Funding
China-based allosteric drug developer Nutshell Therapeutics has completed a $40m series A-plus round today featuring carmaker SAIC Motor’s Hengxu Capital fund-of-funds vehicle, DealStreetAsia reported today. Genesis Capital led the round, which included Source Code Capital, Kunlun Capital, Matrix Partners China and Northern Light Venture Capital.
China-headquartered oncology therapy developer Impact Therapeutics closed a series D1 round of undisclosed size yesterday featuring real estate developer Yuexiu Property; C&D Emerging Capital, a vehicle for supply chain services firm Xiamen C&D; and Lilly Asia Ventures, which invested on behalf of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly. They were joined by financial services firm China Construction Bank’s CCBT subsidiary, Dingxin Capital, Bestride, Exome Asset Management and China Summit Capital.
China-based cellular therapy developer Shanghai UniXell Biotechnology has secured almost RMB200m ($31.4m) in a pre-series A round that included Fosun Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Fosun. The round was co-led by Sherpa Healthcare Partners and CDH Venture and Growth Capital while Kunlun Capital, TF Capital, GL Ventures, Winfast Investment and Shanghai Growth FOF also took part.
India-headquartered livestreaming software developer 100ms raised $20m in series A funding on Friday from investors including Strive.vc, a venture capital vehicle for digital media company Gree. Investment firm Falcon Edge led the round through its Alpha Wave Incubation fund while Matrix Partners India, Accel and LocalGlobe also participated.
Legend Capital, the venture capital firm spun off by conglomerate Legend Holdings, has led a RMB100m ($15.8m) series A round for China-based extended detection and response technology developer XDR Sec, China Money Network reported on Friday. All the company’s existing backers, including Sequoia China Capital, also contributed to the round.
Medway, the Brazil-based operator of an online education platform focused on doctors and medical students, has received $15m in series A funding from investors including telecommunications and internet group SoftBank. The corporate was joined by Global Founders Capital, EquitasVC, Aggir Ventures, Scale-Up Endeavor, Neuron Ventures, Allievo Capital and Grão.
Insurance provider Definity Financial Corporation supplied an undisclosed amount of series B funding for Canada-based online insurance portal Apollo Insurance on Friday. The cash is being invested through a partnership agreement between Apollo and Definity affiliate Definity Insurance Company.
Messaging app developer Line has invested $8m in Singapore-based parenting content app developer Tickled Media, DealStreetAsia has reported, citing a regulatory filing. The company, then known as TheAsianParent, secured between $10m and $30m in a July 2021 series C round led by conglomerate Fosun and backed by-commerce firm JD.com, ATM Capital, Redbadge Pacific, Global Grand Leisure and WHG Holdings. It added a seven-digit dollar amount from Mirae Asset-Naver New Growth Fund, a partnership between financial services provider Mirae Asset and internet group Naver, four months later.
Propel Venture Partners, the VC firm funded by financial services firm BBVA, has co-led a $5.6m seed round for Chipper, the US-based creator of a mobile app which helps reduce student debt. The round was co-led with Freestyle Capital and Slauson & Co, and it was also backed by Cap Table Coalition and angel investors Ethan Bloch, John Henry and Craig Lewis.
Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a division of defence and aerospace equipment manufacturer Raytheon, invested an undisclosed amount in Gastops, a Canada-based developer of condition monitoring technology for industrial systems. Gastops has also formed a research and development agreement with another Raytheon subsidiary, Pratt & Whitney.
Mining company Altius Minerals Corporation has supplied $5m in convertible note financing for Invert, a Canada-headquartered provider of carbon reduction and removal credits. The corporate had previously invested an undisclosed amount in Invert in December 2021.
US-headquartered metaverse game developer Mirror World completed a $4m seed round on Friday co-led by quantitative trading firm Alameda Research with Galaxy Interactive and Republic Crypto. The round included OKX Blockdream Ventures, a subsidiary of cryptocurrency trading firm OKX, as well as YGG SEA, Avocado DAO, Mirana Ventures, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Sky9 Capital, LD Capital, PathDAO, Lucid Blue Ventures, Bas1s Ventures, Metasense DAO, Tess Ventures and Nihil Ventures.
