Funding
Computing
Salesforce Ventures, an investment vehicle for enterprise software supplier Salesforce, backed a $50m series B round for US-based engineering workflow management platform LinearB, on Monday. VC firm Tribe Capital led the round, which included Battery Ventures and 83North, bringing the company’s total funding to $71m. LinearB had secured $21m in total as of a March 2021 $16m series A round led by Battery Ventures and backed by TechAviv Founder Partners and Ariel Maislos. Maislos had led a $1.6m seed round three years before.
Construction
Cemex Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of building materials supplier Cemex, invested an undisclosed amount yesterday for Chile-based concrete preparation forecasting technology developer ObraLink.
Financial services and blockchain
Cybersecurity software provider CrowdStrike’s Falcon Fund participated in a $9m seed round on Wednesday for US-based asset management platform Hubble Technology. VC firm Paladin Capital Group led the round, investing alongside Accel and unnamed cybersecurity executives.
Finance automation technology developer Ramp and VC firm Founders Fund co-led a $2.6m round yesterday for US-based blockchain-fuelled accounting software provider Tactic. Angel investors including Elad Gil and Dylan Field also took part in the round.
Healthcare
Biopharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences invested in Curebase, a US-based distributed clinical trials technology developer, today in a $40m in a series B round led by investment firm Industry Ventures and backed by Acrew Capital, World Innovation Lab, Positive Sum, GGV Capital, Bold Capital and Xfund. GGV Capital had led a $15m series A round in May 2021 featuring Xfund, Bold Capital and unnamed institutional funds, bringing Curebase’s overall funding to $19m.
Social media and metaverse technology group Meta’s New Product Experimentation unit has led a $3m seed round for Singapore-based mental wellness platform Ami, Forbes reported on Wednesday. The round’s participants were filled out by Goodwater Capital, Strong Ventures, January Capital and Collaborative Fund.
Insurance
Aflac Ventures, a vehicle for insurer Aflac, backed US-based environmental impact data aggregator YvesBlue, in a $5m seed round today led by Illuminate Financial and joined by Tribeca Early Stage Partners, SixThirty, Day One Ventures and Walter Ventures. YvesBlue had raised $2m in a late 2020 $2m seed round led by Illuminate Financial Management and backed by SixThirty, Tribeca Early Stage and strategic investors including George Fox.
MS&AD Ventures, a corporate venturing arm of insurance firm MS&AD, participated in a $6.5m round today for US-based climate-focused insurance technology provider FutureProof Technologies, led by Axis Digital Ventures and investing together with Innovation Endeavors, taking the company’s total funding to $10m. MS&AD Ventures had already taken part in a $3m seed round in June 2021 for FutureProof that was led by Innovation Endeavors and backed by other investors including Blackhorn Ventures.
Insurance group Net Insurance and VC firm SOSV co-led a $2m round for Germany-based insurance technology provider MotionsCloud, last month. AI Startup Incubator, ParticleX, Artesian, Excon Services and Global Insurance Accelerator also took part in the round.
Mobility
Nio, the China-based, New York and Hong Kong-listed electric vehicle developer that was backed by corporates Tencent, Baidu, Lenovo and JD.com, intends to list its shares in Singapore given a delisting possibility in the US, it said today.
Fund
Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin’s KuCoin Ventures and KuCoin NFT Marketplace-Windvane subsidiaries formed a $100m corporate venturing fund dubbed Creators Fund last month. The fund has already backed companies such as Seychelles-registered metaverse gaming technology platform SakuraVerse.
