Funding
US-based sustainable construction materials producer Solidia Technologies has completed a $78m funding round featuring oil and gas supplier BP and building materials provider LafargeHolcim as well as BASF Venture Capital, Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures and Aliad, on behalf of chemical producer BASF, petroleum supplier Total and industrial gases producer Air Liquide. The round was co-led by Imperative Ventures and Zero Carbon Partners and included Kleiner Perkins, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Piva Capital, OGCI Climate Investments and private investors John Doerr and Bill Joy. It had last raised money, from OGCI, in 2017.
Kelun Biotech, a molecular drug subsidiary of China-based pharmaceutical firm Kelun Pharmaceutical, has received more than RMB500m ($77.3m) in funding from investors including Lilly Asia Ventures, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, DealStreetAsia reported last week. CMC-SDIC Capital led the round, which also featured IDG Capital, Hillhouse Capital, Suzhou Likang Investment and Zhuhai Liangheng Investment. The cash was raised at a $695m pre-money valuation.
China-based protein therapeutics developer Doer Biologics has raised $75m from pharmaceutical company Huadong Medicine, DealStreetAsia reported last week. The company had previously received tens of millions of yuan (RMB10m = $1.48m at contemporary rates) from Kaitai Capital and Bai Rui Investment in a February 2019 series A round.
Genies, a US-based developer of digital avatar creation software, has secured $65m from investors including blockchain product developer Dapper Labs, internet company NetEase and Coinbase Ventures, a subsidiary of crypto exchange operator Coinbase, VentureBeat reported yesterday. The round was led by Bond and included New Enterprise Associates, Breyer Capital and Tull Investment Group. The company had raised $3m from video game producer Bandai Namco in November 2020 to take its total funding to $43m.
Indonesia-based wealth management platform developer Bibit.id has received $65m in funding from investors including internet company Tencent and Prosus Ventures, the investment arm of Prosus, the internet group formed by e-commerce and media company Naspers, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. The round was led by Sequoia Capital India and also featured Harvard Management Company, AC Ventures and East Ventures. The last two joined EV Growth, Sequoia India and 500 Startups in a $30m round in January this year.
State-backed alternative asset manager Citic Private Equity Funds Management has led a RMB420m ($65m) series B round for China-headquartered contact lens producer Dearer that included Legend Capital, the venture capital firm formed by conglomerate Legend Holdings, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. BioTrack Capital and existing investor Insight Capital also took part in the round, and medical device maker Eyebright, Orient Securities, Borchid Capital, and FOF Capital are among its earlier backers.
Locusview, an Israel-based provider of digital construction management software, has completed a $64m series A round that included insurance firm Clal Insurance, Geektime reported yesterday. Growth capital fund Israel Growth Partners (IGP) led the round, which also featured Leumi Partners, Discount Capital and unnamed existing investors.
Sony Interactive Entertainment, a subsidiary of consumer electronics producer Sony, provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based online messaging platform developer Discord yesterday through a partnership with Sony’s PlayStation Network. The cash will be added to Discord’s series H round, which includes Greenoaks Capital and Index Ventures and which stood at $100m as of December 2020. It valued Discord at $7bn and the round reportedly had a $140m target for its close.
Mogrify, a UK-based developer of ex vivo cell therapies, increased its series A round to $33m today, adding $17m from investors including Astellas Venture Management, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Astellas. The second tranche was led by Parkwalk Advisors and also featured 24Haymarket, angel investor Jonathan Milner and Mogrify CEO Darrin M. Disley. It followed $16m from Parkwalk, 24Haymarket and Ahren Innovation Capital in October 2019, eight months after $3.7m in seed funding from Ahren Innovation Capital, 24Haymarket and Disley.
Electric vehicle producer CATL has invested an undisclosed amount in China-based electric car developer Aiways, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing a registration filing. Aiways reportedly raised at least $159m from steel producer Shagang Group in 2018, its third funding round, at a valuation of about $1.6bn, and $145m from the state-owned Mingchi New Energy Innovation Investment Center in May 2019, adding an undisclosed amount from ride hailing service Didi Chuxing and Zhonghesheng Capital in January this year.
Amartha, the Indonesia-based creator of a peer-to-peer lending platform, has secured $28m from investors including MDI Ventures, Mandiri Capital and UOB Venture Management – on behalf of telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia and financial services firms Bank Mandiri and United Overseas Bank respectively – Tech in Asia reported yesterday. Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II also took part in the round, which followed $18m in late 2019 from Line Ventures, a subsidiary of messaging platform Line, as well as UOB Venture Management and Bamboo Capital Partners.
