Funds
Thai financial services firm Kasikornbank has invested about $30m in its corporate venturing arm, Beacon VC, with the cash to be used to set up an impact investing scheme called Beacon Impact Fund. The initiative will focus on Thailand-based sustainability technology developers.
Singapore-based venture capital firm Blockchain Founders Fund reached the final close of its $75m second fund with backing from cryptocurrency scaling platform Polygon, crypto services provider Ripple and crypto market maker GSR. The limited partners also included Octava, NEO Global Capital, Appworks, Sebastien Borget, LD Capital, Metavest Capital and unnamed others, and the fund will invest in pre-seed and seed-stage Web3 and blockchain technology developers.
Life and health reinsurer Reinsurance Group of America co-anchored US-headquartered VC firm SixThirty Ventures’ third fund, which closed at $66m, with Edward Jones Investments. The other backers included insurance providers Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America and Unum Group as well as BNY Mellon’s Pershing unit, Commerce Bancshares and undisclosed others.
M&A
Networking, cloud and cybersecurity firm Cisco agreed to acquire portfolio company Valtix, a US-based provider of enterprise cloud security technology, for an undisclosed sum. Valtix last received funding in 2021 when the corporate’s VC arm, Cisco Investments, took part in a $12.5m round that pushed its total funding to $26.5m.
IT services firm Foxway paid an undisclosed amount to buy Teqcycle Solutions, a Germany-based mobile trade-in technology developer backed by telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom Group and consultancy Barkawi Group. Teqcycle raised an undisclosed amount in a round led by Deutsche Telekom unit T-Venture and backed by Barkawi in 2014, the year after it was spun off by waste disposal company Teqport Services.
Funding
Mass media group Comcast invested in 10 sports and fan engagement technology startups that formed part of its SportsTech accelerator’s third class: Aircast, Einbliq.io, FanFest, FanSaves, GeoSnapShot, Quicc, Recut, Rivalry Tech, Rizzarr and Tickets for Good. The companies received $50,000 each in funding from Comcast and Boomtown, a startup accelerator operator that helps manage the programme.
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Sun | Renewable energy and storage system developer | Energy and Natural Resources | US | N/A | 90 | 28/02/2023 | Modern Energy; EIG |
| Bitwise Industries | Software development training provider | Services | US | C | 80 | 28/02/2023 | Motley Fool, Citigroup (CitiBank Growth Equity); Kapor Center (lead), Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Growth Equity) |
| SesamM | Developer of natural language processing technology | IT | France | B2 | 37 | 01/03/2023 | BNP Paribas (Opera Tech Ventures) (co-lead), Raiffeisen Bank International (Elevator Ventures); Elaia Partners (co-lead), Unigestion, AFG Partners, Cegee Capital, Carlyle, New Alpha Asset Management |
| Novata | Enterprise ESG measurement software provider | Energy and Natural Resources | US | B | 30 | 28/02/2023 | S&P Global, Microsoft (Climate Innovation Fund); Hamilton Lane (lead), Ford Foundation |
| Earthene (Asuene) | Producer of enterprise decarbonisation and ESG management technology | Energy and Natural Resources | Japan | B | 19.9 (updated) | 01/03/2023 | Sony (Sony Innovation Fund), GMO (GMO VenturePartners), Salesforce (Salesforce Ventures); Glin Impact Capital, Tybourne Capital Management, SBI (SBI Investment) |
| Juno | Cryptocurrency trading platform | Financial | Singapore | N/A | 17 | 28/02/2023 | Jump Trading Group (Jump Crypto); ParaFi Capital (Growth Fund), Hashed, Sequoia India (Surge) |
| Gable | Office space management provider | Services | US | A | 16 | 28/02/2023 | Tishman Speyer Properties (Tishman Speyer Ventures); SemperVirens (lead), Foundation Capital, Ulu Ventures, January Ventures |
| Archway | Customer interaction software provider for banks | Services | US | A | 15 | 28/02/2023 | WaFd Bank (co-lead); Madrona (co-lead) |
| Avalon | Gaming and virtual experience platform | Media | US | N/A | 13 | 28/02/2023 | Coinbase (Coinbase Ventures), Delphi Digital; Bitkraft Ventures (lead), Hashed, Yield Guild Games, Avocado Guild, MorningStar Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Merit Circle |
| DigiFT | Digital asset exchange platform | Financial | Singapore | Pre-A | 10.5 | 28/02/2023 | Wanxiang (HashKey Capital); Shanda Group (lead), Hash Global, Xin Enterprise, North Beta Capital |
