Corporate venturing deal net: 12-16 March 2018
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Singha cracks open $25m for venture fund
Singha Ventures will invest in areas such as consumer products, retail, logistics, enterprise healthcare and renewable energy as well as other funds.
Zhou Heiya greets Tiantu for $475m fund
The publicly-listed fast food retailer has committed almost $80m to a consumer and retail-focused fund that will be managed by Tiantu Capital.
SoftBank looks to fuse investment activities
The corporate could bring its $97.7bn Vision Fund and Fortress Investment asset management activities under an umbrella called SoftBank Financial Services.
Exits
Palo Alto Networks pays $300m to secure Evident.io
Cloud security software developer Evident.io, which had raised about $49m from investors including GV, has agreed to an acquisition by Palo Alto Networks for $300m in cash.
Cancer immunotherapy developer Arcus Biosciences will float at the top of its range, scoring exits for Alphabet, Novartis, Celgene and Taiho.
Zen Rooms moves toward shutdown
Rocket Internet-backed short-term accommodation provider Zen Rooms is in talks with investors for a sale as its capital reserves reportedly dwindle.
Mindbody takes care of $150m Booker acquisition
Spa and salon management software producer Booker Software had raised $77m across three rounds from investors including First Data Ventures.
Conga to take Octiv higher in acquisition
GE Ventures is set to exit document collaboration platform Octiv in an acquisition of undisclosed size by Conga.
Analysis: Salesforce to exit Dropbox in upcoming IPO
Salesforce is expecting to exit the file storage and sharing platform Dropbox, which filed for an IPO after having raised more than $1.7bn in debt and equity financing.
IT
CreditEase and American Express Ventures participated in a round that took the total raised by the fraud and cyber threat detection platform to $47m.
Moogsoft detects corporates for $40m series D
Singtel Innov8 and HCL Technologies were among the returning investors in Moogsoft’s latest round, which was led by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity.
Taodata taps Fosun to lead latest round
Fosun has led financial data technology startup Taodata’s latest round, in which it raised $15.8m, as part of a big data and AI investment strategy.
Luminate lights its way from stealth with $14m
Enterprise security technology developer Luminate Security has received $14m across two rounds from investors including Microsoft ScaleUp.
Luminoso translates series A1 interest into funding
Digital Garage-backed customer service technology provider Luminoso has secured $12.6m in equity and convertuble note financing.
Upskill undertakes new fundraise
General Electric, Cisco, Boeing and Accenture contributed to a $17.2m round for the AR technology developer that will fund hiring and product development.
Verizon touches The Fabric in $15m fundraise
The company builder has raised capital from investors including Verizon Ventures and March Capital Partners for a first close of its third fund.
Dropbox looks to capture $648m in IPO
Existing backer Salesforce Ventures has agreed to invest a further $100m in the cloud collaboration platform through a private placement.
Voicera records $20m in investment
Cisco Investments, Microsoft Ventures, GV, Salesforce Ventures and Workday Ventures all backed a series A round for the digital meeting assistant developer.
Bose to sound out startups with $50m fund
Bose Ventures has been formed to support the audio equipment maker’s newly launched augmented reality platform.
Health
Helsinn goes On Target in $44m round
On Target Laboratories has closed its series B round at $44m after an $11.1m extension featuring Helsinn, following an initial tranche led by Johnson & Johnson in September.
Sprim helps spirit $50m to healthcare fund
The healthcare innovation services provider has joined forces with Tikehau Capital for a fund called TKS1 that has reached its first close.
TAE Life Sciences turns up with $40m
The cancer treatment startup, a spinoff of fusion energy system developer TAE Technologies, has publicly launched with an Artis-led series A round.
Hanwang hangs funding on 23Mofang
Hanwang Technology is among the participants in a $15.8m round for the genetic testing services provider, which has now raised $23m in total.
Xeris expands series C round to $85m
Mérieux Développement has helped to top up glucagon formulation developer Xeris Pharmaceuticals’ series C round, alongside $45m in debt financing.
Mars Petcare to adopt startups with $100m fund
The pet food and health product maker has formed a corporate venturing fund called Companion Fund and an accelerator dubbed Leap.
