Funding
Conglomerate Reliance Industries has put up $29m to lead a €39m ($45m) series C round for NexWafe, the Germany-based developer of a green solar wafer production method. The corporate invested through its Reliance New Energy Solar subsidiary, joining Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV), the investment arm of oil and gas provider Saudi Aramco, as well as InnoEnergy, Lynwood Schweiz and unnamed others. NexWafe has now raised over $75m in total, $12m coming from SAEV, Lynwood Schweiz, Fraunhofer Society’s Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Gap Technology Holding and Bantina Invest in January this year.
Rally, the US-based operator of an online listings platform for collectibles, expanded its series B round to $45m on Wednesday, adding $15m from Wheelhouse 360, the venture capital arm of media, marketing and investment firm Wheelhouse, as well as media group Bertelsmann’s BDMI unit, Thirty Five Ventures, Animal Capital, LionTree and various individuals. The $30m first tranche in May this year included Accel, Upfront Ventures and Social Leverage, and Rally’s earlier investors include carmaker Porsche’s corporate VC unit, Porsche Ventures.
US-based vegetation monitoring technology developer AiDash raised $27m in series B funding yesterday from investors including energy provider National Grid’s corporate venturing unit, National Grid Partners. The round was led by G2 Venture Partners and also featured Benhamou Global Ventures (BVP) and undisclosed strategic partners. National Grid Partners and BVP had previously led the company’s $6m series A round in October 2020.
US-based last-mile delivery service Ohi closed a $19m series A round on Wednesday featuring fleet manager Ryder System’s investment arm, Ryder Ventures. Venture capital firm Palm Drive Capital led the round, which include Jam Fund, Flybridge Capital, Afore Capital, RiverPark Ventures, Electric Feel Ventures and angel investors Peter Rahal and Edward Shenderovich. The company had previously completed a $2.75m seed round led by Flybridge Capital Partners in November 2019.
Flowhub, the US-based creator of a point-of-sale retail system for cannabis dispensaries, completed a $19m funding round on Wednesday co-led by led by Headline and Asset Management that also featured Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter. It valued the company above $200m and followed a $23m series A round in late 2019 co-led by Evolv Ventures, the VC firm backed by packaged food producer Kraft Heinz, with E.Ventures and Poseidon Asset Management, the three investing alongside 9Yards Capital, David Stern and Iqram Magdon-Ismail. Flowhub said its overall funding now stands at almost $50m.
Humn, a UK-based developer of risk analysis software for fleet insurance, has received £10.1m ($13.8m) in a series A round that included oil and gas supplier Shell’s corporate venturing unit, Shell Ventures. It was joined by BXR Group, Hambro Perks Leaders Fund and Woodside Holdings, and the round came after the company raised an undisclosed amount from Shell Ventures and existing backer Marbruck Investments in January this year.
US-based smart home constructor Homma boosted its series A round to ¥1.5bn ($13.1m) today with a ¥600m second tranche from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, a subsidiary of insurer Mitsui Sumitomo, as well as logistics and property group Ryobi Holdings, internet company United, gas equipment provider Enetopia Engineer, Kusabi, Chiba Dojo and angel investor Kazunori Asada. The round’s $8m first tranche was closed in May this year.
US-based data operations software provider Nexla has secured $12m in series A funding from investors including Liberty Global Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mass media group Liberty Global. VC firm Industry Ventures led the round, which also featured Blumberg Capital, Engineering Capital, Storm Ventures, Correlation Ventures and unnamed individuals. Nexla had raised $3.5m in a 2017 round led by Blumberg Capital and backed by Storm Ventures, Engineering Capital and Correlation Ventures.
Qingchen Xinnengyuan, a China-based fuel cell technology spinout of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, closed a series A-plus round of undisclosed size on Wednesday featuring state-owned energy provider Beijing Jingneng. The round was also backed by IDG Capital, Lingang Zhizhao and FTZ Fund, and the company said this week it had raised an undisclosed amount in a February 2020 series A round led by Shenergy Ventures, a strategic investment vehicle for power producer Shenergy.
Indonesia-headquartered sales software developer iSeller has received almost $8m in a series B round that included $1.5m from Mandiri Capital, the VC arm of financial services firm Bank Mandiri, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday, citing a regulatory filing. VC firm Openspace Ventures and AppWorks each put in $3m while Indogen Capital invested $500,000. Mandiri Capital and Openspace Ventures had previously co-led iSeller’s series A round 11 months ago, a round sized at $3m according to DealStreetAsia.
