Funding
Pluribus Networks, a US-based cloud networking software provider backed by communications technology producer Ericsson and data centre infrastructure provider Newtech, has received $20m in a funding round led by investment funds managed by investment bank Morgan Stanley’s Expansion Capital subsidiary. The company’s total funding stood at $90m as of a $50m series D round in 2015 led by Temasek that included both corporates, New Enterprise Associates, Menlo Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures and AME Cloud Ventures.
Unacast, a US-headquartered mobility software provider backed by telecommunications company Telia, has secured $16m from Camber Creek, White Star Capital and Investinor. The company had received $17.5m in a 2018 series B round co-led by Investinor and White Star Capital that included Telia and OpenOcean Capital, following a total of $6.6m from Investinor, OpenOcean Capital, New Mark Invest, Ice Leopard Invest, Blystad Invest and various angel investors across two earlier rounds.
Ambition, a sales management software developer that counts internet and technology group Alphabet as an investor, has completed a $15.5m series B round led by investment firm Primus Capital, VentureBeat has reported. The company raised $5.9m in 2018 according to a securities filing, after it secured $2m from investors including GV and SV Angel in June 2014. It had reportedly received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from The Lamp Post Group and Y Combinator as of February that year.
Payment technology producer Square has co-led a $15m series B round for Colombia-headquartered mobile wallet developer Movii with venture capital fund Hard Yaka, La República has reported. The capital will support the growth of the company’s existing offering and the launch of new features such as Bitcoin trading and a business-to-business fintech-as-a-service product.
Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Latin America Fund has led a $12m series A round for Brazil-based public surveillance technology developer Gabriel that included telecoms firm Telefónica’s Wayra subsidiary and Globo Ventures, the investment arm of mass media group Group Globo. They were joined by Canary, Norte Ventures, Indie Capital, QMS Capital, Montlacer Investments, CamelFarm Ventures and Endeavor ScaleUp Ventures.
Japan-based cancer immuno-cellular therapeutics developer Gaia BioMedicine has raised ¥1.3bn ($11.9m) in a series B round featuring pharmaceutical firm Hisamitsu and CEJ Fund, which invested on behalf of robotics producer Cyberdyne’s CEJ Capital unit. The round was led by Mitsubishi UFJ Capital – part of financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ – and backed by SBI Investment, a vehicle for financial services provider SBI, as well as Osaka University Venture Capital and the participants in Gaia’s series A round in June this year, when it raised $910,000 from investors including Osaka University Venture Capital.
Plum Guide, the UK-headquartered owner of an online holiday home marketplace, has closed a $9m funding round that included Hearst Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle formed by media group Hearst, Nordic 9 has reported. VC firm Beringea led the round, which also featured Talis Capital and Latitude, both of which had joined Hearst Ventures and Octopus Ventures in an $18.5m round in early 2019 that boosted the company’s overall funding to over $26m.
OP Games, a Singapore-based developer of game monetisation software, has secured $8.6m in a seed round that included Polygon Studios, a vehicle for cryptocurrency technology provider Polygon, as well as Bitcoin services provider Bitcoin.com. They were joined by Republic Crypto, Ascensive Assets, Morningstar Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Mentha Partners, OKex Blockdream Ventures, SevenX Ventures, GFS Ventures and Defi Alliance.
Tire retailer Reinalt-Thomas Corporation has led a $7.5m funding round for RoboTire, a US-based developer of robotic vehicle servicing equipment, that also featured Automotive Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, 640 Oxford Ventures and unnamed angel investors. RoboTire raised $170,000 from undisclosed angel investors in February 2019 and $1m in seed funding from Type One Ventures and Backend Capital before entering the Y Combinator accelerator in February 2020, according to TechCrunch.
Saudi Arabia-based food kit delivery service Siwar has received $7.5m in a series A round led by travel services provider Seera Group, Arab News has reported. Siwar plans to leverage Seera’s resources, research and development as it looks to expand its menu, further develop its platform and expand its market presence.
Matter, the US-based creator of an online reading app, has emerged from stealth having completed a $7m series A round led by internet and technology group Alphabet through corporate venturing subsidiary GV. The round also featured accelerator operator Y Combinator and undisclosed angel investors.
US-based renewable energy insurance underwriter Energetic Insurance closed a $7m series A round today led by Schneider Electric Ventures, a subsidiary of energy electronics producer Schneider Electric. The round included MS&AD Ventures and Scor P&C Ventures – on behalf of insurance group MS&AD and reinsurance firm Scor – as well as insurance brokerage Atlantic Global Risk, Congruent Ventures, MCJ Collective, Muus Asset Management, Powerhouse Ventures and Clean Energy Venture Group. It followed $2.5m in an April 2019 seed round featuring Clocktower Technology Ventures and Powerhouse Ventures, while Scor P&C Ventures, Muus Asset Management and Clean Energy Venture Group were also identified as existing investors.
Kamtar, the Mauritius-headquartered operator of a digital logistics platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding from logistics provider Sendy and Toyota Tsusho, the trading arm of carmaker Toyota, which took part through its Mobility 54 Investment vehicle. The round also featured Saviu Ventures, the VC fund which seeded Kamtar with approximately $240,000 in 2018.
Mexico-based e-commerce delivery service PideDirecto has secured $5.25m in a seed round that included freight forwarder Flexport, TechCrunch has reported. VC firm Jam Fund led the round, which also featured Soma Capital, Acacia Ventures, Kube VC, Y Combinator and undisclosed angel investors.
