Funding
Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), the investment arm of industrial and chemicals group Koch Industries, has led a $15m extension to UK-based molecular diagnostics technology developer Sense Biodetection’s series B round yesterday, boosting it to $65m. KDT also led the round’s April 2021 first tranche, investing with venture capital firm Earlybird’s Health Tech Fund and fellow existing backers Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), Mercia Asset Management and Jonathan Milner. Sense had previously disclosed $14.2m in funding.
US-based automated tractor developer Monarch Tractor closed a $61m series B round yesterday that included agricultural, construction and automotive manufacturer CNH Industrial. VC firm Astanor Ventures led the round, which was also backed by At One Ventures and Trimble Ventures and which came eight months after CNH and tractor manufacturer VST Tillers co-led a $20m series A round that included At One Ventures and Muus.
US-headquartered computer vision technology provider Nexar raised $53m in series D funding yesterday from investors including insurer State Farm’s corporate venturing unit, State Farm Ventures. The round was led by VC firm Qumra Capital and also backed by financial services firm Banca Generali, Catalyst Investments, Valor and existing investors Atreides Management, Corner Ventures, Regah Ventures and Aleph. The company had secured a total of over $96m as of a $52m series C round in April 2020 and its existing investors include corporates Samsung, Micron, Alibaba, Nationwide and Sompo.
Aptihealth, a US-based developer of behavioural health analytics software, received $50m yesterday in a series B round featuring pharmaceutical firm Takeda’s Digital Ventures unit, property developer Nan Fung’s Pivotal Life Sciences subsidiary, Vista Credit Partners, Olive Tree Ventures, Claritas Capital and What If Ventures. The company had closed a $2.5m seed round backed by Kasa Investments, Timber IV and Hudson River Capital Holdings in June 2019 and said this week its overall funding now stands at $65m.
Laminar, a US-headquartered provider of cybersecurity software tailored for public clouds, came out of stealth yesterday having secured $32m in series A funding from investors including cybersecurity software producer SentinelOne. Growth equity firm Insight Partners led the round, which also featured TLV Partners and Meron Capital. The startup said it has raised $37m altogether.
Baoli Fund, an investment vehicle formed by real estate developers Poly Group and Country Garden’s Poly Capital and Country Garden Venture Capital subsidiaries, has led a funding round for China-based pre-fabricated formaldehyde-free board manufacturer Wanhua Hexiang Banye sized in the tens of millions of dollars range, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. The company plans to more than double its manufacturing capacity to 5 million cubic metres by the end of 2026.
Financial services firm Northwestern Mutual participated in a $26m series B round yesterday for UNest, the US-based creator of an online savings platform aimed at parents, through its Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures unit. Artemis Fund led the round, which also featured Franklin Templeton, Altair Capital, Launchpad Capital, OneWay Ventures and Unlock Venture Partners. The startup had raised a total of $14.5m as of a $9m series A round in June 2020 backed by Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures as an existing investor.
Cosmetics distributor SuperOrdinary provided $25m in equity financing yesterday for Crea, the UK-headquartered developer of a beauty product creation platform. The company had previously received an undisclosed amount from Angel Capital Management, Picus Capital, and Founders Fund’s Pathfinder vehicle in May 2019.
BetDEX, the UK-based creator of a decentralised sports betting system, emerged from stealth yesterday with a $21m seed round co-led by digital currency exchange FTX. The round, which the startup claimed is the largest seed round yet for a UK company, was co-led by crypto investment firm Paradigm and included Solana Ventures, the VC arm of blockchain technology provider Solana, as well as Multicoin Capital, Hack VC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sino Global Capital and Everblue Management.
Pharmaceutical and chemicals group Bayer co-led a $20m series A round for US-headquartered cytokine drug developer Deka Biosciences yesterday through its Leaps by Bayer subsidiary. The round was co-led by Lumira Ventures and also featured Alexandria Venture Investments, the VC arm of real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, as well as O-Bio and Viva BioInnovator.
