Weekly corporate venturing deal net 7 – 11 November 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
Huawei visits Singapore for IoT incubator
The telecommunications equipment producer is teaming up with National University of Singapore’s NUS Enterprise arm to launch the I5Lab incubator.
Ramot harnesses corporates for $20m investment initiative
Microsoft, General Electric, Qualcomm, Tata & Sons and HNA Group have joined Tel Aviv University’s Ramot and Pitango Venture Capital to form the internet-of-things fund.
Imax screens partners for $50m VR fund
Imax will use the Imax VR Content Fund to support content developers, and has secured funds from Acer, which supplied $10m, CAA, Enlight Media and WPP.
People
Brady Forrest is stepping down from the vice-president role at PCH incubator Highway1 and is being replaced by Kurt Dammermann.
Chuisano to leave J&J after 36 years
Mike Chuisano will remain in his role as COO of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC through the start of 2017 as he transitions venture investment portfolio responsibilities to his successor.
Atterwill chooses Eight Roads for next step
Fidelity subsidiary Eight Roads has appointed Laura Atterwill as talent partner, tasking her with developing a pipeline of investment talent.
The other members of the ABB Technology Ventures team remain, with Grant Allen covering the US and Americas, Kurt Kaltenegger Europe and Africa, and Arvind Vasu Asia.
Prior to heading Next47, he developed and built up the Hewlett Packard Pathfinder organisation, bringing together innovation strategy, venture investments, acquisitions and partnerships.
Sung switches planet to Hanwha
Jung Woo Sung, formerly the chief financial officer and head of corporate development at SK Planet and Shopkick, has joined Hanwha Asset Management as CEO.
Exits
SoftBank writes down $555m of Indian unicorn investments
The corporate has booked a $555m loss in value for its investments in ride hailing service Ola and e-commerce platform Snapdeal, according to an earnings report.
Intel votes for Voke acquisition
Intel is acquiring Voke, a developer of virtual reality viewing technology for sports events, months after leading a $12.6m round for the company.
Walgreens sues portfolio company Theranos for $140m
The size of the suit represents the amount Walgreens had invested in the beleaguered blood testing company, once valued at $9bn.
Autonomous car and robotics technology producer ZMP plans to float in its home country of Japan having received equity funding from Intel and Komatsu.
IT
Dunan Group subsidiary CrestValue Capital led the virtual reality technology startup’s series A round, which also included SM Entertainment.
GV accelerates Acalvio funding to $22m
Splunk-backed cyber threat and defence software startup Acalvio has received an undisclosed amount from GV to increase its overall funding to $22m.
Silvair gets gold in $12m series A
CyberAgent Ventures has taken part in the latest round closed by Silvair, which relies on Bluetooth to produce a smart lighting environment.
Bloomberg helps deliver ValiMail $12m
Existing shareholder Bloomberg Beta has returned to contribute to a $12m series A round that will allow ValiMail to cope with increasing demand for its authentication technology.
Infinity AR rejoins private market reality
The augmented reality technology producer is being taken private thanks to an $18m investment from Alibaba and Sun Corporation.
Warmsun heats up Royole with $74m
IDG Capital-backed rollable display technology developer Royole has received $74m in new funding, adding to a $172m series C round in August 2015.
Telstra makes Singular investment in $15m series A
Telstra was among the investors in a series A round that will support the US-based mobile marketing analytics company’s overseas expansion.
RiskIQ implements series C strategy
The $30.5m round featured existing shareholder MassMutual and will allow digital risk management company RiskIQ to grow its ecosystem and boost sales.
Health
Asarina aspires to Ergomed-backed round
Asarina Pharma has raised $7.7m from investors including Ergomed, which will help it with phase 2b trials of its premenstrual dysphoric disorder treatment.
Amazon contributed to baby monitor developer Owlet Baby Care’s latest round through its Alexa Fund, the total amount also including a $1.5m grant from NIH.
NBE conjugates investors for $20.5m series B
Existing investor Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund took part in a round that will help advance NBE’s lead antibody-drug conjugate cancer treatment in clinical trials.
Cohero Health breathes easy with $9m
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Heitkamp & Thumann and Guardian Life Insurance have contributed to the respiratory monitor device developer’s series A round.
Corwave surges with Novo-led series B
Novo Seeds led a $17.1m round for the medical device developer, which had been backed by Medtronic at series A stage.
Strategic partner UCHealth was among the investors in a round that took preventative healthcare company Catapult’s total funding to more than $22m.
Inspire Medical breathes in $12.5m
The sleep apnea device developer has raised more than $71m since 2009 from investors including Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation.
The GV-backed drone developer, which focuses on the delivery of drugs to remote places, has closed a $25m series B round.
Revision Optics contacts JJDC for $32m round
Johnson & Johnson’s corporate venturing division has returned to lead a $32m funding round for Revision having previously participated in a $55m round in 2013.
Media
Bytedance looks to take $1bn step forward
Bytedance, the Sina Weibo-backed owner of news aggregation app Toutiao, could raise the funding at a $1bn valuation, 20 times that of its last round in 2014.
Consumer
Bonobos talks to investors for $100m round
The online men’s fashion retailer, which has secured almost $130m from investors including Nordstrom and Coppel, could raise new funding at a $500m valuation.
Gfresh catches $20m from Alibaba and Legend Holdings
Legend Capital and the Alibaba-backed Riverhill Fund have invested $20m in seafood trading platform Gfresh, which will leverage their affiliate companies to grow.
Suning gets fresh with Yiguo in $200m round
Home appliance retailer Suning Commerce has led a $200m series C+ round for fresh food e-commerce platform Yiguo.com that included existing investor Alibaba.
Comcast Ventures was among the investors in a Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers-led round that boosted Hollar’s overall funding to more than $47m.
The personal robot developer has secured $13.1m, after raising more than $52m last year from investors including Samsung, Acer, KDDI, LG Uplus, Dentsu, NetPosa and Ningbo GQY.
Energy and Natural Resources
Fulcrum converts BP interest to $30m
BP made the strategic investment as part of a partnership that will provide its aviation division with 50 million gallons of low-carbon fuel per year.
Industrial
Planetary Resources mines Luxembourg for new funding
The asteroid mining company, which is already backed by Bechtel, AGI and 3D Systems, has received $27.6m from the government of Luxembourg and SNCI.
Transport
Ubike, the third Chinese bike sharing startup to launch in the past year, has secured backing in a series A round led by Jiangsu Huaxicun subsidiary Yicun Capital.
EZParking finds space for $13.3m
ZJamp Holding Group led the round, which parking data app builder EZParking will put toward its technology, customer services, and research and development.
Services
AccorHotels makes time for $39m 25hours investment
The hotelier acquired a 30% stake in boutique hotel operator 25hours through the deal and will now look to help it expand internationally.
SmartStudy pores over $30m in funding
The series B capital was provided by undisclosed backers, and follows a $10m series A investment by Baidu in 2014.
Dentsu locates Treasure Data in $25m round
The real-time data management platform has now raised $53m in total after closing a round co-led by SBI Holdings and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan.
Job Today recruits media companies for $20m round
Astremedia, Channel 4 and ad-for-equity vehicle German Media Pool VC all participated as new investors, lifting the HR marketplace’s total funding to $30m.
Hired engages more investors for series C
Glenmede Trust and the Ontario Pension Board have joined a $30m extension for Hired’s Comcast-backed series C round, which is now sized at $70m.
Reliance picks up Square Yards stake for $12m
Conglomerate Reliance Group has injected $12m into Square Yards, an online-to-offline marketplace focusing on real estate, adding to $11m raised last year.