Funding
China-based cancer drug developer BH Med has completed a RMB500m ($78m) series C round featuring Lilly Asia Ventures, an investment vehicle for pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, and Legend Capital, the venture capital firm formed by conglomerate Legend Holdings, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday. Private equity firm Yunfeng Capital led the round, which included Temasek, 3H Health Investment, Citic Private Equity, Qiming Venture Partners, TF Capital and GL Ventures. It has now raised about $125m according to DealStreetAsia, which named Legend Capital, TF Capital and GL Ventures as existing backers. It closed its series B round in November 2020.
US-headquartered online gifting platform developer Snappy closed a $70m series C round on Wednesday that was led by VC firm GGV Capital and backed by Hearst Ventures, a subsidiary of media group Hearst, as well as 83North and Saban Ventures. The company had previously raised $10m from Hearst Ventures and 83North in 2018 but said it has secured over $100m altogether, also naming Saban Ventures as an existing investor.
Pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec has led a $65m funding round for China-based robotics technology developer MegaRobo, DealStreetAsia reported today. Industrial technology producer Robert Bosch’s investment arm, Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), also took part in the round, as did industrial park operator Liando U Valley, Matrix Partners China, Sinovation Ventures, Future Capital and Joy Capital. The company closed a $30m series B round led by Sinovation Ventures and backed by RBVC, Liando U Valley and Joy Capital in November 2020.
US-based genetic sequencing platform developer Clear Labs received $60m on Wednesday in a series C round featuring food producer Dafgard and GV, a subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet. The round was co-led by Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global subsidiary with funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price. It included Redmile Group, Menlo Ventures, Wing Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Felicis Ventures and HBM Genomics. Clear Labs had raised a total of $62m as of May 2020 when it secured $18m from GV and Tyson Ventures – part of meat processor Tyson Foods – as well as Redmile Group, Wing VC, Menlo Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Felicis Ventures and HBM Genomics.
Conglomerate Mitsui and International Finance Corporation, the private investment arm of the World Bank, have provided $60m for MiCare HealthTech Holdings, a medical claims processing subsidiary of healthcare services provider Zuellig Pharma, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. IFC had disclosed in December 2020 it was set to invest $30m in the company.
Medical device maker MicroPort led a $50m series D round for Israel-based neurovascular device developer Rapid Medical on Tuesday that also featured Citic PE, Deep Insight and unnamed existing investors. It had disclosed a total of $29m in funding as of a $20m series C in April 2019 co-led by MicroPort and Jam Capital Partners and backed by RocSon Medtech Fund and Agate JT.
Uptycs, the US-based creator of a cybersecurity analytics software platform, received $50m on Wednesday in a series C round led by VC firm Norwest Venture Partners that included ServiceNow Ventures, the investment arm of enterprise software producer ServiceNow, as well as Sapphire Ventures. The company has now raised $93m altogether, $30m coming in a series B round led by Sapphire Ventures and backed by mass media group Comcast’s corporate VC unit, Comcast Ventures, in addition to ForgePoint Capital, in June 2020.
LifeQ, a US-based provider of health data sourced from wearable devices, disclosed $47m in funding on Wednesday, from investors including chipmaker Analog Devices, reinsurance firm Hannover Re and conglomerate Virgin Group. The corporates joined financial services firm Nedbank Corporate and Investment Bank, Invenfin, 4Di Capital, Allectus Capital, Mogul Capital, Tenhong Holdings, Convergence Partners, Stellar Capital Partners, Delos, OneBio Seed Investment Fund, Lireas, Allen & Co, Acequia Capital, Halls Investments, Bremer Investments, Dietco and private investors Errol Damelin and Rachel Diamond.
VC firm IVP led a $45m series C round on Wednesday for Hello Heart, the Israel-based digital cardiovascular therapeutics developer that counts automotive component producer Wanxiang as an investor. Khosla Ventures, BlueRun Ventures, Maven Ventures and Resolute Ventures also contributed to the round having previously supplied $12m in a mid-2019 series B round that took the company’s total funding to over $22m. Wanxiang’s Healthcare Investments subsidiary had joined BlueRun Ventures in a $9m round in 2018.
Haimayun, a China-based provider of cloud services for the gaming industry, has received RMB280m ($44m) in financing from investors including cloud services firm UCloud and Migu Culture and Technology, part of mobile network operator China Mobile Communications, DealStreetAsia reported today. It is the seventh round to be closed by the company according to DealStreetAsia, which named energy tracking technology producer EleFirst Science & Technology, GoldTech Capital, CDF Capital and Hardy Farm Venture as earlier investors.
