Funding
China-based digital marketing software provider Whale has received $50m in a series B round that included Nio Capital, the venture capital firm set up by electric carmaker Nio, DealStreetAsia reported today. The round was led by Temasek and also featured Linear Capital and Alpha Startups, both having joined Nio Capital to provide tens of millions of dollars for Whale in a late 2020 series A-plus round, according to DealStreetAsia.
Tiger Global Management and Canvas Ventures co-led a $39m series A round yesterday for ResQ, a US-based provider of repair and maintenance management software for restaurants that counts fast food franchisee Soul Foods as an investor. The round included Homebrew Ventures, Inovia Capital, Golden Ventures and a range of individuals, and the company said its total funding now stands at $48m. Soul Foods had contributed to a $7.5m seed round co-led by Homebrew, Golden Ventures and Inovia Capital in June this year.
Privately-owned investment firm Fortistar provided an undisclosed amount likely to be $35m for Nanoramic, a US-based energy storage technology developer backed by electronics distributor Marubun and spark plug and ceramics manufacturer NGK Spark Plug, yesterday. Nanoramic said the investment increased its overall funding to $75m and it came in the wake of an $8.5m round in mid-2019 featuring the corporates, which both participated as existing investors.
Singapore-based cancer therapeutics developer AUM Biosciences closed a $27m series A round yesterday that included medical technology producer Everlife and health sciences investment firm Sprim Global investments. The round came three years after AUM raised $1.5m in seed funding from undisclosed investors and the capital will support the progress of its drug pipeline.
Oshi Health, a US-based virtual healthcare provider focusing on gastrointestinal health, raised $23m yesterday in a series A round featuring healthcare services group CVS and pharmaceutical firm Takeda, which invested through CVS Health Ventures and Takeda Digital Ventures. The round was co-led by Flare Capital Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Frist Cressey Ventures and included angel investors Jonathan Bush, Nat Turner, Zach Weinberg, Eric M Stone and Russell Glass. Oshi has not disclosed details of past funding but said Takeda Digital Ventures has been an investor since it was founded.
Supplant Company increased the size of a series A round featuring media, data and investment platform AgFunder and property development group Nan Fung’s Mills Fabrica subsidiary to $18m yesterday, adding $3m from investors including private backers Ayesha Curry and Chris Paul. The round includes Manta Ray Ventures, EQT, Khosla Ventures, FelicisVenture, Coatue Management, Y Combinator, Melitas Ventures and angel investor Sake Bosch, and the $15m first tranche brought its overall funding to about $24m, the company said.
FitOn, a US-based provider of short online fitness workouts, has completed an $18m series B round that included telecommunications firm Telstra’s corporate venturing unit, Telstra Ventures, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Growth equity firm Delta-v Capital led the round, which also featured Accel, Crosscut Ventures, Maverick Ventures and Second Avenue Partners, all of which – like Telstra Ventures – were billed as existing backers. FitOn had raised $4.6m in 2018 and $7m in January 2020 according to securities filings.
FrankieOne, an Australia-based developer of customer onboarding software for banks, has secured $16m from investors including Reinventure, the VC firm backed by financial services firm Westpac, TechCrunch reported on Monday. The round was co-led by AirTree Ventures and Greycroft and also featured 20VC, Tidal Ventures, Apex Capital Partners, Mantis and angel investors including Vlad Tenev and Tom Blomfield. The company has not revealed details of earlier funding but its website names LJCB Investment Group as an existing investor.
Japan-based virtual office software provider oVice closed its series A round at ¥1.8bn ($15.9m) yesterday having added ¥400m in a second tranche featuring Salesforce Ventures and KB Investment, respective vehicles for enterprise software producer Salesforce and financial services firm KB Financial Group. The first close was led by investment and financial services firm Fidelity’s Eight Roads Ventures Japan unit last month and included internet company Digital Garage’s DG Incubation vehicle as well as Jafco, One Capital and Miraise. The company had previously raised a total of $2.4m from Digital Garage’s DG Ventures unit, One Capital and Miraise as of May this year.
