Funding
Indonesia-headquartered social commerce platform developer Evermos has raised over $30m in a series B round led by UOB Venture Management, a subsidiary of financial services firm United Overseas Bank, e27 reported today. UOB invested through its Asia Impact Investment Fund II and was joined by Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi – part of telecoms firm Telkomsel – and MDI Ventures, the venture capital firm backed by telecommunications company Telkom Indonesia, as well as International Finance Corporation, Future Shape, Jungle Ventures and Shunwei Capital. The round followed $8.3m in series A funding from Jungle Ventures, Shunwei Capital and Alpha JWC Ventures in January 2020.
US-based agricultural robotics technology developer Advanced Farm Technologies closed a $25m series B round yesterday featuring agricultural equipment producer Kubota Corporation and motorised vehicle manufacturer Yamaha Motor. VC firm Catapult Ventures led the round, which also featured Impact Ventures, all four investors having taken part in the company’s $7.5m series A round in August 2019, Yamaha through its Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley unit. Advanced Farm Technologies’ overall funding stands at $34.2m.
Consumer electronics producer Samsung co-led a $25m series B round yesterday for Nex, the US-headquartered creator of a motion-based online gaming platform, through corporate venturing unit Samsung Ventures. The round was co-led by asset manager Blue Pool Capital and included SparkLabs Global Capital, Hyphen Capital, several private investors and, according to TechCrunch, quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group. The company had secured $4m from Charmides Capital, Mandra Capital and various angel investors in a 2018 seed round, adding $13m in July 2019 according to a securities filing. It named sports and entertainment group Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment Ventures and the National Basketball Association as investors this week.
Alpha Medical, a US-based provider of primary care for female patients, raised $24m in series B funding yesterday from investors including Samsung Next, a subsidiary of consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung. It was joined by AV8 Ventures, the VC firm backed by insurance group Allianz, as well as SpringRock Ventures, Outcomes Collective Growth Capital, FMZ Ventures, Chamaeleon, GSR Ventures and private investor Margo Georgiadis. The funding came after $11m from AV8, GSR Ventures and Data Collective in a September 2019 series A round.
Xealth, a US-based provider of digital health management technology, received $24m yesterday in a series B round led by health system Advocate Aurora Health’s Advocate Aurora Enterprises subsidiary. Healthcare providers Banner Health, ChristianaCare, Cone Health, Memorial Hermann, Nebraska Medicine, Novant Health, Stanford Health Care, Atrium Health, Cleveland Clinic, Froedtert & MCW Health Network, MemorialCare Innovation Fund, Providence and UPMC also took part in the round, which followed a $14m series A in mid-2019. Xealth said its overall funding now stands at $52.6m.
Salesforce Ventures, the corporate VC arm of enterprise software producer Salesforce, led a $20m series C round yesterday for Propel, a US-based creator of product development technology. Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), Cloud Apps Capital Partners, Green D Ventures and Tiff Investment Management also took part in the round. It boosted Propel’s total funding to $48m and came in the wake of an $18m series B in 2018 led by NVP and backed by Salesforce Ventures, Cloud Apps Capital Partners and Signalfire.
Stairwell, a US-based cybersecurity software developer backed by internet technology provider Google, disclosed $20m of series A funding from Sequoia Capital, Accel and Allen & Company yesterday alongside the launch of its recursive threat detection and response platform. The three had previously joined Google’s Gradient Ventures fund in Stairwell’s $4.5m seed round in October 2020.
Australia-based property manager Different has raised A$25m ($18.1m) in a series B round co-led by financial services firm Commonwealth Bank’s x15ventures vehicle and VC firm Antler, Entrepreneur reported yesterday. Airtree Ventures led a $990,000 seed round for the company in 2017 that included undisclosed angel investors, before returning for a $5.9m series A in May 2020 alongside PieLab, Spring Capital and Warburton Group.
Software provider Microsoft led a $15m series A round today for GrowthSpace, a US-based provider of personalised talent development schemes. Microsoft invested through corporate venturing unit M12 and was joined by Dynamic Yield, a customer experience technology subsidiary of fast-food chain McDonalds, and Vertex Ventures, and the company said it has now secured a total of $19m.
US-based application observability software developer DeepFactor received $15m yesterday in a series A round backed by testing automation technology provider Tricentis. Growth equity firm Insight Partners led the round, which also featured Emergent Ventures and Security Leadership Capital, both identified by the company as existing backers. It said it has now raised $18.4m altogether.
Diversified holding group PAL Group of Companies’ Multiply Marketing Consultancy subsidiary invested AED55m ($15m) in Firefly, a US-based provider of digital billboards for ride hailing vehicles, yesterday, having already provided an undisclosed amount in May this year. Internet and technology group GV led Firefly’s $30m series A round in mid-2019, investing with NFX to take its total funding to $51.5m. Its shareholders include Strong Outdoor, a subsidiary of digital signage provider Ballantyne Strong,
US-headquartered blockchain intelligence provider Metrika completed a $14m series A round yesterday featuring Coinbase Ventures, Samsung Next and SCB 10X, which invested on behalf of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, electronics producer Samsung and financial services firm Siam Commercial Bank. The round was led by Neotribe Ventures and included Nyca Partners and all Metrika’s existing backers. The startup also revealed its previously undisclosed seed round was sized at $3.7m.
