Funding
Activ Surgical, a US-based developer of autonomous robotic surgical tools, increased its series B round to $60m yesterday with a $15m extension led by pharmaceutical firm Hikma through its Hikma Ventures vehicle. Cota Capital led the $45m first tranche in October 2021, investing with graphics processor manufacturer Nvidia, BAM Funds, Magnetar Capital, Mint Ventures, Castor Ventures, D. One Vision Management, DNS Capital, Tao Capital Partners, LRVHealth, Rising Tide VC, GreatPoint Ventures and Artis Ventures.
US-based data collaboration platform developer Hex received $52m in series B funding from investors including data warehousing software producer Snowflake and data engineering software provider Databricks yesterday. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz led the round, which was also backed by Redpoint Ventures and Amplify Partners.
ChargeAfter, the US-based operator of a network for buy now, pay later services, closed a $44m series B round yesterday featuring Citi Ventures, the strategic investment arm of financial services group Citi, as well as payment services provider Visa and financial services firms Banco Bradesco and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Investment firm The Phoenix led the round, which also featured unnamed existing investors and which hiked ChargeAfter’s overall funding to $60m.
Opera Tech Ventures, a VC subsidiary of financial services firm BNP Paribas, took part in a €40m ($44m) financing round for France-headquartered energy and climate analytics provider Kayrros yesterday. The state-owned French Tech Souveraineté also contributed to the round, as did European Investment Bank, NewSpace Capital and unnamed existing investors.
Japan-based back-office services provider Jinjer raised ¥5.1bn ($42.1m) today from investors including financial services provider SBI and an undisclosed corporate investor. Tybourne Capital Management led the round, which also featured an unnamed VC firm.
US-based gene-editing tool developer Spotlight Therapeutics secured $36.5m yesterday in a series B round that included GV, the subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet formerly known as Google Ventures. The round was co-led by GordonMD Global Investments and Epiq Capital Group and also backed by Magnetic Ventures.
India-based clean beauty brand Plum received $35m in series C funding today from investors including Unilever, the corporate venturing arm of consumer goods producer Unilever. The round was led by A91 Partners at a valuation the company told the Economic Times was $250m, and it also featured Faering Capital.
Pharmaceutical firm Sanofi co-led US-based spatial biology technology developer Nucleai’s $33m series B round yesterday through strategic investment vehicle Sanofi Ventures. The round was co-led with VC firm Section 32 and included Fosun RZ Capital, a subsidiary of conglomerate Fosun, as well as biopharmaceutical company Debiopharm, Vertex Ventures and Grove Ventures. Cris De Luca, global head of digital investments for Sanofi Ventures, is joining the company’s board of directors along with Andy Harrison from Section 32.
Netherlands-headquartered parking space management service ParkBee raised €30m ($33m) yesterday from investors including Statkraft Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of power producer Statkraft. The round was led by Koolen Industries and also backed by Innovation Quarter and unnamed ParkBee staff members and executives.
US-based digital learning platform developer Subject received $29.4m in series A funding from investors including telecommunications and internet group SoftBank. VC firm Owl Ventures led the round, which also featured Kleiner Perkins, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and Moving Capital.
D-ID, an Israel-based developer of video re-enactment software, completed a $25m series B round yesterday featuring diversified trading group Marubeni and Axa Venture Partners, an investment vehicle for insurance firm Axa. Investment firm Macquarie Capital led the round with additional backing from Pitango, OurCrowd, Our Innovation Fund and Maverick Ventures.
Semiconductor and data technology producer Intel took part in US-based mobility services provider Beep’s $25m series A-1 round yesterday through its Intel Capital subsidiary. The round was led by growth equity firm ABS Capital and also backed by Blue Lagoon Capital, TDF Ventures and Hidden Creek Management.
Upshot, a US-based developer of non-fungible token appraisal technology, secured $22m in a series A2 round that included cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital. Cryptocurrency-focused investment firm Polychain Capital led the round, which also fetaured Framework Ventures, CoinFund, Blockchain Capital, Slow Ventures and Mechanism Capital.
