Corporate Venturing in 2017: The Trends
The upper end continued to grow and corporates launched a raft of AI funds, as bike sharing, real estate, smart vehicles and urban farming drew capital.
Tencent added huge private equity deals to investments in the likes of Meituan-Dianping, Go-Jek and Flipkart before a run of huge IPOs late in the year.
The customer relationship management software producer launched four specialist funds with $250m of capital and scored big on the IPO exit front.
The Google owner committed big money to Lyft and Airbnb as GV increased its late-stage deals, formed an AI fund called Gradient and exited from Snap and Cloudera in IPOs.
The telecommunications group raised almost $98bn for its Vision Fund and dominated the tech VC space in 2017.
Corporate venturing deal net: 25-29 December 2017
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Corporate venturing deal net: 18-22 December 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
Dialog Axiata digs up $15m for fund
Dialog Axiata Digital Innovation Fund, formed by telecoms firm Axiata’s local subsidiary, is Sri Lanka’s largest ever corporate venturing fund.
Hadean walls off $119 for life sciences fund
Corporates Varner and Gjensidige are among the limited partners for Hadean Ventures’ first fund, which will back European life sciences startups.
Cargill and Ecolab fork out for accelerator
The Techstars-backed Farm to Fork Accelerator will give food and agtech startups access to funding and networking opportunities.
Inven Capital, the strategic fund formed by Czech energy utility Čez, has received $59m each from Čez and European Investment Bank.
Edenred tenders incubator scheme
Edenred’s workforce have been invited to submit business ideas in the firm’s core sectors of employee benefits and mobility technology.
Rakuten and Techstars launch Singapore accelerator
Rakuten and Techstars have partnered to launch an accelerator for startups developing technologies that can be used with social messaging apps.
People
Allianz takes a position at Bima
Insurer Allianz has invested $96.6m to become the largest strategic shareholder in mobile insurance and health platform Bima.
Toyota hires Ford for corporate venturing
Newly hired principal Jill Ford will source new investment opportunities for Toyota AI Ventures and work with its existing portfolio companies.
Exits
Zurich Insurance packs up Bright Box
Leta Capital has exited connected car platform developer Bright Box, three years after it invested $1.5m in the company.
HPE heads for an exit in Keen IO acquisition
Scaleworks has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire data API developer Keen IO, which had raised $30m, allowing Hewlett Packard Enterprise to exit.
LexinFintech legs it to public markets in $108m IPO
LexinFintech, the instalment buying platform operator backed by Bertelsmann, JD.com and Taikang, had initially targeted $500m in the offering.
DMGT digs out a return from Skymet
Daily Mail and General Trust has sold shares in the weather and agricultural data platform as part of a series C round of undisclosed size.
Delivery Hero and Ola break bread
Ola has bought FoodPanda India from Delivery Hero and invested $200m in the company, while Delivery Hero will get a stake in Ola.
T-Mobile calls in Layer3 acquisition
Evolution Media is set to score an exit, after set-top box provider and portfolio company Layer3 TV agreed to be acquired by T-Mobile.
Broadband software provider Casa Systems, backed by Liberty Global Ventures, has gone public in a downgraded initial public offering.
IT
Ripcord reopens series B to reach $65m
Corporate venturing units GV and Telstra Ventures have contributed to a $25m expansion to record digitisation platform Ripcord’s series B round.
Splice Machine cuts together $9m
Predictive analytics software developer Splice Machine has now raised more than $31m in total, in a round that included Salesforce Ventures.
The KPMG-backed consumer goods product data platform raised the series C capital to expand its data science team and fund product development.
Chevron, Shell, Saudi Aramco, Intel, GE and Accenture all took part in the analytics software provider’s latest round, boosting its total funding to $28m.
Paddle makes progress with MacPaw funding
MacPaw was among the investors in a $12.5m series B round for sales software provider Paddle, with the cash to go to hiring and product development.
FollowAnalytics catches corporates to raise $11m
Orange Digital Ventures and Salesforce Ventures have contributed to a series B round that took the marketing technology developer’s overall funding to $27m.
Analysis: Kingsoft Cloud receives $300m
Cloud storage firm Kingsoft Cloud raised $300 in a series D round, one of the largest rounds in the cloud tech space in 2017
Health
Aura reveals $30m series C round
Existing investors Chiesi Ventures and Li-Cor Biosciences came back for the cancer treatment developer’s Lundbeckfonden Ventures-led series C.
Taris tallies $25m for series B
Bristol-Myers Squibb joined the urology treatment developer’s investors in a round led by Yonghua Capital.
Aledade takes care to raise $23m
The healthcare management platform has secured $23m of a planned $28m, after raising $20m in a GV-backed round in January.
FLX flexes funding muscles with $60m
FLX Bio has secured $60m in a series C round featuring GV and existing investor Celgene to take its total funding to almost $140m.
Bigfinite has picked up funding from industrial process manufacturer Krohne as it bids to commercialise its pharmaceutical information platform.
Respicardia inhales new funding
The implantable sleep apnoea device developer raised $58.5m in a Zoll Medical-led round that took its total funding past the $140m mark.
Aptinyx shows nerve in $70m series B
Neurological treatment developer Aptinyx has secured $70m in a Nan Fung-backed round to add to the $65m series A it closed in May 2016.