Expensya, a France-based provider of business finance management software, has closed a $20m funding round that included Maif Avenir, the corporate venturing arm of insurance firm Maif, as well as Silicon Badia, Isai and Seventure Partners, Private Equity Wire reported last week. The company raised an undisclosed amount from BPIfrance and unnamed others in 2016, $1.1m from undisclosed angel investors the following year and $4.5m from Isai and Seventure in 2018.
Moloco, a US-based developer of machine learning technology for marketing, has raised an amount reported by Pulse to be $20m from investors including Shinhan GIB, an investment banking subsidiary of financial services firm Shinhan Financial Group. The company had secured $6.6m from unnamed investors in 2016 and $11m in a 2018 series B round co-led by Samsung Ventures, a subsidiary of electronics producer Samsung, and Draper Athena that also featured Mirae Asset Management, Smilegate Investment and KTB Ventures.
Pachama, a US-based provider of carbon capture measurement services, has completed a $15m funding round that included e-commerce group Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and OATV, the investment arm of publisher O’Reilly Media. The round was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and also featured Saltwater, MCJ Collective, Lowercarbon Capital and private investors Ram Shriram, Joe Gebbia, Marcos Galperin, Manu Ginobilli, Fabrice Grinda and Sahil Lavignia. Pachama had raised at least $9.1m as of September 2020 when it secured $5m from Amazon Climate Pledge Fund and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
India-based digital health technology developer ABCD Technologies has received Rs 400m ($5.4m) each from Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Alembic Pharmaceuticals and $3.4m from a third pharmaceutical firm, IPCA Labs, totalling $14.2m, VCCircle reported yesterday. The round valued ABCD at about $84m and came after five other pharmaceutical companies, Sun Pharma, Lupin, Cadila Healthcare, Torrent Pharma and Cipla, agreed last month to invest a total of $27.2m.
Financial exchange operator Deutsche Börse has paid €10m ($12.1m) for a stake in Germany-based digital asset marketplace developer 360X sized just below 50%, The Block reported last week. The investment was made at the same time as financial services firm Commerzbank provided an undisclosed amount for the company in return for a lower double-digit stake.
Payment services firm Mastercard invested an undisclosed amount in Kasha Global, the Kenya-based operator of a women’s health-focused e-commerce platform, yesterday. Kasha had already raised $1m from US International Development Finance Corporation in February this year having secured the same amount from Finnfund in April 2020 and Swedfund in November.
Telecoms firm Swisscom’s corporate venturing unit, Swisscom Ventures, joined Octave Klaba, chief executive of cloud services provider OVH, to supply €2.3m ($2.8m) for France-based visual automation software developer Deepomatic today. It had received $1.4m from Alven Capital and various individuals in 2015, adding $5.1m in equity funding and $1.1m in debt financing in a February 2019 round led by Hi Inov and backed by Alven Capital and private investor Bertrand Diard.
Relief, the Italy-based developer of a device to combat urinary incontinence, has secured an undisclosed amount from medical device and surgical dressing producer Santex. Relief was spun out of the Biorobotics Institute at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and will use the capital to commercialise its technology. It was founded in 2019 with funding from G-Factor, the investment arm of scientific research-focused philanthropic organisation Fondazione Golinelli, which sold its shares as part of the latest round.
VC fund Seae Ventures has invested $2.5m in Kiyatec, a US-based medical measurement technology developer backed by laboratory services provider LabCorp. The company had raised a total of at least $6.3m in debt and equity financing from LabCorp, VentureSouth, NMT Capital and Upstate Carolina Angel Network as of mid-2019 before adding an undisclosed amount from life sciences VC firm Esperante in January 2020.
Austria-based car sharing service Eloop has completed a funding round of undisclosed size featuring real estate developer C&P Immobilien, Nordic 9 reported last month. European Super Angels Club also contributed to the round, which will support company growth both in Austria and in the German cities of Berlin, Munich and Hamburg.
M&A
Diversified conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra has closed the full acquisition of India-based taxi aggregator Meru Cabs, acquiring shares from media company Bennett Coleman & Co (BCC), VC firm True North and private investor Nilesh Sangoi, Inc42 reported yesterday. The corporate paid $14.5m for a 55% stake in Meru in September 2019, three years after it secured $25m from BCC’s ad-for-equity subsidiary, Brand Capital.
Messaging app developer Hike has exited India-based esports platform developer WinZo through a $12m share buyback by the latter company, the Economic Times reported yesterday. Hike and VC firm Kalaari Capital co-led a $5m round for WinZo in 2019 and it has now raised $13m from Makers Fund, CourtsideVC and private investor Stephan Pagliuca, according to ET.
Additional reporting by Thierry Heles.