Pharmaceutical firm Amgen’s investment arm, Amgen Ventures, joined VC firm Vensana Capital and an unnamed healthcare investor yesterday to add $18m to a funding round for US-based cell processing technology developer GPB Scientific that now totals $43.5m. The company raised the first $25.5m from Amgen Ventures, Vensana Capital and undisclosed existing investors in April 2020, and it came in the wake of $3.8m in equity funding and $2.4m in debt financing between 2014 and 2019.
Engine Biosciences, a US-based developer of genetic therapeutics, closed a $43m series A round on Wednesday featuring Baidu Ventures, a subsidiary of internet group Baidu, as well as pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec and the healthcare investment firm it backs, 6 Dimensions Capital. The round was led by Polaris Partners and included Invus, DHVC, EDBI, Vectr Ventures, Goodman Capital, WI Harper and Nest.Bio. It followed a $10m seed round in 2018 backed by WuXi AppTec, Baidu Ventures and 6 Dimensions Capital among others.
US-based air-core motor developer Infinitum Electric raised $40m on Tuesday in a series C round that included Chevron Technology Ventures, the strategic investment arm of oil and gas supplier Chevron. The round was led by Energy Innovation Capital and also featured Cottonwood Technology Fund and Ajax Strategies, both of which had joined Chevron Technology Ventures in a $12.5m series B round in late 2019 that increased Infinitum Electric’s overall funding to $15.2m.
Talos, a US-based producer of digital asset trading technology, secured $40m in series A funding yesterday from investors including PayPal Ventures, the corporate VC arm of digital payment processor PayPal. VC firm Andreessen Horowitz led the round, which was also backed by investment and financial services group Fidelity, Illuminate Financial, Galaxy Digital, Elefund and Steadfast Venture Capital as well as existing backers Castle Island Ventures, Notation Capital, Autonomous Partners and Initialized Capital. Those four joined Coinbase Ventures, a subsidiary of crypto exchange operator Coinbase, in a seed round of undisclosed size for Talos disclosed when it emerged from stealth in October 2020.
Canada-based, digital asset-focused savings and lending platform developer Ledn received $30m in series A funding on Wednesday from investors including Coinbase Ventures and CMT Digital, respective subsidiaries of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading firm CMT Group. The round was led by Kingsway Capital and it valued Ledn at $230m, the company told The Block. It also featured Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, Hashed, ParaFi Capital, White Star Capital’s Digital Asset Fund and Global Founders Capital, and it came in the wake of a $2.7m Coinbase and CMT-backed seed round in February this year.
US-based autonomous flight technology developer Merlin Labs emerged from stealth on Wednesday with $25m from internet and technology group Alphabet’s GV subsidiary and VC firm First Round Capital. The company announced the funding in tandem with a partnership agreement with private aircraft fleet operator Dynamic Aviation.
Enlightened Hospitality Investments, the growth equity affiliate of restaurant operator Union Square Hospitality Group, led a $21.5m series B round on Tuesday for 7shifts, the Canada-based creator of a staff management software platform for restaurants. The round included credit union Conexus’s VC arm, Conexus Venture Capital, as well as Ten Coves Capital and Relay Ventures, all three having backed a series A that closed at $15.7m in October 2019. The company had raised $3.6m from Tandem Capital and Relay Ventures in 2017 following $920,000 in seed funding from Relay Ventures, Globalive Capital, Boost VC and Tim Draper the previous year.
US-based personalised healthcare provider Octave received $20m on Tuesday in a series B round featuring health insurer Cigna’s strategic investment arm, Cigna Ventures. It was led by Health Velocity Capital and also backed by Greycroft, Obvious Ventures, Company Ventures and Felicis Ventures, pushing the company’s overall funding to $34m. Felicis Ventures joined various individuals to provide $3m in seed funding for Octave in 2018 and was part of an $11m series A with Greycroft and Obvious Ventures in October 2019.
US-based autonomous shuttle developer Beep completed a $20m series A round on Wednesday that included Intel Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of semiconductor and data technology producer Intel, in addition to investment firm Blue Lagoon Capital. The cash will support the expansion of the company’s rollout of its vehicles.
Engineering firm IHI Corporation is providing $20m in funding for NuScale Power, a US-headquartered developer of small modular nuclear reactor technology, as part of a manufacturing partnership. Engineering and construction firm Fluor is the majority investor in NuScale, which raised $40m from engineering, procurement and construction firm JGC Holdings Corporation of Japan last month. Its earlier backers include corporate investors Ares Corporation, Enercon, Ultra Electronics, Sargent & Lundy and Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction.
