Corporate venturing deal net: 7 – 11 August 2017
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Sina seeks $500m for fintech fund
The internet company’s CEO has revealed plans to raise up to $500m for a fund that will invest in online financial technology companies.
JD Finance to fund consumer startups
JD.com’s financial services arm has announced a consumer-focused venture capital fund called Qianshu Capital that will invest at seed or series A stage.
BNI to account for fintech investments
Bank Negara Indonesia is considering the creation of a corporate venturing arm that would focus on the financial technology sector.
Aqua Licensing announces patent-based corporate venturing plan
The patent advisory firm is exploring a model that would involve corporate partners such as Lenovo, AT&T and Rambus transferring patents to startups in return for equity.
Startupbootcamp sets up shop in Australia
The Melbourne smart energy and home-themed accelerator has secured Spotless Group, EnergyAustralia, Amazon, Cisco, Google and Intel as backers.
Wipro opens US innovation centre
IT services firm Wipro’s newly launched Silicon Valley Innovation Center will support the work of the company’s corporate venturing vehicle, Wipro Ventures.
People
Rumi Morales is reportedly leaving her position as head of corporate venturing unit CME Ventures and will be joined by senior director Brandon Gath.
Exits
Walmart enters talks to pick up Birchbox
Birchbox, the beauty product subscription service that has raised $87m in financing from backers such as Comcast, has reportedly begun talks with retailers including Walmart over an acquisition.
Disney dives further into BamTech with $1.58bn
Walt Disney Company has followed its $1bn investment in online streaming technology provider BamTech by upping its stake to 75% as it prepares to launch its own streaming service.
Iheima has raised $27.3m in its initial public offering, becoming the first incubator to float in China and providing an exit to corporate investors Toread and Youyou.
Nielsen tracks down vBrand for acquisition
Nielsen has bought Nielsen Innovate graduate vBrand and will integrate the company’s sport sponsorship tracking technology into its sports media offering.
Big Deal: Bristol-Myers Squibb tunes into IFM
The pharmaceutical company’s acquisition of Novartis-backed IFM Therapeutics, consisting of $300m upfront and up to $2bn in milestone payments, is its fourth purchase of a CVC-backed company in under four years.
IT
Existing investor Santander InnoVentures returned for the identity verification technology developer’s $13.9m series B round, closed eight months after its series A.
Netlify catches Bloomberg for $12m series A
Seed investor Bloomberg Beta returned to contribute to the web development startup’s latest round, alongside Andreessen Horowitz, Tank Hill Ventures and Designer Fund.
NED+AR Display sees investment from Lenovo
Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group has led an eight-figure renminbi round for Beijing NED+AR Display Technology, a developer of augmented reality optical modules.
The Juniper Networks, Wargaming and CME Group-backed secure messaging system developer has now raised about $82m in the five years since it was founded.
Kyndi kicks on with $8.5m series B
Citrix Systems was among the investors in the latest round for business planning technology provider Kyndi, a graduate of its Citrix Startup Accelerator in 2015.
Twilio.org Impact Fund has contributed to a Social Capital-led series A round closed nine months after the one-to-one messaging platform’s $3m seed round.
Toyota provides $95m to its Preferred Networks
The carmaker has supplied $94.8m for deep learning technology developer and existing strategic partner Preferred Networks and is now its largest shareholder.
Strategic partner Sinosoft was among the investors in a $14.9m round that came after cloud services and software provider T2 closed a Lenovo-backed series A in 2016.
Health
Quanterix quickens pace in series D
The BioMerieux and Stratec-backed medical diagnostics technology provider has raised $8.5m in a T.Rowe Price-led private placement that will be added to a $46m series D round.
Corporates detect New Horizon in $20m round
SoftBank China and Legend Capital both participated in a round that the gastrointestinal cancer diagnostics device developer will use to expand its R&D activities.
SoftBank Vision Fund helps Roivant raise $1.1bn
Roivant Sciences, which is developing a range of drugs through various subsidiaries, has secured $1.1bn in a round led by the $93bn Vision Fund.
China Life Insurance has participated in the medical clinic franchise’s series D round, which is made up of almost equal debt and equity portions.
Boston Scientific helps Neuros net $20m
Neuromodulation device developer Neuros Medical has raised $20m in a series AA round backed by existing investor Boston Scientific.
