Funding
Veev, the US-based operator of a vertically integrated homebuilding service, secured $400m yesterday in a series D round featuring homebuilder Lennar’s LenX subsidiary and real estate services firm JLL’s Spark unit, which invested through its Global Ventures fund. Venture capital firm Bond led the round at a valuation of at least $1bn and it additionally included Zeev Ventures as well as Fifth Wall’s Climate Tech fund.
Diversified conglomerate Sinar Mas Group’s energy and infrastructure subsidiary, Dian Swastatika Sentosa, is providing $225m in funding for Indonesia-based digital wallet developer Dana through its Dana Gemilang vehicle, DealStreetAsia has reported, citing a regulatory filing. Media group Emtek held 49% of Dana as of August 2021 while Ant Group, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce group Alibaba, owned 45%.
US-based renewable biocarbon product maker Aymium raised an undisclosed amount of series B funding yesterday from investors including mining group Rio Tinto and steel producers Steel Dynamics and Nippon Steel Trading, the latter through its Nippon Steel Trading Americas subsidiary. The round was led by Sandton Capital, and it pushed the company’s overall funding past $200m, it said.
Insurance group Ping An’s Voyager Partners subsidiary led a $100m series E round yesterday for Visby Medical, a US-based developer of diagnostics technology for infectious diseases. Healthcare provider Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, ND Capital, Artiman Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital, Blue Water Life Science Advisors, Nissim Capital and private investor John Doerr also participated.
Sixents Technology, a China-based navigation satellite technology subsidiary of mapping technology producer NavInfo, received RMB620m ($98.3m) in series B funding on Monday, DealStreetAsia reported. Tsinghua Holdings Capital, CDH Wealth Management, Oriza Holdings’ Oriza Prior, Yufu Holding, Xinding Capital, China Citic Bank and Pagoda Capital supplied the cash.
GridPoint, a US-headquartered provider of energy grid connection software, completed a $75m funding round yesterday featuring petroleum supplier Shell’s investment arm, Shell Ventures. The round was led by Goldman Sachs’ Asset Management subsidiary through its Sustainable Investing Group, and the company also named I Squared Capital and its Twenty First Century Utilities subsidiary, Toms Capital, QVT Financial, Fortress Investment Group and Kensington Capital Partners as investors.
US-based advanced battery technology startup Our Next Energy secured $65m yesterday in a series A round led by carmaker BMW’s corporate venture capital unit, BMW i Ventures. The round also featured supply chain services firm Flex, Coatue Management, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Assembly Ventures and Volta Energy Technologies.
Semiconductor manufacturing technology producer Applied Materials added an undisclosed amount to US-based intelligent computing technology developer Cornami’s series C round yesterday through strategic investment arm Applied Ventures. The round was sized at $50m as of an October 2021 tranche led by internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 that included undisclosed existing and institutional investors.
Industrial technology and appliance maker Siemens’ Next47 subsidiary co-led a $40m series B round for business-to-business marketing software provider Metadata.io yesterday. The round was co-led with Resolute Ventures and also featured undisclosed private investors.
In Ovo, the Netherland-based creator of a screening system to prevent the culling of male chicks, completed a €34m ($38.5m) series B round yesterday featuring engineering consultancy Demcon and specialty chemical producer Evonik. The round was co-led by financial services firm ABN Amro and European Circular Bioeconomy Fund with additional contributions from VisVires New Protein and Libertatis Ergo.
US-based Web3 infrastructure software provider Subspace Labs closed a $32.9m financing round yesterday featuring cryptocurrency exchanges Crypto.com and Coinbase (through Coinbase Ventures), blockchain technology producer ConsenSys’s Mesh subsidiary, quantitative trading firm Alameda Research, crypto wallet provider Bixin (through Bixin Ventures) and blockchain privacy technology provider Automota Network. The round was led by Pantera Capital and also backed by KR1, Hypersphere Ventures, Stratos Technologies, Alumni Ventures Group’s AVG Blockchain Fund, GSR Ventures, Eniac Ventures, Definancex, Candaq Fintech Group, Vendetta Capital, Illusionist Group, NGC Ventures, Cabin VC, Gate Ventures and OneBlock Capital.
TuringQ, a China-headquartered developer of photonic quantum computing technology, secured an undisclosed amount of pre-series A-plus funding on Monday from investors including Legend Capital, the VC firm spun off by conglomerate Legend Holdings. The round was led by Oriza Holdings and also featured Ambrum Capital and the Binhu District-owned Capital Investment Co. The company said it has now raised over RMB500m ($79m) altogether.
