Funding
US-headquartered banking software provider Zeta has received $30m in funding from investors including payment services firm Mastercard at a $1.5bn valuation, it disclosed today. The capital will be added to the $240m the company raised from investors including telecoms and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 in May 2021, and Zeta founder and CEO Bhavin Turakhia told VCCircle the $30m was secured the same month.
Staq Pharma, the US-based operator of a medication development outsourcing facility, has completed a series C round of undisclosed size co-led by healthcare providers including Froedtert Health, UNC Health, LCMC Health and University Hospitals. The round also featured fellow care providers Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in addition to Rev1 Ventures. A December 2021 securities filing showed Staq had raised $30.3m of a planned $60m.
Brazil-based food procurement software developer Cayena has secured $17.5m in series A funding from investors including Femsa Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of beverage bottler Femsa, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Venture capital fund Vine Ventures led the round, which was also backed by MSA Capital, Picus Capital, Canaan Partners, Clocktower Ventures, FJ Labs, Gilgamesh Ventures, Astella Investimentos, Endeavor and GraoVC.
Engineering and construction group Hassan Allam Holding co-led Egypt-headquartered trucking services marketplace Naqla’s $10.5m pre-series A round yesterday. The round was co-led with El Sewedy Capital Holding and the Sallam Family.
US-headquartered augmented reality game developer Tiny Rebel Games completed a $7m funding round yesterday featuring blockchain entertainment product developers Animoca Brands and Dapper Labs, trading firm Capital Markets Trading’s CMT Digital subsidiary and toy producer Spin Master. The round was led by Fabric Ventures and included Sfermion, Skyvision Capital, Fenbushi Capital, a41 Ventures, Fourth Revolution Capital, Double Peak, Pirata Capital Management, 6th Man Ventures, Ready Player DAO, Triangle Capital, Sterling Capital and 1Up Ventures.
UK-based Web3 data software startup BlockVision.org secured $5m in seed capital from investors including ViaBTC Capital, the corporate venturing arm of cryptocurrency miner ViaBTC, yesterday. The round was co-led by Shima Capital, Synergis Capital and Qiming Venture Partners and also featured 6th Man Ventures and Collab+Currency.
Foresight Williams Technology, the joint venture formed by engineering services provider Williams Advanced Engineering and private equity firm Foresight Group, led a £2.58m ($3.4m) seed round yesterday for Zero Point Motion, a UK-based developer of photonic inertial sensor chips. Chipmaker U‑blox also contributed to the round, as did Verve Ventures. Chris Wiles, a senior investment manager at Foresight Williams, is joining the company’s board of directors along with Tony Milbourn, vice-president of corporate strategy at U-blox.
Deliq Finance, the Singapore-based developer of a liquidity provisioning protocol for the Avalanche blockchain, closed $2.1m in funding from investors including Bixin Ventures – part of cryptocurrency exchange Bixin – as well as decentralised exchange creator Polkastarter, crypto exchange Hotbit’s HotDao vehicle and Web3 investment data provider Cryptodiffer. They were joined by Shima Capital, LD Capital, Ghaf Capital Partners, Colony Lab, 7 O’clock Capital, Extra Watts, DCI Capital, Green Horns Capital, ZBS Capital, Gains Associates, Damo Labs, AVStar Capital, GTA Ventures, VRM Ventures and angel investors Top7 and Cryptofomo.
Polygon Studios, the non-fungible token and gaming subsidiary of blockchain developer Polygon, took part in a seed round of undisclosed size today for Ikonz, the India-based operator of a metaverse platform designed to help users build their wealth. VC firm Village Global and technology investment firm Woodstock co-led the round.
Kickflow, a Japan-based developer of enterprise workflow management software, received an undisclosed amount of funding from IT services firm Hennge today. The company said it had last raised funding in October 2021.
China-based in-car chip developer AI Micron has secured approximately RMB210,000 ($33,000) from Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Investment Fund, a vehicle for consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi, Pandaily reported yesterday, citing a regulatory filing.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
