Funding
AI
RO Capital Partners, real estate developer RO Group’s corporate venturing arm, led an £870,000 ($1m) round today for InferSens, a UK-based developer of artificial intelligence-equipped water monitoring technology. Oxford Innovation Fund and Bruce Melizan filled out the participants.
Agtech
Naspers Foundry, the early-stage investment arm of e-commerce and media group Naspers, has led an R83m ($5.1m) round for Nile, the South Africa-based operator of an online platform that helps match farmers with retailers. The unit provided $2.5m through the round while the remainder came from Platform Investment Partners, Raba Capital and Base Capital.
Battery
Automation technology manufacturer ABB, electric utilities Agder Energi and Arendals Fossekompani, hazardous waste treatment service Noah and industrial technology manufacturer Siemens took part in a €100m ($107m) round for Norway-based battery technology developer Morrow Batteries yesterday, the last two through Agder Energi Invest and Siemens Financial Services respectively. Investment firm Nysnø’s Climate Investments fund filled out the participants in the round.
JGC Mirai Innovation Fund, an investment vehicle formed by oil and gas engineering firm JGC Holdings Corporation and its JGC Japan Corporation subsidiary, invested an undisclosed amount in Enecoat Technologies, a Japan-based perovskite solar cell developer spun out of Kyoto University, today.
Natural gas distributor Nippon Gas, shipbuilder Imabari Shipbuilding, shipping group Nippon Yusen, diversified trading group Mitsui and electric ship manufacturer Bemac all took part in a ¥4.15bn ($32.4m) series A round for Japan-based electric vehicle battery developer PowerX today. JAL Innovation Fund, a vehicle for airline operator Japan Airlines, also invested in the round, as did financial services providers Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Mizuho Bank (through Mizuho Capital), Mizuho Leasing (through the newly formed Mirai Souzou Capital unit) and Tokyo Century. Spiral Capital filled out the round along with unnamed corporate and angel investors.
Blockchain and crypto
FTX Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, joined Liberty City Ventures to co-lead a $20m series B1 round for US-based hacker and web3 network platform DoraHacks last week. Circle Ventures, Crypto.com Capital and Gemini Frontier Fund – part of digital currency services providers Circle, Crypto.com and Gemini respectively – were also among the investors, as were crypto financial services provider Amber Group and Sky9 Capital.
Polygon Studios and Samsung Next, respective subsidiaries of video game information aggregator Polygon and electronics manufacturer Samsung, have participated in a $6.5m seed round for Saga at a $130m valuation that also featured blockchain protocol infrastructure developers Chorus One and Figment, decentralised cloud technology provider Akash Network, blockchain gaming technology developer C2X, crypto trading marketplace GSR and crypto financial services provider Merit Circle. The corporates were joined by Crit Ventures, Hustle Fund, Hypersphere, Longhash Ventures, Maven 11, NFR Ventures, Strangelove Ventures, Tess Ventures, Unanimous Capital and angel investors including Zaki Manian, Jae Kwon, Garrette Furo, Alex Shin, Nick Tomaino, Peter Kim and Bo Du.
Cryptocurrency technology providers Crypto.com, Huobi, KuCoin, Arweave, Harmony, Avatar, GSR Markets and Neo all took part in a multimillion-dollar round for Singapore-based web3 security system developer GoPlus Security last week. Crypto.com Capital, Huobi Incubator, KuCoin Ventures and Avalanche Asia Star Fund represented their respective namesakes, and the round also featured SevenX Ventures and Geekcartel.
Internet holding group Prosus took part in a C$2.9m ($2.3m) seed round for Haloo, the Canada-based developer of a web3-driven trademark search and application platform that was formerly known as Heirlume, last week. The W Fund co-led the round with The51 and it included Inovia Capital, Hashed VC, 2 Punks Capital and private investor Ethan Song.
Web3 payment platform developer Superfluid took part in a $2m seed round for Hexagon Wireless, a US-based crypto-focused wireless technology developer, last week. Hypersphere Ventures, Mechanism Capital and angel investors including Mahesh Ramakrishnan and Salvador Gala also participated in the round.
Consumer
Internet company Kaya provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Japan-based shopping centre operator Cainz Corporation today.
Fintech
Financial information provider The Motley Fool and mutual insurer Cuna Mutual took part in a $115m series C round for US-based automotive payment platform developer Caribou on Friday through respective subsidiaries Motley Fool Ventures and CMFG Ventures. Investment banking firm Goldman Sachs’ Asset Management unit led the round, which included Innovius Capital, Harmonic, Accomplice, Curql Fund, Firebolt Ventures, Gaingels and Moderne Ventures.
