Funds
US-based impact venture studio Fast Forward has raised $3m for its 10th Startup Accelerator initiative, from investors including corporates Alphabet (through Google.org), Hewlett Packard (through Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation), Bloomberg, Okta, Twilio (through Twilio.org), ServiceNow, Dell, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Salesforce, HubSpot, Splunk, Pinterest, DigitalOcean and NewRelic (through NewRelic.org) as well as investment and financial services group Fidelity (through Fidelity Charitable Trustees’ Initiative) and Endless Network.
M&A
Food surplus delivery service Yindii acquired Phenix by OnTheList, a Hong Kong-based peer backed by food producer Danone, for an undisclosed amount. Danone’s Manifesto Ventures unit helped provide $14.5m for the company in September 2022 following a $17m round in 2018.
Digital grocery platform Mathem bought Swedish counterpart Kavall for an undisclosed sum, allowing media company Bonnier to exit. Bonnier co-led a $16.4m round for Kavall in April 2022 through its Bonnier Ventures subsidiary, taking the company’s total funding to $22.2m.
Codealike, an Argentina-based coding process management platform that counts telecommunications firm Telefónica’s Wayra accelerator as an investor, has been purchased by freelancer talent network operator Torc for an undisclosed amount.
Funding
Kream, a South Korea-based luxury goods resale marketplace spun off by internet group Naver, raised $168m in series C funding at a $742m valuation, from investors including Naver, telecoms and internet group SoftBank and electronics producer Samsung, the last two through their SoftBank Ventures Asia and Samsung Securities units respectively. The round was led by Altos Ventures and also backed by Mirae Asset Capital and Axiom Asia.
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outpace Bio | Cellular immunotherapy developer | Healthcare | US | A | 55 (updated) | 23/03/2023 | Bristol Myers Squibb, Lyell Immunopharma; Playground Global, Artis Ventures, Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala Capital), Sahsen Ventures, Civilization Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Washington Research Foundation (WRF Capital) |
| Lunaphore | Tumour-focused proteomic data technology developer | Healthcare | Switzerland | D1 | 43.5 | 23/03/2023 | PHC Holdings Corporation; Ernst Göhner Foundation (Ernst-Göhner Stiftung Beteiligungen) (lead), Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund, Occident, Redalpine ($32.7m equity); Norgine Ventures ($10.8m debt) |
| Britive | Cloud-based identity security software provider | IT | US | B | 20.5 | 23/03/2023 | Liberty Global (Liberty Global Ventures); Pelion Venture Partners (lead), Crosslink Capital, One Way Ventures |
| Zeroboard | Greenhouse gas emission calculation platform | Energy and Natural Resources | Japan | A | 19.2 (updated) | 24/03/2023 | Mitsubishi Corporation, Nagase, Kansai Electric Power, Mitsubishi UFJ, Iwatani, Toyoda Tsusho, Sumitomo, Fukuoka Financial Group (FFG Venture Partners), Orix, Mizuho Bank (Mizuho Capital), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC Venture Capital); Japan Green Investment Corp for Carbon Neutrality, U3 Innovations, Delight Ventures, Keryrock Capital Management, DNX Ventures, Inclusion Japan, Development Bank of Japan (DBJ Capital), Jafco, Coral Capital |
| Pragma Bio (formerly VastBiome) | Immunologic disorder drug developer | Healthcare | US | N/A | 10 | 23/03/2023 | Merck & Co (Merck Global Health Innovation Fund), CJ Group (CJ Investments); The Venture Collective (lead), Viking Global Investors |
| Gryfyn | Custodial cryptocurrency wallet provider | Financial | China (Hong Kong) | N/A | 7.5 | 21/03/2023 | Animoca Brands (Animoca Ventures), Liberty City (Liberty City Ventures); GameFi Ventures, Lavender Hill Capital Partners, Mind Fund, LeadBlock Partners, Angel Hub, Brinc, Gabby Dizon |
| Turnkey | Cryptocurrency exchange operator | Financial | US | Seed | 7.5 | 22/03/2023 | Coinbase (Coinbase Ventures); Sequoia Capital (lead), Variant |
| Vermiculus Financial Technology | AI-based trading and post-trade management platform | Financial | Sweden | N/A | 5.6 | 15/03/2023 | B3 (L4 Venture Builder) |
| Felix&Fido | Veterinary service provider spun off by Pioneer Square Labs | Services | US | Pre-seed | 4 | 23/03/2023 | Rover Group; Pioneer Square Labs (PSL Ventures) (lead) |
| MOGL | Brand monetisation marketplace for collegiate athletes | Media | US | Seed | 2.6 | 23/03/2023 | Penske Media Corporation; Magarac Venture Partners (lead), PivotNorth Capital, Chaos Ventures, Litquidity, Sand Hill Angels, Platform Venture Studio, Minkah Fitzpatrick |
| Ocean Drop | Marine nutrient-based supplement brand | Consumer | Brazil | N/A | 2.8 | 06/03/2023 | Eurofarma (Neuron Ventures) |
| Reject | Professional esports team operator | Media | Japan | A | 2.3 | 24/03/2023 | Z Holdings (Z Venture Capital) (lead), Adways Ventures, Yogibo; Jafco, East Ventures, six unnamed angel investors |
| GoJoe | Social fitness app operator | Media | UK | Seed | 1.5 | 23/03/2023 | Superbet (Superbet Ventures) (lead), Animoca Brands; Michael Carrick |
| Automni | Autonomous industrial machinery manufacturer | Industrial | Brazil | Seed | N/A | 10/03/2023 | Grupo Viaduto; MSW Capital (Multicorp 2) |
| Aora | Home services aggregator | Services | Ecuador | Pre-seed | <1 ($850,000) | 09/03/2023 | Telefónica (Wayra Hispam); 500 Global, Fondation Botnar, New Ventures Capital, unnamed others |
| Zero Acre Farms | Cultured cooking oil developer | Consumer | US | N/A | N/A | 23/03/2023 | Chipotle Mexican Grill |
| Wota | Developer of residential water reuse system | Energy and Natural Resources | Japan | B ext | N/A | 24/03/2023 | Swing Corporation, Daiki Axis, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL Plus), Kyoritsu Holdings, ShinMaywa, Mitsubishi Kakoki Kaisha, Sedia System (Watanabe Pipe), Kitaoka Group, YCP Holdings; Development Bank of Japan, Japan Green Investment Corp for Carbon Neutrality, SMBC Nikko Securities, Yusaku Maezawa, Hachijuni Bank (Hachijuni Sustainability Fund 1), Hokuhoku Financial Group (Hokuhoku Capital) |
| Uni-chem | Fluorine-based material developer | Industrial | Japan | N/A | N/A | 23/03/2023 | Japan Material Technologies Corporation (JMTC Chemical & Materials Fund); Resona Bank (Resona Capital), two unnamed Corporations |
