Funding
US-based human resources software producer Legion Technologies raised $50m in series C funding yesterday from investors including retail chain Dollar General. The round was led by growth equity firm Stripes and also featured existing backers Norwest Venture Partners, First Round Capital, XYZ Ventures and Webb Investment Network. The company has now secured $85.5m in total and the round followed a $22m series B in September 2020 featuring Dollar Chain, enterprise software provider Workday and mobile network operator NTT Docomo.
Zenlayer, a China-based edge cloud services provider that counts cybersecurity software producer NSFocus among its investors, secured $50m today in a series C round co-led by investment manager Anatole Investment and growth equity fund Prospect Avenue Capital, DealStreetAsia reported. The round included Volcanics Venture, which had joined Forebright Capital and F&G Venture in Zenlayer’s $28.4m series B round in 2019. NSFocus had taken part in the company’s $10m series A round, which was led by F&G Venture in 2017.
Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, a US-based company developing treatments for drug resistant infections, completed a $40.8m series B round yesterday that included medical care and research provider Mayo Clinic. The round was led by investment firm Deerfield Management and it followed a $7m round led by Mayo Clinic in August 2020 that took the company’s total debt and equity financing to about $17m. It had secured $7m from investors including Alexandria Venture Investments, part of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, in late 2019.
Enterprise software producer Salesforce took part in customer experience software provider Airkit’s $40m series B round yesterday through corporate venturing unit Salesforce Ventures. The round was led by EQT Ventures, a subsidiary of investment firm EQT, and it included Accel and Emergence Capital. It came after Salesforce Ventures, Accel and Emergence Capital provided $28m in series A funding for the company in October 2020.
Exeger, a Sweden-based solar cell technology provider backed by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank and energy utility Fortum, received $18m in equity funding yesterday from Ilija Batljan Invest, an investment vehicle for former politician Ilija Batljan, together with $20m in debt financing Swedbank and Swedish Export Credit Corporation. It had raised a total of $25.5m from the corporates as of a $10m investment by SoftBank in September 2019.
Pharmaceutical firm Novo led a €29m ($35.2m) series C round for Denmark-based synthetic silk biopolymer provider AMSilk yesterday through its Novo Growth vehicle. Agribusiness Cargill and financial holding company ER Capital Holdings also took part in the round, as did MIG Verwaltungs and Athos. The company had received $7.1m in series B funding from MIG and AT Newtec in 2011 and it also identified Athos as an existing investor.
Contractbook, the Denmark-headquartered creator of a contract management software platform, secured $30m in series B funding today from investors including internet technology provider Google’s artificial intelligence fund, Gradient Ventures. Hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management led the round, which also featured Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) and ByFounders. The company had received a total of at least $13.3m as of a $9.4m series A round in December 2020 that was led by BVP and backed by existing investor Gradient Ventures.
Credit reporting agency TransUnion has invested an undisclosed amount in Spring Labs, the US-based developer of a blockchain-equipped data sharing platform, as part of a series B round which TechCrunch reported yesterday is set to be $30m in size. Investment firm GreatPoint Ventures led Spring Labs’ $23m series A round in mid-2019, investing alongside carmaker General Motors’ GM Ventures unit, consumer finance provider Cardworks, Galaxy Digital, August Capital, RRE Ventures, Multicoin Capital and Pritzker Group to take its total funding to almost $38m.
Consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi has led a series B round for China-based social media marketing agency Mianchao Technology in the eight-figure dollar range, DealStreetAsia reported today. Raystone Capital also contributed to the round, and the company’s earlier backers include fellow investment firms DT Capital, Sinvo Group and Evershine Capital, according to DealStreetAsia.
UK-based cybersecurity monitoring software provider Panaseer raised $26.5m today in a series B round featuring National Grid Partners and Cisco Investments, subsidiaries of electricity supplier National Grid and networking technology producer Cisco respectively. The round was led by AllegisCyber Capital and included Evolution Equity Partners, Notion Capital, AlbionVC and Paladin Capital Group, all of which joined Cisco Investments and Winton Ventures in a $10m series A round in 2018. Panaseer said its total funding now stands at $43m.
UltraSight, the Israel-based cardiac imaging technology developer formerly known as OnSight Medical, completed a $13m series B round yesterday that included insurer Atain Specialty Insurance Company, venture capital fund Yozma Group Korea and Weizmann Institute of Science. The company had previously received $2m from Yozma Group Asia in March 2019.
UK-based digital healthcare technology developer Birdie has secured $11.5m in series A funding from investors including Kamet Ventures, the incubator arm of insurance group Axa, TechCrunch reported today. VC firm Index Ventures led the round, which came after Axa led a $9.8m round for the company in 2018 that was also described as a series A, bringing its funding to approximately $13.3m altogether.
