Weekly corporate venturing deal net: 13-17 April 2015
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Book Review: Corporate Venturing, Managing the innovation family in a dynamic world
Lessons learned from 15 Dutch corporates. Written by Corina Kuiper and Fred van Ommen. Published by VOC Publishing
Corporate venturing talent: finding a balance
Georgina Worden, of executive search firm Intramezzo, looks at the problems faced by those looking to nurture talent in the industry.
CyberAgent starts recruiting for Rising Expo 2015
The internet company’s startup conference, which will be put on by its corporate venturing subsidiary, has begun accepting pitches from startups.
Fundraising
TVM closes corporate-backed life sciences fund
Chongqinq Lummy Pharmaceutical has backed a $50m fund formed by venture capital firm TVM to invest in life sciences companies.
Intel Capital launches two Chinese startup initiatives
Intel has set up a $12.8m angel fund in China, which will operate under its $19m internet of things-focused Mass Makerspace Accelerator programme.
Dentsu launches new corporate venturing unit
Dentsu Ventures is armed with more than $40m in capital and will invest in communications and marketing technology startups in the US, Japan and Europe.
Japan-based corporates unveil $17m venture fund
The early-stage venture fund, set up by biotech company Euglena, has harnessed support from a range of corporate limited partners
Exits
Legend lines up $3bn Hong Kong IPO
Legend Holdings, the largest shareholder in computer maker Lenovo and the parent company of Legend Capital, is set to raise between $2bn and $3bn when it goes public.
IBM delves into healthcare IT company Explorys
IBM has agreed to acquire healthcare IT services provider Explorys for an undisclosed sum, enabling Cleveland Clinic to exit.
The Hubert Burda-backed craft marketplace will float at the top of its range in an initial public offering that values it at roughly $1.8bn.
Yahoo circles Foursquare in possible $900m deal
Yahoo has reportedly begun acquisition talks with the Microsoft and O’Reilly Media-backed location discovery service, which has raised almost $190m.
Anti-infective developer Cidara goes public
Cidara, which issued a 7.7% stake to Seachaid Pharmaceuticals last year, floated at the top of its range, raising $76.8m in the process.
BlaBlaCar revs up with Carpooling acquisition
Daimler exited the ride sharing company after it was bought by BlaBlaCar alongside another competitor, Hungary-based Autohop.
Aduro treats itself to $119m IPO
Existing shareholder Johnson & Johnson will buy $30m of stock in the cancer treatment developer as part of the offering.
KDDI puts Luxa in shopping basket
Premium goods e-commerce company Luxa has been acquired by KDDI after securing venture funding from it in 2013 and 2014.
Rakuten to eat Popsugar in $580m deal
The online media company, which once counted NBC Universal as an investor, is set to be the latest in a series of big US deals for Rakuten.
Antibody developer Merus lines up $105m IPO
The Netherlands-based oncology company, backed by corporate venturing subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Pfizer, plans to float in the US later this year.
IT
Google was among the investors as the workplace communication and archiving app creator raised its second nine-figure round in six months.
UniKey unlocks $10m for series A
Samsung was one of the investors in a round that will fund the keyless security company’s international expansion.
Skyport lands Intel-backed series B
Intel Capital has backed $30m funding round for the IT security company that is still in stealth.
RetailNext sells corporates on $125m series E
Nokia, Qualcomm and American Express all returned for the retail analytics company’s latest round, which took its overall funding past $180m.
NSS Labs finds $7m series B result
The cybersecurity company has raised $7m in a Chevron-backed round that will support its recently launched advanced warning system.
Movidius spots corporates for $40m series E
The imaging chip maker has now raised a total of $86.5m, after closing a round featuring Robert Bosch and Sunny Optical Technology.
Google authenticates $30m Duo Security series C
Existing backer Google Ventures has returned for the authentication service provider’s latest round, which boosted its overall funding to $48m.
Adallom will use the funds from a Hewlett-Packard-backed series C round to increase its sales and marketing efforts and continue development of its security software.
Google-backed Web content curation company Pocket took its total funding to $14.5m after completing a round featuring Axel Springer and Digital Garage.
FinalCode launches with $6m of Digital Arts funding
FinalCode’s file security system is being launched in conjunction with funding from the enterprise software company.
Planet Labs closes series D at $118m
Planet Labs received $23m from IFC to close out a round that boosted the O’Reilly Media-backed satellite imaging company’s total funding to more than $180m.
NPM secures $8m funding package
The Asynch Media-backed Javascript package manager has now raised $10.6m in total, as it releases a new paid feature for its users.
