Corporate venturing deal net: 14-18 August 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
Gobi Partners gets in GS to raise $50m
The venture firm has reached a $50m first close for its latest fund, which is targeting a $200m close, securing GS Shop as a limited partner.
Nationwide puts out $100m corporate venturing plan
The insurance and financial services provider, which set up a venture capital unit last year, is set to provide more than $100m in funding to startups.
Lilly Asia Ventures closes fourth fund on $450m
The Eli Lilly-backed firm has closed its oversubscribed fourth fund, LAV Biosciences Fund IV, reportedly raising the capital in only two months.
Alliant allies itself with EIP
Energy-focused collaborative private equity firm Energy Impact Partners has secured Alliant Energy as its latest energy utility partner.
Big Deal: SoftBank Vision Fund goes big
Vision Fund’s $2.5bn investment in Flipkart last week, together with its huge bets on Fanatics and Roivant, could indicate where it plans to invest in the longer term.
Media Tech Venture Studio to meet eight
The Verizon Ventures and R/GA-backed media startup studio has chosen its first eight participants, each of which will receive $100,000 of funding.
Exits
The Time Warner and Tribune Media-backed digital media property is reportedly exploring a possible sale but maintains it is merely looking to raise new funding.
Youon has become the first bike sharing company to complete an initial public offering in China, providing an exit to Alibaba’s Ant Financial affiliate.
Despegar draws up $100m IPO plans
Latin American travel booking platform Despegar has filed to go public in the US, two years after Expedia invested $270m for a 16% share in the company.
Digi.me gets Personal in merger deal
Swiss Re-backed data exchange platform Digi.me has joined forces with data security company TeamData, the two having jointly raised more than $45m.
MongoDB makes confidential IPO move
The Salesforce, Intel and Red Hat-backed database software provider, valued at $1.6bn as of 2016, has reportedly filed for an initial public offering.
Luxe considers parking its assets at Volvo
The carmaker is in talks to acquire assets and intellectual property from Volvo and GV-backed on-demand parking app Luxe, which has raised $75m.
Glossybox enters The Hut in acquisition deal
The Hut Group has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire Rocket Internet-backed cosmetics subscription service Glossybox in a deal that will help it grow geographically.
Deposit Solutions saves up to buy Savedo
Savings and investment platform Savedo, which had raised about $12m, was backed by WeltN24 and has now been acquired by Deposit Solutions.
Wantedly wanders toward public markets
The CyberAgent and Nihon Keizai Shimbun-backed recruitment and networking platform developer is set to float in its home country of Japan next month.
WeWork has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire sales and marketing intelligence software provider Unomy, allowing Leta Capital to exit.
IT
The records management technology developer has secured $25m in equity and $15m in debt financing, just five months after closing a Legend Star-backed series A round.
The data transfer technology developer has revealed it has raised $53m in funding since 2014, and has formed a strategic partnership with investors including Samsung and Foxconn.
Thoughtspot thickens series C to $120m
The enterprise analytics software provider has added $60m to a round that include Capital One Growth Ventures and Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, taking its total funding to $160m.
Rakuten helps send OneSignal to series A
Push notification technology provider OneSignal has raised $7m in series A funding from participants including existing investor Rakuten Ventures.
Ucpaas loads up $45m with help from M800
M800 has participated in the cloud communication platform developer’s series B round, which was led by Mangrove Capital and backed by Legend Capital.
Health
MedAware measures out $8m for series A
Becton, Dickinson and Company has participated in a round that took the GE Ventures-backed medication analysis technology provider’s total funding to $8m.
Unity upscales series B to $151m
Anti-aging therapeutics developer Unity Biotechnology has added $35m to a WuXi PharmaTech and Mayo Clinic-backed series B round that it has now closed at $151m.
Atreca attracts $35m in series B round
GlaxoSmithKline-backed Atreca has now raised $91m in total and will use the series B proceeds to advance a pipeline of therapeutics based on human immune responses.
Ankon anchors SBCVC to raise $100m
Ankon Technologies, developer of a capsule-based gastric cancer diagnostics system, has received funding from investors including SoftBank’s Chinese CVC subsidiary.
