Funding
Lightnet, a Thailand-based remittance services provider backed by conglomerates Uni-President Enterprises and Hanwha and financial services firms United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Seven Bank, has raised $48.6m from co-founders Chatchaval Jiaravanon and Tridbodi Arunanondchai, DealStreetAsia reported today. The corporates had all joined HashKey Capital, Hopeshine Ventures, Signum Capital and Du Capital in the company’s $31.2m series A round in January 2020.
Golfing equipment and apparel producer Callaway Golf Company provided $30m in funding yesterday for Five Iron Golf, the US-headquartered operator of a chain of indoor golf and entertainment venues. The investment was made alongside the sealing of a non-exclusive marketing agreement and come as Five Iron prepares to open its two newest branches, in the cities of Chicago and Seattle.
E-commerce group Alibaba led a $20m series A round for DGene, a US-based provider of immersive entertainment development technology, yesterday. The company had raised roughly $6.5m in seed funding from Shanghai United Investment and $14.4m in a 2018 round led by venture capital group IDG Capital and backed by Saifu Fund and GSR Ventures that was also billed as a series A. It was followed by an eight-figure yuan amount (RMB10m = $1.42m) from Qiaobei Capital in August 2019.
Vensica Therapeutics, the Israel-based developer of a drug delivery system for urinary bladder indications, completed a $16m funding round yesterday featuring medical device maker Laborie. VC fund Israel Biotech Fund led the round, which included Agriline, The Trendlines Group and angel investor Lew Pell. An undisclosed private investor had supplied $500,000 for Vensica in 2016 before it raised $2m from medical device manufacturer Cogentix the following year.
US-based polymer regeneration technology developer Evrnu received $15m yesterday in a series B round led by growth equity fund FullCycle Climate Partners that included textile producer Hansae, fashion brand owner Bestseller and PDS Venture, the investment arm of fashion supply chain operator PDS Multinational Fashions. Evrnu raised $1.2m in convertible note financing in 2016 and $9.1m in an October 2019 series A round led by Radicle Impact and backed by Mills Fabrica Fund, on behalf of property developer Nan Fung’s The Mills subsidiary, as well as Twynam Investments, Plum Alley Investments and Giant Leap Fund. That reportedly took its total funding to $11.7m, its existing investors including Closed Loop Partners, Cycleffect Regenerative Ventures and Future Tech Lab.
Insurance firm MassMutual led a $10m series A round for US-based digital payment technology developer Checkbook yesterday through strategic investment arm MassMutual Ventures. It was joined by Cross River Digital Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of banking technology provider Cross River, in addition to financial services group JPMorgan Chase, VC firm IA Capital and unnamed existing investors. It has not confirmed details of previous funding but its earlier backers include Rocketship.vc and Boost VC.
Singapore-based gene and cell therapy developer Carcell Biopharma raised an undisclosed amount yesterday from investors including Legend Star, a corporate venturing subsidiary of conglomerate Legend Holdings. The round was led by Hyfinity Investments and also featured BioTrack Capital, and it came after Carcell was incubated by VC firm and company builder EVX Ventures.
Real estate developer North American Properties has led a $5.5m seed round for Struxtion, a US-based provider of working capital for contractors, Cincy Inno reported yesterday. The startup has not revealed any additional investors but CincyInno named trade associations Allied Construction Industries and Associated Builders and Contractors as partners along with local innovation community operator Cintrifuse.
Leslie, the UK-based creator of a digital on-table food ordering and tipping tool, publicly launched today having raised a ‘multimillion-pound amount’ (£1m = $1.35) in a seed round that included cooking and refrigeration equipment maker Middleby Corporation. Angel investors Henry Kravis and Larry Diamond also contributed to the round, and the proceeds will go to maintaining domestic growth while fuelling international expansion.
US-based microbiome test and healthy lifestyle startup Ombre rebranded from Thryve yesterday, simultaneously disclosing a $3m seed round featuring consumer goods producer Unilever’s corporate venturing unit, Unilever Ventures. The round was led by PivotNorth Capital and included Trail Mix Ventures, Shanda Group, Unpopular Ventures and Social Starts’ Joyance Partners fund. It came three years after a $1.4m seed round featuring Unilever Ventures, PivotNorth Capital, Joyance Partners, Darling Ventures, Candela Paramount and Abstract Ventures. The company said it has now raised $9.4m in total.
Craif, a Japan-based spinout of Nagoya University that has created a urinary biomarker platform, secured an undisclosed amount of series B funding today from investors including internet company MTG and insurers Aflac and Tokio Marine Nichido. The round was led by Daiwa Corporate Investment, a vehicle for brokerage Daiwa Securities, while Aflac and MTG invested through Aflac Ventures and MTG Ventures respectively. The round followed an undisclosed amount of series A funding from investors including Aflac Ventures, Daiwa Corporate Investment, property developer Mori Trust, Anri and Founders Fund’s FF Apec Scout fund in June 2020.
Water and wastewater technology producer Skion Water provided an undisclosed amount of series A funding yesterday for SouthWestSensor, the UK-based developer of a sensor technology platform for wet chemical water. The company will channel the funding into the further development and commercialisation of its technology.
Egypt-based e-commerce fulfilment service ShipBlu has completed a $2.4m seed round featuring freight forwarder Flexport and Orange Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for telecommunications firm Orange. They were joined by 1984 Ventures, Starling Ventures and unnamed VC funds and angel investors. The round came in the wake of an undisclosed amount of pre-seed financing from Nama Ventures, Y Combinator and unnamed individuals in July this year.
Singapore-headquartered sustainable food and beverage brand Crust Group secured an undisclosed amount from investors including Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, a subsidiary of insurance provider Mitsui Sumitomo. It was joined by Leave A Nest Singapore, Glocalink Singapore and Ales Global, and the funding will support Crust’s entry into Japan, where the majority of the investors in the round are based.
Avocado, the Japan-headquartered creator of an e-commerce platform called Neaco where users can buy Korean women’s fashion, received an undisclosed amount of funding from e-commerce group Degica today. The companies have formed a strategic collaboration agreement and the cash will support further development of Neaco.
Private equity firm Vietnam Investment Group has led a $1.3m bridge round for Vietnam-based online real estate portal Citics that included real estate developer BHS Group and family office Vulpes Investment Management, e27 has reported. The company had reportedly secured a total of $700,000 from assorted angel investors before it added $1m from Vulpes Investment Management, Nextrans and TheVentures in its March 2021 pre-series A round.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance invested an undisclosed amount in Star Sharks, the US-headquartered creator of an online gaming platform where users can trade shark-based non-fungible tokens, through its Binance Labs subsidiary yesterday. The startup’s debut game, Starsharks.Warriors, is slated for release later this month.
Phlight, the Japan-headquartered operator of a Philippines-based English conversation school called Phlight English Conversation, raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding yesterday from investors including online prep school Agaroot. It will use the capital to expand its presence in the Philippines while increasing headcount, expanding its services and investing in marketing.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
