Artificial intelligence and machine learning
Intel Capital, a subsidiary of semiconductor technology group Intel, co-led a $12m series A round yesterday for OtterTune, a US-based database optimisation startup using the technology developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers. Race Capital also co-led the round, which included Accel. Accel had led a $2.5m seed round for the company in May 2021.
GV, a corporate venturing arm of internet technology group Alphabet, led a $4.5m pre-seed round for Graft, a US-based artificial intelligence technology developer, as the latter emerged from stealth. NEA, Essence VC, Formulate Ventures and SV Angel filled out the participants of the round.
Energy and ESG
Conglomerate Doosan Corporation and its HyAxiom affiliate co-led a $14.5m series A round yesterday for Versogen, a US-based electrolyzer technology developer. Chemicals group Chemours and TechEnergy Ventures, a corporate VC subsidiary of oil and gas supplier Tecpetrol, were also among the investors.
Yara Growth Ventures, Shell Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and Sintef Venture, respective subsidiaries of agricultural fertiliser producer Yara International, oil and gas suppliers Shell and Saudi Aramco as well as research organisation Sintef, all joined VC firm AP Ventures to provide NOK170m ($17.4m) yesterday for Hydrogen Mem-Tech, a Norway-based carbon capture technology developer.
Diversified conglomerate Toshiba has invested in Reactive Technologies, a UK-based provider of energy grid management software, the corporate announced today. The company had raised a similarly undisclosed sum in late 2020 from consulting firm Accenture.
Fintech
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Saison Ventures, respective vehicles for financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ and Credit Saison, have joined lead investors DST Global Partners and World of Innovation Lab as well as Arena Holdings, Tybourne Capital Management, Anri and Global Brain to back a ¥15bn ($115m) series C round for Upsider, a Japan-based corporate credit card provider.
Gradient Ventures, a vehicle for internet technology group Alphabet’s Google subsidiary, US-based, Latin America-focused fintech API developer, led a $4.2m seed round on Monday for US-based customisable investment API developer Mentum, investing together with Global Founders Capital, TwentyTwo VC, Soma Capital, Y Combinator and co-founders of Plaid and Jeeves. The company was included in Y Combinator’s September 2021 batch.
Healthcare and veterinary care
GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet technology group Alphabet, co-led a $147.5m series B round on Monday for Aspen Neuroscience, a US-based personalised cell therapy developer. Lyfe Capital and Revelation Partners also co-led the round, participating with investors including Newton Investment Management, Singapore-based global investor EDBI, LifeForce Capital, Medical Excellence Capital Partners, Mirae Asset Capital and NS Investment.
Pharmaceutical firm Novo Holdings, internet technology group Alphabet and investment and financial services group Fidelity co-led a $60.5m series B round yesterday for Invetx, a US-based veterinary therapeutics developer. GV represented Alphabet in the round while Fidelity invested through its Eight Roads and F-Prime Capital subsidiaries. Anterra Capital, Casdin Capital and funds managed by Tekla Capital Management filled out the participants in the round.
Kirin Health Innovation Fund, a CVC subsidiary co-founded between brewery Kirin Holdings and VC firm Global Brain, backed Craif, a Japan-based urinary microRNA measurement system developer spun out of Nagoya University, in March this year, Kirin said yesterday. The company had secured a similarly undisclosed sum in November 2021 in series B funding from backers including internet group MTG and insurers Aflac and Tokio Marine Nichido, with the first two investing through their Aflac Ventures and MTG Ventures units respectively. Aflac Ventures had joined property developer Mori Trust to back a series A round of undisclosed size the previous year for the company, then known as Icaria.
Hospitality and leisure
E-commerce firm Beenos joined Hakuhodo DY Ventures, part of marketing group Hakuhodo DY, and an unnamed CVC fund run by property developer Tokyu Real Estate Holdings to back a ¥1bn ($7.7m) series C round today for Metro Engines, a Japan-based creator of a hospitality digitisation platform dubbed Monthly Hotel, taking its overall funding to ¥2.1bn ($16.1m). Metro Engines last raised funding in a 2020 $4.7m round.
Broadcaster Ryukyu Broadcasting Corporation and Yoichi Aso backed a round of undisclosed size today for Urakata, a Japan-based camping equipment sharing service.
Human resources
Talent management platform True Search provided $6m in seed funding through a Safe (simple agreement for future equity) note for its AboveBoard, a US-based equity and diversity-driven executive staffing service that True had incubated, taking the company’s funding to $9m in total. True Search had already participated in AboveBoard’s $3m seed round in July 2021, investing alongside Angeles Investors, Commune Angels, Jennifer Ceran, Jonathan Mildenhall, Nick Caldwell, Bonita Stewart, Farah Ali and Amy Chang.
