Weekly corporate venturing deal net 14 – 18 March 2016
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Virgin Media connects to 10 startups
Virgin Media and Techstars have named the 10 companies that will join their London accelerator program and receive up to $120,000 each.
BBVA gets eighth Open Talent contest underway
Participating fintech startups will compete for a combined $200,000 in prize money and two weeks immersion with BBVA.
JVP to head corporate-backed Israeli incubator
Motorola Solutions and Reliance Industries are also part of a consortium that will run a new JVP Labs incubator in Jerusalem.
IDG Capital Partners closes healthcare fund
International Data Group affiliate IDG Capital Partners has raised a renminbi-denominated fund aimed at China’s healthcare sector.
Exits
Intel considers divesting up to $1bn in corporate venturing assets
Up to $1bn of Intel Capital assets could be sold off, and Intel has reportedly employed UBS to look for interested buyers.
GM takes Cruise in billion-dollar deal
Qualcomm is set to exit driverless vehicle technology company Cruise Automation, which had raised $18m in financing, in a $1bn acquisition by General Motors.
The Novo and Roche-backed company, which has raised $108m in venture funding, is set to price 4.7 million shares at between $15 and $17.
Square finds Framed Data the right fit
Predictive analytics startup Framed Data, which had raised $2m in a GV-backed seed round in 2014, has been acqui-hired by Square.
Chi-Med hits Nasdaq in $101m IPO
Pharmaceutical and healthcare company Hutchison China MediTech, which counts Mitsui as an investor, priced its American depositary shares at $13.50 each.
IT
Samsung-backed Pivot3 has added another $19m to its war chest, increasing its overall debt and equity financing to $174m.
Samsung-backed Pivot3 has revealed $55m in combined equity funding and debt financing, following earlier reports that the company had secured $19m.
GV led a series C round also including Cisco and existing investor Intel, increasing cybersecurity technology provider Skyport System’s overall funding to $67m.
Striim integrates Atlantic Bridge into $30m series B
Venture fund Atlantic Bridge has added $10m to the $20m data integration software provider Striim raised from investors including Intel Capital in September.
Couchbase relaxes with $30m series F
NTT Docomo-backed database technology company Couchbase has boosted its total funding to $145m as it heads for an initial public offering.
Health
GE helps series A funding flow for Arterys
Arterys, the developer of a medical imaging platform for blood flow, has completed a $12m round that included GE Ventures.
GenomeDx successfully tests waters for $25m
Prostate cancer diagnostics company GenomeDx Biosciences has raised $25.4m in its third round of equity funding, which appears to have included existing backer Merck & Co.
Cambridge Epigenetix advances funding sequence with $21m
GV led the genome sequencing company’s series B round, which followed a $5.5m series A in late 2014.
Corporates reach Outpost for $41m series A
Takeda has co-launched Outpost Medicine, which will focus on therapies for urologic and gynaecologic conditions following a $41m funding round that included Novo.
The pharmaceutical firm has agreed to supply $50m in cash and services to small-molecule drug developer Dice Molecules as part of a collaboration agreement.
Pieces Technology picks up $21.6m
Healthcare providers Children’s Health and Order of Saint Francis have taken part in a series A round for the hospital risk management software developer.
10x Genomics multiplies funding
Softbank has contributed to a $55m series C round for the DNA sequencing technology developer that was led by Fidelity Management and Research.
Media
Whistle alerts corporates for $20m series C
NBC, Sky, Tegna and the Tengelmann-owned Emil Capital have provided $20m, bringing the online sport media company’s total funding near to $60m.
Prenetics thinks about $10m series A
Ping An has contributed to a series A round for Prenetics, which develops DNA testing technology to help deliver more accurate diagnoses.
Tencent tunes into DouyuTV in $100m round
Tencent has led a $100m series B round for DouyuTV, a live video platform where audiences can watch other users play video games.
Voke scores $12.6m in Intel-led round
Voke, developer of virtual reality viewing technology for sporting events, has raised $12.6m in a round featuring Intel Capital, A&E and the Sacramento Kings.
Le Sports targets $1bn as HNA commits $185m
Le Sports, a Wanda Group-backed sports streaming spinout of LeTV, has added HNA Group to a series B round it aims to increase to $1bn.
IDG kicks in for $31m Kunlun Fight series B
Kickboxing event promoter Kunlun Fight has completed a funding round that will support the expansion and diversification of its business.
Consumer
Indochino proves the right fit for Dayang
Apparel manufacturer Dayang has invested $31.6m in fitted suit supplier Indochino as part of a five-year strategic alliance agreement.
XY fashions IDG-backed series A
IDG Capital Partners was among the investors in a series A round for China-based men’s fashion online retailer XY.
The Rocket Internet-backed meal ingredients delivery service nearly doubled its overall funding to $32m in a series B round featuring ad-for-equity firm GMPVC.
Tencent feels SoYoung with $50m
Plastic surgery marketplace SoYoung has received a $50m investment from Tencent, valuing the company at $462m.
Ring buzzes investors for $61m
Smart doorbell producer Ring has added $61.2m to the $36m it had already raised from backers including American Family and JF Shea.
Financial
LendInvest moves into series B with $24m
The property finance marketplace has followed funding from Kunlun in 2015 with an additional $24.3m from venture capital firm Atomico.
GFC helps transfer $5m to Instarem
Rocket Internet’s Global Founders Capital returned to back a series A round for Instarem, which operates a platform for users to cheaply transfer money abroad.
Energy and Natural Resources
Solar and energy efficiency installation company PosiGen has followed $49m of financing from Goldman Sachs with a $20m round backed by Exelon.
Transport
Big Deal: Cainiao picks up $1.5bn
The logistics service, backed by Alibaba and a host of other corporates, has reportedly raised funding at a $7.7bn valuation, illustrating the effect e-commerce has had on the logistics sector.