Funding
US-headquartered ‘breach and attack’ cybersecurity software provider SafeBreach completed a $53.5m series D round co-led by conglomerate Sonae on Tuesday through its Sonae IM subsidiary. Israel Growth Partners co-led the round, which included DTCP, the investment affiliate of telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom, as well as enterprise software provider ServiceNow, Sands Capital, Leumi Partners, Sequoia Capital and DNX Ventures. The round took SafeBreach’s total funding to over $106m and followed a $19m series C in April 2020 featuring DTCP, digital payment processor PayPal and enterprise technology provider HPE.
Telecoms and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 led a $50m series C round yesterday for Block Renovation, a US-based provider of home renovation digitisation technology. Giant Ventures, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Morningside and Lerer Hippeau also contributed to the round along with various individuals. Block had secured $4.5m from NEA, Lerer Hippeau and Rainfall Ventures in 2018, $14.5m from unnamed investors in May 2019 and $40m from Giant Ventures, NEA, Morningside, Lerer Hippeau, and Obvious Ventures in a July 2021 round it said increased its total funding to $54m. Firstminute Capital, BoxGroup and SV Angel are among its earlier investors.
BMW i Ventures, the investment arm of carmaker BMW, has added an undisclosed amount to Israel-headquartered automotive cybersecurity software provider Upstream Security’s series C round, which stood at a minimum of $36m as of May this year. Insurance providers Mitsui Sumitomo and IDI Insurance supplied the cash for the round’s first tranche, which followed $41m in earlier funding from investors including financial services firm Nationwide and automotive manufacturers Renault, Volvo and Hyundai.
US-based car sharing marketplace Tred raised $25m on Tuesday from investors including CMFG Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of mutual insurer Cuna Mutual Group. It was joined by automotive finance provider Westlake Financial and Geneses Capital Management. Tred took part in the Techstars Seattle accelerator in 2012 and received $1.7m in seed funding from Fraser McCombs Capital, Maveron Capital, Lowercase Capital, Founder’s Co-Op and Great Oaks Venture Capital the following year. It added $2.5m from unnamed investors in 2014 and $1m from undisclosed existing backers in 2015.
Indonesia-headquartered e-commerce group Hypefast emerged from stealth on Tuesday with over $22m in cumulative equity and debt financing from investors including digital media company Gree’s Strive subsidiary. Strive was named alongside Monk’s Hill Ventures, Jungle Ventures, Arkblu Capital and Amand Ventures and the announcement came four months after a $14m round featuring Strive, existing backer Jungle Ventures, Amand Ventures and Evowood that valued Hypefast at $50.4m and which increased its overall funding at the time to $16.5m.
Novata, the US-based developer of an environmental, social and corporate governance software platform, completed a $21m series A round on Tuesday that included financial information and analytics provider S&P Global. Investment manager Hamilton Lane, impact investment firm Omidyar Network and philanthropic organisation Ford Foundation also contributed to the round.
Payment services firm Visa has provided $5m for Indonesia-based tax compliance software developer OnlinePajak at a $174m valuation to take its series C round to $17m, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday, citing a regulatory filing. It had raised $5m from internet and gaming group Tencent in July this year as part of the round, which was then sized at $12m and which included Altos Ventures and Warburg Pincus. It had previously received between $28m and $30m across two earlier rounds.
Enterprise software providers Twilio and Salesforce participated in a $12m series A round for US-based go-to-market software provider Calixa on Tuesday, the latter through subsidiary Salesforce Ventures. The round was led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, the venture capital firm which had led Calixa’s $4.25m seed round in March this year, participating alongside Operator Collective, Liquid 2 Ventures and undisclosed angel investors.
Egypt-based on-demand delivery service RabbitMart has emerged from stealth with $11m in pre-seed-funding from investors including Raed Ventures, the VC arm of conglomerate Almajdouie, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Global Founders Capital, Foundation Ventures, MSA Capital and Goodwater Capital also took part in the round, reportedly the largest ever at this stage for a startup located in Africa or the Middle East.
