Weekly corporate venturing deal net 25 – 29 July 2016
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Editorial: Growing the next generation of entrepreneurs
The number one challenge in venture capital, whether the source of the money is corporate, university, government or independent-based, is to source good quality deal flow.
Fundraising
Focus goes all out for $300m in funds
Outdoor advertising firm Focus Media plans to launch four $75m corporate venturing partnerships to invest in internet, technology, entertainment, education and travel technology.
Alibaba Pictures co-launches $300m entertainment fund
Alibaba’s film production and distribution subsidiary will invest up to $75m in the investment fund, with $225m to come from Gopher Asset.
Corporates okay second KK Fund
Sega Sammy and Septeni have supported KK Fund’s second vehicle, which will focus on early-stage startups across Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Siam Commercial Bank forwards corporate venturing plans
SCB’s Digital Ventures unit has announced its plans to set up a $50m corporate venturing arm, an accelerator and a research and development unit.
My Home looks to construct $75m fund
The India-based conglomerate is aiming to raise an initial $15m for the fund, following the creation of a dedicated department to identify opportunities.
Rozenfeld’s new firm targets $30m fund
Climate Impact Capital, the VC firm formed by ex-Shell Technology Ventures president Alexander Rozenfeld, could seek a corporate strategic as one of the fund’s LPs.
Orix rebrands its venture capital unit
The financial services firm has changed the name of its Orix Ventures unit to Orix Growth Ventures to emphasise its later-stage nature.
Astellas to digitise investments with help from MPM
Astellas Pharma, which has so far focused its corporate venturing on pharmaceuticals, and MPM Capital have formed a digital health fund called DigiTx Partners.
People
Intel selects Herron and Van Pelt for fund
As co-heads of the Diversity Fund, Herron and Van Pelt replace Lisa Lambert, who left in May to become managing partner at Westly Group, while the NVCA publishes its diversity report.
Exits
Monotype picks out Olapic in $130m acquisition
Unilever is set to exit social marketing platform developer Olapic, which had raised $21m from backers also including Bonobos and Warby Parker.
Jabong gets snapped up by Flipkart for $70m
The Rocket Internet-founded Global Fashion Group’s Indian platform, Jabong, has been bought for $70m, less than two years after reported talks over a $1.2bn acquisition.
MyTaxi gets a friendly Hailo in merger deal
Daimler-owned MyTaxi is joining forces with KDDI-backed Hailo to form what they hope will be Europe’s market leader in app-based taxi ordering.
Quikr has acquired online jobs platform Hiree for an undisclosed amount, providing an exit to IDG Ventures India, which led the startup’s seed and series A rounds.
Platfora gets up for Workday acquisition
Big data technology producer Platfora had raised $95m since 2011 from backers including Cisco, Citi and HSBC, and has been acquired for an undisclosed sum.
LeEco spies Vizio for $2bn acquisition
Taiwanese manufacturing partners AmTran and Foxconn will exit the consumer electronics producer in the deal, which LeEco hopes will enhance its business in the US.
Take Eat Easy delivers last meal
Rocket Internet-backed food delivery service Take Eat Easy has shut down following unsuccessful attempts at raising a series C round.
Helmet maker Skully hits brick wall
The Intel-backed motorcycle helmet producer has ceased operations following the CEO’s departure and varying accounts of an acquisition deal by LeSports.
IT
FogHorn makes noise with $12m series A
The round, co-led by GE Ventures, included Robert Bosch and Yokogawa Electric and was closed as FogHorn Systems converted $2.5m of seed funding to equity.
Western Digital helps Upthere store $77m
Western Digital co-led a round that also included GV and NTT Docomo Ventures, as personal cloud storage service Upthere came out of beta.
Safebreach breaks through with $15m series A
Deutsche Telekom and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have helped cybersecurity technology developer Safebreach close its series A round, a year after its $4m seed round.
Tencent helps Yonghong calculate $30m series C
Big data technology producer Yonghong Tech has secured $30m from investors including Tencent and iResearch Consulting.
UBtech interacts with investors for $100m
UBtech, backed by Anhui USTC iFlytek, has added $100m to its coffers to boost R&D efforts for its family-friendly robots.
UMC touches NextInput in $5.1m series A1 round
NextInput, a developer of sensing technology for touch-enabled devices, added UMC Capital to an investor base including Intel and GoerTek, boosting its total funding to $16.5m.
