Corporate venturing deal net: 12-16 December 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
Inova Health prescribes strategic investment fund
The healthcare provider has launched a venture fund, Inova Strategic Investments, as well as an accelerator that will invest up to $325,000 in startups.
Microsoft Ventures deploys AI fund
Microsoft expects the artificial intelligence fund to increase the rate of its investments, which now stands at 19 this year.
Corporate leaders energise $1bn fund
Bill Gates has led a group of private investors, including Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson to establish a $1bn fund aimed at tackling climate change.
Global Accelerator Network begins raising $10m fund
Global Accelerator Network, which operates a partner network made up of 15 corporates, has begun raising a $10m fund according to a regulatory filing.
SoftBank’s Vision to possibly encompass $1bn Apple investment
Apple has reportedly held talks to provide $1bn for SoftBank’s $100bn Vision Fund, which now looks likely to be oversubscribed.
Maris pulls plug on $230m healthcare fund
Bill Maris, managing partner of GV until August, has dropped plans for a healthcare fund despite having access to available capital, he has revealed.
Global Brain dreams up $175m fund
JTB, Mitsui Sumitomo Banking, Sumitomo Forestry and Dentsu are among the limited partners for the venture firm’s latest fund, which is expected to close at $175m.
SoftBank chooses London for its Vision
The corporate’s $100bn Vision Fund, which is reportedly set to be oversubscribed, has opened its head office in the UK and has hired 10 people so far.
People
Intel Capital director Oliphant roars into Translarity
Laura Oliphant has left her director position at Intel Capital to become chief executive of semiconductor testing startup Translarity.
Exits
Class dismissed for iProf Learning
The online education provider, backed by Daily Mail Group, is winding down operations six months after the departure of founder and CEO Sanjay Purohit.
Garena eyes $1bn IPO in the US
Singaporean internet services and gaming unicorn Garena is considering a 2018 flotation that would provide an exit for Tencent.
The photo modification app developer raised $629m in an initial public offering that provided Sina Weibo, Foxconn and IDG Capital Partners with exits.
Delivery Hero swoops in for FoodPanda
FoodPanda backer Rocket Internet will increase its stake in another food delivery platform, Delivery Hero, to almost 38% through the acquisition.
IT
Conversica gets Recruit in $34m series B
Recruit Holdings was among the investors in an oversubscribed round that the sales tool developer will use for sales, marketing and product development.
Clear Labs experiments with corporates in $13m round
Tencent and GV have backed a series B round for Clear Labs, which has developed a food analytics platform aimed at producers and retailers.
Socure identifies Santander to raise $13m
Santander’s corporate venturing unit, Santander InnoVentures, provided its share of the funding for the round, which increased Socure’s total financing to $21m, in June.
Signal filters $7.4m for series A round
AI-powered media analysis startup Signal Media has raised new funding from investors including Hearst Media and RELX, after securing seed capital last year.
Symphony tunes up for $200m round
The secure messaging platform, backed by Google and a host of banks, is seeking between $125m and $200m at a pre-money valuation in excess of $1bn.
Dalian Wanda Group and existing investor IDG Capital Partners both took part in a CDH Investments-led round for the deep learning technology startup.
Inkling draws up $25m series E
The mobile communication platform developer, backed by Pearson and McGraw-Hill in 2011, has now raised $95m altogether.
Tact sells Microsoft on $15m series B
Microsoft Ventures has come onboard as an investor to help the conversational sales platform developer take its total funding to more than $30m.
Pendo pins down Salesforce for $20m series B
The software product analysis company has now raised more than $33m in financing since 2013, with Salesforce Ventures returning to reinvest.
Vesper sounds out corporates for $15m series A
Advanced microphone technology developer Vesper’s investors include Amazon’s Alexa Fund, AAC Technologies, Mirae Nano Tech and XinGang Electronics.
Health
Investors root for Sonendo in $35m round
Henry Crown and Company and Dinova Capital joined existing shareholders in a $35m funding round for dentistry product developer Sonendo.
ApoGen applies itself to $7m series A
AbbVie, Eli Lilly, WuXi PharmaTech, Johnson & Johnson and Alexandria Real Estate Equities are among the investors in the genomic cancer treatment developer.
BlueRock Therapeutics generates $225m series A
Bayer Lifescience Center joined Versant Ventures to launch BlueRock, which will develop stem cell treatments for cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative disorders.
Oxford Nanopore sequences $126m investment
The Illumina-backed company has raised additional funding after becoming the first company to sequence multiple human genomes using portable technology.
Eutilex utilises Kooksoondang in series A round
Kooksoondang Brewery’s GN Tech Venture was among the investors in an $18.9m round that took the anti-tumour therapy developer’s total funding to $27.7m.
Media
Inke and FunPlus make Next move
Next Entertainment, a live video streaming platform curated by livestreaming company Inke and game developer FunPlus, has raised $25m in a series A round.
MGM helps Survios surge to $50m
MGM and Dentsu have contributed to a total of $50m raised by the virtual reality gaming company across two rounds in 2016.
Dynamic Signal shows way to $25m series D
Microsoft has joined existing backer Time Warner as well as other investors to push communications platform Dynamic Signal’s total funding to more than $68m.
The technology media and startup services company raised an undisclosed amount in an Ant Financial-backed series D round in late 2015.
Podotree to branch out with $107m
The Kakao-launched web content platform received the cash in an Anchor Equity Partners and GIC-backed round that will help it expand into video and advertising.
Houseparty livens up with $52m
Life On Air, developer of Meerkat and now group video chat app Houseparty, has raised new funding in a round featuring existing backer Comcast Ventures.
Consumer
Tripping checks into $35m series C round
Recruit-backed holiday home rental platform Tripping has pocketed $35m in fresh funding from a consortium led by investment firm Princeville Global.
Zola ties knot in $25m series C
Corporate venturing units Comcast Ventures and BBG Ventures have contributed to a round just confirmed by online wedding registry Zola.
The organic tampon provider, which has raised $10m in 2016, secured funding from investors including the AOL-backed BBG Ventures.
TripAdvisor makes tracks with Traxo in $5.2m series B
TripAdvisor led Traxo’s latest round, which will be used to expand the itinerary services provider’s technology, sales and marketing.
Financial
Fintech company BillFront has raised a combination of series A equity and debt from strategic investors NIBC Bank and 4Finance as well as existing shareholder Finleap.
Insurers meet their One in $20m round
AXA Strategic Ventures led a series B round that included MassMutual Ventures, bringing the insurance management software developer’s total funding to almost $37m.
BlueVine swings $49m for series D round
Rakuten and new investor Citi Ventures contributed to a round that took the business finance platform’s overall funding to $113m.
Energy and Natural Resources
Kite Power Solutions pulls in $6.2m
The offshore wind technology developer raised the capital from corporates Schlumberger, Eon and Shell and plans to develop a pilot system in 2017.
Transport
Mojio revs up series A to $15m
Amazon provided a $7m extension to the connected car technology developer’s series A round, which already contained Deutsche Telekom.
JetSmarter reaches for the skies to raise $105m
The private aviation marketplace added JetEdge to its investors in a series C round that values it at more than $1.6bn post-money.
Services
Managed by Q maintains progress with $30m
The GV-backed office cleaning and management service had raised $30.5m out of a $40m funding round, according to a regulatory filing.