AAA News round up 10 August 2015

News round up 10 August 2015

 Big Deal: Snapdeal rings up $500m

International corporates Alibaba, SoftBank and Foxconn have strengthened their respective presences in India by investing in the e-commerce firm, which aims to diversify its offering as it grows.

Weekly corporate venturing deal net 3-7 August 2015

Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.

 

Fundraising

Hanjin co-launches Korean internet of things accelerator

The conglomerate has joined with SparkLabs to launch an incubator in the South Korean city of Incheon that will also receive local government backing.

Intel Capital to school startups

Edtech startups will each be able to secure up to $100,000 from Intel Education Accelerator, launched alongside a $5m partnership with Georgia Institute of Technology.

Corporate-backed Furui Fund targets $160m

The venture capital fund, founded by two ex-members of IDG Capital Partners, has secured Zhejiang Daily Media as a limited partner.

Youku Tudou launches billion-dollar funding initiative

Video streaming platform Youku Tudou has funded five startups, including a $50m investment in video portal AcFun, as it rebrands as an original content producer.

 

Exits

NantKwest closes IPO at $238m

The Celgene and Sorrento-backed immunotherapy drug developer initially raised $207m when it floated on Nasdaq last week.

Wolfson says farewell to Nextpeer in $9m purchase

Rakuten-owned messaging app Viber has made its first acquisition, buying Wolfson-backed gaming development software company Nextpeer.

Advance Publications discovers 1010Data in $500m acquisition

Wells Fargo-backed Norwest Venture Partners exited the big data technology provider after investing $35m in 2010.

Axel Springer exits Runtastic in $239m deal

The media company held a 50.1% stake in the running and cycling app developer, which has been bought by Adidas, having invested an undisclosed sum in 2013.

HelloFresh cooks up October IPO

The Rocket Internet and Vorwerk-backed meal delivery service would likely be valued at about $1.1bn in the offering, after raising almost $200m in funding.

 

IT

KDDI fits Cinderella for startup award

Telecommunications form KDDI held a demo day for its eighth cohort of its Mugen Labo accelerator, awarding two awards to fashion e-commerce app Cinderella Shoes.

Chivas Regal toasts The Venture winners

The luxury drinks producer awarded a total of $750,000 to five startups in its The Venture contest.

Skyroam connects to Lenovo in $23.5m series B

Skyroam, which enables travellers to connect to mobile phone networks abroad for a flat fee, has now raised more than $33m since it was founded in 2008.

 

Health

Zest Health relishes $6m

The oversubscribed series A round featured Zaffre Investments, the corporate venturing arm of insurance provider Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Kyee manages to raise $36m

Kyee, the SoftBank-backed developer of a range of healthcare-focused management software, has now raised nearly $60m since it was founded.

Practo books $90m appointment

The healthcare booking platform has now raised $120m this year, after closing a series C round led by Tencent that also featured Google Capital.

InfoBionic monitors $8m

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts was among the series B-1 investors, adding to the $17m of series B cash secured by InfoBionic in April 2014.

LifeBond fastens $27m to series D

Sino Biopharmaceutical and Johnson & Johnson contributed to the surgical glue developer’s latest round, taking its overall funding to almost $80m.

 

Media

Fuisz interacts with investors for $10m

Corporate-backed venture Evolution Media Partners led the series A round for the UTA and Science, Inc-backed video advertising technology startup.

Wevr immerses itself in $10m

HTC has purchased a 15% stake in virtual reality platform Wevr in return for $10m in a strategic investment connected to its forthcoming VR headset.

Integral Ad Science qualifies for $67m

Sapphire Ventures has led the $27m equity portion of the round, while Silicon Valley Bank provided the media analysis platform with an additional $40m in debt.

Fastly delivers $75m series D

Existing investors IDG and O’Reilly Media returned to fund a round that boosted the content delivery network’s overall funding to $130m.

Four counts out $15.6m from BGF

The UK’s bank-backed Business Growth Fund has purchased a minority stake in communications agency Four Communications.

Zeotap calls on Iris for $6.4m series A

Corporate-backed venture firm Iris Capital has participated in a $6.4m series A round for telecommunications adtech company Zeotap.

 

Consumer                     

Lemonade Lab drinks in $5.8m

Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile led the round, and will assist the wearable device maker in product design and development.

CashStar is gifted with $15m

Intel Capital has returned to back the digital gift card service’s series D round, having previously contributed to a $5m funding round in 2012.

Aihuishou refreshes itself with $60m

Aihuishou, an online platform for consumers to sell used electronics, has secured series C funding from investors including e-commerce company JD.com.

Orvibo gets smart for $12.6m series A

The smart home technology developer has brought Legend Holdings and Mediatek into its investor base as it looks to form partnerships with home appliance producers.

Mogujie helps Taoshijie fashion $30m

Mogujie led the online luxury goods retailer’s series B round, closed alongside a strategic collaboration agreement between the two companies.

Haochushi brings home the bacon in $16m round

On-demand chef service Haochushi, backed by conglomerate Shanghai Zhonglu, has raised $16.1m in series B capital, increasing its total funding to $21.8m.

Jibo closes series A at $36m with corporate help

Jibo, the Samsung-backed developer of a helper robot, has extended its series A round by $11m with backing from Acer, Dentsu, KDDI, NetPosa and LG Uplus.

 

Financial

Crowdcube encloses $9.4m

Numis led the series C round and will assist crowdfunding platform Crowdcube in creating a service enabling users to purchase shares in companies going public.

Commerzbank helps bankroll Iwoca

Commerzbank’s venture capital unit has contributed to a $20m series B round for short-term business loans provider Iwoca, which is also backed by Beyond Digital.

Futu5 stocks series B with $60m

Stock trading platform Futu5 has welcomed internet company Tencent back for a second funding round, following a March 2014 $10m series A.

Ezetap sells investors on $23.5m series C

The American Express-backed mobile payment technology provider has now raised $35m since it was founded in 2011.

 

Industrial

BGF invests $16.9m in Altec and PPS

CNC equipment maker Altec received $9.3m from Business Growth Fund and returnable transit packaging producer PPS $7.4m.

 

Transport

Uber raises $1bn to take on India

Microsoft and Times Group both invested in the round, which values Uber at $51bn and which was announced just after its plans to invest $1bn in Indian growth.

Renrenche refuels with $85m from Tencent

Tencent invested in the used car marketplace at a $500m valuation, more than three times that at which it raised series B funding less than a year ago.

 

Services

SoftBank checks into $100m Oyo series B

SoftBank led the hotel booking platform’s series B round, after it was revealed in May that the two companies were in advanced talks for funding.

Tujia homes in on $300m

The Ctrip and Homeaway-backed home rental marketplace took its funding above the $460m mark with a series D round featuring The Ascott.

Edaixi cleans up with $100m series B

The laundry service provider has now raised $120m in nine months, after Baidu joined Tencent in backing the company.

 

Telecoms

FreedomPop dials up $40m for series B

Axiata has joined the investors in the wireless service provider, helping to expand its series B round by an extra $10m.

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