Weekly corporate venturing deal net 5– 9 September 2016
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Sistema and Rusnano team up for $100m fund
Conglomerate Sistema has formed its third fund collaboration this year, this time in partnership with Russian nanotechnology commercialisation company Rusnano.
The venture fund, which has been formed by asset manager Primomiglio, has secured insurance firm Società Reale Mutua di Assicurazioni as an LP for its $30m first close.
Applied Materials branches out to Asia
The chipmaker’s corporate venturing arm, Applied Ventures, is putting together a team in Singapore to increase its activities in Asia.
People
Harmsen joins Germany’s Merck Ventures
Roel Bulthuis, managing director of Merck Ventures, said by email he was “very happy to have Sven on the team. He will indeed cover investments in the materials space.”
Exits
Rakuten buys online marketplace developer Fablic
Rakuten has acquired Fablic, the operator of a flea market app called Fril, providing an exit to Colopl and Cookpad, which backed a $9.2m series A round two years ago.
The insurer’s AXA Strategic Ventures unit has exited email contacts tool developer EverContact through an acquisition by One More Company, in which it has also invested.
Allergen makes RetroSense in $60m acquisition
Santen Pharmaceutical and Nerveda RetroSense have exited eye disease treatment developer RetroSense, which had raised about $12m in funding.
Bosch exits Movidius in Intel acquisition
Vision processing chipmaker Movidius, which had raised more than $86m from investors including Robert Bosch and Sunny Optical, has been acquired for an undisclosed sum.
IDG gets $20m partial exit from Lenskart
PremjiInvest has bought $20.4m of shares in the eyewear retailer from IDG Ventures India and invested a further $9.6m at a $270m valuation.
IT
Dizzion spins to $6.4m A1 round
Corporate venturing unit Point B Capital returned for the series A1 round, closed by the computing services provider 18 months after its $3.9m series A.
Cisco and Liberty Global returned to back a late-stage round for Celeno Communications, which provides chipsets for wifi routers and set top boxes.
SEB helps Alkemics quantify $22.5m series B
Alkemics, a smart data platform that helps manufacturers manage product details, has added $22.5m to its coffers following a series B round backed by SEB.
Blackstorm gathers $33.5m as Rakuten invests
Rakuten has joined investors including Highland Capital and Alsop Louie to fund Blackstorm, which aims to help developers sell their apps outside the two big stores.
Zenedge sharpens up in series C round
Telus and Zoho were among the backers as the cybersecurity startup raised $6.2m and took its overall funding to almost $14m inside two years.
Health
OncoDNA fits the profile in $8.6m round
The round featured conglomerate Ackermans and van Haaren, Institute of Pathology and Genetics and Regional Investment Company of Wallonia.
Rigontec concludes $32.7m series A
Boehringer Ingelheim was among the investors as the RNA therapeutics developer reached the final close of a round it began raising in 2014.
Moderna boosts its latest round to $474m
The round, which includes $140m from AstraZeneca, was announced alongside a Zika vaccine-related US government grant that could reach $125m in size.
Evonik makes Vivasure in $18m round
Vivasure Medical has closed an $18.3m series C round co-led by Evonik Venture Capital and will use the cash to commercialise its blood vessel closure device.
Proclara gets $47m and a new identity
Proclara Biosciences, formerly known as NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals, has now secured $110m in total after closing a series E round featuring Institut Mérieux.
Chrono Therapeutics, developer of a digital drug delivery system, has raised $47.6m in a Kaiser Permanente-led round that included several other corporates.
Apollo Endosurgery finds its way to Lpath
Novo and others are set to reinvest in Apollo Endosurgery after it agreed to acquire Nasdaq-listed Lpath in a deal that will speed up its progress towards an initial public offering.
Media
Intel-backed marketing analytics developer SmartZip has attracted $12m in debt financing led by a subsidiary of financial services firm Orix USA.
Comcast gets a taste of Cheddar in $10m round
Live video broadcaster Cheddar has followed up $3m raised in January with a $10m round featuring Comcast Ventures, which will lend its distribution expertise.
DriveTribe revs up for $6.5m round
21st Century Fox has invested in DriveTribe, the platform for motoring enthusiasts co-founded by former Top Gear presenters that has now secured $13m in total.
Intel Capital led the sports video platform’s series B round, which included the owners of the LA Dodgers, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Garena has added funding from SeaTown, Global Digital Prima Venture and Mistletoe to more than $500m previously raised from backers including Tencent.
NBC gets the scoop on VandeHei’s startup
Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei is preparing to launch a new, as-yet unnamed media company and has attracted $10m from investors including NBC News.
SessionM attracts Salesforce for $35m series D
The automated loyalty marketing platform, which is also backed by NTT Docomo, has now raised almost $74m altogether and is valued at $205m.
Consumer
The fashion rental service took its funding to $7m in under three months with a series A round led by IDG Ventures India.
The online car trading platform, which was backed by Tencent at series C stage, has now raised about $260m in total.
BAIC to kickstart Cheyipai’s engine with $45m
Carmaker BAIC Group is set to lead a round that will help Renren and Tencent-backed car trading platform Cheyipai pivot to a new business model.
Zilingo makes $8m series A sale
The e-commerce company will use the Susquehanna International Group-backed round to expand into new markets and boost its market share elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
Financial
Boku carries through $13.8m in new funding
The Telefónica-backed company, operator of a direct carrier billing mobile payment platform, has now secured $91m since 2009.
SoFi enters talks to raise $500m
The online finance platform, which has raised almost $1.6bn from investors including Renren and SoftBank, is looking to close the funding in the next few weeks.
Energy and Natural Resources
Shell sees Sense in $14m series A
Home energy use detection company Sense has raised $14m in a round co-led by corporate venturing unit Shell Technology Ventures and Energy Impact Partners.
Industrial
Rapyuta Robotics reconnects to SBI for $10m
Cloud-connected robot developer Rapyuta has secured $10m in a series A round led by existing investor SBI Holdings.
Agrivida reaps cash in series E round
The Syngenta and Sumitomo-backed agritech developer has raised $20.4m in the first tranche of a series E round expected to close at $24m.
Transport
Best Logistics receives $760m funding package
Fosun and Alibaba-backed logistics firm Cainiao both participated in the funding, reportedly raised as Best Logistics prepares for a public listing.
Foxconn produces $120m Didi Chuxing investment
The contract manufacturer has joined a raft of investors in the ride ordering company that include Apple, Tencent, SoftBank, Alibaba, China Life and Ping An.
Services
CDL moves into Mamahome with $15m investment
Real estate firm City Developments has made a strategic investment in the short-term apartment rental platform, taking a 20% stake.
Byju stays on course with $50m
Times Internet has taken part in the education app provider’s latest round, closed just after a $75m round earlier this year.