Just Biotherapeutics China jumps to series B
Taikang Life Insurance and Lilly Ventures Asia have contributed to a $59.7m round for Hangzhou Just Biotherapeutics, a Chinese spinout of US-based Just Biotherapeutics.
Tencent has supported a series A round for Karius, a developer of diagnostic tests that analyse fragments of DNA to identify the source of a patient’s infection.
Media
PCCW OTT goes on air with $110m
Media group PCCW’s online video spinout has received funding from Foxconn’s corporate venturing unit as well as Hony Capital and Temasek.
Discovery brings $10m to Here Be Dragons
Discovery Communications has led a $10m series A round for the virtual reality content producer Here Be Dragons, valuing the business at $65m post-money.
iFlix tunes into $133m investment
Hearst has led a consortium of investors that included a range of existing shareholders such as Sky, Liberty Global, PLDT, Catcha and Evolution Media Capital.
Remezcla finds Hemisphere to raise $11m
Hemisphere Media Group has contributed $5m to an $11m series A round closed by Latin-focused digital media company Remezcla, which had been bootstrapped since 2006.
Consumer
Chef’d feeds on $35m of corporate investment
Smithfield Foods provided $25m of the cash for the ingredient delivery service’s latest round, investing alongside Campbell Soup Company and Fresh Direct.
Essential Products gets Access for $300m round
Access Technology Ventures has invested $100m to lead a $300m round for smartphone maker Essential Products that included Tencent and Amazon Alexa Fund.
SoftBank Vision Fund puts $2.5bn in Flipkart
The fund has invested an amount reported to be at least $2.5bn in e-commerce marketplace Flipkart as part of a round already sized at $1.4bn.
SoftBank to funnel $1bn into Fanatics
SoftBank and its Vision Fund are reportedly set to combine for a $1bn investment in Fanatics that will value the sporting merchandise seller at $4.5bn.
Financial
Coinbase piles up $100m in series D round
The digital currency exchange platform, which is backed by investors including NTT Docomo, New York Stock Exchange, USAA and BBVA, is now valued at $1.6bn.
The agricultural insurance provider has closed a series A round co-led by Finistere Ventures and Seed 2 Growth Ventures and backed by GuideOne Insurance.
Tencent and Bertelsmann help supply $30m for Linklogis
Supply chain finance startup Linklogis has raised money in a series B round featuring Bertelsmann Asia Investments and existing investor Tencent.
PeerIQ scores $12m in series A funding
Hearst’s Financial Venture Fund co-led the round with TransUnion and Macquarie Group, taking the lending analytics software provider’s total funding to more than $20m.
Energy and Natural Resources
SoftBank ekes its way into Encored
Encored Technologies USA, a branch of Korean energy data management technology provider Encored, has secured $6m in funding from SoftBank.
Telecoms
SoftBank allows $7.5m to go to Altaeros
Altaeros, the developer of an aerial broadband provision system, has raised $7.5m from SoftBank, the investor that supplied $7m for it in 2014.
Transport
FDG offers billion-dollar Chanje
Electric truck developer and charging service Chanje has come out of stealth having raised almost $1bn from investors including technology partner FDG Electric Vehicles.
Future Mobility heralds $200m series B
The electric vehicle developer has not named the investors in its latest round but its existing shareholders include corporates Tencent and Foxconn.
Didi Chuxing gets a taste of Careem
The ride hailing companies have formed a strategic partnership to share resources and expertise which will involve Didi Chuxing investing in Careem.
Drive Motors revs up for seed funding
The car dealership e-commerce startup has completed a $5.2m seed round backed by talent agency Emagen Entertainment Group and legal firm Perkins Coie.
SoftBank weighs up US ride hailing options
The corporate is open to investing in Uber or Lyft, CEO Masayoshi Son has said, weeks after it reportedly held discussions with Uber over a 10-figure investment.
Alibaba hitches a ride on Gobee series A
Gobee.Bike has raised $9m in capital to add several thousand bicycles to its network as it seeks to expand across Hong Kong, and internationally.
Services
The broadcaster has invested $12m in online travel booking platform Wego and also plans to promote the company’s services through its media platforms.
Site 1001 takes in another $6m
The JE Dunn building management technology spinout has raised $6m from investors including its parent company, following a $5m series A round last year.
Aikang Group, Beijing Capital Land and Star Group have participated in a pre-series C round for co-working space provider URWork.
Salesforce and the Toyota-backed Future Creation Fund backed a round that doubled the overall amount raised by the business card management platform.