Funding
3D printing
Higashi-Nippon Bank Regional Corporate Revitalisation Fund, a joint vehicle for pipe materials and metal component producer Tokyo Kanzai, financial services firm Higashi-Nippon Bank and venture capital firm Future Venture Capital, provided ¥30m ($236,000) today for Japan-based fused filament fabrication-centric 3D printer developer Gutenberg.
Consumer
Internet technology conglomerate Alphabet’s GV unit took part in a $30m round for Gametime, a US-based last-minute event ticket platform, today. Nimble Partners led the round, investing alongside Maven Ventures, Accel, Palapa Ventures, Bolt Ventures, Tenere Capital, Blitzscaling Ventures, Next Play Capital, Alumni Ventures, University Growth Fund and private investors including Jeff Mallett.
Content
Record label Sony Music Entertainment was part of US-based royalty-free music provider Slip.stream’s $7.5m series A round, Music Business Worldwide reported yesterday. The round included Third Prime and Lightshed Ventures.
Computing
Cybersecurity group Paradyn invested €500,000 ($537,000) in Ireland-based ransomware and data protection technology provider Vault365, the Independent reported on Wednesday.
Digitalisation
Gradient Ventures, internet technology provider Google’s artificial intelligence fund, led a $4.4m seed round for OlaClick, a Colombia-headquartered, Latin America-focused restaurant digitalisation platform, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Social media and metaverse group Meta and food ordering platform Delivery Hero took part in the round, as did Tribe Capital, Caffeinated Capital and Graph Ventures.
Data
SAP.io, the corporate venturing arm of enterprise software producer SAP, participated in a $35m round today for Manta Expands, a US-based data lineage software provider. Forestay Capital led the round, which included Bessemer Venture Partners, Senovo, Credo Ventures, Dan Fougere and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Esports
Gaming-focused research company Eilers & Krejcik Gaming took part in a $2.5m seed round for SharpRank, a US-based data-driven sports betting rating service, Maryland Inno reported yesterday. Tedco, Sharp Alpha Advisors and Old Line Capital Partners filled out the participants.
Mobility
Foresight Williams Technology, the joint venture between engineering services provider Williams Advanced Engineering and private equity firm Foresight Group, led a £1.7m ($2.2m) super-seed round yesterday for Drisk, a UK-based autonomous vehicle testing service.
Funds
Sweden-based forestry management firm Södra formed a SEK200m ($20.3m) corporate venturing subsidiary called Södra Ädla. The fund will focus on developers of products and services related to forestry digitalisation that can foster small-scale forest ownership.
Financial services firm Credit Suisse’s Climate Innovation Fund was among the investors in UK-based venture capital firm Synthesis Capital’s $300m inaugural fund that will focus on food technology and alternative protein. Coller Capital, Nuveen, the Sainsbury family and Dynamic Loop Capital were also among the limited partners.
Sonae IM, a corporate venturing subsidiary of telecommunications firm Sonae, has rebranded to Bright Pixel Capital. The fund has €300m ($321.4m) under management and focuses on developers of retail, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity and other emerging technologies.
People
GM Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of automotive manufacturer General Motors, has hired Mark Mitchell as a partner. He held a similar role at venture capital fund Pennswood Capital and spent nearly five years at media marketplace Sonobi, most recently as an adviser. Mitchell has more than 15 years of experience in enterprise software-as-a-service technology investment, and he will focus on artificial intelligence, the internet of things, marketing and sales technology, digital health, human capital management and digital transformation deals.
Reverse merger
ECarX, a China-based smart automotive technology developer backed by corporate investors Geely, Baidu and Susquehanna International Group, is set to go public in a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company Cova Acquisition Corp. The deal is set to close in the fourth quarter of this year and the merged entity will have a $3.82bn pro forma equity value or pre-money equity value of $3.4bn.
