Weekly corporate venturing deal net: 13-17 July 2015
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Symantec and Frost Data warm up cybersecurity incubator
The cybersecurity software producer will partner with Frost to incubate up to 10 startups focused on cybersecurity analytics, big data and the internet of things.
Alibaba to go mobile with $160m fund
The e-commerce group will target startups developing apps for local services, and will provide an additional $161m in debt through its Ant Financial affiliate.
SoftBank calls time on SoftBank Capital
The unit, which counts Yahoo and Alibaba among its successes, will be wound down in favour of larger investments, the first of which could be in lending platform SoFi.
SeptWolves readies $160m corporate venturing fund
The China-based fashion brand will look to boost its offerings by investing in emerging brands and companies that can enhance its online retail channels.
Workday extends corporate venturing activities with new fund
Workday Ventures will fund machine learning and data analysis startups, and has revealed the identity of its first four portfolio companies.
Ingram publishes accelerator plans
Named 1440, after the year of Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, the accelerator will pay $30,000 for a 10% stake in each participating startup.
CircleUp shapes $22m investment fund
The Google-backed company will use the Consumer Growth Fund to match the cash raised by selected consumer brands on its crowdfunding platform.
The agribusiness venture fund, backed by partners including Tereos, AG2R-La Mondiale and Groupama, has funded eight companies since its April 2014 formation.
People
Read writes off Google general partner position
Peter Read has left corporate venturing unit Google Ventures a year after helping to launch its $100m European investment arm.
Exits
Clean Power and Kilowatt to spark merger
Google-backed residential solar marketplace Clean Power Finance is set to merge with solar finance provider Kilowatt Financial to form a new clean energy financier.
Jupai boosts wealth with $53m IPO
Jupai, a China-based wealth management and advisory service backed by Sina and E-House, will float on the New York Stock Exchange later today.
Intel-backed ApnaPaisa makes journey to Andromeda
Personal loan marketplace ApnaPaisa has been acquired by loan provider Andromeda for an undisclosed sum in a stock and cash deal that allowed Intel to exit.
Media company Turner Broadcasting has exited Locket, a lockscreen app development startup that had raised almost $4m in funding.
LVMH makes up Luxola acquisition
LVMH subsidiary Sephora has purchased cosmetics e-commerce company Luxola, for a reported $37m, providing exits to Gree and Transcosmos.
WuXi PharmaTech sets $250m target for new fund
The healthcare research services provider will contribute $50m of the capital as an anchor investor and seek to fund China and US-based portfolio companies.
Siemens subscribes to HTGF’s Magazino stake
Siemens Novel Businesses has acquired the stake in automated robotics developer Magazino held by High-Tech Gruenderfonds.
IT
Aveni conducts $13.5m to scale semiconductor manufacturing
Previously known as Alchimer, the semiconductor technology company has raised $13.5m from investors including Panasonic and Air Liquide.
Relay2 crosses series D finish line
The Rogers Commuincations-backed wifi services provider has closed its series D round at $13.5m after securing an additional $3.5m in funding.
Demandbase sells $30m round to corporates
Adobe and Salesforce both returned to invest in a late-stage round that boosted the marketing software developer’s overall funding to more than $90m.
Kraft Group and Credit Suisse have contributed to an oversubscribed series D round for Delphix that boosted its total funding to $120m.
Investors swarm to Introhive for $7.2m series B
Salesforce-backed customer relationship management software developer Introhive has closed a series B round that will fund an expansion of its sales team.
Intel and Liberty Media have co-led a series B round for TrapX that increased the cybersecurity company’s total funding to $14m.
CrowdStrike hits up Google in $100m series C
The cybersecurity company closed a $100m round today led by Google Capital and backed by Rackspace, taking its total funding to $156m in the process.
Health
Eli Lilly reaches Immunocore in $320m fundraise
Oncology-focused biotechnology developer Immunocore has raised the largest ever funding round by a European private life sciences company.
Accolade boasts of $22.5m in funding
McKesson and Independence Health provided the capital for healthcare marketplace Accolade, which previously received funding from investors including Comcast.
The asthma and peanut allergy treatment company has now raised $89m in total, after closing a series D round backed by BioMed Realty and returning investor Novo.
Merck helps administer $8m for MedCPU
Merck Global Health Innovation Fund co-led the $5m equity portion of the series B round, while Silicon Valley Bank provided $3m in debt financing.
Novo helps bring Nuvelution to life
Nuvelution, which is aiming to bring a collaborative element to drug development, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Novo-backed series A round.
Autifony successfully sounds out investors for series A extension
The GlaxoSmithKline spin-out, which is working on treatments for hearing disorders, has raised additional funds to extend the Pfizer-backed round to $36.6m.
Media
Cinarra analyses $20m series B
SoftBank has led a series B round for advertising and data analytics company Cinarra, which follows a $4.5m Cisco-backed series A round in 2013.
Fanduel wins series E battle with $275m
Google, Time Warner, Turner Sports, NBC and Comcast all participated in a round that valued the fantasy sports operator at more than $1bn.
Corporates join Mobvista backers in $32m series B
Shanghai Media Group and Mango TV both invested in the mobile advertising company’s series B round, secured less than a year after a NetEase-funded series A.
Consumer
Xiachufang cooks up $30m series B
JD.com has taken part in a series B round for recipe-sharing platform Xiachufang, which previously raised an undisclosed amount in a 2012 series A round.
Ticketfly buzzes investors for $50m series D
The SAP-backed all-in-one event ticketing technology platform has now raised almost $90m and will look to move into larger venues and international markets.
Fosun helps pamper StyleSeat with $25m
Fosun-backed fund Kinzon Capital led the online beauty services marketplace’s series B round, bringing its overall funding to more than $40m.
Baidu Waimai puts in $200m order
The online food ordering service is looking to raise the cash at an $800m valuation in order to split off from its parent company, internet services provider Baidu.
Foxconn plans to manufacture startup funding in India
Foxconn plans to set up a corporate venturing fund and incubator as part of a $20bn Indian investment initiative that could also include academic research funding.
Financial
Upstart grows up with $35m series C
The Google-backed lending platform has now raised more than $42m since it was founded in 2012, and has issued $128m in loans.
Wacai bolsters finances with $80m
The personal finance management service, which has signed up 100 million registered users, has now raised $130m in its IDG-backed series B round.
Media company TimeOut led the restaurant ordering and payment service’s series A round, and has also signed a strategic partnership with the UK-based startup.
Energy and Natural Resources
Advanced Microgrid to grow with $18m
The energy storage startup has secured Engie, the utility previously known as GDF Suez, as an investor in a DBL Partners-led round.
Services
StellaService rates series C at $15m
Comcast led the series C round for customer service ratings platform StellaService, increasing the company’s total funding to $37m.
Busuu enrols McGraw-Hill in $6.5m series B
Busuu has received $6.5m from McGraw-Hill Education and will incorporate the larger company’s technology into its language learning platform.
Iris boards Mailjet for $11m series B
Direct emailing service Mailjet took its total funding to more than $17m in a round featuring Orange and Publicis-backed Iris Capital.
HackerRank employs Recruit for $7.5m investment
Recruit invested in the specialist hiring platform through the $20m HR Technology Fund it formed in January this year.
Alibaba-backed Riverhill supplies $16m to Zhanghetianxia
The supply chain services provider received the money from Riverhill Fund, in which e-commerce company Alibaba is the largest investor.