Funding
Neural Magic, a US-based developer of deep learning inference software, raised $30m yesterday in a series A round featuring communications software producer Amdocs and, Comcast Ventures, the investment arm of mass media group Comcast. Venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates led the round, which included Andreessen Horowitz, Pillar VC and Ridgeline Ventures. All the investors apart from Ridgeline had taken part in a $15m seed round in late 2019 that boosted the company’s overall funding to $20m.
US-based sustainable packaging provider Creapaper closed a €20m ($23.1m) series B round yesterday that included packaging producer Ranpak. The corporate was joined by JS Capital, Schusterman Family Investments, EIC Fund, Soros Capital and eCapital, the last of which had previously led a round of undisclosed size for the company in 2017.
Japan-based recruitment technology developer Herp secured ¥950m ($8.5m) yesterday in a series B round featuring accounting software producer Money Forward. The round was led by DNX Ventures and included fellow VC firm DCM Ventures, and the company said it has now raised over $13m in total. DCM Ventures, DNX Ventures and angel investors Fumiaki Koizumi and Yu Akasaka had supplied $4.3m for Herp in an August 2019 round taking its overall funding to $4.7m.
Praesidium, a US-based creator of non-contact monitoring technology for vital signs, completed a $6m series A round on Tuesday led by entities controlled by real estate developer Wasatch Group. The company has not publicly disclosed any other funding since it was founded in 2016.
Sprout, the US-based creator of a social share trading service, raised $5.7m in seed funding from investors including online investment platform developer Public.com last month. Y Combinator, Sound Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, Geometry Ventures, HOF Capital, Quiet Ventures, First Check Ventures, Investo and The Marathon Lab also participated in the round along with angel investors Ricardo Weder, Brian Requarth, Zach Sims, Parker Treacy, Vinicius Correa, Manoela Mitchell and Thiago Torres.
Venture capital partnership Curql Collective invested $5.4m in CU Railz, a credit union service organisation formed by US-headquartered digital payment technology provider Payrailz, on Tuesday, through its Curql Fund, which is itself backed by several credit unions. Curql will take a position on CU Railz’s board of directors and intends to help it with its strategic direction.
Hodl Hodl, a Bitcoin trading service with no physical headquarters that counts digital currency exchange Bitfinex as an investor, completed a series B round of undisclosed size on Tuesday that included Kingsway Capital, Low Time Preference Fund, XBTO Humla Ventures and private investor Samson Mow. It raised cash from Bitfinex in June this year following a similarly undisclosed amount from five individuals including WhalePanda, Ambroid and Marsmensch in 2018.
DG Daiwa Ventures, a joint venture between internet company Digital Garage and brokerage Daiwa Securities, took part in a ¥500m ($4.5m) series A round yesterday for 207, the Japan-based operator of logistics digitalisation platform Todocu. The round included Spiral Innovation Partners’ Logistics Innovation Fund as well as Energy and Environment Investment and Headline Asia. The company had raised $760,000 from Energy and Environment Investment and furniture retailer Vega Corporation in August 2020 and entered recruitment firm DIP’s AI.Accelerator four months later.
Style Port, the Japan-based operator of 3D communication software platform Roov, secured ¥420m ($3.8m) yesterday from Japan Post Capital, Zenrin Future Partners, Sony Innovation Fund, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Mizuho Capital – on behalf of postal service Japan Post, navigation technology provider Zenrin, electronics manufacturer Sony and financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Bank – as well as Mercuria Investment. The company had raised a total of $5.9m before Mercuria and construction group Hinokiya added an undisclosed amount in April 2020.
Singapore-headquartered energy storage system producer VFlowTech has received $3m in pre-series A funding from investors including energy trader Sing Fuels, Singapore Business Review reported on Tuesday. Wavemaker Partners led the round, which was also backed by Seeds Capital and undisclosed angel investors. It had previously secured about $800,000 in seed capital from the government-owned Temasek Foundation and unnamed individuals.
Chaintope, the Japan-based developer of a carbon emission reduction blockchain product called Tapyrus, completed a ¥180m ($1.6m) extension to a series A round featuring IT services firm Nihon Unisys’s Canal Ventures unit, conglomerate Mitsubishi’s Research Institute subsidiary and VC firm Anri, yesterday, increasing it to about $2.6m. The $960,000 first tranche was supplied by Anri in 2018.
Retail goods distributor Icepharma and marketing agency Aton.JL co-led a $2m series A round on Tuesday for Iceland-headquartered healthy food brand Good Good. The round was co-led by K2B Investments, and it came in the wake of $3m in funding from investors including Arcur Finance in April 2020. The latest funding will support product innovation and manufacturing.
SmartRyde, the Japan-based airport transfer service formerly known as DLGB, received $1.6m in series A funding on Tuesday from investors including SG Incubate, a subsdiary of gas utility Saibu Gas. The round was led by Angel Bridge and backed by SMBC Venture Capital, Hiroshima Venture Capital and Iyogin Capital – respective vehicles for financial services firms Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Hiroshima Bank and Iyo Bank – as well as Yamaguchi Capital, Inventum Ventures, Optima Ventures and angel investors Shoji Kodama and Nobuaki Takahashi. It followed an undisclosed amount from wifi provider Vision in 2018.