Insurance holding company Vaudoise Assurances Group provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Finland-headquartered mobility technology provider Maas Global yesterday. Maas raised an undisclosed sum from transport infrastructure provider Ferrovial in May this year, following a total of $62.7m as of a late 2019 round featuring BP Ventures, part of oil and gas supplier BP, in addition to conglomerate Mitsubishi and Nordic Ninja, a round that in turn came after a $10.4m round the previous year.
Tag, a Pakistan-based banking app developer backed by payment services firm Tag, has secured over $12m in additional seed funding at a $100m valuation, TechCrunch reported today. Liberty City Ventures, Canaan Partners, Addition, Mantis and Banana Capital all took part in the round, which came in the wake of a $5.5m first seed round in June this year. That round was co-led by Quiet Capital and Liberty City Ventures and included Visa, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Unpopular Ventures and undisclosed angel investors.
Healix, a Netherlands-based developer of plastics recycling technology, has raised over €10m ($11.7m) in a seed round featuring fibre producer FibrXL and agricultural packaging product manufacturer Tama, Silicon Canals reported yesterday. Private equity firm Active Capital Company led the round, which included financial services firm ABN Amro’s Asset Based Finance vehicle and Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
Rhumbix, a US-headquartered construction digitalisation software developer that counts design software producer Autodesk among its investors, completed an $11m funding round yesterday. Blackhorn Ventures and Tenfore Holdings co-led the round, which included Greylock Partners, Glynn Capital and Brick & Mortar Ventures, the first four having joined S28 Capital and South Park Ventures in Rhumbix’s $14.3m series B round in mid-2019. It said it has now raised $49m in total, $8m coming in a 2018 round led by Autodesk’s Forge Fund.
Pharmaceutical and chemical producer Bayer led a $10.3m series A round for US-based soil sensor developer EarthOptics yesterday through its Leaps by Bayer unit. S2G Ventures also participated in the round, as did Middleland Capital’s VTC Ventures fund, FHB Ventures and Route 66 Ventures, all of which were named by EarthOptics as existing backers.
Blackbird.AI, a US-based creator of artificial intelligence-equipped disinformation intelligence software, closed a $10m series A round yesterday that included NetX, a provider of digital asset management technology. Dorilton Ventures led the round, which also featured Generation Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, StartFast Ventures and angel investor Richard Clarke. The company identified NetX as an existing investor but has not revealed details of its earlier funding.
US-headquartered crypto wallet developer Portal completed an $8.5m funding round yesterday featuring digital currency exchanges OKEx and Coinbase, the latter through its Coinbase Ventures unit. They were joined by ArringtonXRP Capital, Republic.co, Shima Ventures, LD Capital, Monday Capital, GenBlock, Taureon, Autonomy Capital, Krypital, B21 Capital and unnamed individuals.
Bruvi, the US-based developer of an eco-friendly home coffee machine, revealed yesterday it had raised a total of $7m in pre-series A funding as of the end of last month, from investors including Miroma Ventures and M1, respective vehicles for marketing agency Miroma Group and coffee retailer BIA. The round also featured Terpsi Capital, 9Yards Capital, Cambridge Companies SPG and undisclosed family offices and private investors. Bruvi had previously revealed $950,000 in pre-seed funding in 2019 and $2.2m in a seed round which closed in July 2020.
Wevnal, the Japan-based operator of a digital marketing platform dubbed Botchan, received ¥600m ($5.5m) in series A funding today from insurance provider Nippon Life’s Nissay Capital subsidiary and VC firm Archetype Ventures. The company had previously been part of recruitment firm DIP’s AI.Accelerator in September 2020.
US-based marketing automation software provider Plannuh completed a $4.1m funding round yesterday that included Gradient Ventures, the artificial intelligence fund operated by internet technology provider Google. VC fund Ripple Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Glasswing Ventures, the VC firm that co-led Plannuh’s $4m seed round with Gradient Ventures in February 2020.
Prysm, the US-headquartered creator of a social crypto investment platform, disclosed a $3m seed round yesterday featuring CMT Digital and Alameda Ventures, which invested on behalf of trading groups Capital Markets Trading and Alameda Research. Crypto-focused investment firm North Island Ventures led the round, which was also backed by Polychain Capital, Reciprocal Ventures, Leminscap, Free Company, Infinite Capital, Flow Ventures, Drops Foundation and assorted angel investors.
E-commerce marketplace IndiaMart has co-led a $3m pre-series A round for Aerchain, the India-based creator of a smart procurement software platform, YourStory reported yesterday. The round was co-led with Season Two Ventures and the startup has earmarked the proceeds for recruitment and product development.
Business Canvas, the South Korea-based developer of document management software platform Typed, secured $2.5m in seed funding today from investors including Kakao Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet group Kakao. The round was led by Mirae Asset Venture Investment, a subsidiary of asset manager Mirae Asset, and also featured VC firm Nextrans.
Dispense, the US-based creator of a business management software platform for cannabis dispensaries, closed a $2m seed round yesterday featuring Arrive, the VC arm of entertainment management agency Roc Nation. VC fund NextView Ventures led the round, which included Poseidon Asset Management, Achari Ventures and angel investor Wayne Chang.
US-headquartered decentralised finance technology startup SundaeSwap Labs disclosed $1.3m in seed funding yesterday from investors including quantitative trading firm Alameda Research. The round was led by VC fund cFund and also featured family office Double Peak Group.
Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles.