Rgenta Therapeutics, a US-based developer of drugs for cancer and neurological disorders, secured $18m in series A funding on Tuesday from Lilly Asia Ventures, which invested on behalf of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, in addition to Kaitai Capital and Vivo Capital. The round’s 2020 first close included pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim’s Venture Fund, Matrix Capital, Kaitai Capital and unnamed others, the company said, adding that its overall funding now stands at $38m.
US-headquartered space computing system provider Ramon.Space received $17.5m on Tuesday in a series A round that included semiconductor technology producer UMC’s corporate venturing unit, UMC Capital. The corporate joined StageOne Ventures, Deep Insight, WorldQuant Ventures and existing backer Grove Ventures in the round, and the cash will fund technology development and recruitment.
Stock photography provider Getty Images has led a $16m series B round for Promo.com, a US-based provider of social video creation tools, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank provided debt financing alongside the equity portion of the round, and Getty plans to now deepen its relationship with Promo. Formerly known as Slidely, the company had already secured $7.3m in a 2014 round led by Benson Oak Capital.
China-based blockchain middleware technology developer WhiteMatrix has closed a series A round sized at almost RMB100m ($15.6m) led by Ant Group, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce firm Alibaba, China Money Network reported on Wednesday. Efang Keda and Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Sci-tech Investment Group also contributed to the round.
Airtm, a Mexico-based digital currency wallet and payment platform developer backed by cryptocurrency exchange operator Coinbase, raised $15m from non-profit organisation Stellar Development Foundation on Tuesday. Coinbase unit Coinbase Ventures had supplied an undisclosed amount for the company in February 2019, adding to a $7m series A round led by BlueYard Capital six months earlier.
Formwork and scaffolding provider Peri has taken part in a $15m series A round for Cosuno, a Germany-based developer of procurement software for the construction industry, Tech.eu reported yesterday. VC firm Spark Capital led the round, which included Apic Investments, Cherry Ventures and angel investors including Hakan Koç, Christian Bertermann, Johannes Reck, Carsten Thoma, Nicolaus Schefenacker, Julius Köhler and David Nothacker. The startup had secured an undisclosed amount from Cherry Ventures in May 2019.
Worksome, the Denmark-based creator of a freelancer management software platform, secured $13m yesterday in a series A round that included architecture and construction firm Lind & Risør and private investor Tommy Ahler. It had previously raised roughly $520,000 from individuals including Gorm Rasmussen and Anders Fauerskov in 2017, and from investors including Ahler the following year.
Industrial park operator Shanghai ZJ Innopark has invested an undisclosed amount in China-based service robot producer Yunji Technology through an entity called ZJ Venture, China Money Network reported yesterday. Yunji closed a total of $77m in funding across series B-plus and C rounds in January this year, from electronics manufacturer Lenovo’s corporate VC unit, Lenovo Capital, as well as internet group Tencent, Qiming Venture Partners, AlphaX Partners, Citic Securities and Lanting Capital.
Japan-based sake brewery Clear received almost ¥1.3bn ($11.9m) on Wednesday from investors including insurer Sumitomo Mitsui Insurance’s Sumitomo Mitsui Insurance Venture Capital unit, financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s SMBC Venture Capital subsidiary, mobile game publisher Akatsuki’s Heart Driven Fund and recipe provider OpenSauce. VC firm Jafco led the round, which included unnamed individuals and which followed a $2.3m round in February 2020 featuring Heart Driven Fund, Sumitomo Mitsui Insurance Venture Capital, OpenSauce, Asahi Media Lab Ventures and MTG Ventures (the latter two on behalf of media company Asahi Shimbun and brand developer MTG).
Hyro, a US-based developer of conversational artificial intelligence technology, completed a $10.5m series A round on Tuesday that included enterprise communications software provider Twilio. VC firm Spero Ventures led the round, which also featured Mindset Ventures as well as Hanaco Ventures, Spider Capital and Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, the three investors that provided $4m for Hyro in July 2019 when it was still known as Airbud. It said it has now raised $15m altogether.
US-based freight finance platform developer Axle closed a $10m series A round on Wednesday featuring freight forwarder Flexport. The round was led by VC firm Crosslink Capital and was also backed by FJ Labs, Tribeca Early Stage Partners, Anthemis Group, Techstars, Plug and Play Ventures and various angel investors. Axle had secured $1.4m from Trucks Venture Capital, Plug and Play Ventures, 37 Angels, Fontinalis Partners and Techstars in a January 2020 pre-seed round before adding $27.7m in debt and equity financing from Anthemis and Techstars eight months later.
