Funding
Propel, a US-based provider of financial services targeted at low-income families, has secured $50m in a series B round that included financial services group JPMorgan Chase and Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of enterprise software producer Salesforce, Forbes reported yesterday. Nyca Partners led the round, which was also backed by fellow venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank led a $40m series B round for Glorify, the US-based creator of a social prayer app, through its Latin America Fund yesterday. The round came three months after Andreessen Horowitz led a $40m series A valuing Glorify at $250m, investing alongside SoftBank Latin America Fund, K5 Global and individuals including Kris Jenner, Corey Gamble, Michael Ovitz, Michael Bublé and Jason Derulo.
Creyon Bio, a US-headquartered developer of oligonucleotide-based therapeutics, emerged from stealth yesterday having collected a total of $40m from investors including Alexandria Venture Investments, the VC arm of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, across seed and series A rounds. DCVC Bio and Lux Capital led the rounds while Casdin Capital and BioBrit also invested.
US-based musculoskeletal infection drug developer Osteal Therapeutics raised $30m yesterday in a series B round featuring medical product group Johnson and Johnson’s strategic investment vehicle, Johnson and Johnson Development Corporation. The round was led by HM Capital and included Medvest Capital.
Oil and gas provider Chevron has led a funding round of undisclosed size for Australia-headquartered quantum cybersecurity technology producer QuintessenceLabs through corporate venturing subsidiary Chevron Technology Ventures. The deal was disclosed yesterday and it followed an $18.8m series B round co-led by Telus Ventures – the corporate VC arm of telecoms firm Telus – and Main Sequence that QuintessenceLabs said this week closed in September.
Wildflower Health, the US-based operator of a digital health service aimed at women, completed a $26m financing round yesterday that included Echo Health Ventures, the VC firm co-founded by healthcare provider Cambia Health Solutions. The round was led by TT Capital Partners and also backed by Providence Ventures, Health Enterprise Partners and Hatteras Venture Partners.
Brazil-based group buying service Trela secured $25m yesterday in a series A round led by internet and telecoms group SoftBank’s Latin America Fund, TechCrunch reported. Kaszek, General Catalyst, Y Combinator and angel investor Pierpaolo Barbieri also contributed to the round, disclosed as the startup rebranded from Zapt.
China-headquartered social metaverse platform developer Oasis has closed a series B round featuring media group Bertelsmann’s BAI Capital vehicle and sized in the tens of millions of dollars range, Pandaily reported on Monday. VC firm 5Y Capital led the round, which was also backed by Vitalbridge.
Cimet, the Australia-based operator of an online platform allowing customers to compare consumer products and services, received A$26.6m ($19.3m) in funding yesterday from iSelect, an online insurance and utilities comparison service. It will use the cash to expand its service to additional products, and to grow internationally.
Healthcare provider Intermountain, insurance broker NFP and chemical and pharmaceutical producer Bayer took part in a $16m series A round for Vivante Health, the US-based developer of a gut health management app, through subsidiaries Intermountain Ventures, NFP Ventures and Leaps by Bayer yesterday. VC fund 7wireVentures led the round, which also featured Human Capital, SemperVirens, Elements Health Ventures, FCA Venture Partners, Lifeforce Capital and Big Pi Ventures.
All-remote video game developer Lightforge Games completed a $15m series A round yesterday featuring internet company NetEase and video game publisher Dreamhaven. The round was led by Bitkraft Ventures and also backed by brand consultancy RTS and its co-founder, Imane “Pokimane” Anys, as well as Galaxy Interactive, Dune Ventures, 1Up Ventures and more than 50 angel investors.
Conglomerate KT Group contributed to US-headquartered digital marketing software provider Adriel’s $13m series B round yesterday through its KT Investment subsidiary. The round was led by Shinhan Venture Investment and also featured LB Investment and Quantum Ventures Investment.
WalletConnect, a US-based developer of software which uses QR codes to connect cryptocurrency wallets to decentralised applications, secured $11m yesterday in a series A round that included digital currency exchange Coinbase’s investment arm, Coinbase Ventures, and Zerion, a provider of crypto portfolio management software. The round was co-led by Union Square Ventures and 1kx and also backed by Semantic Ventures and individuals including Alex Svanevik, Eric Conner, Arjun Bhuptani, Viktor Bunin, Mara Schmiedt, Anna Rose and Ajit Tripathi.
US-based accounts payable software provider Glean AI emerged from stealth yesterday with $10.8m in seed and pre-seed funding from investors including American Express Ventures, the corporate VC arm of payment services firm American Express. Its other backers include Contour Venture Partners, Infinity Ventures, B Capital, Portage Ventures, Parameter Ventures, Gilgamesh Ventures and undisclosed funds and angel investors.
Serve Robotics, a US-based autonomous delivery robot developer spun off by on-demand ride provider Uber, is raising $10m from graphics chip producer Nvidia, TechCrunch reported yesterday. The capital will help the startup move to cities outside its current markets of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Biotech startup services provider Alloy Therapeutics led US-based peptide manufacturing technology developer Mytide Therapeutics’ $7m series A round yesterday. Uncommon Denominator also took part in the round along with Mytide’s founding team.
Video game publisher Smilegate provided $3.5m in seed funding for video game developer Postcard Game Studio yesterday. The South Korea-headquartered corporate’s only other US-based portfolio company is That’s No Moon Entertainment, a video game studio in which it invested over $100m in July 2021.
Spark plug manufacturer NGK Spark Plug invested an undisclosed sum in Japan-based flying car developer Air Mobility today. The cash will support work on the technology, which the company expects to begin deploying in mountainous terrain in by the 2030s.
M&A
Digital payment technology producer PPRO paid an undisclosed amount to buy Australia-headquartered payment technology and e-commerce services provider Alpha Fintech yesterday, allowing financial services firm Wells Fargo to exit. The bank’s Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator had invested an undisclosed sum in Alpha in 2016 at a $100m valuation.
Funds
France-headquartered venture capital firm Kurma Partners reached a €160m ($175m) first close of its Growth Opportunities fund yesterday with backing from mutual insurer Groupe Pasteur Mutualité. The fund is anchored by Eurazeo and its limited partners also include European Investment Fund, BPIfrance, the Belgian Growth Fund and SFPI-FPIM.
Nutritional enhancement product maker Xiamen Kingdomway has agreed to provide RMB30m ($4.7m) for China-based VC firm ZWC Partners’ latest renminbi-denominated fund, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday, citing a regulatory filing. The vehicle, which has a RMB1.5bn target for its final close, had secured approximately $15.8m from outdoor advertising firm Focus Media earlier this year.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
