Weekly corporate venturing deal net 9 November – 13 November 2015
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
The Sino-American accelerator, which picked up a $10m investment from Wanxiang in August, is set to raise a new fund, according to Xiao Wang, general manager of its Silicon Valley branch.
Fundraising
Australia Post to deliver $14m to startups
The postal service will coordinate with Melbourne University for the fund, which will seek to invest in e-commerce companies.
PayPal’s Start Tank welcomes four onboard
The payment processing company has selected four new fintech startups to participate in its Start Tank incubator in India.
Sunnyhealth has joined forces with Fenox Venture Capital to invest in startups across the world to help them enter the Japanese market.
PT Bank Mandiri sets up $36.5m investment arm
Mandiri Capital is set to begin investing from 2016 and will focus on startups developing payment services for the e-commerce sector.
Baidu invests to join with Convergence
Baidu has ‘significantly’ increased the size of Convergence Ventures’ fund, already backed by Bakrie Group, which was sized at $25m as of November 2014.
Rakuten gets wallet out for $100m fintech fund
The internet and e-commerce company’s Rakuten FinTech Fund will target European and US startups which can bring strategic benefits to its subsidiaries in the sector.
Exits
Square sets range for possible $400m IPO
The Visa and Starbucks-backed mobile payment company is set to float at a valuation at least 30% less than at its last equity round.
WuXi PharmaTech checks out of Novira
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to acquire Novira Therapeutics for an undisclosed sum, providing an exit to WuXi PharmaTech, an investor in its $28m series A round.
GenSight narrows ambitions by postponing IPO
The Novartis-backed eye disease therapy developer set the range last month for an initial public offering sized at up to $65m.
Rocket Internet-backed meal delivery service HelloFresh hoped to raise around $332m from an initial public offering.
Holtzbrinck-backed Fashion for Home has been acquired by Home24 for an undisclosed sum, three years after the exit of founder Rocket Internet.
Wave reaches market with $102m
Biopharmaceutical company Wave Life Sciences has gone public at the middle of its range just nine months after closing its $18m SNBL-led series A round.
Voyager explores markets with $70m IPO
The Sanofi-backed gene therapy company floated below its $15 to $17 range, but its shares have since risen to $17.50.
IT
Body Labs scans investors for $8m
The body scanning equipment developer took its overall funding over the $10m mark in an Intel Capital-led series A round.
H2O.ai drinks in $20m series B
Transamerica returned for the machine learning technology producer’s series B round, which also featured Capital One.
QD Vision looks towards BASF for funding
BASF has co-led a $22m investment for QD Vision, boosting the company’s total funding to approximately $123m.
Data traffic management platform Versa Networks has emerged from stealth with $43m in funding from investors including telecommunications firm Verizon.
TigerText writes up $50m series C
Reed Elsevier has returned to participate in the secure communications platform’s series C round, which took its overall funding past the $80m mark.
Gainsight adds $50m to funding total
The sales software provider has now raised more than $100m altogether, after securing capital in a series D round featuring Salesforce’s corporate venturing unit.
RTL turns up volume on VideoAmp
Video optimisation company VideoAmp has raised $15m in a series A round led by Irish entertainment producer RTL Group.
Motorola tracks Eyefluence for $14m
Intel-backed eye-interaction technology company Eyefluence will partner with Motorola after closing a series B round led by the communications technology provider.
Worldsensing connects to corporates in series B
The internet of things technology developer has closed a series B round that was backed by investors including Mitsui and Cisco.
Health
Therabron breathes easy with $6.75m
Brace Pharma Capital has provided an extension for the biotechnology company’s series B round, having also participated in the round’s initial tranche of $11m.
Iron Horse gallops towards $10m
GlaxoSmithKline and Avalon Ventures have launched the seventh company under their partnership agreement.
Corporates help administer $41m to Miragen
Merck, Amgen and EMS invested alongside a range of venture capital firms, eight months after Miragen closed its $21.5m series B round.
Santen sees RetroSense in $6m series B
Nerveda-backed RetroSense Therapeutics has raised money from investors including Santen Pharmaceutical, and will put the cash towards clinical studies.
Media
Fandor looks to Starz in $7m series A
Broadcaster Starz has led the film streaming service’s series A round, disclosed as Fandor begins talks with investors over an eight-figure series B.
HNA has led a funding round for Weimob, increasing the company’s total capital to approximately $107m.
The Intel-backed mobile marketing company has now raised more than $50m in total, and has acquired data automation platform Adaptive.io.
NextVR looks to the future with $30.5m
Comcast, Time Warner, Madison Square Garden and Dick Clark Productions all contributed to the virtual reality technology developer’s series B round.
Consumer
ClassPass stays in shape with $30m
Fitness subscription service ClassPass has secured $30m from investors including conglomerate Alphabet, boosting its overall funding to $84m.
Tencent pays another visit to MissFresh
Internet company Tencent returned to lead the online grocer’s $31m series B round, having previously backed its $10m series A.
Xiaomi, JD.com, Coca Cola and O’Reilly Media have exited the wearable device maker, which had raised $63m in VC funding over a three-year period.
Online wedding registry Zola has raised $12m in a series B round backed by BBG Ventures, the women-focused fund launched by AOL last year.
Financial
CircleUp rings up investors for $30m
Alphabet-backed funding marketplace CircleUp has boosted its total funding to $53m following a series C round that will support an expansion in headcount.
Industrial
Industrial laser developer KMLabs has raised $5.5m in an Intel Capital-led series A round that represents its first external funding.
Transport
Careem rises with $60m series C
The Middle East and North Africa-focused ride hailing service has now raised more than $70m in total after securing cash from backers including Al Tayyar and Saudi Telecom.
Services
HotChalk studies $230m from Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann will become the largest shareholder in the education technology provider, which helps universities create online courses.
Schoology does $32m series D homework
Intel Capital has returned for the education technology developer’s series D round, having led its $15m series C round last year.
Lingvist speaks Rakuten’s language in $8m series A
Language learning tool provider Lingvist has attracted Rakuten for a round that will support geographical expansion and technology development.
Udacity gets on course with $105m
The online coding course provider reached unicorn status in a Bertelsmann-led round that also included Google Ventures.