Ichi Commons, the Japan-based creator of online business matching platform Ichi Social, closed a seed round of undisclosed size last month featuring transmission equipment manufacturer Miki Pulley that boosted its overall funding to ¥120m ($1.1m), it disclosed yesterday. Angel investors Yuki Ota and Oki Matsumoto also participated in the round.
India-based crop management software developer Kissan Pro has raised an undisclosed amount from investors including water and pump technology producer Ekki, YourStory reported on Tuesday. The round was also backed by angel investors Manu Midha and Amit Tripathy.
EcoSync, the UK-based creator of a software product which estimates the carbon footprint of rooms, secured £710,000 ($960,000) yesterday from investors including RO Capital Partners, a VC vehicle for property developer RO Group. The round also featured Oxford Innovation EIS Growth Fund, Silicon Roundabout Ventures, KCP Nominees and angel investor Steve Headington. EcoSync graduated from Alchemist Accelerator in January this year and will put the cash into technology development and the formation of a sales team.
VC firm Future Venture Capital invested an undisclosed amount in Good Aid, a Japan-based pharmacy chain owner backed by rail operator JR East, management consultancy Nagoya Small and financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. All four participated in Good Aid’s $1.8m series B round in August this year, pushing its overall funding to $2.3m.
Construction management technology provider Andpad, mobile game publisher Kayac and design studio Biotope took part in a ¥100m ($900,000) funding round for Vuild, a Japan-headquartered developer of wood-based 3D printing technology. Angel investors Fumiaki Koizumi, Genki Shiota and Masamichi Toyama filled out the round, which followed $920,000 from domestic and enterprise services provider Lifull and startup support provider Route One Power in 2018 and up to $2.8m from investors including energy utility J-Power and Mistletoe Japan in April 2020.
Shin-Mirai, the Japan-based owner of online lumber marketplace eTree, received ¥80m ($720,000) yesterday from investors including mobile game publisher KLab’s Anobaka subsidiary and Canal Ventures, the corporate VC arm of IT services firm Nihon Unisys. The round was led by general incorporated foundation Kibow’s Impact Investment fund and it came after Shin-Mirai joined education services provider Globis’s G-Startup accelerator in February 2020.
M&A
Lidar system producer Ouster agreed on Tuesday to purchase US-based scalable lidar technology developer Sense Photonics in an all-share acquisition sized at approximately $71.3m that will allow electronics manufacturer Samsung and oil and gas supplier Shell to exit. Acadia Woods and Congruent Ventures co-led a $26m series A round for the company in mid-2019 that included corporate VC units Samsung Ventures and Shell Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Hemi Ventures and IPD Capital to increase its overall funding to over $29m.
Automotive data provider Otonomo Technologies acquired Neura, an Israel-based data intelligence software developer Neura backed by mass media company Liberty Media, communications software provider Amdocs, electronics producer Lenovo, telecoms firm Singapore Telecommunications and insurance provider Axa, for an undisclosed amount on Tuesday. Neura had raised a total of $32m as of a $16m series B round in 2019, and its investors included Pitango Venture Capital, Moneta Capital, Greenhouse Capital Partners and TriplePoint Ventures.
Infrastructure management technology provider 11:11 Systems agreed on Tuesday to buy US-headquartered cloud software infrastructure provider Green Cloud Defense for an undisclosed amount, allowing telecoms company Millry Corporation to exit. Green Cloud received $1m in funding in 2011 and $450,000 the following year according to securities filings, before adding $5.6m in a Millry-led series C round in 2013. It raised $3.1m in 2014 according to another filing, and $7.5m in equity and debt financing from investors including Bridge Bank two years later. That was followed by $3m in 2018, an additional filing stated.
Data collector Norstat Group has paid an undisclosed amount to purchase TestingTime, a Switzerland-headquartered recruiter of customer research subjects, giving postal service Swiss Post an exit. Verve Ventures (then Investiere) led a $2.8m series A round for the company in 2018 that included Swiss Post, financial services firm Zürcher Kantonalbank and angel investors including Myke Näf and Paul Sevinç, having also led an $850,000 angel round three years earlier.
US-based digital hearing aid developer iHear Medical, which counted insurance provider Ameritas and office product manufacturer Brother Industries as investors, was bought by hearing aid supplier InnerScope Hearing Technologies for an undisclosed amount on Tuesday. The company’s total funding stood at a minimum of $10.9m as of a $4.1m series C-2 round in 2017 that included Ameritas, fellow existing investor Lighthouse Capital and Aphelion Capital.
Marketing technology producer Reveal Mobile acquired US-based advertising dataset provider Mira on Tuesday in a deal of undisclosed size enabling marketing and media agency Horizon Media to exit. Horizon invested an undisclosed amount in Mira in 2017, and the latter is also listed as a portfolio company by CEAS Investments and Triangle Angel Partners.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.