China-based smart transport provider Nebula Link has received about RMB200m ($31.9m) in series B funding from investors including Anhui Guoyuan Venture Capital, a vehicle for highway infrastructure provider Anhui Transportation Holding Group, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. Tsinghua Holdings Capital and Hefei Industry Investment also took part in the round while DealStreetAsia identified BAIC Capital, a corporate VC arm of carmaker BAIC, as an existing shareholder.
Indonesia-based on-demand delivery service Paxel raised $9.4m last week from investors including telecoms firm Telkom Indonesia’s MDI Ventures Fund and joint venture KB-MDI Centauri Fund, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. Investment holding company SIG Global and a vehicle called Luminary Media Nusantara also participated in the round.
Dexalot, the India-headquartered creator of a decentralised order book exchange on the Avalanche smart contract platform, secured $7m last month in a funding round led by Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund. Crypto trading firm GSR, fundraising protocol developer Avalaunch, liquidity protocol developer Benqi and blockchain explorer creator Avascan also took part, as did Colony, AVentures Capital, Republic Capital, Muhabbit Capital, Woodstock Capital, Maven Capital and IPC.
Multiverse game finance (GameFi) startup Karmaverse received over $6m in funding on Monday from investors including HaskKey, an affiliate of automotive component maker Wanxiang, as well as Web3 media hub Polygon Studios, crypto trading firm Altonomy, GameFi technology provider L2Y and OKX Blockdream Ventures, a vehicle for cryptocurrency exchange OKX. The round was led by A&T Capital and also featured Foresight Ventures, NFX, Mindfulness Capital, GSR Ventures, Fundamental Labs, Y2Z Ventures and angel investor Cao Zhen.
Social commerce platform developer Brimore has supplied $5m in pre-seed funding for Egypt-based end-to-end logistics service provider Milezmore, Wamda reported last week. The cash will help the startup improve its cloud capabilities and technology and grow its storage and delivery capacity.
Digital media company Gree’s Strive subsidiary co-led a $4.6m seed round for Testsigma, a US-based developer of software testing automation technology, on Monday with VC firm Accel. They were joined by angel investors including Shanmugam Krishnasamy, Kiran Darisi, Parsuram Vijayasankar, Vetri Vellore, Nitesh Banta and Ioann Fainsilber.
CVAid Medical, the Israel-based developer of an artificial intelligence software platform designed to help diagnose and treat strokes, closed a $4m series A round on Monday featuring electronics and medical equipment manufacturer Philips. The round was led by Rad Biomed and also backed by Sanara Capital.
Camping equipment retailer Camping World has led a $3.2m seed round on Monday for HearHere, the US-based operator of an immersive storytelling app focused on road trips, TechCrunch reported on Monday. Automotive federation group AAA also contributed to the round while actor Kevin Costner, a co-founder of HearHere, is an earlier investor.
Financial services firm JPMorgan Chase invested an undisclosed amount in US-headquartered blockchain intelligence provider TRM Labs on Monday. The deal came less than three months after TRM raised $60m in a series B round featuring digital payment technology producer Block, payment services provider Visa and corporate venturing units American Express Ventures, PayPal Ventures, DRW Venture Capital and Citi Ventures.
Poland-headquartered digital trading tool developer Mizar completed a $3m seed round last week led by digital asset storage service Nexo. The round included cryptocurrency exchanges MEXC, Huobi, KuCoin and Woo Network – the last three through Huobi Ventures, KuCoin Ventures and Woo Ventures – as well as smart lock producer Gate Labs, crypto market maker Kairon Labs, Spark Digital Capital, Shima Capital, Stakely VC, Evolve Capital, AU21 Capital, Tenzor Capital, NFT Tech and angel investors David Post and Dean Thomas.
Telecoms technology provider Globe Teleservices supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Eywamedia, a Singapore-based developer of customer experience software, yesterday. Eywamedia had previously raised $1m in seed capital from Ah Ventures, Mantra Ventures and Viktor Koenig PE Fund in 2015.
CryptoTaxCalculator, the Australia-based operator of an online service which helps cryptocurrency traders calculate their taxes, has raised A$4m ($2.9m) from investors including Coinbase Ventures, the VC arm of digital currency exchange Coinbase, TechCrunch reported yesterday. The round was led by AirTree and also backed by 20VC.
