M&A
Gambling and gaming group Penn Entertainment paid $388m for the remaining 64% of US-based online sports media platform Barstool Sports it did not own, three years after investing $163m for a 36% stake. At the time of the 2020 deal, investment adviser The Chernin Group held a 36% stake with the rest of Barstool was owned by its founders and employees.
Market data aggregator Quodd acquired Xignite, a US-based developer of application programming interfaces for financial market data, for an undisclosed sum enabling media group Nikkei to exit. Nikkei subsidiary Quick Corporation led a $20.5m series C round in 2016 that lifted Xignite’s total funding to $37m.
Public markets
Cover, a Japan-based virtual YouTuber management service backed by digital media company Gree, marketing firm Hakuhodo DY and animation studio OLM, has received approved to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s TSE Growth Market on March 27. The offering is expected to value the company at roughly $320m.
Funding
US-based blockchain-equipped agricultural payment service GrainChain has raised $29m from investors including furniture retailer Overstock. The round also featured Pelion Venture Partners, Brigham Young University’s BYU Cougar Capital unit and unnamed other investors.
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChargerHelp | Maintenance service provider for electric vehicle charging stations | Transport | US | A | 17.5 | 17/02/2023 | Exelon Corporation; Blue Bear Capital (lead), Aligned Climate Capital, Energy Impact Partners |
| Alp | Provider of subscription management platform Scalebase | Services | Japan | A | 13.9 (updated) | 20/02/2023 | Uzabase (UB Ventures), Mitsubishi UFJ (Mitsubishi UFJ Capital), Yamaguchi Financial Group (Yamaguchi Capital), Globis (Globis Capital Partners), GMO (GMO VenturePartners), Dentsu (Dentsu Ventures); DNX Ventures |
| Mediotec | Virtual solar power plant operator | Energy and Natural Resources | Japan | B | 12.7 | 20/02/2023 | Kansai Electric Power; Energy & Environment Investment |
| Stuf | Crowdsourced physical storage service | Services | US | A | 11 | 17/02/2023 | Allegion (Allegion Ventures) (co-lead); Altos Ventures (co-lead), Wilshire Lane Capital, Harlem Capital, Palm Tree Crew, Good Friends, Anim Fund |
| Quell | Fitness gaming system developer | Media | UK | A | 10 | 20/02/2023 | Tencent (lead); Khosla Ventures, Heartcore Capital, Social Impact Capital, Naval Ravikant |
| Transcelestial | Wireless laser communication technology provider | Telecoms | Singapore | A | 10 | 17/02/2023 | Airbus (Airbus Ventures) (lead), Globe Telecom (Kickstart Ventures); Genesis Alternative Ventures, Wavemaker, Defence Science and Technology Agency (Cap Vista), Seeds Capital, In-Q-Tel |
| Selfapy | Digital mental health therapeutics provider | Healthcare | Germany | N/A | 7.5 | 17/02/2023 | Medice Arzneimittel (lead), SHS Group; High-Tech Grunderfonds, Think.Health Ventures, Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB Ventures) |
| Unagi | Web3 video game publisher | Media | France | Seed | 5 | 17/02/2023 | United Overseas Bank (UOB Ventures); Sisu Game Ventures (lead), Sfermion, Signum Capital, 2B Ventures, Machame |
| Nefta | Enterprise Web3 services management platform | IT | UK | Seed | 5 | 17/02/2023 | Polygon (Polygon Ventures), MZ (MZ Web3); Play Ventures (lead), SevenX Ventures, Sfermion, Picus Capital |
| MCBI | Blood-based test developer for cognitive impairment risk | Healthcare | Japan | N/A | 3.4 | 20/02/2023 | Kaga Electronics, Green Core |
| Previa Medical | AI-equipped predictive healthcare technology developer | Healthcare | France | Seed | 2.2 | 16/02/2023 | Hopla Memory; BPIfrance, CCI Capital Croissance, Veymont Participations, M2care, Holding Seraip, BNP Paribas |
| Robit | Provider of manufacturing site automation technology | Industrial | Japan | N/A | N/A | 20/02/2023 | Tsumura |
| Vegetech | Fresh produce distribution platform | Consumer | Japan | N/A | N/A | 20/02/2023 | Air Water, Delica Foods |