Humacyte, an Access Industries-backed developer of tissue-based biological repair technology, has now raised $290m in financing in total.
Prevail completes $75m series A process
Neurodegenerative disease startup Prevail Therapeutics has raised series A funding from backers including Alexandria Venture Investments.
Atomwise finds corporates for $45m series A
The biotechnology research platform developer has closed a round co-led by Monsanto Growth Ventures that included Tencent and Baidu.
Media
Qu Toutiao reports nine-figure funding round
The personalised news aggregator has raised more than $100m in a Tencent-led round that could reportedly precede an initial public offering.
Ovo catches Incoming Media for acquisition deal
Ovo has acquired the mobile video technology developer for just over $10m, with Incoming backers Intel, Citrix and Warner Brothers getting stakes in Ovo.
Atom Tickets gets $60m series C opening
Series B investors Lionsgate, Walt Disney Company and 20th Century Fox all returned for social movie ticketing app Atom’s latest round.
Consumer
Walmart weighs up $7bn Flipkart investment
Talks between the companies are reportedly at a critical stage and could involve Walmart buying shares from corporate investor SoftBank at a $20bn valuation.
Baidu cooks up $160m for Coocaa
A Baidu subsidiary will take an 11% stake in Skyworth’s smart TV spinout, which also counts Tencent and iQiyi as backers, after buying primary and secondary shares.
Gousto takes delivery of new funding
The Unilever-backed meal-kit delivery service has received $39.8m from Hargreave Hale, Angel CoFund, MMC Ventures and BGF Ventures to more than double its total funding.
Warby Parker frames $75m series E
T. Rowe Price, which previously led the eyewear retailer’s $100m round in 2015, has returned to lead a round that took its total funding to $290m.
Outdoor Voices calls GV for $34m round
GV has led a series C round for activewear producer Outdoor Voices, which will use the funding to grow its chain of brick-and-mortar stores.
Eight rests $14m in its account
Khosla Ventures has led the Comcast-backed smart mattress producer’s series B round, increasing its overall funding to $27m.
Rent the Runway shows off $20m investment
Blue Pool Capital, an investment vehicle for two Alibaba co-founders, has increased the Advance Publications-backed company’s total funding to $210m.
XGimi gets $95m in latest funding project
Baidu is now the widescreen projector maker’s largest external shareholder, having returned for a round that follows its initial investment last year.
Ecobee sets $61m for series C close
Amazon Alexa Fund made its second investment in the smart thermostat developer, which has now raised $146m altogether.
Pepperfry goes to State Street for funding
State Street Corporation has invested $38.5m in Bertelsmann-backed e-commerce platform Pepperfry, taking its total funding to almost $200m.
Financial
Cofco and China International Capital are in talks to lead a round that would value JD.com’s financial services spinout at up to $30bn.
Energy and Natural Resources
MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems has launched with $50m in capital from energy utility Eni to develop fusion power.
Industrial
Corporates explore Spaceflight in $150m round
Space launch services provider Spaceflight Industries has pulled in funding from Mitsui and the Thales Alenia and Telespazio-backed Space Alliance.
Transport
Magna comes louder in $200m Lyft deal
On-demand ride service Lyft has received $200m from automotive systems maker Magna International at an $11.7bn valuation as part of an autonomous driving partnership
Alibaba takes another ride on Ofo
Alibaba has led a $866m debt and equity round for bicycle rental service Ofo having reportedly bought $3bn of stock in January.
Hubert Burda makes Carsome investment
Used car e-commerce platform Carsome has secured $19m in a series B round led by Burda Principal Investments that will fund growth in Southeast Asia.
Services
Cambridge Innovation Center has attracted $58m in funding from property developer HB Reavis to add additional locations to its network of innovation campuses.
RedDoorz books into $11m round
SIG’s Asia Investment Fund has returned as part of RedDoorz’s latest round, which will be used for regional expansion in Southeast Asia.
17zuoye stays course to raise $200m
Bytedance has reportedly led the online education provider’s series E round, bringing its overall funding to more than $335m.