US-based hybrid animation studio and technology developer Trioscope has also gathered $5.25m in funding, from investors including consumer electronics manufacturer Sony’s Innovation Fund, Deadline has reported. Bitkraft Ventures, Transcend Fund, Cordillera Investment Partners and Thomas Vu/Axis Mundi Capital also contributed to the round.
US-based crypto staking platform developer Stader Labs completed a $4m seed round on Friday featuring Coinbase Ventures and Huobi Ventures, which invested on behalf of digital currency exchanges Coinbase and Huobi respectively. The round was also backed by Pantera Capital, True Ventures, Jump Capital, Proof Group, Hypersphere, Solidity Ventures, Ledgerprime, Double Peak Group, TerraForm Labs, Solana Foundation, Near Foundation and assorted individuals.
Messaging software provider Slack has participated in a $3.5m seed round for MindLabs, the creator of a mobile app which offers mental wellness classes, through its Slack Fund, UKTN has reported. Profounders Capital, Seedcamp, Passion Capital and angel investor Jeremy Darroch also contributed to the round, which came a year after the company raised $1.8m from Passion Capital, Seedcamp and unnamed individuals.
Bisu, a Japan-based provider of microfluidic health testing kits, has received $3.2m in seed funding from investors including Asics Ventures Corporation, the investment arm of sports and fitness apparel brand Asics. The round was led by Quad Investment Management and also featured 15th Rock Ventures, Pacifico Investments and existing investor SOSV, and the company also named hardware accelerator Hax as an earlier backer.
Microblogging platform developer Twitter has taken part in a $3m seed round for Facemoji, the US-headquartered developer of a digital avatar creation system and marketplace, TechCrunch has reported. Play Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Roosh Ventures and undisclosed angel investors.
Customer experience software provider Netcore Cloud has led a $3m seed round for India-based customer data software startup ProfitWheel, YourStory has reported. ProfitWheel co-founder Vivek Bhargava filled out the round together with 15 angel investors including Vallabh Bhansali, KRS Jamwal, Dinesh Agarwal, Prashant Gulati, Rizwan Koita, Jagdish Mathur, Jimmy Mahtani, Harish Bhal and Manish Vij.
Singapore-headquartered carbon scoring software developer Greywing has secured $2.5m in a seed round featuring freight forwarder Flexport and Signal Ventures, the venture studio owned by shipping intelligence provider Signal Group. The corporates were joined by Transmedia Capital, Motion Ventures, Rebel Ventures, Y Combinator and Entrepreneur First.
Ejara, the Cameroon-headquartered operator of an online investment platform, has received $2m in a funding round co-led by CoinShares Ventures, the VC vehicle owned by digital asset manager CoinShares Group, TechCrunch has reported. Anthemis Group co-led the round, which included Mercy Corps Ventures, Lateral Capital, LoftyInc Capital, NetX Fund, an unnamed syndicate social fund and angel investors Pascal Gauthier and Jason Yanowitz.
Tricera, the Japan-based operator of art marketplace Tricera Art, has raised ¥190m ($1.7m) in series A funding from internet company Digital Garage’s DG Incubation vehicle, cosmetics producer Pola Orbis, financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s SMBC Venture Capital unit and Monex Ventures, a subsidiary of currency exchange Monex. It came in the wake of a $1.1m round in February this year featuring unnamed investors that increased Tricera’s overall funding to $2.5m.
Furniture retailer Vega Corporation has invested an undisclosed sum in Petokoto, the Japan-based direct-to-consumer dog food retailer previously known as Syrup. The company had secured $1.8m in February 2020 from investors including Colopl Next, a subsidiary of mobile game publisher Colopl, as well as digital media company Ceres and Genesia Ventures, adding an undisclosed sum from insurer Nippon Life’s Nissay Capital unit, media company Asahi Shimbun’s Asahi Medialab Ventures vehicle and Nagoya TV Ventures, a subsidiary of broadcaster Nagoya TV, in March this year.
RepAir Carbon, an Israel-based developer of technology which separates carbon dioxide from air, has completed a $1.5m seed round co-led by Environmental Sustainability Innovation Lab, a joint venture for energy utility EDF, petrochemical producer Bazan and sustainable technology producer Johnson Matthey. The round was co-led with Counteract and included Consensus Business Group, ImpactAssets and unnamed others.
M&A
Analytics automation technology producer Alteryx has paid an undisclosed amount to buy Australia-based data automation software developer Hyper Anna, allowing insurance provider Insurance Australia Group (IAG) to exit. IAG vehicle IAG Ventures and Reinventure, the VC firm backed by financial services firm Westpac, joined Sequoia Capital China and AirTree Ventures in Hyper Anna’s $12.7m series A round in 2017, following $960,000 from Reinventure and AirTree Ventures the previous year.
Petroleum supplier BP has acquired US-based energy distribution technology developer Blueprint Power in a deal of undisclosed size allowing homebuilder Lennar and renewable energy provider Hanwha Energy to exit. Hanwha Energy’s 174 Power Global vehicle and Hanwha Energy joined Urban-X, the accelerator formed by automotive manufacturers BMW and Mini, in a $3.5m round for the company in 2018 that also featured Congruent Ventures, MetaProp Ventures, Fifth Wall, Urban.us and various individuals. It came in the wake of $500,000 from Lennar and Fifth Wall the previous year.
Property and insurance provider The Hartford has exited US-based benefits enrolment software developer Flock in an acquisition of undisclosed size by human resources software producer Paychex. The company had secured $3.5m in a 2017 series A round led by The Hartford and backed by unnamed existing investors.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles.
