US-based fertility and gynaecology treatment provider Kindbody has received $10m in funding from investors including GV, a subsidiary of internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet. Kindbody said the round took its total funding to $32m, and it comes in the wake of a $15m series A round co-led by RRE Ventures and Perceptive Advisors in April this year. The company’s earlier backers include Green D Ventures, Trail Mix Ventures, Winklevoss Capital and angel investors including Chelsea Clinton and Vivek Garipalli.
Japan-based digital insurance technology developer JustInCase has raised ¥1bn ($9.2m) in a series A round featuring internet company DeNA, trading group Itochu, Line Ventures, Globis Capital Partners, SBI Investment and Shinsei Enterprise Investment: subsidiaries of messaging platform Line, education services firm Globis and financial services firms SBI and Shinsei Bank respectively. The round included Coral Capital and Global Brain, both of which took part in JustInCase’s $1.4m in pre-series A round in June 2018. It has now raised $11m in total.
Ant Financial, e-commerce group Alibaba’s financial services affiliate, has made a ‘sizeable’ investment in M-Pay, the Vietnam-based developer of mobile wallet eMonkey, Reuters reported yesterday. The company has not revealed firm details of earlier funding but intends to leverage Ant Financial’s payment expertise going forward.
Aleva Neurotherapeutics, a Switzerland-based deep brain-stimulation system developer backed by medical device maker Greatbatch, secured $8m on Monday for the first close of its series E round, raising the cash from unnamed new and existing investors. Forrestal Capital led its $13m series D round in October 2017, which followed an $18m series C led by Greatbatch the year before. It has now disclosed a total of more than $60m in funding and its earlier backers include BioMedPartners, BB Biotech Ventures, Banexi Ventures and Initiative Capital Romandie.
Data storage hardware producer Seagate Technology has led an $8m funding round for US-based undersea data collector Terradepth, TechCrunch reported on Monday. The startup plans to begin piloting its autonomous robotics technology in mid-2020 before expanding its operations the following year.
Farmnote Holdings, a Japan-based provider of connected farming technology, raised ¥850m ($7.8m) on Tuesday from investors including human resources and public relations firm Mynavi and Kyoritsu Holdings, the parent company of pharmaceuticals producer Kyoritsu Seiyaku. The round also featured SMBC Venture Capital and Oita Venture Capital, subsidiaries of financial services firms Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Oita Bank, as well as Mirai Creation Fund II. Farmnote has now raised approximately $24m altogether.
Neuroflow, a US-based mental health management platform developer backed by health insurer Independence Blue Cross (IBX), completed a $7.5m series A round on Monday that was led by Builders VC and backed by Dreamit Ventures, Spring Point Partners, Red & Blue Ventures and AWT Private Investments. It had raised $1.2m from IBX, JumpStart, Chestnut Street Ventures and Ben Franklin Technology Partners in September 2018, adding to $1.25m from IBX, Ben Franklin Technology Partners and Safeguard Scientifics in October 2017.
Collab Asia, the Japan-based operator of a social influencer network, has secured $7.5m in a series B round featuring Samsung Ventures, a subsidiary of electronics manufacturer Samsung, and Pksha Sparx Algorithm Fund, a joint venture between AI algorithm developer Pksha Technology and asset manager Sparx Group. The round was led by Gorilla Private Equity and included Ncore Ventures, Altos Ventures and angel investor Bae Yong-joon. It came in the wake of $3m in series A funding from Altos Ventures in July 2017.
US-based property leasing services and software provider Ender has received $7m in seed capital from investors including real estate developer LeFrak, Crunchbase News reported on Monday. The round was led by Global Founders Capital and also featured Tuesday Capital, HOF Capital, Cherubic Ventures, Circle Ventures and undisclosed additional participants.
US-based restorative cell therapy developer Aspen Neuroscience has launched with $6.5m in a seed round co-led by pharmaceutical company Eurofarma’s Axon Ventures unit and venture capital firm Domain Associates. The round included Alexandria Venture Investments, the VC arm of life sciences real estate investment firm Alexandria Real Estate Equities, in addition to Arch Venture Partners, OrbiMed and Section 32.
M Ventures, pharmaceutical firm Merck Group’s corporate venturing unit, led a $6m series A round for brain-sensing headphones developer Neurable on Wednesday. Innospark Ventures, Loup Ventures and Point Judith Capital also participated in the round, which followed $2m in seed funding from Loup Ventures, PJC, NXT Ventures and Brian Shin of Boss Syndicate in 2016, and an undisclosed amount from Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund in June 2018.