Wonder Workshop completes $20m series B
The Alphabet-backed educational robot producer has now raised about $37m since 2012 and is preparing to make a push into the Asian market.
Health
InflaRx heats up $34m series C
Staidson Biopharmaceuticals has supported a $34m series C round for InflaRx, which is working on treatments for acute and chronic inflammatory conditions.
Merck and Eli Lilly make Just investments
Just Biotherapeutics has raised $14m in series A2 funding, with Eli Lilly and Merck & Co returning after taking part in a $15m series A round in September.
Vtesse expands series A to $42m
All Vtesse’s existing series A investors, including Pfizer and Lundbeck, returned to provide a $17m extension that boosted the round’s total to $42m.
Mitsui takes care of Columbia Asia with $101m investment
Mitsui also plans to form strategic links between other regional portfolio companies and hospital operator Columbia Asia, an offshoot of US-based Columbia Pacific Management.
N-of-One successfully seeks Providence in $7m series B
Providence Health & Service joined Excel Venture Management to fund precision oncology analysis company N-of-One’s latest round, which will support sales and marketing.
Big Health sleeps easy with $12m
Big Health, developer of a product that helps people combat insomnia, has been backed by Kaiser Permanente in its third funding round.
Media
Scopely spots Take-Two for $55m series B
The mobile entertainment network has added Take-Two Interactive to its investors in a round that included corporate-backed fund Evolution Media Partners.
Baca broadcasts news of $20m round
The personalised news app provider has raised more than $20m in series B funding from a consortium including Bertelsmann Asia Investments.
Hero Sports gains Focus for $96m round
Focus Media will lend its advertising weight to Hero Sports, an eSports spinout of gaming company Hero Entertainment, after leading its inaugural funding round.
Consumer
Investors feed Sun Basket $15m
The Tyler Florence-backed organic cooking subscription service has secured $15m in a series B round featuring JF Shea to support the opening of its third distribution centre.
Channel 4’s ad for equity unit, Commercial Growth Fund, was among the round’s participants, joining existing backers DN Capital and Octopus Ventures.
LVMH decorates Clio Cosmetics with $50m
The luxury goods provider’s L Capital Asia unit is taking a 7% stake in the Korea-based cosmetics brand, with Groupe Arnault also set to invest.
Qwikcilver to accelerate growth with $10m
Sistema led the gift card provider’s series B round, which included returning investors Amazon, Accel Partners and Helion Venture Partners.
Treebo books Bertelsmann for series B round
Bertelsmann India Investments has led a $16.6m round for the budget hotel chain operator, sized lower than the rumoured $20m to $25m reported earlier this month.
BCG gets personal in $30m Takt series A
Boston Consulting Group led the customer personalisation software developer’s series A round through its BCG Digital Ventures unit, investing together with Starbucks.
Mezi interacts with Amex in $9m series A
American Express Ventures was among the investors as the chatbot shopping startup boosted its overall funding to nearly $11m in seven months.
Qualcomm vouches for Zeek in $9.5m round
Qualcomm has come back for Zeek’s series B round, just over a year after it contributed to the gift voucher marketplace’s $3m series A.
Financial
The Swiss Re six head to InsurTech
Swiss Re has disclosed the six startups that will make up the inaugural cohort of its InsurTech accelerator, founded to help disrupt the insurance industry.
Paidy signs up Itochu for $15m series B
Itochu was among the investors in the cardless payment platform’s latest round, following funding from backers including Recruit and CyberAgent.
Transport
Ford Smart Mobility is providing $15m for the Nokia-backed car sharing company’s series C round, which also includes Reliance Group’s venture capital unit.
Services
EverFi exhibits funding skills to raise $40m
The critical skills learning platform has now raised more than $60m since 2008 and added media group Advance Publications to its investors.
The office space leasing service, a spinout from 58.com, raised the money in a round backed by Joy Capital and Northern Light Venture Capital.
Ability Logistics invested as part of the Goldman Sachs-led series B round, which increased the trucking services startup’s overall funding to $14m.
Retty sits pretty in series D round
Asahi Broadcasting Corporation’s corporate venturing fund has taken part in a $10.7m round that will lay the foundations for the Japanese restaurant listings site to expand overseas.