US-headquartered cannabinoid-based wellness brand Prima has raised $9.2m in a seed-plus round that included farm operator One Gun Ranch. It was co-led by Greycroft, H Ventures, Defy and Lerer Hippeau and also featured Global Founders Capital, Emerald Health, Purple Arch Ventures and angel investor Adam Zeplain. It had previously completed a $3.3m seed round in February 2019 that was led by Lerer Hippeau and backed by Greycroft.
Taiwan-based fabless semiconductor designer eYs3D Microelectronics has secured $7m in a series A round backed by Arm IoT Capital, a venture capital fund sponsored by semiconductor producer Arm, in addition to semiconductor maker Marubun and VC firm WI Harper Group. The cash will fund product development in autonomous technology areas such as robotics, touchless control and security systems, autonomous vehicles and smart retail.
Angel investor Mark Cuban has made a ‘sizeable’ investment in Polygon, an India-headquartered developer of cryptocurrency scaling and infrastructure technology, the Economic Times reported yesterday. Digital currency exchange operator Coinbase had invested an undisclosed amount in the company (then called Matic Network) in April 2019 through subsidiary Coinbase Ventures.
US-based crypto insurance provider Evertas has received almost $5.8m from investors including blockchain marketplace creator Centrality and HashKey, the digital asset management affiliate of automotive component producer Wanxiang, Finextra reported on Tuesday. Morgan Creek Digital, CMT, Wave Partners, RenGen, 4RC, Plug and Play and Vy Capital also took part, as did angel investors including James Slazas, Tyler Ward, Quinn Abrahams, Shy Datika and Sandra Ro. It followed a $2.8m round in July 2020 led by Morgan Creek Digital and backed by Plug and Play, Kailash Ventures, RenGen, Vy Capital and Wavemaker Genesis.
Alexandria Venture Investments, the VC arm of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, led a seed round for US-based RNA therapeutics developer MiRecule sized at more than $5.7m yesterday. Maryland Momentum Fund, Boutique Venture Partners, Pathway Bioventures, Alumni Ventures Group, FSHD Society and assorted angel investors also took part in the round, which included a $2m grant from US National Cancer Institute. MiRecule had previously secured $1.5m in November 2019, according to a regulatory filing.
Scheduling software provider Calendly and Gradient Ventures, the artificial intelligence fund owned by internet technology provider Google, took part in a $4.8m seed round for US-based digital calendar assistant developer Reclaim.ai on Wednesday. VC firm Index Ventures led the round, which included Flying Fish, Operator Partners and angel investors including Jason Warner, Sue Khim, Alex Solomon, Kenny Van Zant and Yvonne Wassenaar. The startup has not revealed details of earlier funding but said it has now secured $6.3m to date.
Marketing data software producer Intage invested ¥500m ($4.6m) in Switch Media Lab, a Japan-based provider of cloud analytics software for commercial television, today as part of a business and capital alliance. They plan to work together on products that will support the optimisation of TV advertising.
Hayden AI Technologies, the US-based developer of an autonomous traffic management system, has completed a $4.5m funding round backed by media company e.Republic. BootstrapLabs led the round, which also featured University of California, Berkeley’s Strawberry Creek Ventures vehicle, Modern Venture Partners and Autotech Ventures, the last of which had led a $5m seed round in June 2020 disclosed by Hayden AI in its latest announcement.
Financial services firm Kasikornbank led a series B round of undisclosed size yesterday for FoodStory, the Thailand-based developer of a point-of-sale system for restaurants, through VC arm Beacon Venture Capital. The round was also backed by supply chain services provider JWD InfoLogistics and it came three years after the company (also known as Living Mobile) raised $1m from online restaurant review platform Wongnai.
UK-based digital learning content provider Emile Learning has secured $3m in seed funding from investors including telecoms and internet group SoftBank’s Opportunity Fund, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. VC firm Kleiner Perkins led the round, which was also backed by Uber Alum Syndicate, Supernode Ventures, Owl Ventures and angel investors including John Thornton, Steven Galanis and Ankur Nagpal. The startup said it has now raised $5.3m altogether.
Leasing services firm JA Mitsui Leasing provided an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday for Mitsui & Co Digital Asset Management the blockchain-focused real estate and infrastructure asset management subsidiary of Japan-based conglomerate Mitsui. The parties have also formed a strategic partnership agreement.