Ryff, a US-based developer of technology that allows brands to be superimposed into pre-existing films or TV shows, has raised $5m in a funding round led by Valor Siren Ventures that included Mac Venture Capital, Moneta Ventures and Vulcan Capital, VentureBeat reported on Tuesday. The deal comes in the wake of a $3.6m investment from Tech Mahindra, the IT product subsidiary of conglomerate Mahindra Group, in March this year that was made at a $19m valuation.
Austria-based augmented reality technology developer Holo-Light has secured €4m ($4.4m) in a series A round featuring EnBW New Ventures and Innogy Innovation Hub, corporate venturing vehicles for energy utilities EnBW and Innogy respectively. The round was also backed by Bayern Kapital and Toprope Ventures, and it comes after an undisclosed amount of funding from Innogy Innovation Hub and Management Center Innsbruck in May 2018.
Educational publisher Pearson led a $3.7m funding round for US-based healthcare education platform developer Knowledge to Practice on Tuesday through a $2m investment from its Pearson Ventures unit. Avestria Ventures, Sofia Fund and existing investors ReThink Education and SideCar Angels also participated in the round, which came after a $6.5m series A led by Rethink Education in February 2017.
Professional services firm Accenture invested an undisclosed amount in TradeIX, the Ireland-based creator of a distributed ledger platform for use in global trade, on Tuesday, in conjunction with a strategic partnership agreement. ING led the company’s $16m series A round in June 2018 through its ING Ventures subsidiary, participating together with fellow financial services firm BNP Paribas, Tech Mahindra and family office Kistefos.
Resistell, the Switzerland-based creator of a test for antibiotic susceptibility, completed a CHF3.5m ($3.6m) series A round on Tuesday that included Trumpf Venture, industrial machinery producer Trumpf’s corporate venturing unit. Investment firm Occident led the round, which also featured financial services firm Zürcher Kantonalbank, Alpana Ventures, Hemex and seven unnamed private investors. The startup closed an $850,000 seed round in December 2018 that was backed by Occident, Hemex and six undisclosed angel investors.
Euphoria, the Japan-based creator of a platform called One Tap Sports that is tailored to track the physical condition of athletes, has raised an undisclosed amount in a series B round featuring human resources firm Atrae, textile trader Toyoshima & Co, KDDI Open Innovation Fund and Asics Ventures, which invest on behalf of telecommunications firm KDDI and sneaker brand Asics respectively. It will spend the money on recruitment, marketing and the formation of strategic partnerships.
US-based autonomous driving technology startup Bluespace has completed a $3.5m seed round featuring semiconductor foundry UMC and Kakao Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for internet company Kakao. The round was led by Fusion Fund and included GDP Ventures, Atinum Investment, Wasabi Ventures, Blue Ivy Ventures, Plug and Play, SLV Capital and angel investor Steve Chen.
Zenledger, the US-based developer of an automated tax management platform, secured $3.4m in seed funding from investors including Gumi Cryptos Capital, a corporate venturing vehicle for mobile game publisher Gumi, on Tuesday. The round was led by fintech-focused VC firm Vestigo Ventures and also featured Castle Island Ventures, Unblock Ventures and Migration Capital.
Alice, the US-based developer of a business launch and growth advice and services platform, has received an undisclosed amount of series A funding from investors including dating app developer Bumble. The round also featured Silicon Valley Bank owner SVB Financial Group, Serena Ventures, Shatter Fund, Signia Venture Partners and angel investors Cathie Reid, Jean Case and Phyllis Newhouse. The company had closed a seed round featuring Signia Venture Partners, digital agency Zehner, Sherpa Capital, Shatter Fund and various individuals at $1.6m in May 2018.
Floranow, the United Arab Emirates-based operator of an e-commerce platform for flowers, has raised $3m in a series A round that included internet holding company Jabbar Internet Group, Wamda has revealed. Wamda’s Wamda Capital unit also invested, as did Dash Ventures, Sirocco Holdings, Adamtech Ventures, Zuaiter Holding Capital, HB Investments and unnamed angel investors. The company received an undisclosed amount in a December 2017 seed round featuring Jabbar Internet Group, Dash Ventures and Wamda Capital.
