Corporate venturing deal net: 11-15 September 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
Samsung sends $300m to automotive technology fund
The corporate’s first deal out of its Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund is an $89m investment in networked safety control system developer TTTech.
Asus finds Fenox VC for $50m fund
The consumer electronics manufacturer is teaming up with venture firm Fenox for a $50m fund that will target areas such as big data, IoT and cloud technology.
SES signs up for Seraphim Space Fund
The satellite operator has joined limited partners including Airbus and Telespazio, supplying an undisclosed amount for Seraphim Capital’s space-focused VC fund.
Madasamy moves from Qualcomm to $50m fund
Karthee Madasamy, formerly head of Qualcomm Ventures’ India fund, is set to shortly launch a new venture fund with $40m to $50m in capital.
SMFG to connect to startups with Hoops Link
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has formed an innovation hub in Tokyo as well as a partnership with Work-Bench and Stanford StartX.
Exits
Switch turns to public markets
Intel Capital-backed data centre producer Switch has filed to raise up to $100m in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
Luxe takes the Volvo route for acquisition
Volvo has bought the assets of Luxe, the Hertz and Alphabet-backed on-demand parking service that had raised $75m and was reportedly valued at $140m 18 months ago.
ZhongAn gets approval for $1bn IPO policy
The Tencent, Alibaba and Ping An-backed online insurance provider has secured approval to float in Hong Kong, two years after raising cash at an $8bn valuation.
Nestlé buys big into Blue Bottle
Nestlé has paid between $425m and $500m for a 68% stake in high-end coffee roaster and retailer Blue Bottle Coffee, likely giving an exit to GV.
IT
Nasuni files $38m under series F
Nasuni, the Dell-backed developer of a cloud-based platform for the management of unstructured data, has secured $38m, boosting its total funding to about $120m.
Agrible taps into series B funding
Farming data provider Agrible has reached a $9.7m first close of a $15.7m series B round featuring existing investors The Andersons and Archer Daniels Midland.
Xmos extricates $15m in funding
The voice-control technology provider has closed a series E round led by strategic investor Infineon Technologies that included Robert Bosch Venture Capital.
Salesforce Ventures, Telstra Ventures and Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners all contributed to a round that took NS1’s total funding to more than $45m.
Orion Labs translates interest into funding
The voice communication and translation platform has raised $18.3m in new capital from investors including returning backer Motorola Solutions.
The data storage technology provider took its overall funding to $65m with a Western Digital Capital-led round that included Dell Technologies Capital and Cisco Investments.
GV falls for Fauna in $25m series A
Alphabet’s GV, unit has participated in a series A round for Fauna, a US big data platform developer founded by ex-Twitter employees in 2012.
Apttus accepts $55m in series E
Salesforce Ventures, an investor in Apttus since its 2013 series A round, once again took part in the cloud sales software provider’s latest round, boosting its total funding to $329m.
Health
Cheetah Medical gets its claws on series C cash
The blood flow monitoring device developer has secured $11.8m in a round featuring existing investors Robert Bosch and Fletcher Spaght.
GreenLight goes for $18m in series D
Existing investor Syngenta Ventures was among the participants as the agricultural bioprocessing platform developer raised capital that will support commercialisation.
DNA Script reveals series A story
Merck Group and Illumina were among the investors in a $13.2m round, along with Idinvest Partners, Kurma Partners and existing backer Sofinnova Partners.
23andMe cracks the code to raise $250m
The genetics services company, which is backed by Alphabet, Illumina, WuXi PharmaTech and Johnson and Johnson, has now raised more than $490m altogether.
Rani Therapeutics absorbs $39m
The oral drug technology developer, which is backed by corporates including Alphabet, Novartis and AstraZeneca, has now raised $100m in total.
The Swisscom-backed genomic testing platform has now raised more than $60m, having closed a series D round led by Balderton Capital.
ElectroCore powers up to raise $36m
Merck-backed nerve stimulation device producer ElectroCore has raised new funding, according to a securities filing that shows the company is seeking a $65m close.