Foodtech
Food and beverage manufacturer Strauss Group contributed to a $15m extension to a seed round for Imagindairy, an Israel-based developer of animal-free milk protein, last week. Target Global led the round, which included Emerald Technology Ventures, Green Circle Foodtech Ventures, Collaborative Fund, New Climate Ventures and FoodSparks by PeakBridge. The $13m first close took place in November 2021 and the company’s overall funding now stands at $28m.
Healthtech
Insurance provider Allianz helped provide $20m in series B funding today for Homethrive, the US-based operator of a digital caregiving and health support platform. Human Capital led the round and was also joined by 7wireVentures and Pitango HealthTech.
Aflac Ventures, Norinchukin Innovation Fund and SMBC Venture Capital took part in a ¥1bn ($7.8m) series B round today for DoctorMate, the Japan-based owner of a medical consultation and on-call agency, today on behalf of insurer Aflac and financial services firms Norinchukin Bank and SMBC respectively. The round was also backed by Development Bank of Japan’s DBJ Capital subsidiary and Global Brain.
Insurtech
American Express Ventures, the strategic investment vehicle for payment services firm American Express, has provided $5m in funding for Trellis, the US-based operator of an online insurance comparison platform, TechCrunch reported last week.
Reinsurance group Munich Re has invested $6m in Brazil-based bespoke insurance services provider Azos, Sonho Seguro reported last week. The deal represents Munich Re’s first investment in Latin America.
Logistics
Shipping group Eastern Pacific Shipping was among the participants in a $4.4m seed round for Seabound, a UK-based developer of carbon capture equipment for marine vessels, TechCrunch reported on Friday. Lowercarbon Capital led the round, which counted contributions from Emles Venture Partners, Hawktail, Rebel Fund and Soma Capital.
Navigation
Software provider Microsoft’s M12 unit took part in Singapore-based mapping technology developer NextBillion.ai’s $21m series B round today. Mirae Asset Capital led the round and was also joined by Lightspeed India and Alpha Wave Global.
Metaverse
Internet technology firm NetEase was among the investors in Singapore-based metaverse technology developer Bud’s $36.8m series B round, TechCrunch reported today. Sequoia Capital India led the round, which included ClearVue Partners, Northern Light Venture Capital, GGV Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and Source Code Capital. The round took the startup’s overall funding to over $60m and followed a $15m extension to its series A funding in February this year that was led by Qiming Venture Partners and backed by Source Code Capital, GGV Capital and Sky9 Capital.
SaaS
IT services firm FPT Group has chipped into a $3.5m seed round for Vietnam-based sales and business collaboration software provider True Platform, TechNode reported today. January Capital led the round, which also featured Alpha JWC Ventures, Beenext and unnamed angel investors.
Accounting software provider Money Forward has led a ¥140m ($1.1m) round for Hackazouk, a Japan-based alumni business network operator, through Hirac Fund, which is operated by its Money Forward Venture Partners unit. It was joined by Seibu Shinkin Capital, Shizuoka Capital and Chugin Capital Partners, on behalf of financial services firms Seibu Shinkin Bank, Shizuoka Bank and Chugoku Bank, as well as two private investors.
Spacetech
Video game publisher MiHoYo and financial services firm China Minsheng Bank’s CMBC International Holdings unit participated in a RMB400m ($59.9m) series A round for China-based rocket launch technology developer Orienspace on Friday. Hike Capital led the round, also investing with Atlas Capital, FZ Capital, Oriza Seed, Sky Saga Capital, Vision Plus Capital, Pagoda Innovation and Tianfu Sanjiang Asset Management.
M&A
Banking technology developer MatchMove has paid $200m to acquire portfolio company Shopmatic, a Singapore-based e-commerce platform operator. MatchMove had invested in the company through a 2020 round of undisclosed size that increased its overall funding to over $14m.
Funds
Indonesia-based cryptocurrency exchange Tokocrypto teamed up with BRI Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of financial services firm Bank Rakyat Indonesia, last week to launch a startup accelerator dubbed Tokocrypto Sembrani Blockchain Accelerator, powered by TokoLabs.
Leasing services firm Mizuho Leasing formed a ¥3bn ($23.5m) corporate venturing arm called Mirai Souzou Capital (unofficial English translation: Future Creation Capital) in March this year, it said today. Mizuho Leasing is sponsoring the vehicle and is a general partner alongside Mizuho Capital, a corporate venturing fund belonging to financial services firm Mizuho Financial Group. The newly formed unit has already agreed to invest in Japan-based electricity storage and transmission technology developer PowerX.
