Corporate venturing deal net: 8-12 August 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
Fund in the News: Intel Capital
Marcin Hejka, who oversees Intel Capital’s activity in Greater Europe and India, has spoken to GCV about the unit’s strategic focus.
Telstra and Telekom Indonesia form investment pact
The telecom companies’ corporate venturing units, Telstra Ventures and Metra Digital Investama, have agreed to collaborate on Southeast Asian startup funding.
Infosys lines up $15m Stellaris commitment
The $500m Innovation Fund formed by Infosys will make its second investment in a venture capital fund, providing up to $15m for India-based Stellaris Venture Partners.
SoftBank Innovation Program returns for seconds
The telecom and internet group has opened the second round of its joint prototyping and development scheme, SoftBank Innovation Program.
Bosa Properties to help develop Pi Labs companies
The property developer’s corporate venturing unit will double the initial funding available for each participant in Property Innovation Labs’ accelerator.
People
Skelly takes SVP role at Citi Ventures
Citi’s strategic investment subsidiary has hired Travis Skelly from venture capital fund FinTech Collective as a senior vice-president.
Bill Maris leaves GV as Krane takes over
Bill Maris is stepping down after seven years as head of the Alphabet subsidiary, with David Krane taking over as managing partner and CEO.
Bose goes from Cisco to new horizons
Joydeep Bose joined Cisco from Intel Capital in 2007 and oversaw its corporate venturing activities in the Asia Pacific Japan region.
Vidra resurfaces at TrialReach
Eze Vidra, who helped GV set up its aborted European branch, has taken the chief innovation officer role at clinical trial connection platform TrialReach.
Shamsiev conducts departure from Tokyo Electron
Vosik Shamsiev, a venture partner at Japan-based corporate venturing unit TEL Venture Capital since 2014, is leaving to pursue opportunities in Canada.
Exits
Intel finds Nervana in $408m deal
CME Group exited deep learning technology startup Nervana Systems, which had disclosed about $25m in VC funding, through the acquisition.
Jet enters Wal-Mart’s airspace in $3.3bn deal
Wal-Mart has closed the $3.3bn acquisition of e-commerce company Jet.com, providing exits to Alphabet and Alibaba in the process.
Naspers to squeeze out Citrus Pay acquisition
Mobile payment technology provider Citrus Pay is set to be bought for up to $180m in a cash deal that will allow e-commerce companies eContext and Beenos to exit.
Assurex explores Myriad possibilities in $410m acquisition
Myriad Genetics will pay $225m upfront and up to $185m in milestone payments for Assurex Health, which is backed by Mayo Clinic and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
IT
MiningLamp shows way to $30m series B
The big data software-as-a-service provider raised the funding from backers including Surfilter Network Technology, and will invest in R&D and new applications.
Shea goes FullContact in $25m round
JF Shea joined the contact management platform’s investor base in a round that doubled its overall funding to $50m since 2010.
Varentec closes 3M-backed series C
The grid control technology producer has closed a round that had reached $13m in November, and which had been expected to reach $20m.
Comcast targets Interactions in $56m round
Natural language technology producer Interactions boosted its overall funding to $150m in a round backed by Comcast Ventures, NewSpring Growth Capital and Revolution Growth.
MapR points to IPO as it raises $50m
Google Capital and Qualcomm Ventures reinvested in data platform provider MapR, bringing its overall equity funding to $194m as it prepares for an initial public offering.
Farmer’s Business Network brings in $20m
GV has contributed to FBN’s latest round, 15 months after leading the farm network’s $15m series B round, taking its total funding to about $48m.
Abeja finds space to expand series B to $7m
The visual retail analytics company, backed by NTT Docomo and Sakura Internet, has boosted its latest round with $2m from Inspire PNB Partners.
Health
AstraZeneca targets Moderna medicine with $140m investment
The pharmaceutical company has boosted its stake in mRNA drug developer and strategic partner Moderna to 9%, lifting Moderna’s overall funding to at least $790m.
Protagonist emerges with $90m in IPO
Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly and Pharmstandard exited the IBD treatment developer through an initial public offering that could eventually reach $103m in size.
CVRx spells out $113m in financing
Johnson & Johnson led the $93m, two-tranche equity portion, which also included GlaxoSmithKline fund Action Potential Venture Capital.
Accolade wins $70m in series E cash
The healthcare concierge service has added $70m to the $22.5m it raised from corporates McKesson and Independence Health last year.
Iconic completes $48.5m series C
Lundbeck-backed Iconic Therapeutics, which aims to apply tissue factor biology to retinal disease and cancer treatments, has now raised $80m altogether.
Cleave Biosciences cuts to series B with $37m
The round, backed by Astellas and Celgene, will support development of Cleave’s lead oncology drug candidate, and takes its total funding to $91m.
Johnson & Johnson led the series E round, which included Kaiser Permanente and Mayo Clinic, taking the medical device maker’s total funding past the $100m mark.
Media
Refinery29 hooks up with Turner in $45m round
Turner will bring digital media company Refinery29’s video content to TV as part of a round that also included existing investor Scripps Networks Interactive.
News Corp and CBRE dock at Matterport
The corporates are among the new investors that provided an undisclosed amount for the Qualcomm-backed immersive media technology provider.
Disney wins 33% of BamTech with $1bn investment
Major League Baseball a spun out its BamTech video streaming unit with $1bn off funding from Disney, while National Hockey League has also picked up a stake.
Goldman Sachs transmits $50m to Kaltura
Online video technology provider Kaltura is also backed by Mitsui, Intel and Nokia as investors, and has disclosed $145m in funding since it was founded in 2006.
NextVR makes $80m series B a reality
Citic Guoan, NetEase, SoftBank, Founder Group, Time Warner, Comcast, Madison Square Garden and Dick Clark Productions all took part, investing at an $800m valuation.
Consumer
Corporates dish up another $30m for iFood
Movile and Just Eat have reinvested in the Latin American food delivery platform, which will expand by buying Just Eat subsidiaries in Brazil and Mexico.
Nokia helps serve up $275m for Deliveroo
The food delivery platform has now raised $475m altogether, securing cash in a series E round that included a strategic investment by Nokia.
Shandiangou bags $40m in Alibaba-led round
Alibaba led the online grocery delivery company’s series C round as part of a strategic partnership agreement.
Investors nourish Fruitday with $15m
JD.com was among the existing investors in the round, which was led by Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, the technology park where Fruitday is headquartered.
GrubMarket lures Fosun for $20m series B
Fosun made its second investment in the fresh produce e-commerce platform, which has now raised more than $32m inside two years.
Financial
Ajisen Ramen helps feed $45m to Yunnex
Fast food chain Ajisen Ramen has committed $17m to a series B round for advanced point-of-sales system producer Yunnex.
Telefónica subsidiary Wayra reinvested in the Mexican microfinance provider as part of a series A round led by Bamboo Finance.
Axial capitalises on Comcast backing to raise $14m
Online capital market operator Axial took its overall funding to $33.5m since 2010 as Comcast Ventures made its second investment in the company.
Energy and Natural Resources
Off Grid Electric recharges with $18m
The SolarCity-backed solar energy installer has raised $10m in equity funding from Helios Investment Partners alongside $8m in debt financing.
Transport
Mantis catches BCC for $7m series B
Mantis, the operator of bus ticket platform Travelyaari, has taken its 2016 funding to $10m and will spend the cash on product and network development.