ADM Ventures, the investment arm of agribusiness ADM, has co-led an $11m series A round for Remedy Health, the UK-based owner of vitamin gummy brand Nourished, with private equity firm ADM Capital Europe’s Cibus Fund at a valuation of over $71m, Forbes reported on Monday. The round came after the company raised ($2.6m) in a March 2020 seed round featuring HenkelX Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of chemicals producer Henkel, as well as private equity firm Apater Capital and unnamed angel investors.
Japan-based, art-focused blockchain platform developer Startbahn raised ¥1.12bn ($10.3m) today from broadcaster TBS’s Innovation Partners vehicle, real estate software producer Ops, Kyoto University’s Miyako Capital fund, University of Tokyo’s Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) unit, ISGS Investment Works and various individuals. UTEC invested over $900,000 in Startbahn in 2018 and joined marketing group Dentsu, SX Capital and angel investor Ryūtaro Katayama in a $2.8m round in March 2019. It added an undisclosed amount from SBI Investment, part of financial services group SBI, two months later.
Via, a US-based developer of privacy and analytics technology for the energy industry, completed a $10m series A round yesterday that was led by Westly Group and backed by fellow VC firm Prefix Capital. Energy utility Tokyo Electric Power had invested an undisclosed amount in Via in 2016 before Westly Group led its $7m seed round in June 2019.
DX Ventures, the VC firm backed by food delivery service Delivery Hero, supplied an undisclosed amount of seed funding for Germany-based cellular seafood startup Bluu Biosciences yesterday. The cash will be added to the €7m ($8.3m) Bluu had raised for the round from investors including Manta Ray Ventures, Norrsken VC, Be8, CPT Capital and Lever VC as of March this year.
The Public Health Company, a US-based provider of information on public health, launched last month with $8m in seed capital from investors including Verily, a healthcare subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet. The corporate was joined by VC firm Venrock and Sweat Equity Ventures, a ‘value accelerator’ which provides expertise in return for equity in startups.
Payment services firm Visa provided an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday for Remitly, a US-based, immigrant-focused financial services and remittance provider, in connection with the extension of an existing partnership agreement. PayU, the payment processing subsidiary of internet group Prosus, had led an $85m round for Remitly in July 2020 at a $1.5bn valuation, investing with Generation Investment Management, Owl Rock Capital, Stripes Group, DN Capital, Top Tier Capital Partners, Princeville Global and Threshold Ventures to boost its overall debt and equity financing to almost $520m.
Plunk, the US-based provider of a software platform that helps users increase the value of their homes, completed a $6.5m seed round yesterday featuring consumer electronics producer Sony’s Innovation Fund. VC firm Unlock Venture Partners led the round, which included National Association of Realtors’ investment vehicle, Second Century Ventures (SCV), as well as Plug and Play Ventures and Vectr Fintech Partners. Plunk, then known as Lamda, raised $1m from Unlock Venture Partners in July 2019 and had added $1m from unnamed investors by November 2020. It joined SCV’s 2021 Reach scale-up scheme last month.
Japan-based esports competition promoter JCG received ¥500m ($4.6m) yesterday from investors including real estate developer Mitsubishi Estate and T-Gaia Corporation, the mobile device services provider owned by conglomerate Sumitomo, as well as Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Mizuho Capital, on behalf of financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Bank. The round was led by DBJ Capital and also featured East Investment Capital’s CIP I fund and Nippon Venture Capital. JGC had prevoiusly raised $5.2m in January 2020 from unnamed international investors.
US-based tabletop gaming platform developer The Last Gameboard has secured $4m in seed capital from investors including video game producer Riot Games, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Venture accelerator TheVentureCity led the round, which also featured SOSV, Conscience VC, Corner3 VC and undisclosed others.
Logikura, a Japan-based developer of cloud inventory management software, raised ¥360m ($3.3m) in debt and equity financing yesterday from digital media group Gree’s Strive fund and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital, a subsidiary of insurance firm Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance. It had received more than $450,000 from internet company Digital Garage’s DG Incubation unit, F Ventures and Genesia Ventures across 2016 and 2017 before adding $1.1m from industrial manufacturer Orient Corporation and Monex Ventures, the VC arm of financial exchange operator Monex, in addition to Genesia Ventures and SG Incubate, in January 2020.
HashMix, the Singapore-based creator of a decentralised marketplace for crypto mining capacity, has received $3m from investors including HashKey, the blockchain investment fund affiliated with automotive component producer Wanxiang, e227 reported yesterday. Kenetic Capital, GBV Capital, FBG Capital, LongHash Ventures, Continue Capital, SevenX Ventures and Fenbushi Capital also took part in the round along with undisclosed others.
Asset manager Sparx Group’s Mirai Creation Fund 2 invested an undisclosed amount in Bitkey, a Japan-headquartered key technology developer backed by a range of corporate investors, today. The company had closed a $31.4m series A round in December 2019 that included locker services provider Fulltime System, user interface designer Goodpatch, and real estate developers Hankyu Hanshin Properties and Mitsui Fudosan to take its overall funding to almost $46m.
