Funding
Foodtech
Valor Siren Ventures, a joint vehicle between coffeehouse chain operator Starbucks and growth investment group Valor Equity Partners, was among the investors in US-based sustainable food technology developer Tomorrow Farms’ $8.5m seed round announced on Friday. VC firm Lowercarbon Capital led the round, which included Maveron, Simple Food Ventures and SV Angel.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain
Jump Crypto, a subsidiary of proprietary trading firm Jump Trading, has led a round of undisclosed size for Hike, an India-based crypto-driven gaming and social networking app provider, VCCircle reported on Friday. Tribe Capital and Republic Capital’s Republic Crypto unit filled out the participants in the round.
ESG
GE Renewable Energy, the wind turbine subsidiary of industrial technology conglomerate General Electric, made a minority investment of undisclosed size on Thursday in Cobod International, a Denmark-based automation and robotics-focused 3D construction printing technology developer.
Shipping groups Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and IMC Group have taken part in a $1.6m seed round for Denmark-based greenhouse gas emissions monitoring technology developer, Xinder Marine News reported last month. The corporates were represented by their MOL Plus and IMC Ventures subsidiaries respectively in the round that was led by multicorporate-sponsored VC firm Motion Ventures, investing alongside other backers including Asian Development Bank’s ADB Ventures unit, Blue Star Group and Rainmaking.
E-commerce
Financial holding group Shinhan Financial Group has acquired a 10% stake in Vietnam-based e-commerce group Tiki for an undisclosed sum, ChosunBiz reported last Monday. Shinhan is now the third-largest shareholder of Tiki, with its Shinhan Bank and Shinhan Card subsidiaries holding 7% and 3% of the acquired shares respectively. Tiki’s valuation stood at $832m as of a $240m round in October 2021 that was led by insurer AIA Group and backed by investors including mobile carrier Taiwan Mobile.
Funds
US-based healthcare services provider Cigna committed an additional $450m to its corporate venturing fund, Cigna Ventures, in March this year. Adding to the initial $250m in capital when it launched in 2018, Cigna Ventures now has $700m under management to continue to back digital health, medical data and care delivery technology developers.
PayPal Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of digital payments processor PayPal, was among the limited partners for a $52m fund closed by US-based venture firm Chingona Ventures, TechCrunch reported on Saturday. The LPs also included Norwest Venture Partners, Melinda Gates’s Pivotal Ventures, Foundry Group and the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer’s Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund.
British Virgin Islands-registered cryptocurrency exchange LBank Exchange teamed up with Kenya-based startup studio Adanian Labs Africa today and formed a Crypto Accelerator Program in the latter’s home country in a bid to build a blockchain-fuelled ecosystem in Africa.
