Fund. The round was led by Cavu Venture Partners, also featured New Fare Partners and followed a hitherto undisclosed seed round led by Sonoma Brands.
Renewable energy project developer Grenergy paid an undisclosed amount for a 40% stake in US-based solar photovoltaic and battery storage project developer Sofos Harbert Renewable Energy yesterday. The company had been founded in 2017 as a joint venture between solar power provider Sofos Energy and construction firm BL Harbert.
Skymatix, a Japan-based developer of spatiotemporal analysis technology, raised ¥1.3bn ($11.3m) in series B funding today from investors including insurer Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment’s Japan Co-Invest fund and financial services firm Norinchukin Bank. They were joined by Miraitronc and Femto Partners, and the round pushed the company’s total funding past $25m.
US-based metaverse healthcare startup XRHealth received $10m in funding yesterday from investors including consumer electronics manufacturer HTC. The round also featured Bridges Israel, AARP, undisclosed existing investors and capital from a crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine.com.
Video game publisher Com2Us co-led a $5.5m angel round for multichain metaverse startup Matrix World on Saturday at a $50m valuation. The round was co-led with Tess Ventures, Everest Ventures Group and Y2Z Ventures and also backed by blockchain entertainment app developers Dapper Labs and Animoca Brands, metaverse developer SecondLive, Panony, Matcha, Sky9 Capital, Bonfire Ventures, Hashed, Fenbushi Capital, Hash Global, ArkStream Capital, SevenX Ventures and LucidBlue Ventures.
Rsmile, the Japan-based operator of an online temporary staffing service for the property management sector called Cosoji, raised an undisclosed sum from investors including education services provider Globis and insurer Nippon Life’s Nissay Capital unit today. They were joined by B Dash Ventures and Kusabi, and the startup said it has now secured approximately $1.4m in total.
Lifehub, the Japan-based developer of a two-wheeled upright electric vehicle, secured ¥100m ($870,000) today in a seed round backed by internet company CyberAgent through its CyberAgent Capital unit. VC firm Incubate Fund also contributed to the round.
Intellectual property content developer BushiRoad invested an undisclosed amount in Showroom, the Japan-based operator of an online livestreaming platform, through a strategic partnership today. The deal followed a similarly undisclosed sum from consumer electronics retailer Bic Camera in January this year.
Logpose Technologies, a Japan-based developer of technology which optimises luggage transportation, received ¥40m ($350,000) in seed funding from investors including graphics processing unit manufacturer Fixstars today. The round also featured Weru Investment, a VC vehicle for Waseda University.
Alpaca.Lab, the Japan-based operator of vehicle dispatch app Aircle, secured an undisclosed amount today in a pre-series A round featuring technology consultancy Dirbato and Minami Incubate, a subsidiary of driver’s education provider Minami Holdings. They invested alongside FGN AbbaLab’s Startup Fund.
M&A
Cloud connectivity technology producer Rakuten Symphony agreed yesterday to buy Robin.io, a US-headquartered application management software provider backed by its parent company, Rakuten, for an undisclosed sum. Robin had raised a total of $86m as of a $38m series C round in June 2021 featuring corporate venturing vehicle Rakuten Capital, Clear Ventures, Emory University and Raine Next-Gen Communications. Its earlier investors include financial services provider USAA, Hasso Plattner Ventures and DN Capital.
Mobility intelligence provider Otonomo Technologies agreed yesterday to acquire UK-based telematics technology provider The Floow for an initial $31.5m in stock and up to $37.5m in earnout payments. Diversified conglomerate Fosun had led a $15.9m round for the company in 2017 that included electronics repair services provider United Electronics Group and insurance comparison service and existing backer Direct Line Group.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