Raysees, a China-based optical chip developer backed by communications equipment producer Beijing Beny Wave Technology, has secured about RMB100m ($15.5m) in series A2 funding from investors including CR Capital Management and Hui Capital. It came after Beny Wave joined Chuanggu Capital, Haiheng Capital, Huitou Capital, Yangzi Xinrui and Guohua Capital in a similarly sized series A round in January this year. Raysees had secured an eight-digit yuan amount in a September 2019 pre-series A round led by Shenzhen Venture Capital and backed by Ivy Capital and existing investor G Street Capital.
Mono, a Nigeria-based developer of software that links banks accounts to financial technology applications, has received $15m in a series A round featuring SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services provider SBI. The round was led by Tiger Global Management and included Target Global, General Catalyst, Entree Capital, Lateral Capital, Golden Palm Investments, Acuity VC and Ingressive Capital. It followed $500,000 in pre-seed funding from Lateral Capital, Rally Cap Ventures, Golden Palm Investment and Ventures Platform in September 2020, $125,000 from Y Combinator in February 2021 and a $2m seed round in May that included Entrée Capital, Lateral Capital, TCVP and angel investor Babalola Ogundey.
Ribbit Capital, Framework Ventures, True Ventures and Placeholder have each invested $2m to co-lead a $12m funding round for Futureswap, a US-headquartered decentralised futures exchange backed by design agency Ideo, The Block reported on Monday. The company had previously raised a total of $1.6m, it told The Block, with $400,000 coming from Framework Ventures in March 2020. Ideo’s CoLab Ventures vehicle was named by The Block in October 2020 as an investor in Futureswap.
Insurance firm Nippon Life led a ¥1.15bn ($10.1m) series C round today for Fez, a Japan-based provider of retail digitisation services, through corporate VC unit Nissay Capital. It was joined software tester Shift and MTG Ventures, a subsidiary of internet company MTG, as well as Incubate Fund US and For Startups Capital, and the round included debt financing from unnamed banks. Nissay Capital and Incubate Fund had invested in a $5.9m round for the company in August 2020 that included debt from undisclosed financial services firms.
Pharmaceutical product manufacturer Colorcon provided an undisclosed amount of series A funding for Remedy Health, the UK-based owner of 3D printed nutritional product brand Nourished, through corporate VC unit Colorcon Ventures on Monday. It will be added to the $11m Remedy raised in May this year from ADM Ventures and Henkel X – on behalf of agribusiness ADM and chemicals producer Henkel – as well as investment manager ADM Capital Europe’s Cibus Fund and Apater Capital, at a valuation above $71m, taking its total funding to $13.6m.
Telemedical service Docprime has supplied $7.5m in series A funding for Visit Health, the India-based developer of a mobile app which helps employees manage health benefits, The Economic Times reported on Monday. Visit had previously received a total of $1.4m according to ET, including undisclosed amounts from mapping software provider MapmyIndia in 2016 and angel investors Richard Socher, Biz Stone, Kunal Bahl, Rohit Bansal, Alagu Periyannan and Karthee Madasamy in 2018.
Rexev, the Japan-based provider of an electric vehicle battery management service, raised ¥630m ($5.6m) in series B funding today from investors including leasing services firm Fuyo General Lease, automotive part and vehicle leaser Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service and electric utility Hokuriku Electric Power’s Hokuriku Electric Power Business Investment unit. They were joined by Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ, as well as VC firm Jafco, and the round came 10 months after Rexev’s $7.2m series A.
Pharmaceutical Merck & Co’s Global Health Innovation Fund invested an undisclosed amount in Octave Bioscience, the US-based creator of a care management software platform for neurodegenerative diseases, on Monday. Octave had raised a total of $48m as of a $32m series B round in December 2020 co-led by Northpond Ventures, Deerfield Management and Casdin Capital and backed by Blue Venture Fund, which represents 36 BlueCross BlueShield health insurers, and Echo Health Ventures, which was co-founded by healthcare provider Cambia Health Solutions.