Zimmer skims off a skin cancer vehicle with $7m
Zimmer MedizinSysteme has spun out a skin cancer treatment developer called Zimmer BioTech that has raised $7m from backers including High-Tech Gründerfonds.
Sun Pharma gives sustenance to Krystal Biotech
Gene therapy developer Krystal has received $7m in funding from Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, in a deal that values the startup at roughly $44m.
Media
IMS New Media markets $90m series C
Sina Weibo has contributed to a series C round for IMS New Media Group, valuing the social media marketing company at about $1.5bn.
SoundCloud gets rescued with $170m investment
Raine Group and Temasek have reportedly acquired a majority stake in beleaguered, Twitter and Chernin Group-backed music streaming platform SoundCloud.
TuneIn radios Comcast to raise $50m
The GV-backed online radio network has boosted its total funding to $140m with a $50m round co-led by Comcast Ventures, Marker and Institutional Venture Partners.
Emtek reveals two new portfolio companies
The media company has taken stakes in on-demand ride platform Grab and mobile game developer Ice House, according to its latest financial report.
Consumer
Tokopedia takes $1.1bn in Alibaba-led round
New strategic partner Alibaba led the Indonesia-based e-commerce marketplace’s latest round, which may have included SoftBank and Sequoia Capital.
The CAA-backed stock ordering platform has now raised almost $22m altogether, after closing a series B round that included Novel TMT.
Corporates help buy up $27m of Sale Stock
Sinar Mas Digital Ventures and media group MNC have participated in a series B+ round for women’s fashion e-commerce company Sale Stock.
Meitu augments HiScene’s series B round
Augmented reality goggles and software developer HiScene has received approximately $14.9m in a Shanghai Cableway Investment-led round.
Telecoms
Francisco Partners has purchased a 16.7% stake in Iconectiv, a subsidiary of Ericsson that has developed technology to interconnect telecom networks.
Energy and Natural Resources
The energy utility has teamed up with its employee investment fund to invest in renewable energy companies Mera Gao Power, Kingo Energy and Atec.
Industrial
Lenovo helps arm YangTian with $7.5m
Robotic arm developer Tianjin YangTian Technology raised the money in a pre-series A round led by strategic investor Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group.
Transport
TuSimple drives its way to $20m
Sina has led the autonomous trucking technology developer’s series B round, investing alongside Nvidia GPU Ventures.
The logistics platform has secured $56m in a series B-3 round, adding to more than $270m raised from investors including Baidu Capital and Tencent since December.
Investors queue up for a $12bn ride on Uber
Four prospective investors including SoftBank and Didi Chuxing have signed an exclusivity agreement and could buy up to $12bn in primary and secondary shares.
BAIC BJEV accelerates with $1.7bn
Beijing Automotive Group’s electric vehicle subsidiary has collected $1.7bn in a series B round featuring 14 investors including China Cinda Asset Management and Zhongji Investment.
Ola takes $36m from Tekne Capital
A subsidiary of hedge fund sponsor Tekne Capital Management has invested in the series G round being raised by Ola, which is also backed by SoftBank and Didi Chuxing.
Services
SoftBank contemplates a cash delivery to Rivigo
Rivigo stands to receive at least $100m and possibly as much as $400m from SoftBank in a deal that would value the logistics services provider at close to $1bn.
Puls gets in the rhythm to secure $25m
The electronic device repair service has rebranded from CellSavers and raised new funding from investors including corporate venturing unit Samsung Next.
HomeLight gets real to raise $40m
The GV-backed online realtor marketplace has now secured a total of $55m, having raised $40m in a series B round featuring Citi Ventures.
Knightscope detects $10m from public offering
The autonomous security system developer, which is backed by NTT Docomo, Konica Minolta and Flextronics, has closed the first half of a mini-IPO.
Shea Ventures helps refuel Filld
On-demand refuelling service Filld has raised $9.65m in a series A round led by JF Shea’s corporate venturing unit.
Zuoyebang pores over $150m series C
Baidu spinout Zuoyebang has added $150m in funding from investors including Legend Capital and will use the capital to strengthen its online education platform.