Alameda Research, Galaxy Interactive and Republic Crypto also co-led a $4m funding round for US-based Web3 game developer Delysium on Friday. Crypto finance transfer platform Mask Network and gaming guilds Unix Gaming and Ancient8 also took part, as did Anthos Capital, Eureka Meta Capital, Y2Z Ventures, Tess Ventures, Zonff Partners, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Lucid Blue Ventures, PathDAO, YGG SEA, Smarti Labs, Metasense DAO and undisclosed others.
Egypt-based e-commerce delivery service Bosta raised an undisclosed amount yesterday in a series B round co-led by engineering and construction group Hassan Allam Holding. VC fund Khwarizmi Ventures co-led the round, which included unnamed other investors and disclosed as Bosta expanded into Saudi Arabia.
Clearmix, the US-based developer of a remote video production studio for use in sales and marketing, received $3.25m in seed funding last month from investors including Bloomberg Beta, the VC firm sponsored by media group Bloomberg. The round also featured Scout Ventures, Runa Capital and Liquid2 Ventures.
Manufacturing services provider MCL Industries has led a $3.1m seed round for US-based lithium-ion battery producer Blue Line Battery, Wisconsin Inno reported on Friday. Blue Line had raised $500,000 in an April 2020 round led by IronTek and backed by Silicon Pastures and Lancaster Investment, before adding $1.5m in a June 2021 round led by Grey Collar Ventures.
Qawafel, the Saudi Arabia-headquartered operator of an online business-to-business marketplace for perishable foods, secured $3m yesterday in a seed round co-led by construction firm AlSayed Group and Khwarizmi Ventures. Undisclosed angel investors also contributed to the round.
Japan-based cross-border recruitment group Fourth Valley Concierge received ¥300m ($2.5m) today in a funding round featuring correspondence education provider Benesse Holdings, real estate manager Japan Property Management, human resources firm Celm’s Aristoteles Partners unit, catering services provider Sasaki Food and digital marketing group Ryukyu Interactive. They were joined by Orchestra Investment, The Stand, private investor Hideki Furusho and undisclosed companies and individuals.
BPM, the Japan-based creator of construction management software platform Qosmos, raised an undisclosed amount from electric utility Tepco Energy Partner today. The cash was invested by the corporate’s Tepco i-Frontier Partners subsidiary.
IT services firm Clover Infotech paid Rs 152m ($2m) for a 25% stake in India-based business intelligence software developer Data Science Wizards on Friday. The technology will help enhance the data science and artificial intelligence elements of Clover’s existing services.
Freightpay, a US-based developer of automated payment tools for freight forwarders, has emerged from stealth with a reported $2m from investors including freight forwarding services provider Flexport. The round was led by Defy.vc and also backed by Better Tomorrow Ventures, BAM Ventures and Socially Financed.
Trade body the American Association of Orthodontists has invested an undisclosed sum in US-based digital orthodontic services portal Grin through its Innovation and Transformation Fund. The deal came almost a year after consumer goods producer Procter & Gamble’s Oral Care division joined Triventures and SpringRock Ventures in a $10m round that took Grin’s overall funding to $14.3m.
Hakki Africa, a Japan-headquartered used automotive finance provider for Kenyan taxi drivers, raised ¥220m ($1.9m) in series A funding today from investors including online server provider Link-U and second-hand automotive dealer SBT as well as Saison Ventures, Monex Ventures and Deepcore, on behalf of payment services firm Credit Saison, foreign exchange Monex and internet and telecoms group SoftBank respectively. The round was filled out by LaunchPad Fund and the cash was secured alongside approximately ($7.1m) in debt financing from unnamed investors.
Japan-based retail digitalisation technology developer Cloudpick received an undisclosed amount of funding from printer manufacturer Epson and business data aggregator Uzabase yesterday. The corporates supplied the capital through subsidiaries Epson X Investment and UB Ventures respectively.
M&A
Loyalty management services provider Giift paid an undisclosed amount for a majority stake in portfolio company Xoxoday, an India-based provider of rewards, incentives and payout software, today. The company joined Apis Partners in a $30m round for Xoxoday just last month, after Mahindra Holidays, a travel agency subsidiary of conglomerate Mahindra Group, had paid $450,000 for a 12% stake in Xoxoday in 2016.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