South Korea-based apartment rental platform developer Dongnae has completed a $20.5m series A round backed by office furniture provider Fursys, TechCrunch reported today. The round consisted of $16.4m in equity funding and $4.1m in debt financing while financial holding group Hana Financial, NFX, Daol Investment, Magna Investment’s Hana-Magna vehicle, MetaProp, Han River Partners, Flybridge, Maple and angel investor Miguel McKelvey were also among the investors.
TCL North America, a subsidiary of jewellery producer Titan Company, invested $20m in Clean Origin, a laboratory jewellery brand owned by US-headquartered custom diamond provider Great Heights, yesterday. The transaction valued Great Heights at approximately $153m post-money.
Saphyre, a US-based developer of financial trading data, raised $18.7m yesterday in a series A round yesterday that included financial services firm BNP Paribas and investment banking firm JP Morgan. The round was led by growth equity firm HCAP Partners.
China-based visual inspection technology developer Deep Vision has closed over RMB100m ($15.7m) in series A funding from investors including mobile chipmaker Qualcomm’s corporate venturing arm, Qualcomm Ventures, 36Kr reported on Monday. General Technology Venture Investment led the round, which also featured Huiyou Investment and Zhongguancun Development Qihang Investment.
Smart contract technology provider Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund led a $9m series A round for US-headquartered digital asset information provider The TIE, The Block reported on Monday. The round valued the company at $100m and was filled out by undisclosed private investors.
Biopharmaceutical company Juvenescence agreed to provide up to $9m in series A funding for US-based fibrosis and fibroproliferative disorder drug developer MDI Therapeutics on Monday. The cash will finance phase 1 clinical trials for MDI’s lead product candidate.
US-based real estate data aggregator Haystacks.AI added $3m yesterday from investors including risk management product provider Assurant’s corporate VC unit, Assurant Ventures, to a seed round now sized at $8m. RRE Ventures and Preface Ventures also took part in the extension, joining Streamlined Ventures, Colle Capital, Adit Ventures and Hyperplane, all of which invested in the round’s first tranche.
Centauri, the joint venture formed by telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia’s MDI Ventures unit and investment firm KB Investment, has co-led an $8m seed extension for Indonesia-based aquaculture technology developer Delos with VC fund Alpha JWC Ventures, Technode reported today. MDI Ventures and Finch Capital’s Arise vehicle also took part, as did Number Capital, iSeed SEA, Alto Partners, Mahanusa Capital, Kopi Kenangan and individuals including Irvan Kolonas and James Prananto.
Line Southeast Asia, a subsidiary of messaging app developer Line, has invested an amount reported by VentureCap Insights to be $8m in The Parent, the Philippines-based operator of online parenting community platform TheAsianparent, according to Tech in Asia.
Nocnoc, the Uruguay-based operator of an online platform which links international online merchants to local Latin American e-commerce marketplaces, secured $7m in a seed round co-led by Mouro Capital, the VC firm spun off by financial services firm Santander. VC firm Quona Capital led the round, which was also backed by online marketplace Olist, Caravela Capital, Broadhaven and angel investors Diego Dzodan and Flavio Dias.
Skyline Robotics, the US-based creator of high-rise window-cleaning robot Ozmo, closed a $6.5m pre-series A round yesterday featuring cleaning equipment maker Alfred Kärcher’s strategic investment arm, Karcher New Venture. The round was led by Skyline Standard Holdings and included Gefen Capital and undisclosed others.
CommerzVentures, the VC firm formed by financial services firm Commerzbank, co-led UK-based climate risk analysis provider Climate X’s £4.1m ($5.4m) seed round today with A/O PropTech. They were joined by professional services firm Deloitte, Voyagers Climate Tech Fund, Blue Impact Ventures and individuals including David Rowan, Kat Borlongan and Renaud Visage.
Telecoms firm KDDI’s Open Innovation Fund III and diversified trading group Itochu Corporation provided $5m in funding for Malaysia-headquartered online price comparison service iPrice Group yesterday. It followed $1.5m in funding from food delivery service Woowa Brothers in May 2021.
VC firm Headline Asia invested $5m in Taiwan Intelligent Life, a ride hailing subsidiary of Taiwan-based taxi service Taiwan Taxi, Taiwan News reported yesterday. The capital will be used to expand Taiwan Intelligent’s app into a range of diversified services.