Talkspace enters $31m series C
Existing backer SoftBank has helped on-demand therapy service Talkspace close a $31m series C round that increased its total funding to $59m since 2014.
Merck puts money into Antidote
Antidote Technologies, developer of a recruitment platform for clinical trials, has agreed an $11m round that will be led by Merck Global Health Innovation Fund.
United Imaging Healthcare collects $505m series A
The round was co-led by China Life Insurance and SDIC Fund Management and valued the medical device developer at more than $5bn post-money.
Media
Magic Leap funding to surge by $500m
Magic Leap, which closed a $794m Alibaba-led round in 2016, could be in line for more than $500m in a round featuring Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek.
SendinBlue receives $36m in series B round
The digital marketing software producer’s only previous funding had been a $1.4m round four years ago that included e-mail marketing company Caloga.
Consumer
Vorwerk-backed fashion e-commerce platform Lesara has raised capital from a consortium of unnamed backers in the US and the UK to drive international expansion.
MDS makes new investment in MatahariMall
The retailer has provided $15.9m for the e-commerce platform, boosting its overall investment in the company to almost $42m.
Zilingo puts on $17m in series B
The online fashion marketplace has secured $17m in a round co-led by Burda Principal Investments that included existing backer Susquehanna International Group.
L Catterton caters to Gentle Monster
Sunglasses brand Gentle Monster has received an amount said to be about $53m from L Catterton Asia, the private equity firm backed by LVMH.
Paytm Mall is reportedly lining up a $200m investment in the e-grocer at an $800m post-money valuation that could include Alibaba.
Wish aspires to $250m in funding
Legend-backed e-commerce platform Wish is set to achieve a valuation of more than $8bn in a $250m funding round that is expected to close soon.
China Lodging rests $10m at Oyo
The hotel chain has formed a strategic partnership with South Asian budget room booking platform Oyo that will involve it investing $10m in the company.
Financial
Goldman Sachs says hello to Neyber
The investment banking firm has provided $133m in debt and equity financing for Neyber, which offers loans that are paid back directly through borrowers’ salaries.
Corporates assist Linxo with $24m
Maif, Crédit Agricole and Crédit Mutuel Arkéa have put $24m into personal financial assistant Linxo.
Satispay names price for series C
Financial services firms Iccrea, Banca Etica and Banca Sella have put their weight behind mobile payment service Satispay in a $21.5m series C round.
Tech Bureau reports Infoteria-backed round
Infoteria and Jafco have combined to invest $14.6m in cryptocurrency technology developer Tech Bureau, reportedly bringing its overall funding to $24m.
SoftBank Vision Fund analyses $500m investment in ZhongAn IPO
Online insurance provider ZhongAn is set to raise up to $1.5bn next week and SoftBank’s Vision Fund is considering buying $500m of shares.
VMWare-backed cloud billing platform Aria Systems has secured $18m of capital in a Madison Bay Capital-led round, bringing its total funding to $150m.
Energy and Natural Resources
Gridtential plugs into $11m series B
The advanced battery developer has completed a series B round that included strategic investments by East Penn, Crown Battery, Leoch International and Power-Sonic.
Industrial
Light Polymers crystallises series B round
JSR Corporation has added an undisclosed amount to a series B round backed by Tokyo Electron, that stood at $5m as of July this year.
Tonbo Imaging clears way to $17m series B
The imaging and sensor system developer has secured new funding in a WRV-led round that featured Qualcomm Ventures.
Transport
Uber edges closer to $10bn investment deal
SoftBank, Didi Chuxing and Dragoneer have formed a special purpose vehicle that could buy up to $10bn in primary and secondary shares in the ride hailing platform.
Zoox is in talks with SoftBank for an investment as part of a $1bn+ round that could value the autonomous car technology developer at up to $4bn.
Alphabet aligns possible $1bn investment in Lyft
Alphabet, already an investor in Uber, is in talks to provide up to $1bn for rival Lyft, which was valued at $7.5bn as of April.
Telecoms
Federated Wireless mobilises investors to raise $42m
Charter Communications, American Tower and Arris International co-led a series B round for the telecom spectrum management platform, which is now valued at $122m, with GIC.