RCT AI, a US-based developer of artificial intelligence technology for use in video games, closed a $10m series A3 round on Tuesday featuring blockchain technology provider Mask Network. The round was co-led by Yuanyuzhou Ventures and Springwind Ventures and included Pksha Sparx Algorithm Fund, Galaxy Interactive, Bonfire Union, Everest Ventures Group, FBG Capital, Folius Ventures, Hash Global, HashKey Capital, Lucid Blue Ventures, SNZ, Zonff Partners and angel investor Liang Xinjun. RCT had received $125,000 from Y Combinator in 2019 and closed a $10m series A round backed by Makers Fund, Galaxy Interactive and Sky Saga Capital later that year.
GetCovered.io, a US-based provider of software which enables users to find and buy property and casualty insurance online, secured $7m on Tuesday in a series A round that included relocation management software producer Updater Technologies. Real estate-focused VC firm RET Ventures led the round, which also featured private investment firm Pelican Ventures and family office Crocker Mountain.
US-based online streaming service Struum also completed a $7m series A round on Tuesday, with media and entertainment group Corus Entertainment leading the transaction. Gaingels also took part in the round and was one of the seed investors disclosed by the startup when it emerged from stealth in January this year, along with online video services provider Firstlight Media and Tornante Company, the investment vehicle formed by entertainment executive Michael Eisner.
Sweden-based oncology therapy developer Asgard Therapeutics raised €6m ($7m) on Tuesday in a seed round co-led by pharmaceutical firms Novo and Boehringer Ingelheim through Novo Seeds and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) respectively. The round was co-led with Industrifonden and will involve Søren Møller of Novo and Philipp Müller of BIVF taking board seats while Novo’s João Ribas will take a board observer role. The company was spun out of Lund University’s Cell Reprogramming and Immunity Lab by co-founder Filipe Pereira.
Audio technology producer Dolby Laboratories invested an undisclosed amount in Ittiam Systems, an India-headquartered developer of digital video delivery technology, on Tuesday. Bank of America Equity Partners, a subsidiary of financial services firm Bank of America, joined Global Technology Ventures to supply $5m in series A funding for Ittiam in 2001 and returned to provide $6.5m in series B financing three years later.
Jedlix, a Netherlands-headquartered provider of smart electric charging services for electric vehicles spun off by energy utility Eneco, completed a €5m ($5.8m) funding round on Tuesday led by gas utility Osaka Gas. The round included renewable power producer Skagerak Energi and Mobilize, a mobility, energy and data subsidiary of automotive manufacturer Renault Group.
Oil and gas supplier Equinor led a C$6.7m ($5.4m) funding round for Interface Fluidics, a Canada-based provider of oil and gas testing systems, on Tuesday through corporate venturing vehicle Equinor Ventures. The unit was the only one of the five participants in the round to be named, and it had taken part in a $4.5m series A round for the company in 2019 alongside Techstars. Interface Fluidics said this week it has now secured $11m in total and its earlier backers include Valhalla Angels.
Internet technology provider Google supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for South Korea-headquartered online learning platform developer Mathpresso on Wednesday. Mathpresso had raised a total of $105m as of a $50m series C round in July this year featuring Smilegate Investment, a vehicle for video game developer Smilegate, internet and telecoms group SoftBank’s Ventures Asia unit and Legend Capital, the VC firm formed by conglomerate Legend Holdings, as well as Yellowdog, GGV Capital, Goodwater Capital, KDB, SKS Private Equity and Mirae Asset Venture Investment..
Reciprocus Moduit Holding, a joint venture between risk management software provider Helicap, investment adviser Reciprocus Financial Services and entrepreneur Walter de Oude, has led a $4.5m pre-series A round for Indonesia-based wealth management platform developer Moduit Digital Indonesia, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. The round also featured Alto Network, a financial technology subsidiary of conglomerate Djarum.
Insurer Axa Life Insurance joined building design technology provider Epco and an undisclosed company to invest ¥500m ($4.4m) in Japan-based augmented reality technology developer Cellid today. The company said its overall funding now stands at approximately $6.1m.
