Corporate venturing activity in September was driven by robust levels of activity, with the technology sector generally buoyed by the large initial public offering (IPO) of China-based online retailer Alibaba. During the month there were 157 investments by corporate venturing units worth $3.2bn, compared with 161 deals worth $4.2bn in August. There were three exits and two IPOs worth $26.7bn, compared with six exits and four IPOs worth $2.3bn that we tracked in August. The value of September’s exits was boosted by the $25bn IPO of Alibaba, which was backed by Japan-based conglomerate SoftBank and US-based search engine Yahoo.
The largest investment of the month was the $500m raised by media company Vice Media, with cable television company A&E Networks, which is co-owned by media companies Hearst Corporation and Walt Disney, investing $250m.
The second-biggest investment was Delivery Hero the Germany-based online food ordering platform backed by investors including retail group Tengelmann’s corporate venturing unit, Tengelmann Ventures, which raised $350m in a series G round. The third-biggest investment was China-based used-car auctioning platform Youxinpai, which is backed by the corporate venturing units of Legend Holdings, Bertelsmann and Tencent, that raised $260m in series C funding. The fourth-biggest deal was US-based distributed database technology producer Datastax raising $106m in a series E round backed by investors including Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of cable and web provider Comcast.
The fifth-biggest deal was China-based car rental company Yongche receiving more than $100m in a series D round round that included internet company Baidu. Qualcomm Ventures, the chip company’s corporate venturing unit, had backed Yongche’s series A.
IT
The largest deal in the sector was US-based distributed database technology producer Datastax raising $106m in a series E round backed by investors including Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of the cable and web provider.
This was followed by US-based digital marketing company Radius, which secured $54.7m in a series C round backed by the corporate venturing units of Spain-based banking group BBVA and Comcast. The round also included venture capital (VC) firms BlueRun Ventures, Western Technology Investments, Formation 8 and Founders Fund, private investment firm Glynn Capital Management, angel investor group Slow Ventures, Yuan Capital and private investors.
US-based global location marketplace XAd secured $50m in a series D debt and equity round with participation from investors including SoftBank Capital, the telecoms company’s corporate venturing arm. Growth equity firm Institutional Venture Partners led the round, which included Emergence Capital and Silicon Valley Bank.
Veracode, a US-based developer of a cloud-based security platform backed by IT security firm Symantec, closed a $40m series F round. The company has now raised more than $110m from investors including digital entertainment technology company Rovi Corporation and In-Q-Tel, the quasi-corporate venturing unit of the US intelligence networks.
US-based content delivery network Fastly raised $40m in a series C round featuring corporate venturing units run by media and research company International Data Group (IDG) and media company O’Reilly. IDG Ventures and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures were joined in the round by August Capital, Battery Ventures and Amplify Partners.
US-based cloud security company Ping Identity raised $35m in funding from investors including SAP Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the Germany-based software company. Investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts led the round.
Canada-based social media tools company Hootsuite completed a $60m series C round on Thursday, lifting its total financing programmatically to $250m.
Internet-of-things start up IFTTT, a platform that manages users’ social media apps in one place, raised $30m in funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Norwest, the corporate venturing unit of US-based bank Wells Fargo.
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Services
UK-based marketing firm WPP invested $25m in Microsoft-backed adtech firm AppNexus, increasing its stake from less than 1% to almost 15%, according to the Wall Street Journal. US-based AppNexus is a publisher ad server platform that allows real-time buying and selling of digital advertising. WPP invested a relatively small sum for the stake because the deal includes the transfer of Xaxis for Publishers software held by WPP subsidiary Xaxis to AppNexus. The software connects advertisers and publishers to audiences across different channels.
India-based online classified listings company Quikr secured $60m of series G funding from a range of investors including e-commerce company eBay and smartphone maker Nokia’s corporate venturing unit, Nokia Growth Partners unit.
Delivery Hero, the Germany-based online food ordering platform backed by investors including Tengelmann Ventures, has raised $350m in a series G round.
China-based online food delivery service Daojia closed a $50m series D round featuring e-commerce company JD.com and investment bank Macquarie Capital.