Pfizer and AbbVie join Jnana Therapeutics’ investors
Jnana has raised $50m in a series A round backed by Pfizer and AbbVie to continue development of its protein drug discovery platform.
Media
Chushou reaches next level with Google investment
Google has supplied $76.8m in funding to mobile game livestreaming platform Chushou TV, which had raised $58m in January.
Fyusion captures $22m in series B round
A consortium including NTT Docomo, Colopl, Gionee and the Foxconn-backed 2020 fund has provided $22m for 3D photography app developer Fyusion.
The WME and AM Only-backed music production platform developer will use the series B funds to grow its team and improve the suite of tools it offers.
Consumer
Pimax pins down series A funding
Industrial manufacturers O-Film Tech and Tianma Bearing have co-led a $15.3m round for Pimax, which plans to launch an 8K VR headset in 2018.
Intuition interacts with Mirai in $6m round
Companion robot developer Intuition Robotics has raised $6m in a rund featuring Mirai Creation Investment, backed by existing Intuition investor Toyota.
Menē shows mettle to secure $21m
The Goldmoney-backed gold and platinum jewellery brand has raised funding to build out its manufacturing and distribution infrastructure.
The startup has drawn interest for its series B round from processed food supplier Allana Group, following a $4m series A in 2015.
The WME-backed food subscription service has completed a series B round that will fund growth and product development.
Pax Labs’ e-cigarette spinoff plans to raise $150m and has already secured approximately $112m from unnamed investors.
The Comcast-backed smart mattress developer has tapped undisclosed investors to take its total equity financing to more than $29m.
Financial
CommerzVentures homes in on Realbest
The property sales marketplace has received $8.3m in a round backed by Commerzbank’s venture capital unit.
SoftBank makes Lemonade in $120m series C
Digital insurance platform Lemonade has raised $120m at a $500m+ valuation, in a SoftBank-led round that included GV, Allianz and XL Innovate.
Kasisto chats up investors to raise $17m
Mastercard and the BBVA-backed Propel Venture Partners have contributed to a series B round that will support product development and growth.
Conglomerate IDB Group has invested in localised currency platform Colu and a presale for its cryptocurrency, Colu Local Network.
Energy and Natural Resources
Legal & General finds an Upside
Upside Energy, the operator of a cloud energy management system, has raised $7.4m in a series A round co-led by Legal & General Capital.
Ecoppia cleans up in $13m round
Insurance group Harel was among the investors in a round for Ecoppia, which has created an automated cleaning system for solar panels.
Shell charges up SolarNow in $9m round
The off-grid solar power and appliance provider secured funding in a series B round backed by Shell and existing investor Novastar Ventures.
Mitsui has joined Idinvest Partners and European Investment Bank for a $65.4m round for smart battery system producer Forsee Power.
SolidEnergy recharges with $30m series C
The battery technology developer, which has now raised $87m in total, counts General Motors, SAIC Motor and Applied Materials among its past investors.
BP finds Lightsource with $200m investment
BP will take a 43% stake in the solar energy developer and operator once the full commitment is fulfilled over a three-year period.
Industrial
The 3D printing technology producer has reached the first close of a $200m series D round featuring JSR, Adidas and GE Ventures.
The commercial space launch company was founded by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and China Sanjiang Space Industry Group.
Telecoms
The IAC-backed internet service provider is targeting $55m for the round and has now raised $94m altogether.
Transport
SoftBank consortium agrees multibillion-dollar Uber deal
SoftBank itself will come out with a 15% stake in Uber as part of a primary and secondary deal that looks set to top $8bn.
Tencent and China Minmetals have contributed to a round for smart EV developer WM, which already counted Baidu and SIG as investors.
Hellobike hikes series D funding past $500m
The bicycle rental service has raised $153m from investors including Fosun, adding to the $350m WM Motor-backed tranche it closed three weeks ago.
Didi Chuxing draws near to 99 purchase
The on-demand ride service is reportedly in talks to buy a majority stake in Brazilian counterpart 99, a year after leading a $100m round for the company.
SoftBank helps Didi Chuxing pick up $4bn
The ride hailing platform is reportedly now valued at $56bn, after completing a round featuring SoftBank and Mubadala Investment Company.
Virgin Hyperloop One vacuums up $50m
DP World and Caspian Venture Capital provided the funding ahead of a planned series C round for Virgin Hyperloop One, which has now raised $295m in total.
Car sharing platform Reachda will add Honda automobiles to its vehicle fleet as part of the deal, with Honda investing $9.1m in the company.
G7 connects to GLP for $70m round
Global Logistics Providers and Bank of China have supplied $70m in cash to G7 Networks, which has developed connected fleet management technology.
Services
DigitalGenius finds series A solution
The customer service enhancement platform increased its overall financing to $26m in a $14.8m round featuring existing backer Salesforce Ventures.
The R/GA-backed e-commerce returns service has raised series B funding that will go to product development and an expansion of its partner network.
URWork undertakes series C round
The co-working space provider raised $45.6m, three months after securing $178m in a pre-series C round featuring Aikang, Beijing Xingpai, Beijing Land Capital and Star Group.
Tier1CRM goes to another level to raise $34m
Salesforce Ventures and MassMutual Ventures both invested in the financial services CRM software producer as part of a Wavecrest Growth-led round.
SoftBank to provide $300m treat for Wag
SoftBank Vision Fund is seeking to invest up to $300m in dogsitting app developer Wag, which had initially set a $100m target for its next round.