US-headquartered blockchain game studio Block Tackle completed a $5m seed round yesterday featuring Coinbase Ventures and Solana Ventures – on behalf of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and blockchain technology producer Solana – as well as blockchain game developer Animoca Brands and Web3 technology provider Concept Art House. The round included Brevan Howard, House Fund, Hustle Fund and Pirata Ventures.
Blockchain game developer Animoca Brands and tech incubator Krust have co-led a $3.75m seed round for South Korea-based metaverse gaming startup KlayCity. Naver Z, a digital avatar subsidiary of internet group Naver, and OKX Blockdream Ventures – a vehicle for digital currency exchange OKX – also took part, as did internet group Kakao’s FriendsGames subsidiary, metaverse developer PlayDapp, Korean VC firm HG Ventures, A&T Capital, Genesis Block Ventures, Kyros Ventures, ROK Capital, StableNode and angel investors Eric Zoo and Kwon Do.
France-headquartered pharmaceutical intermediate producer Seqens received a ‘multi-million-dollar’ amount from investors including software consultancy Eximium on Monday. SK Capital, BPIfrance, Nov Santé, Mérieux Equity Partners and Ardian also participated in the round.
US-based data tracking software developer Applied XL secured $3.5m on Monday in a seed round led by media group Hearst through corporate venturing unit Hearst Ventures. Another media company, Boston Globe Media Partners, also contributed to the round along with online health media platform Stat, Alumni Ventures, DataPower Ventures, Tuesday Capital, Correlation Ventures and angel investors Scott Cohen, Robin Lingg, Michael Reitermann, Sandiip Bhammer, Christina Topsøe and Geoffrey Hoguet.
Electric vehicle producer Ola Electric provided an undisclosed amount of funding on Monday for StoreDot, an Israel-based producer of fast-charging battery technology. Storedot had raised $60m of a targeted $80m for its series D round as of January this year, from conglomerate Vingroup and oil and gas supplier BP – through VinFast and BP Ventures – in addition to Golden Energy Global Investment, at a $1.5bn valuation.
US-based recruitment technology startup Ramped raised $3.1m in seed financing yesterday from investors including Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, a corporate venturing vehicle for financial services firm Northwestern Mutual. The corporate invested alongside Hustle Fund, Workplay Ventures, Vastly Viable Ventures, Eudemian Ventures, ETF@JFFLabs, Graph Ventures and Operate VC.
UK-headquartered financial settlement application developer Fnality received an undisclosed amount of funding from settlement securities service Euroclear on Monday. It followed $63.2m in series A financing from corporates Nasdaq, Banco Santander, Barclays, Bank of New York Mellon, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, ING, KBC, Lloyds, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, State Street Corporation and UBS in 2019.
Ghana-based oncology research startup Yemaachi Biotech completed a $3m seed round on Monday featuring internet group Tencent. The round was led by V8 Capital and included LifeLine Family Heritage Fund, Y Combinator, LoftyInc Capital, VestedWorld, V Square Capital and angel investor Ethan Perlstein.
MetaDerby, the US-based creator of a free-to-earn horse racing and breeding game, closed a $2.5m seed round yesterday co-led by smart contract platform developer Blizzard Fund and blockchain investment fund Old Fashion Research. The round was also backed by mobile wallet developer Coins.ph, blockchain incubator and marketing services provider HTR Group, Avalaunch, Aventures DAO, Shima Capital, LD Capital, Keychain Capital, Magnus Capital, Hailstone Ventures, IndiGG, Dux Crypto and Metaverse Magna DAO.
Deutsche Börse, the financial exchange operator which runs the European Energy Exchange, invested an undisclosed amount in AirCarbon Exchange, the Singapore-headquartered owner of a voluntary carbon market, yesterday.
Japan-based back-office services provider Work Hero secured ¥140m ($1.2m) today in a seed round featuring Nissay Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance firm Nippon Life. The corporate was joined in the round by VC firms Coral Capital and East Ventures.
Japan-based autonomous driving-focused mapping technology developer Dynamic Map Platform raised an undisclosed amount of funding today from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ. The company’s most recent funding had come in November 2021.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu. Photo courtesy of Activ Surgical.