China-based online food delivery company Etaoshi.com secured $20m in series B financing from a subsidiary of agribusiness New Hope Group.
US home improvement company Lowe’s has led a $27.6m series A round for US-based home renovation network Porch.com that valued it at more than $85m.
China-based online medical portal Dxy.cn received a $70m strategic investment from internet firm Tencent in return for a minority stake.
MetricStream, a US-based provider of governance, risk, compliance and quality management services for businesses, has raised $60m in a financing round featuring Kaiser Permanente Ventures, healthcare consortium Kaiser Permanente’s corporate venturing unit.
Flex Pharma, a US-based developer of treatments for neuromuscular disorders, raised $40m in series A funding from investors including conglomerate Kraft Group.
US-based Ivantis, developer of a device to treat glaucoma patients, has raised an additional $25m from investors including corporate venturing unit Ascension Ventures to take its series B round to $71m.
US-based mobile personal healthcare company iHealth Lab, a subsidiary of medical device producer Andon Health, raised $25m in series A funding from Xiaomi Ventures, the venture arm of smartphone maker Xiaomi.
Deals in the sector included the $500m raised by media company Vice Media, selling stakes to cable television company A&E Networks, which is co-owned by media companies Hearst Corporation and Walt Disney, and VC firm Technology Crossover Ventures.
US-based online fantasy sports startup FanDuel raised $70m in series D funding in a round featuring the corporate venturing unit of cable television company Comcast.
Wikia, a US-based collaborative media company, raised $15m in series D funding from retailer Amazon, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Institutional Venture Partners, for international expansion. The company raised $10m in series C funding in 2012, which featured Amazon.
Transport
The largest deal in the sector was China-based used-car auctioning platform Youxinpai, which is backed by the corporate venturing units of Legend Holdings, Bertelsmann and Tencent, that raised $260m in series C funding.
The second biggest deal was China-based car rental company Yongche receiving more than $100m in a series D round that included internet company Baidu. Qualcomm Ventures, chip company Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit, had backed Yongche’s series A.
Sidecar, a US-based ride sharing company backed by investors including internet company Google, has raised $15m in series C funding. The round featured VC firms Avalon Ventures and Union Square Ventures, and entrepreneur Richard Branson.
China-based financial mobile app Tongbanjie raised close to $50m in a series B round featuring a corporate venturing subsidiary of research and media group IDG. Legend Capital, the corporate venturing arm of conglomerate Legend Holdings, led the round, while China Growth Capital also participated.
Online social network Renren led a $40m series C round for China-based financial information service Snowball Finance.
China-based peer-to-peer lending company Jimubox raised $37.2m in a series B round co-led by Xiaomi and VC fund Shunwei Capital.
GlassPoint Solar, a US-based developer of solar steam technology, raised $53m in series C funding from investors including energy company Royal Dutch Shell.
UK-based 4energy, a provider of low-energy cooling products, raised an undisclosed amount from Chrysalix Set, manager of VC funds backed by Netherlands-based corporates Delta and Essent. 4energy’s investors include energy supplier British Gas.
US-based smart-home company Leeo emerged from stealth, revealing at the same time that it had raised $37m in funding from investors including energy company Eon. Founded in 2013, Leeo’s other investors include VC firm Formation 8, which is backed by several Asian corporates.
US-based sensor development company Soneter raised $6m in funding and agreed a strategic partnership with supply chain logistics company Flextronics.
Kateeva, a US-based manufacturer of flat panel OLED displays, has raised $38m in a series D round featuring Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, the corporate venturing unit of the electronics conglomerate.
Avogy, a US-based developer of energy efficient power conversion systems, secured $40m in a series B round led by Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of the semiconductor producer. The round also featured VC firm Khosla Ventures, already an investor in Avogy. Intel Capital’s managing director Ramamurthy Sivakumar and director Stephen Saltzman led the investment for the unit.
US-based semiconductor producer SiTime, which is backed by Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the corporate venturing unit of the industrial manufacturer, closed a $25m series G round, securing $15m in debt from Capital IP Investment Partners and $10m in equity from undisclosed investors.