Steel producer and mining company Severstal provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based advanced alloy developer Modumetal on Wednesday through its strategic investment subsidiary, Severstal Ventures. Vulcan Capital led a $14m round for Modumetal in January 2019 that included oil and gas supplier ConocoPhillips and angel investor Steve Singh. It had raised at least $48m as of 2015, from investors including ConocoPhillips, Chevron Technology Ventures and BP Ventures – subsidiaries of oil and gas suppliers Chevron and BP.
Beauty and cosmetics producer Amorepacific Group supplied an undisclosed amount of funding on Tuesday for Milk Makeup, a vegan cosmetics brand spun off from US-based creative studio Milk Group. Private equity firm Main Post Partners and growth equity fund Alliance Consumer Growth were already investors in Milk Makeup.
Sumitomo Chemical, a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Sumitomo, has invested $2m in Israel-based scent-recognition technology startup NanoScent in a deal in which it was advised by Aniwo Innovation Advisory. NanoScent said in a press release that it has been collaborating with Sumitomo Chemical for the past year.
Hanzo, the Brazil-based developer of a customer engagement, payment and loyalty software platform, has received an undisclosed amount in a series A round that included payment services firm Mastercard. The round was led by VC firm Dot Capital and it follows Hanzo’s participation in Mastercard’s Start Path accelerator in 2018.
Japan-based furniture and appliance rental service Clas raised ¥200m ($1.8m) on Wednesday from investors including IT recruitment and gaming services firm Geechs, which made its first ever corporate venturing investment through the round. It received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from VC firm Anri and angel investors Yusuke Sato, Yusuke Mitsumoto and Ayataro Nakagawa in July 2018 and $3.4m in a May 2019 round featuring Anri and Canal Ventures, a subsidiary of IT services firm Nihon Unisys.
Earthquake-resistant construction firm NCN invested an undisclosed amount in Yadokari, a Japan-based provider of small-scale wooden buildings, on Wednesday. The funding will be channelled into increasing headcount and expanding the services Yadokari offers.
Clinician Nexus, a US-based developer of clinical rotation-management software, has received $1.5m in funding from investors including healthcare provider Cedars-Sinai, Minneapolis StarTribune reported yesterday. VC firm Hyde Park Venture Partners led the round, which included Great North Labs and Sofia Fund, and which increased the company’s total funding to $2.3m.
Sony Business Solutions, the digital media division of consumer electronics manufacturer Sony, paid an undisclosed amount for a sub-10% stake in Japan-based disaster update and information platform Spectee yesterday. It had raised an undisclosed amount from broadcaster Fuji TV, electronic surveillance equipment producer CBC and financial services firm Mizuho Bank in 2016, and $2.3m from Mizuho Capital, corporates Yahoo Japan, Fuji Sankei and Kyodo News Images – the former two through YJ Capital and Quaras – Arco Partners and Makoto Naruke in late 2017.
Crossborders Innovation, the Japan-based developer of an AI assistant called Hachico for recruitment agents, has secured an undisclosed amount in a funding round backed by GMO Venture Partners and G-Startup, corporate venturing vehicles for internet company GMO and education services provider Globis respectively. Angel investor Chikako Morimoto also contributed to the round, which will fund the further development of Hachico.
Infant and maternity product supplier Pigeon Corporation provided ¥150m ($1.4m) in funding for Japan-based breastmilk analysis service Bonyu.lab. Users supply milk through a collection kit provided by Bonyu and send it back to be analysed in the company’s laboratory. It then offers nutritional advice based on the results.
Gumi Cryptos Capital joined HashKey Capital, a subsidiary of digital asset manager HashKey, to invest an undisclosed amount in US-based digital asset management tool developer Tassat on Monday. Tassat has not revealed details of previous funding but identified financial services firm Signature Bank, blockchain software provider ConsenSys and CMT Digital, part of financial services and trading firm CMT Group, as existing investors.
Kakehashi, the Japan-based developer of a medical data and electronic health record platform, received an undisclosed amount of funding from medical technology producer PHC Corporation on Wednesday. It will be added to a $24m series B round in October this year featuring corporate investors Aflac, Dentsu, Globis, Itochu, Gree, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as well as DNX Ventures, Coral Capital and Chiba Dojo Fund, bringing the company’s overall funding to $30m.
France-based sustainable vehicle technology startup Gazelle Tech completed a €1.1m ($1.2m) funding round on Monday featuring prototyping software producer ESI Group. The corporate was joined by France’s Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and public investment bank BPIfrance, and Gazelle Tech, which is working on micro-sized car assembly facilities, said the round is the second it has closed.