Kakutoku, the Japan-based operator of a freelance sales staff service, increased its overall funding to ¥400m ($3.5m) yesterday with an undisclosed amount from Voyage Ventures, Saison Ventures, Asahi Medialab Ventures (AMV) and Colopl Next, subsidiaries of travel technology provider Voyage, payment services firm Credit Saison, media company Asahi Shimbun and mobile game publisher Colopl respectively. Colopl Next had initially invested an undisclosed amount in the company in 2016 before it added $1.2m from AMV, Dogan Beta and Daiwa Corporate Investment – on behalf of investment and consulting services firm Dogan and brokerage Daiwa Securities – as well as iSGS Investment Works, in April 2019.
2TM, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin, has led a $2m seed round for Tropix, the Brazil-based owner of an online marketplace for non-fungible token artworks, Valor Econômico has reported. Mago Capital also contributed to the round, with the proceeds to go to product development, research and development, marketing and the growth of the company’s gallery offering.
Finbourne, the UK-based operator of a software platform for investment data management, raised an undisclosed amount from trading exchange operator London Stock Exchange on Monday through a strategic partnership agreement. Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, a subsidiary of investment and financial services group Fidelity, had supplied an undisclosed amount through a similar structure in July this year. Finbourne’s website states it closed its series A round three months earlier without giving additional details.
SafeStack Academy, the New Zealand-based creator of an online education platform for software developers, has completed a NZ$$2.3m ($1.6m) seed round that included NAB Ventures, the VC arm of financial services firm National Australia Bank. VC firm Jelix Ventures led the round, which also featured Carthona Capital, K1W1 and New Zealand Growth Capital Partners’ Aspire NZ Seed Fund.
Studio Unbuilt, the Japan-based operator of architectural design crowdsourcing platform Studio Unbuilt and customised housing floor plan app Madree, received ¥130m ($1.2m) in funding today from investors including Money Forward Partners, a subsidiary of accounting software provider Money Forward, which invested through its Hirac Fund. It was joined by University of Tokyo’s Edge Capital Partners vehicle and unnamed angel investors, and the round followed $1m in early 2019 from insurer Nippon Life and financial services firms Shizuoka Bank and Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank, through Nissay Capital, Shizuoka Capital Corporation and OKB Capital respectively.
Yoii, the Japan-headquartered owner of online revenue-based fundraising platform Yoii Fuel, completed a ¥100m ($879,000) seed round yesterday that included Norinchukin Innovation Fund, a joint venture for financial services firm Norinchukin Bank and VC group Global Brain. The round was led by VC firm Inclusion Japan and also featured angel investors including Ryu Yokoji.
GarageBank, the Japan-based owner of second-hand item marketplace Cashari, raised ¥100m ($880,000) today from Monex Ventures, a subsidiary of currency exchange Monex, as well as VC firm W Ventures and angel investor Reijiro Yamazaki. It had previously received $410,000 in a November 2019 round led by W Ventures and backed by East Ventures and private investor Nobuhiro Ariyasu.
Japan-based smart key developer Keyes expanded a funding round featuring Anabuki Startup Support Fund, which was formed by real estate developer Anabuki Kosan and VC firm Future Venture Capital, to ¥100m ($880,000) today. Mobile Internet Capital supplied equity funding while Japan Finance Corporation put up debt financing, following initial capital from financial services firm Bank of Saga’s Sagin Capital & Consulting subsidiary and Shōji Metabi in December 2020. Digital Garage’s DG Ventures unit and gas utility Saibu Gas’s G Incubate vehicle are earlier investors.
ForeignAdmits, the India-based operator of an online guide for international students, has secured Rs 35m ($470,000) in seed financing from investors including consulting and technology services provider Ridik Technology, Business Standard reported on Monday. The round was led by VC firm Unicorn India Ventures and included angel investors Manoranjan Mohapatra, Kumar Siddhartha, Chandra Shekhar Sharma, Sudhanshu Mishra, Sagar Gandhi and Mayank Sharma.
M&A
Cybersecurity software provider Forcepoint agreed on Monday to acquire Bitglass, a US-based data and threat detection software developer that had raised $150m from investors including telecoms firm SingTel as of a $70m series D round in 2019. Singtel unit Singtel Innov8 had joined fellow existing investors Future Fund, Norwest Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates in the series D round, which was led by Quadrille Capital.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