Consulting firm Accenture co-led a seed round of undisclosed size for Geneyx Genomex, the Israel-based creator of a genetic data analytics software platform, on Tuesday through its Accenture Ventures subsidiary. The round was co-led by VC firm Capri Ventures and Geneyx is joining Accenture Ventures’ engagement and investment initiative, Project Spotlight.
Pakistan-based cashback and rewards platform developer Sevour has received $3.3m in seed capital from investors including conglomerate Fatima Group’s Fatima Gobi Ventures unit. The round was co-led by Global Founders Capital and Zain Capital and also featured RallyCap Ventures, +92 Ventures, Suya Ventures and angel investors Mir Amir and Pere Hospital.
Broadcaster Asahi Broadcasting Group’s corporate venturing arm, ABC Dream Ventures, invested an undisclosed sum in Rei Frontier, the Japan-based creator of behavioural information analysis app SilentLog, today. It had raised an undisclosed amount from digital advertising agency Adways and Inclusion Japan in 2015 and $1.2m from financial services firm Bank of Iwate’s Iwagin Jigyo Souzou Capital vehicle and Energy and Environment Investment in 2016, before conglomerate Mitsui added $2.7m in February 2019.
Food delivery service Delivery Hero and restaurant booking app developer Chope are participating in a series A2 round for Singapore-based on-demand fast food provider WhyQ so far sized at $1.9m, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday, citing a regulatory filing. EcoImpact Capital is leading the round, which includes RB Investments, Sevanlab Nominees and an AngelCentral syndicate, and which follows $2.9m in earlier funding according to DealStreetAsia.
Vint, the US-headquartered operator of an online investment platform for wine and spirit collections, closed a $1.7m pre-seed round on Tuesday that included law firm Cooley. VC firm Fintech Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Slow Ventures, Allied Venture Partners, IrrvntVC and Arrington Fund.
Indonesia-based cloud kitchen operator DishServe has received an undisclosed amount in a pre-series A round that included conglomerate Genting Group, Tech in Asia reported on Tuesday. The round also featured Stonewater Ventures, Ratio Ventures, Rutland Ventures, 300x Ventures, MyAsiaVC and Insignia Venture Partners, the last of which had previously supplied an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding for the startup in December 2020.
Wicrypt, the Nigeria-based operator of a service which allows users to receive money in return for sharing their wifi, has completed a $1.5m funding round featuring IT services provider N7 Labs, centralised finance project developer Occam and PolkaFoundry, the developer of a production hub for decentralised finance applications, Disrupt Africa has reported. AU21 Capital led the round, which included Inclusion Capital, Outlier Ventures, Chain Capital, Pluto Digital Assets, Onega Ventures and angel investor Sandeep Nailwal.
Lista, the Philippines-based creator of a bookkeeping software platform for small businesses, has raised an undisclosed amount from investors including Saison Capital, the VC arm of payment services firm Credit Saison, e27 reported yesterday. East Ventures, 1982 Ventures and Alternate Ventures also contributed to the round, which included private investors Willy Arifin, Brian Cu, Amrish Rau, Kunal Shah, Jitendra Gupta, Aurelien Pichon and Alap Bharadwaj.
M&A
Television streaming system provider FuboTV agreed on Tuesday to acquire France-based TV streaming service Molotov in a €164m ($190m) deal which will allow broadcaster Sky to exit. Molotov had secured a total of over $34m as of a $23.3m series B round in 2016 backed by Sky, TDF Ventures, existing backer Idinvest and undisclosed private investors. Telecoms firm Altice subsequently bought a 60% stake in early 2019, with the company’s existing backers retaining their shares.
OpenSlate, a US-based audience targeting technology developer backed by media information firm Nielsen, agreed on Tuesday to a $150m acquisition by digital media analytics provider DoubleVerify. Nielsen invested an undisclosed sum in September 2019 following an undisclosed amount of series A funding from investors including Spring Mountain Capital in 2012, $1.3m from unnamed investors in 2014, $5.2m from Spring Mountain, StarVest, Fisher Capital Investments and undisclosed others the following year, $1.7m from undisclosed backers in 2016 and $7m in a North Base Media-led round in 2017.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