Lean on Me, a Japan-based provider of training services helping companies hire disabled employees, added approximately $700,000 today to a series A round now totalling ¥300m ($2.6m). The extension came from Kyogin Lease Capital, a subsidiary of leasing services firm Kyogin Lease, in addition to financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ, Osaka Shinkin Bank and Kyoto Shinkin Bank through Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Osaka Social Issue Solving Fund and Kyoshin Social Capital respectively, as well as private investor Yoshikiyo Matsuo.
Ride hailing service Careem has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Egypt-based food delivery service Elmenus, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Elmenus had previously received $10m in a July 2021 pre-series C round led by digital payment software provider Fawry.
Meety, the Japan-based operator of an online platform for casual interviewing, received ¥190m ($1.6m) in funding today from investors including mobile game publisher KLab’s Anobaka unit and Money Forward Venture Partners, a subsidiary of accounting software provider Money Forward, through its Hirac Fund. XTech Ventures filled out the participants in the round.
Engineering firm Thermax led a $1.4m seed round on Monday for ExactSpace Technologies, the India-based creator of a software platform which uses artificial intelligence to help industrial users make better decisions. The startup had previously joined oil and gas supplier Shell’s E4 accelerator.
Walo, the Canada-based creator of a mobile app which helps teach children financial literacy, recently secured $1.1m from investors including online video content provider WatchMojo, it disclosed on Monday. The government of Quebec also took part in the round along with Desjardins Venture Capital, Granicus Group and unnamed individuals.
Consulting firm CAI invested $1.1m in AutoLoto, a US-based developer of technology which detects and manages hazardous energy emissions in industrial spaces, last week. The cash will help the company commercialise its product across the construction and manufacturing industries.
PharmD Live, the US-based operator of a pharmacist-led telehealth service, closed a $1m seed round last week led by telemedicine provider TeleDoc. The company said it has already begun work on raising series A funding.
Drips, the Japan-based owner of orthodontic mouthpiece service Hanaravi, raised ¥120m ($1m) today from plastic product manufacturer Nifco and Nissay Capital, the VC arm of insurer Nippon Life. The round took the company’s total funding to approximately $1.7m, it said.
MI-GSO/PCubed, an aeronautics consulting subsidiary of engineering group Alten, led a seed round of undisclosed size for Sembly AI, a US-based provider of voice and conversation analytics software, on Monday. The corporate invested through a strategic collaboration agreement.
KP Technologies, a Japan-based developer of ordering software for the construction industry, received ¥52m ($450,000) in seed funding today from investors including travel agency AirTrip. The round was also backed by alternative asset manager WealthPark, Cross-Border Investment, B Dash Fund 4 and angel investors Katsuya Takahara, Hideo Fujii and Tomohito Mitsumori.
M&A
Syndesi Therapeutics, a Belgium-based developer of cognitive impairment treatments that was spun off by biopharmaceutical firm UCB, was acquired by pharmaceutical firm AbbVie yesterday for $130m upfront in a deal that could reach $1bn with milestone payments. The transaction provided exits for Vives Louvain Technology Fund and V-Bio Ventures, both of which contributed to Syndesi’s $21m series A round in 2018.
Mobile esports and gaming platform operator Mobile Premier League paid an undisclosed amount to acquire Germany-headquartered multiplayer mobile game developer GameDuell on Monday, allowing media group Hubert Burda to exit. Corporate VC unit Burda Digital Ventures joined HV Capital – the VC firm backed by publisher Holtzbrinck and then known as Holtzbrinck Ventures – in a 2004 round for the company before it added $17m from Wellington Partners four years later.
Enterprise software producer Salesforce agreed last week to purchase portfolio company Traction on Demand, a Canada-based provider of customer relationship management services, for an undisclosed sum. The corporate’s Salesforce Ventures unit had joined Guidepost Growth Equity to invest an undisclosed amount in Traction on Demand in 2019.
VNG exited Germany-based infrared measuring device producer Infrasolid last week in an acquisition of undisclosed size by sensor equipment manufacturer Innovative Sensor Technology. Infrasolid, a spinout of TU Dresden’s Institute for Solid State Electronics department, had raised an undisclosed amount from VNG vehicle VNG Innovation and TGFS – Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen in 2018.
Menstrual hygiene product manufacturer Kimberly-Clark bought a majority stake in Thinx, a US-based period-proof underwear brand already backed by the corporate, for an undisclosed amount last week. Thinx had raised $25m from Kimberly-Clark in 2019.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles. Image courtesy of Veev.