LED display
Sabic Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of chemicals producer Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, has taken part in a $30m round for Azumo, the US-based display technology developer previously known as Flex Lighting. Anzu Partners led the round, participating together with VectoIQ, Dipalo Ventures and Energy Foundry.
Logistics, mobility and retail
Intel Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of chipmaker Intel, chipped into a $67m series C round today for Nexite, an Israel-based in-store retail data platform operator. Pitango Growth and Saban Ventures co-led the round featuring Battery Ventures, Pitango First and Vertex Ventures, taking the company’s overall funding to $100m.
EnBW New Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of energy utility EnBW, took part in a €16.5m ($17.4m) round – composed of €10m in equity and€6.5m in debt – yesterday for GetHenry, a Germany-based last-mile delivery mobility provider. VC firm LocalGlobe led the round, which included Visionaries Club, Founder Collective, GreenPoint Partners, SpeedUp Ventures and Third Sphere, in addition to angel investors including Fredrik Hjelm, Roger Hassan and Jan Dzulko.
Equity crowdfunding platform operator OurCrowd has contributed to an $11m series A round for Oriient, an Israel-based indoor navigation technology developer, joining Regal Four, F2 VC, NGN Partners and Future Energy Ventures. Oriient had last raised funding in a $4m seed round in 2019 from investors including Innogy Innovation Hub, the VC firm and accelerator sponsored by energy utility Innogy.
Digital payment processor Fawry backed a $9.6m round today for Mylerz, an Egypt-based e-commerce last-mile delivery service provider. The round was led by private equity firm Lorax Capital Partners.
Coconala Skill Partners and Logistics Innovation Fund, vehicles for recruitment marketplace Coconala and logistics group Seino Holdings respectively, have joined 90s to provide ¥350m ($2.7m) for Azit, the Japan-based owner of last-mile delivery platform Crew Express.
Mobile security
Non-profit industry association Automobile Association of South Africa paid an undisclosed amount yesterday and acquired a 30% stake in South Africa-based mobile security service Casi (short for Calling All Stations Immediately).
M&A
Enterprise software provider Salesforce agreed yesterday to pay an undisclosed amount to buy Troops.ai, a US-based sales-focused data retrieval service backed by Slack Fund, a vehicle for Slack, the business communication platform that had been acquired by Salesforce in late 2020. Troops will be integrated into Slack when the transaction completes in the second quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory conditions.
Funds
Canada-based blockchain technology platform Flow, a Web3 platform formed a $725m vehicle yesterday to support entrepreneurs working on Web3-driven apps, games and digital assets.
Australia-based grain storer GrainCorp has formed a $30m corporate venturing arm called GrainCorp Ventures to invest in agricultural technology developers, the company’s managing director and CEO Robert Spurway said today. The fund’s areas of focus will include analytics and optimisation, smart supply chains, biotechnology and sustainability and circular economy, he added.
India-based cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has set aside Rs 1bn ($13m) to invest in startups through its corporate venture capital subsidiary, CoinDCX Ventures, the Economic Times reported yesterday. CoinDCX has already backed seven companies across investment infrastructure, investment products, infrastructure layer development, developer tools and web3 apps, in companies including virtual and augmented reality technology developer Liminal, decentralised mobile notification protocol creator Ethereum Push Notification Service and Spheron, which has built a website decentralisation tool. Rohit Jain, formerly a partner at growth-stage vehicle Fundamentum, is set to lead CoinDCX Ventures as managing director.
Insurers Matmut and UMR, publishers Bayard, Hachette Livre and Les Éditions Francis Lefebvre, as well as financial services firms Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and BNP Paribas (through its BNP Paribas Innovation unit) have all committed to France-based VC firm Educapital’s second fund, Educapital 2, TechCrunch reported yesterday. The vehicle reached a €100m ($105m) initial close in March this year and is on its way to a €150m ceiling. The LPs were filled out by Association Fonds Revital’Emploi, Education for the Many and the Jacobs Foundation. Hachette Livre, Bayard, Education for the Many were identified as returning investors.
Fidelity Investment Canada, a regional subsidiary of investment and financial services firm Fidelity, took part in a $95m series C round for Vention, a Canada-based digital manufacturing automation tool provider. The round was led by Georgian and was joined by White Star Capital, Bain Capital Ventures and Bolt Ventures.
Allegion Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of security equipment producer Allegion, has participated in a $35m series B round for Mohari Hospitality, the US-based owner of services accommodation platform Mint House. Mohari founder Mark Scheinberg led the round, investing together with Revolution Ventures and Ingleside Investors.