Existing investor Legend Holdings led the round, also backed by Bertelsmann, bringing the cloud infrastructure provider’s funding to $160m in less than 18 months.
Health
Bonesupport grafts on $14m of funding
Lundbeck-backed injectable bone graft developer Bonesupport has attracted $14m for a funding round led by an unnamed Scandinavian pension fund.
Investors pump $6.6m into Omeicos
The biopharmaceutical company, the developer of a treatment for atrial fibrillation, raised the cash from investors including industrial corporate SMS.
Investors administer $28m to Innocrin
Novartis and Eli Lilly both took part in a series D round that will fund clinical trials for Innocrin’s breast cancer treatments.
Mitsui extends EarlySense’s series F to $25m
Mitsui invested $5m as part of a deal whereby it will distribute EarlySense’s technology in Japan, increasing the size of its series F round by $5m in the process.
Medtronic backs spinal imaging company Ortho’s series C
Ortho Kinematics secured $9.6m in the round, raised as it prepares to commercialise its radiographic spinal imaging system in Europe and the US.
Otsuka helps inject $15m into ReCor
ReCor Medical raised the money in a series D round led by healthcare group Otsuka Holdings that will support a trial study for its hypertension treatment device.
Media
Spotify tunes up for $400m series G
The Coca-Cola and record company-backed streaming service is set to raise the money in the next few weeks at an $8.4bn valuation.
Consumer
Souq to attract investors for $300m round
E-commerce company Souq.com is set to raise a $300m round from investors including Naspers at a $1bn valuation to support expansion.
Rocket Internet was among the investors in the food delivery service, which promises its customers food from local partner restaurants in an hour or less.
Baofeng Mojing immerses itself in $10m
The virtual-reality headset maker attracted funding from a range of corporates including Huayi Brothers, Tianyin and Aisidi.
Kujiale designs $10m IDG-backed series B
IDG Capital Partners has returned to back the home decoration and furnishing company’s $10m series B round.
Zomato books Info Edge for $50m series F
Majority shareholder Info Edge provided $24.8m of the funding in the round, retaining a 50.1% stake in the restaurant listings company in the process.
Sefuri takes top prize at B Dash Camp
The mountain climbing app beat out 53 other competitors at the conference, organised by corporate-backed venture fund B Dash Ventures.
Grocery e-commerce company ZopNow has raised $10m in a series A round featuring returning investors Qualcomm Ventures and Times Internet.
Financial
Number26 banks on $10.7m series A
The Axel Springer-based smartphone banking service has now raised almost $13m in total after closing its series A round.
PolicyBazaar finds right policy to raise $40m
First reported to be in advanced talks for its series D round in February, the Info Edge and Intel Capital-backed insurance policy aggregator has raised $40m.
GE Ventures to remain unaffected by GE Capital sale
General Electric’s recently announced divestment plan for its finance subsidiary will not include its corporate venturing unit, the company has confirmed.
Corporates help transfer $110m to 9fbank
IDG Capital Partners co-led the latest round raised by the peer-to-peer lending platform, which will be used to boost its big data capabilities.
Renren helps build $109m of funding for LendingHome
Renren led a $70m series C round for the mortgage marketplace, bringing its funding to almost $110m, as it reaches $100m of loans processed in its first year of operation.
Energy and Natural Resources
Mitsui has led the first tranche of a series C round which is set to fund the intelligent energy storage company’s expansion into new markets.
The wellbore data sourcing company raised the money in a £1.5m round, £1.1m of which came from the Statoil-backed Seek & Solve initiative.
Industrial
Sumitomo chips in for $11m Solantro series B
Solantro, the developer of power conversion chips for renewable energy systems, has now raised a total of $25m in venture and grant funding.
Transport
Ola goes the distance for $400m
The SoftBank-backed taxi hailing service has raised $85m to close its series E round at $400m, and will use the funding to expand its network to 200 cities.
Qualcomm drives $20m series A for Navdy
Navdy has raised almost $27m of venture funding in eight months and will now work to launch its in-car display system later this year.
Ninebot nets $80m and buys Segway
Personal transportation company Ninebot raised its first external funding in a Xiaomi-backed round and has used the cash to buy electric vehicle maker Segway.
Baidu boosts Chinese ride sharing portfolio
The internet company has invested in ride sharing apps Tiantian Yongche and 51Yongche, both of which have raised eight-figure dollar amounts in their latest rounds.
Services
99designs draws Recruit for $10m series B
The graphic design marketplace plans to use the series B funding, and Recruit’s local resources, to expand into Asia.
The heating installation service secured its second investment from E.ON as Rocket Internet and Holtzbrinck Ventures joined its pool of backers.