Japan-based agricultural robot developer Legmin secured ¥130m ($1.2m) from investors including product design agency Takram Oneness today. SMBC Venture Capital, Incubate Fund and Shizuoka Capital also contributed to the round, which came after Incubate Fund had invested $910,000 in the company in January this year.
France-based digital healthcare technology developer Chronolife has launched a machine-washable smart T-shirt in conjunction with an announcement that it has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including insurance firm Adrea. The corporate invested alongside startup studio and investment fund iBionext and family office Celeste Management.
Gaming media company GameWith has committed an undisclosed amount to GFR Fund II, a US-based VC fund that invests in digital media and entertainment startups. GFR, an affiliate of digital media company Gree, already counts fellow Japan-headquartered corporates Akastuki, Colopl, Maruhan, Mixi and Yahoo Japan among its limited partners and had raised a total of $20m for GFR Fund II as of March this year.
Chatbook, the Japan-based creator of an automated social sales platform, received ¥100m ($910,000) in funding on Tuesday from investors including Monex Ventures, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital and Voyage Ventures, subsidiaries of exchange operator Monex, insurance firm Mitsui Sumitomo and online advertising technology provider Voyage Group. The corporates were joined by VC firm East Ventures and the government-owned Japan Finance Corporation. Its earlier backers include corporate VC units Salesforce Ventures and YJ Capital.
HitoBito, the Japan-headquartered creator of a chat-based e-commerce platform, has also raised ¥100m, today, from MTG Ventures, brand development firm MTG’s corporate venturing unit, as well as e-commerce services provider W2solution, IT industry human resources firm ITPro Partners and digital marketing firm Net Frontier. It will use the capital to enhance its artificial intelligence technology and expand into China.
Japan-based blockchain consulting and services provider SingulaNet completed a seed round of undisclosed size on Monday that included consulting services and incubator operator Dream Incubator’s Dimension Fund. Angel investors Shigeru Urushibara, Hiroyuki Uchino and Fujiyo Ishiguro also contributed to the round.
Japan Legal System Institute, a provider of cloud-based legal document editing software, secured ¥80m ($730,000) today from legal consultation platform Bengo4, financial exchange operator Monex Group and business intelligence provider Uzabase, the latter two through Monex Ventures and UB Ventures respectively. VC firms Future Venture Capital and Kyushu Venture Partners also participated in the round.
Insurance firm Consorcio Financiero has invested an undisclosed sum in Elegir Seguro, the Argentina-based operator of an insurance brokerage platform for small and medium-sized businesses, Diario Financiero has reported. The corporate intends to help Elegir Seguro expand into Mexico and Chile post-investment.
Queue, the Japan-based developer of database collaboration tool Sunryse, has raised approximately ¥70m ($640,000) from IT services and human resources firm Insource and management services provider Management Solutions. The round also featured consulting firm Plutus Management Advisory, U-Tokyo Entrepreneur Supporter’s Club Incubation Fund and undisclosed angel investors.
Japan-based anime and game artwork retail platform Anique closed a seed round of undisclosed size yesterday that was backed by investors including mobile game publisher Akatsuki’s Heart Driven Fund. The corporate was joined by angel investors Sotaro Karasawa, Kazuma Yamauchi and Mai Fujimoto.
Financial services firm Barclays and IT consulting firm Kruger Corporation have contributed to a funding round of undisclosed size for Ecuador-based data management platform developer Kriptos, Contxto reported last month. The round included SixThirty Cyber, BuenTrip Ventures, Techstars and undisclosed angel investors, and Barclays, Kruger, BuenTrip Ventures and Techstars participated in the round as existing backers.
Workout, the Japan-based operator of personal training service Real Workout, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from beauty salon operator Arte Salon Holdings, IT and internet-of-things technology provider Wiz, startup support platform Studies and angel investors Yoshihiro Takano and Masaki Saito. It will spend the cash on increasing headcount and strengthening its trainer support tools.
Soundmind, a US-based developer of voice-activated products for senior citizens, has secured an undisclosed amount from media group Hearst’s female-focused HearstLab and the New York State-owned New York Ventures. The startup had graduated from Entrepreneurs’ Roundtable Accelerator in April this year, receiving $100,000 in the process.
E-commerce holding group DMM has invested ¥10m ($92,000) in DariaMe, the Japan-based operator of a digital media offering for troubled young people, through corporate venturing subsidiary DMM Ventures. The startup also maintains an online counselling service for users who may be worried about the state of the world.