Student financial services provider Nelnet led a $1.7m funding round yesterday for Maptician, the US-based creator of an occupancy management software platform. It was joined by Bryson Koehler, the chief technology officer of credit ratings provider Equifax, as well as Invest Nebraska and Nebraska Angels. The capital will be allocated to platform development.
Japan-based virtual communication software developer OVice secured ¥150m ($1.4m) yesterday in a pre-series A round that included internet company Digital Garage’s DG Ventures unit and VC firms One Capital and Miraise, all of which were identified as existing investors. The company had already graduated from the 21st batch of DG Ventures’ Open Network Lab accelerator.
Electronics manufacturer Kaga Electronics invested an undisclosed amount in Japan Cloud Capital, the Japan-based operator of equity crowdfunding platform Fundinno, today. Fundinno raised an undisclosed amount from packaging technology provider Kikuchi Seisakusho in February this year, five months after consulting firms IR Robotics and NLinks, automotive component producer Sanoh Industrial, Ikemori Venture Support, Koshidaka, FinTech Global and Logly Investment supplied $8m to take its total funding to more than $11.7m.
Migränhjälpen, the Sweden-based developer of a digital health app focusing on migraines, has closed a SEK10m ($1.2m) funding round featuring health marketing agency Add Health Media and the state-owned Almi Invest, Nordic 9 reported yesterday. The capital was raised at a $5.4m post-money valuation and followed $660,000 in a March 2020 round that included both investors.
Lottery product operator Zeal Network led a £500,000 ($700,000) seed round for DayMade, the UK-based creator of a travel and lifestyle-focused prize game, yesterday through strategic investment vehicle Zeal Ventures. The round valued DayMade at $7m and came after Zeal provided an undisclosed amount for the startup in December 2019. Its stake now stands at almost 36%.
Digital media company Impress Holdings supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Japan-based radio broadcaster InterFM897 today. The investment is intended to broaden the interests of Impress as it looks to build a diversified portfolio of content and online communities across print publishing, radio and the internet.
Marine oil and gas technology producer Otaq provided $300,000 for Blue Lion Labs, a Canada-based developer of water quality monitoring software, yesterday, in return for a 10% stake. Blue Lion had previously received $23,000 in seed capital and $8,000 of business support services in January 2020 through its participation in Accelerator Centre’s AC JumpStart initiative.
Enterprise application producer Appitsimple has invested $200,000 in Enthu.ai, an India-based developer of sales agent assessment software, alongside the corporate’s founder, Ankit Dudhwewala, YourStory reported today. Enthu said it will use the funding to expand the size of its team to 20.
Mobile game developer Nazara Technologies has sold part of its stake in India-based daily fantasy sports operator HalaPay to private investor Milan Ganatra, TechCircle reported on Monday. Nazara and Kae Capital had paid an undisclosed amount for a joint stake in HalaPay sized at 32% in 2017, before the company raised $5.8m from Nazara and casino operator Delta Corp in early 2019 at a reported valuation between $15m and $20m.
M&A
Networking technology provider Cisco agreed yesterday to acquire Sedona Systems, an Israel-based developer of network data management software, for a price reported by Calcalist to be $100m, allowing semiconductor and data technology producer Intel to exit. Intel subsidiary Intel Capital had joined NexStar Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) in Sedona’s $13.6m series B round in 2016, two years after it received an undisclosed amount of funding from BVP.
Artificial intelligence software producer DataRobot revealed yesterday it has purchased Zepl, a US-based scientific collaboration software developer backed by telecoms and internet group SoftBank, for an undisclosed amount. SoftBank Ventures Asia, the unit then known as SoftBank Ventures Korea, supplied $5m for Zepl in 2018 following a total of $5.6m from Big Basin Capital, Bon Angels, Coolidge Corner Investment, Vertex Ventures, Translink Capital and Specialized Types across two earlier rounds.
Financial services firm National Australia Bank is set to exit Australia-based medical payment platform developer Medipass Solutions in a A$22.5m ($17.6m) acquisition by business banking services firm Tyro, Australian Financial Review reported on Monday. The bank’s strategic investment arm, NAB Ventures, had formed Medipass with location-tracking platform developer Localz in 2017 with an undisclosed amount of funding.
Food protection technology producer Apeel paid an undisclosed sum yesterday to buy US-based hyperspectral imaging technology developer ImpactVision, allowing shipping firm Maersk and media, data and investment firm AgFunder to exit. Maersk led a $1.3m round for the company in 2018 that included AgFunder, Acre Venture Partners – then the investment vehicle for packaged food producer Campbell Soup – Yield Lab and Xandex Ventures, increasing its overall funding to $2.9m. Acre Venture Partners had already led a $1.3m round for the company in 2017.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