Bright Star Studios, a Denmark-based company working on a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, received more than $2m on Wednesday from investors including diversified app developer Animoca Brands, research boutique Delphi Digital, decentralised gaming guild Yield Guild and Coingecko Ventures, the investment arm of cryptocurrency data provider Coingecko. The round also featured Dialectic, Mechanism Capital, DeFiance Capital, Weak Simp Capital and unnamed angel investors, and it came after Play Ventures and Galaxy Interactive invested $700,000 in the company in April 2020.
EditForce, a Japan-based creator of DNA and RNA drug development technology, secured an undisclosed amount from telecoms firm KDDI’s Open Innovation Fund and VC firm Global Brain on Wednesday. Chemical producer Kisco and University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC) had invested $1.5m in the company in 2016 before it added $7.8m in March 2019 from Itochu Technology Ventures, a subsidiary of trading group Itochu, as well as energy utility Kansai Electric Power’s K4 Ventures unit, UTEC, QB Capital, Newton Biocapital and Japan’s Science and Technology Agency.
IT services firm CAC Holdings, consulting firm Makoto Group and banking group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group took part in a ¥164m ($1.5m) round for Wired Beans, the Japan-based developer of an enterprise e-commerce software platform, today through CAC Capital, Makoto Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital respectively. The round included Aogin Community Contribution Fund, a vehicle for financial services firm Aomori Bank managed by consultancy Hongo Tsuji Business Consulting, and it followed $630,000 from Akita Regional Revitalization Support Fund 3 and All-Japan Tourism Nation Fund in March 2019.
SenseWay, the Japan-based developer of an internet-of-things communication platform, raised ¥135m ($1.2m) from pharmaceutical trading group Namiki Shoji, consulting and investment firm X Capital and Seijet Capital on Wednesday. Construction firm Maeda Corporation’s Social Impact Investment had supplied an undisclosed amount for SenseWay through a May 2019 business and capital alliance.
Rail operator JR East invested an undisclosed amount in Japan-based prescription-free pharmacy operator Good Aid on Wednesday through corporate venturing vehicle JR East Start Up. The deal was conducted in connection with a business partnership and came in the wake of $470,000 from VC firm Shizuoka Capital’s Aigin Future Creation Fund in July 2020.
Kotobuki Medical, a Japan-based manufacturer of plant-derived surgical training organs, secured ¥80m ($730,000) from Gunma Medical-Industry Collaboration Revitalisation Fund and Shinkin Capital today on behalf of financial services firms Gunma Bank and Shinkin Bank respectively, the latter through its Shinkin no Tsubasa Fund. The company had received $280,000 from Gunma Medical-Industry Collaboration Revitalisation Fund in October 2019.
Amusement park owner Oriental Land provided an undisclosed amount for Refcome, the Japan-based creator of a recruitment referral visualisation system, today through corporate venturing vehicle Oriental Land Innovations. Consumer finance provider Aiful Corporation’s AG Capital unit invested an undisclosed sum in the company earlier this month, and its earlier backers include Itochu Technology Ventures – part of trading group Itochu – as well as design studio Takram, Draper Nexus Venture Partners II, Beenext and Anri.
M&A
Eye-tracking technology producer Smart Eye agreed on Tuesday to acquire Affectiva, a US-based developer of artificial intelligence-equipped sensory analytics technology, in a $73.5m transaction which will allow several corporates to exit. Affectiva, which spun out of MIT Media Lab, had raised a total of $53m as of 2019, from automotive component producer Aptiv, IT services firm CAC Holdings, cybersecurity software producer Trend Micro, financial data provider The Motley Fool, video game publishers Bandai Namco and Sega Sammy Holdings, marketing group WPP’s Kantar subsidiary, Fenox Venture Capital, Myrian Capital, Horizons Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Enterprise software holding company Ionic Partners purchased Gigster, a US-based software development platform that counts media group Bloomberg as an investor, for an undisclosed amount on Wednesday. Gigster had raised $32.5m as of 2017, from Bloomberg Beta, the VC firm sponsored by media group Bloomberg, in addition to Redpoint Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, Sound Ventures, Y Combinator, SV Angel, Launch Fund, Greylock Partners, Felicis Ventures and unnamed angel investors.
Beauty product distributor Grace Beauty exited US-based consumer data software provider Trendalytics on Wednesday in an acquisition of undisclosed size by beauty and wellness incubator HatchBeauty Brands. The company has not revealed details of its funding, but Grace Beauty invested prior to 2015 through its Grace Beauty Capital subsidiary, and it received $40,000 through its participation in Entrepreneurs’ Roundtable Accelerator in 2013. It is also listed as a portfolio company by Fashion Capital Partners, Otimo Retail, Runway Venture Partners and SeedInvest.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles.