| Doctorly | Provider of medical practice management software | Healthcare | Germany | A | 10 | 01/03/2023 | Well Health Technologies, Uniqa Insurance Group (Uniqa Ventures); Horizons Ventures, The Delta, Speedinvest, Calm/Storm Ventures, Seedcamp |
| Ballas | Construction materials provider | Industrial | Japan | A | 8.5 | 01/03/2023 | KLab (Anobaka), Mynavi, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC Venture Capital), Bank of Kyoto (Kyogin Lease & Capital), Nanto Bank (Nanto Capital Partners), Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital); Global Brain (co-lead), SBI (SBI Investment) (co-lead), Mint (Apricot Venture Fund) |
| Campfire | Crowdfunding platform operator | Financial | Japan | N/A | 7.8 | 01/03/2023 | Giftee, Mizuho Bank (Mizuho Capital); SBI Group (lead), RFI Advisors, Minerva Growth Partners, Mizuho Securities (equity); Japan Finance Corporation (debt) |
| Tential | Diversified wellness product provider | Consumer | Japan | N/A | 7.4 | 01/03/2023 | Nippon Life (Nissay Capital) (lead), Tokyo Broadcasting System Television (TBS Innovation Partners), Toyoshima (Toyoshima CVC), Paramount Bed (Paramount Bed Healthcare Fund), Rakuten (Rakuten Capital); unnamed financial institutions (debt) |
| WNWN Food Labs | Cocoa-free chocolate developer | Consumer | UK | N/A | 5.6 | 28/02/2023 | Geschwister Oetker Beteiligungen Group (Martin Braun-Gruppe), Paulig Group (Pinc); PeakBridge (lead), Mustard Seed Maze, Investbridge AgriTech, HackCapital |
| Colossyan | Text-to-video transcription software developer | Media | UK | A | 5 | 27/02/2023 | Axel Springer & Porsche (APX); LauncHub Ventures (lead), Emerge Education, Day One Capital, Oktogon Ventures |
| Spade | Provider of financial transaction data software | IT | US | Seed | 5 | 28/02/2023 | Alphabet (Gradient Ventures); Andreessen Horowitz (lead), Y Combinator, Dash Fund |
| Snaq.Me | Snack subscription service | Consumer | Japan | N/A | 4 | 01/03/2023 | Giftee, Marui Group, Oisix Ra Daichi (Future Food Fund) |
| Latrico | Operator of online pharmacy Tokyo Bihadado | Healthcare | Japan | N/A | 3.8 | 01/03/2023 | Colopl (Colopl Next), Money Forward (Money Forward Venture Partners’ Hirac Fund) |
| Perfora | Online oral care brand | Consumer | India | N/A | 2.5 | 28/02/2023 | RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG Capital Ventures) |
| Term Labs | Blockchain research and development provider | Financial | US | N/A | 2.5 | 28/02/2023 | Coinbase (Coinbase Ventures), Circle (Circle Ventures), Mexc (Mexc Ventures); Electric Capital (lead), Robot Ventures, angel investors |
| Cierpa & Company | Provider of ESG information disclosure support tool SmartESG | Energy and Natural Resources | Japan | N/A | 1.9 | 01/03/2023 | Norinchukin Bank (Norin Chukin Innovation Fund), Mitsubishi UFJ (Mitsubishi UFJ Capital), Mizuho Bank (Mizuho Capital); Global Brain (lead), Genesia Ventures |
| Wakweli | NFT and digital token authentication platform | IT | Switzerland | Seed | 1.1 | 01/03/2023 | Summit Mining (lead), Funfair Technologies Group (Funfair Ventures); unnamed angel investors |
| Orisdi | Ecommerce platform operator | Consumer | Iraq | N/A | <1 ($220,000) | 28/02/2023 | Al Sharqiya TV Group; 3B Starlight Investment |
| DigsConnect | Online student property portal | Services | South Africa | N/A | N/A | 21/02/2023 | Student.com |
| H3X Technologies | Sustainable electric motor developer | Transport | US | N/A | N/A | 28/02/2023 | Lockheed Martin (Lockheed Martin Ventures) |
| Raven SR | Renewable fuel producer | Energy and Natural Resources | US | N/A | N/A | 28/02/2023 | Stellar J Corporation |
| Remezcla | Latinx-focused digital magazine and creative agency | Media | US | N/A | N/A | 28/02/2023 | My Code |
| Eco Style | Solar power generation infrastructure builder | Energy and Natural Resources | Japan | N/A | N/A | 01/03/2023 | Mizuho Leasing |
| Medifellow | Japanese expatriate-focused medical teleconsultation service | Healthcare | Japan | Seed | N/A | 01/03/2023 | HIS; Sawada Investment |
| Mammoth | Easy onboarding service for social media platform Mastodon | Media | US | Pre-seed | N/A | 28/02/2023 | Mozilla (lead); Long Journey Ventures, Marc Benioff |
| Integral | Provider of automation software for healthcare data compliance | Healthcare | US | Pre-seed | N/A | 01/03/2023 | LiveRamp (LiveRamp Ventures); Virtue Ventures (lead), Caffeinated Capital, GreatPoint Ventures, Array Ventures, Joel Jewitt, Michel Tricot, Sam Whitaker, Abhishek Chandra, Andrew Arruda |