US-based quantum computing technology developer QuEra Computing publicly launched yesterday with $17m in funding from investors including e-commerce firm Rakuten. The corporate was joined in the round by Day One Ventures, Frontiers Capital and private investors including Serguei Beloussov and Paul Maritz. QuEra’s technology is based on neural atom research at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Israel-based artificial milk protein developer Imagindairy closed a $13m seed round yesterday featuring packaged food manufacturer Strauss Group. The round was led by MoreVC and included Entrée Capital, S2G Ventures, Collaborative Fund, New Climate Ventures, Green Circle Foodtech Ventures, CPT Capital, Emerald Technology Ventures, PeakBridge’s FoodSparks fund and angel investor Pierre Besnainou.
Singapore-headquartered debt marketplace technology provider Persistence’s crypto asset staking subsidiary, pStake, secured $10m on Tuesday from investors including staking service provider Stake.fish, blockchain technology providers Chorus One, Cosmostation and Figment, blockchain node developer Everstake, quantitative trading firm Alameda Research and Coinbase Ventures, a subsidiary of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The round was co-led by Three Arrows Capital, Sequoia India, Galaxy Digital and Defiance Capital and also backed by Kraken Ventures, The Spartan Group, Sino Global Capital, Tendermint Ventures, Lattice Capital and various individuals.
Thailand-based logistics management software developer Giztix has also raised $10m, in a series B round co-led by logistics provider WHA Group and financial services firm Bangkok Bank’s Bualuang Ventures unit, e27 reported yesterday. Building materials producer Siam Cement Group’s AddVentures subsidiary also took part in the round, as did KK Fund and CAC Capital. Giztix had received $1.65m in series A funding from AddVentures, Wavemaker and 500 Tuktuks in 2017, two years after securing an undisclosed amount from 500 Tuktuks and KK Fund.
Insurance firm Massachusetts Mutual Life led a $4m pre-series A round for health insurance and care provider Clinikk on Tuesday through its MassMutual Ventures unit. Media group Bennett Coleman & Co’s Times Internet subsidiary also invested, as did EMVC, 500 Startups’ 500 Durians vehicle, WEH Ventures, First Principles, Stanford Angels and unnamed private investors. The company said it had already raised $2.4m in funding, including an undisclosed sum from Times Internet, Emphasis Ventures, 500 Durians, WEH Ventures, First Principles and various angel investors a year ago.
Singapore-based hydrogen separation membrane developer DiviGas has secured $3.6m in a seed round co-led by filtration product manufacturer Mann+Hummel, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Energy Revolution Ventures co-led the round, which also featured Entrepreneur First, SOSV/HAX, Amasia VC, Volta Energy Technologies, Climate Capital and angel investors including Albert Wenger.
Internet and gaming group Tencent has invested RMB8.3m ($1.3m) in China-based sensor and robotics technology developer Hangzhou Lanxin Technology, Tianyancha reported on Wednesday. The company was formed as a joint venture for cybersecurity software producer Qihoo 360 and telecommunications firm China Unicom.
M&A
Building materials provider Hilti Group paid approximately $300m on Tuesday to acquire portfolio company Fieldwire, the US-based creator of a workforce management software platform for the construction industry. Hilti took part in a $33.5m round for the company in 2019 that was led by Menlo Ventures and also backed by Brick and Mortar Ventures and Formation 8. Fieldwire had pulled in $6.6m in 2015 from Bloomberg Beta, the VC firm sponsored by media group Bloomberg, in addition to Formation 8, Trinity Ventures and AngelPad.
Digital security technology producer Sift paid an undisclosed amount yesterday to purchase Keyless, a UK-based identity authentication software developer that counts mobile game publisher Gumi’s Cryptos Capital vehicle and currency transfer platform developer Ripple’s Xpring subsidiary as investors. Keyless had raised a total of $6m as of August 2020 when it closed a $2.2m round co-led by VC firm P101’s P102 fund and Italia 500 that also featured Maire Investments, Luiss Alumni 4 Growth and Primomiglio.
