Funding
Singapore-based digital media company Hepmil Media Group secured its first institutional funding today, in a $10m series A round co-led by video marketing management service Bent Pixels. The round was co-led with venture capital fund Quest Ventures and Pavilion Capital, a subsidiary of Singaporean government-owned investment firm Temasek. Hepmil plans to now strengthen its gaming and esports network while expanding content along with its content creation platform.
Internet company DeNA led a $7m series A round for East Meet East, the US-headquartered operator of a dating app focused on the East Asian diaspora in North America, that closed today. Newspaper publisher Asahi Shimbun’s Asahi Media Lab Ventures subsidiary and internet company Digital Lab’s DG Lab Fund also took part, as did digital advertising group Septeni Holdings, 500 Startups and Mobile Internet Capital. The company had secured $1m from DeNA, 500 Startups, East Ventures, ISGS Investment Works and Shintaro Yamada in 2016 and closed the first tranche of the series A round in 2018.
On-demand ride provider Grab supplied an undisclosed amount of series C funding for Indonesia-headquartered online investment platform developer Bareska at the end of last month, the latter revealed today. Bareska had received an undisclosed amount of series B financing from digital payment technology provider Ovo last month, and will get access to Grab’s users and partners through the latest deal.
Unlatch, the France-based operator of a software platform which automates the real estate purchase process, has raised €5.2m ($5.8m) in a series A round led by insurance group Axa through its Axa Venture Partners vehicle, Housing Executive reported on Tuesday. The company had previously received roughly $960,000 from French Notaries according to Housing Executive, and recently expanded into the UK market.
BitMex, the operator of a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platform, led a $5.8m series A round for Netherlands-based cryptocurrency trading app developer TabTrader through its BitMex Ventures vehicle. It was joined by Hashkey Capital, an affiliate of automotive component manufacturer Wanxiang, in addition to Spartan Capital, SGH Capital, SOSV and Artesian Venture Partners. TabTrader joined the Rockstart and Impact accelerators in 2015 and will use the latest funding to increase headcount.
Kiutra, a Germany-based spinout of Technical University of Munich developing cooling devices for use in quantum computing research, received a mid-seven figure amount of euros (€1m = $1.1m) yesterday in a series A round co-led by Trumpf Venture, the corporate venturing subsidiary of industrial manufacturer Trumpf. The round was co-led with Verve Ventures and included High-Tech Gründerfonds, Apex Ventures and Initiative for Industrial Innovators, the three having combined to supply a seven-digit amount for the company in May 2019.
US-based blockchain game developer Blockade Games completed a $5m seed extension co-led by blockchain app developer Animoca Brands yesterday, valuing it at $23m. Family office Digital co-led the round, which also featured Flamingo DAO, Galaxy Interactive, angel investors Drew Austin, Roham Gharegozlou, Keith Grossman and Meltem Demirors as well as existing backers including blockchain technology provider Polygon and Xsquared Ventures. The company had raised $680,000 from unnamed investors in 2018 and joined Alchemist Blockchain Techstars Accelerator early the following year.
Portugal-based telemedicine platform developer Knok secured €4.4m ($4.9m) today from investors including telecommunications and entertainment company NOS, which invested through its NOS 5G Fund. The round was also backed by Triple Point Ventures and existing investors including Social Innovation Fund and Mustard Seed Maze’s Social and Environmental Impact Fund. Knok had raised $380,000 from Mustard Seed in 2016 and its Mustard Seed Maze Fund led a $2m round in November 2020 that included Social Innovation Fund, FascinanteFólio do Porto and Ryse Asset Management.
US-based, healthcare-focused venture studio Hashed Health has picked up nearly $3.8m in funding from investors including UPMC Enterprises, the commercialisation arm of University of Pittsburgh-affiliated health system UPMC. The round also featured CMT Digital, the crypto arm of asset manager CMT Group, as well as Whistler Capital Partners. Hashed had previously raised $1.8m in a 2017 round led by Martin Ventures, and it identified First Trust Capital Partners as an existing shareholder while announcing the latest round.
Funova, the Japan-based operator of online-to-offline bespoke gym service Flatte, received an undisclosed amount of funding today from investors including CyberAgent Capital, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet company CyberAgent. VC firm I-Nest Capital also participated in the round along with unnamed private investors, and it came after an undisclosed sum from various individual investors in September 2019 and similarly undisclosed amounts from CyberAgent Capital in April 2020 and June this year.
Japan-based restaurant software developer Sarah raised ¥220m ($1.9m) today from convenience retailer Seven-Eleven Japan, business-to-business e-commerce platform Infomart and hospitality groups DD Holdings (through its Open Innovation Fund) and AP Holdings as well as PE&HR’s Social Entrepreneur Fund 3 and Cross Border Investment. Sarah had accumulated a total of $3m in funding before Seven-Eleven Japan and DD Holdings Venture Capital added an undisclosed amount in October 2020.
Payment services firm Credit Saison has co-led a seed round of undisclosed size for Globalise, the India-based operator of an online share-trading platform focused on the domestic market, LiveMint reported yesterday. The round was co-led by VC fund Whiteboard Capital and also featured angel investors including Himanshu Kohli, Rohit Jain, Rishi Khanna and Arjun Lamba.
EDP Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of energy utility EDP, has contributed to a €1.2m ($1.3m) funding round for ChemiTek, the Portugal-based provider of a washing product for solar modules, PV-Magazine reported on Tuesday. Angel investment vehicle Ganexa Capital also participated in the round, as did an entity called Statusmaneuver. The company’s existing backers include Portugal Ventures, which invested in the first half of 2019.
Meuron, the Japan-based owner of craft beer delivery service Otomoni, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from e-gifting platform operator Giftee in June this year through a strategic partnership agreement, it revealed today. The company had secured undisclosed amounts from Anri and Venture United in 2015 and Anri the following year, before IT services firm Intage joined SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services firm SBI, to provide $890,000 in pre-series A funding in 2018.
Drona Pay, the India-based creator of a cybersecurity software product aimed at the buy now, pay later space, has received Rs 32m ($430,000) in seed funding from investors including payment services firm Credit Saison, VCCircle reported today. The corporate was joined in the round by Varanium Capital and private investors including Kunal Shah, Jitendra Gupta and Amrish Rau.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles.