Sapphire Technologies, a US-based energy recovery system developer spun off by motor and generator technology producer Calnetix Technologies, raised an undisclosed amount on Wednesday in a series A round led by investment firm Cooper and Company. The round also featured corporate venturing units Equinor Ventures and Chevron Technology Ventures, which participated on behalf of power producer Equinor and oil and gas supplier Chevron respectively.
Healthcare lender Bankers Healthcare Group led a $6.5m series C round on Wednesday for ApplePie Capital, a US-headquartered provider of franchise businesses, investing alongside JM Family Enterprises. ApplePie raised $6m from Signia Venture Partners, Freestyle Capital, QED Investors and angel investor Ron Suber in a 2015 series A round, and the same four joined Fifth Third Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Fifth Third Bancorp, in a $16.5m series B in 2016. It added $9.6m in March 2019 and $2m in October 2020 according to securities filings.
Reefknot Investments, a vehicle formed by freight forwarder Kuehne+Nagel and Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek, has provided $5m in funding for China-based on-demand delivery service Pickupp, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday. The company had raised a total of $15m as of a July 2021 series A-plus round co-led by e-commerce firm PChome and Cornerstone Ventures that included conglomerate Far Eastern Group’s Drive Catalyst unit, real estate developer Swire Properties, conglomerate Jardine Matheson, logistics service provider Zipx and Cathay Venture.
Sonae IM, the corporate VC arm of conglomerate Sonae, took part in a $4.7m seed round for Replai, a US-based creator of video engagement optimisation software, on Wednesday. Hoxton Ventures, Lux Capital, Sequoia Capital and Accel also invested, as did unnamed existing backers. Bright Pixel had led the startup’s $1.3m seed round in June 2020, participating alongside digital advertising agency Clever Advertising, Ideias Glaciares and assorted angel investors.
Vertoro, a Netherlands-based spinout of technical validation institute Chemelot InSciTe developing sustainable marine fuel, received an undisclosed amount of funding yesterday from investors including Maersk Growth, a subsidiary of shipping firm AP Moller – Maersk. The round was led by Shift Invest and also featured Brightlands Venture Partners and Liof – both billed as existing backers.
Jambb, the US-headquartered owner of an online marketplace for digital comedy collectibles, completed a $3.5m seed round on Wednesday co-led by blockchain game publisher Animoca Brands and digital asset management firm Arrington Capital. The round included blockchain-based entertainment provider Dapper Labs, ParaFi Capital, LD Capital, Signum Capital, NextView Ventures, Ascensive Assets, Waterdrip Capital and assorted angel investors.
EDF Renewables, a subsidiary of energy utility EDF, provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Vietnam-based solar photovoltaic project developer SkyX Energy on Wednesday. SkyX, a subsidiary of investment manager VinaCapital Group, has about 100 MW of solar projects in development or currently operating.
Electives, the US-based creator of a digital education and engagement software platform for employees, completed a $2.25m seed round on Wednesday that included media group Bertelsmann. VC fund Boston Seed Capital and VC firm Accomplice co-led the round, which also featured Jerod Mayo, a former American football professional.
Digital media group Inclusive invested in Japan-based online recruitment portal operator Manebi today. The transaction came two weeks after human resources provider Branding Engineer’s BE Fund supplied a similarly undisclosed amount for the company at the end of September.
Management education provider IMS Learning Resources has acquired a 1% stake in Orphicy, an India-based provider of education that makes use of visualisation and psychometric techniques, through its participation in a Rs 25m ($330,000) funding round, Entrackr reported on Wednesday. The round was led by unnamed angel investors and came after about $30,000 in seed funding from Orphicy’s founders in September 2020.
M&A
White Glove, a client acquisition services provider specialising in financial advisers, bought Gainfully, the US-based developer of an online platform which links financial services firms to insurers, for an undisclosed sum on Wednesday, allowing insurance providers Massachusetts Mutual Life and Allianz Life to exit. Their MassMutual Ventures and Allianz Life Ventures units had joined IA Capital and ManchesterStory in a $5.5m series A round for the company in 2019, two years after MassMutual Ventures led a $2.5m round.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
