Big Deal: Naspers gives Delivery Hero a hand
Naspers has continued its growth-through-investment strategy by paying $423m for a 13.5% share of online food ordering platform Delivery Hero.
Corporate venturing deal net: 15-19 May 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
Cisco puts up money for $140m Notion
Cisco’s corporate venturing arm has backed the $140m Notion Capital III fund, which will invest in Europe-based startups in the software-as-a-service and cloud sectors.
SoftBank gets Sharp commitment for Vision Fund
Sharp has agreed to invest up to $1bn in the fund, which has already secured fellow corporates Apple, Qualcomm and Foxconn as LPs on its way to a possible $100bn close.
Honeywell brings forth $100m corporate VC fund
Honeywell Venture Capital is expected to have an initial fund size of $100m and will make strategic investments on behalf of its industrial technology production parent.
DMG dives into corporate venturing
Entertainment producer DMG Entertainment has formed a $300m investment unit called DMG Capital that will operate across the visual entertainment spectrum.
Maris opens Section 32 with $150m
GV founder Bill Maris has formally announced the closure of his venture capital fund, having expanded its size from $100m to $150m because of strong investor interest.
Lakshachandi moves into $20m White Unicorn fund
Property developer Lakshachandi Realty and an affiliated company have provided $10m for Indian venture firm White Unicorn Ventures’s maiden fund.
People
Porsche drives into US office and fund
Its first local US deal is a commitment to venture capital fund E.ventures having last year acquired a minority stake in the Cologne, Germany-based startup Evopark, an app showing where parking is available at parking garages and provide electronic payment.
Kolada closes stint at OpenText
David Harris Kolada, vice-president of venture capital for OpenText since 2015, has left to form his own firm, DHK Ventures.
Jake Knapp, the GV design partner that developed the Design Sprint process, has left the unit after five years to become a full-time writer.
Exits
ServiceNow backs BuildOnMe and gets a Qlue
The enterprise software company has invested an undisclosed sum in automated HR app creator BuildOnMe and acquired another artificial intelligence tool developer, Qlue.
Synlogic makes sense of Mirna merger
The reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed Mirna, which counts Pfizer and Baxter as backers, was agreed alongside the disclosure of a $42m series C round.
G1 gets a listing in $105m IPO
Cancer therapy developer G1 Therapeutics has gone public in an initial public offering that gave an exit to long-time investor MedImmune Ventures.
VMware makes Apteligent decision for acquisition deal
VMware has acquired one of its portfolio companies, app performance management platform Apteligent, in a deal that also gave exits to Alphabet, AOL and Accenture.
FogHorn attracts more corporates to series A
Dell Technologies Capital and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures have added $3m to a round that already includes GE Ventures, Robert Bosch Venture Capital and Yokogawa Electric.
Yum China is set to purchase a majority stake in Daojia, an online food ordering platform that has raised some $75m from investors including JD.com.
SocialTools gets picked up as Wayra exits
Social media management software provider SocialTools, a graduate of Telefónica’s Wayra accelerator, has been acquired by a US investment fund for an undisclosed sum.
QuantGroup weighs up the prospect of $200m IPO
The machine learning-equipped online lender is exploring a flotation in the US that will allow Sunshine Insurance and Fosun to exit.
Apple nets Lattice Data in $200m deal
The dark data processing technology developer has been bought by Apple after raising about $20m from investors including GV.
IT
Sony Innovation Fund has provided an undisclosed amount for cybersecurity technology developer Caulis, representing the second domestic investment from the fund.
CSquared, the company formed to extend Google’s Africa-based Project Link fibre optics work, will receive up to $100m from Google, Mitsui, IFC and Convergence Partners.
Terminus reaches new station with series B
The account-based marketing software developer took its total financing to almost $20m with a $10.3m round that included a strategic investment by HubSpot.
Alphabet unit CapitalG returned for an Accel-led series D round that included Telstra, and which took the endpoint security software provider’s valuation above $1bn.
Symphony finds harmony with $63m
BNP Paribas has become the latest financial services firm to back messaging platform Symphony, leading a $63m round that took its total funding to about $230m.
MindMeld joins Cisco in $125m acquisition
Intel, Samsung, Alphabet, Liberty Global and Telefónica are set to score exits after Cisco agreed to buy conversational artificial intelligence technology developer MindMeld.
Twiggle’s search leads to $15m
MizMaa Ventures and Korea Investment Partners have co-led a $15m round for the e-commerce search technology developer, which counts Naspers, Alibaba and Yahoo Japan as backers.
Capital One Ventures returned for cybersecurity technology developer Vera’s $15m series C round, having previously contributed to its $21m series B a year ago.
Macnica has backed a series B round for Attivo Networks, which will use the cash to continue development of its cybersecurity platform and expand its sales efforts.
RedLock secures $12m in funding
The cloud infrastructure security platform has come out of stealth with $12m of venture funding from backers including Dell Technologies Capital.
Health
Cardior shows heart in $16.5m series A
Boehringer Ingelheim and Bristol-Myers Squibb have backed a series A round for Cardior Pharmaceuticals, a heart failure-focused spinout of Hannover Medical School.
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and Takeda Ventures both contributed to the inaugural round for the microbiome therapeutics developer, a product of their FutuRx incubator.
Genoa gees itself up with $62m
Novo has contributed to a series A round for Genoa Pharmaceuticals, which is aiming to get its IPF treatment into clinical trials this year.
Clover gets picked by GV to raise $130m
GV was among the investors in a round that valued the big data-infused health insurance company, which has now raised $425m inside two years, at $1.2bn.
Media
An unnamed investor has provided $21m for MGM and Lionsgate-backed online streaming platform AdRise’s latest funding round, which has a $24.2m target size.
WinView scores $12m in series B round
Graham Holdings Company, Discovery Communications, and Monumental Sports and Entertainment all took part in a round that lifted WinView’s overall funding to $20m.
Google’s pursuit of Owlchemy ends in acquisition
HTC, Qualcomm and Colopl have exited virtual reality game developer Owlchemy in an acquisition of undisclosed size by Google.
Tencent puts another $90m in Pocket Gems
Tencent invested $60m in Pocket Gems two years ago and now owns a 38% share of the mobile game developer, which is valued at $500m.
Consumer
Tile takes $25m in series B-1 round
The Tencent-backed location technology developer has now raised a total of $59m, and will put the capital toward building out its community.
Eve Sleep rests easy after $45m IPO
The high-grade mattress and bedding producer, which is backed by Channel 4’s Commercial Growth Fund, has gone public in London at a $180m valuation.
Razer looks to Horizons for more funding
Venture capital firm Horizons Ventures has supplied between $50m and $100m to Intel and Hangzhou Liaison-backed gaming accessory and software producer Razer.
The Alphabet-backed fashion e-commerce platform has now raised near to $100m altogether, securing $65m in a round led by Fidelity.
Unilever helps fill Sun Basket’s series C round
Healthy meal delivery service Sun Basket has raised $9.2m from investors including Unilever Ventures to take its series C round to $24.2m.
Financial
LevelUp advances to $50m round
GV and Deutsche Telekom-backed mobile payment platform LevelUp has secured cash from JPMorgan Chase, US Boston Capital and CentroCredit Bank.
SoftBank pays $1.4bn for 20% stake in One97
SoftBank now holds a 20% stake in Paytm owner One97 Communications, with $400m of its investment being used to buy shares from existing backers.
WealthSimple powers on with $37m
Power Financial has doubled its investment in WealthSimple, providing series B funding that will fund the latter’s North American growth.
Axoni accepts more series A funds
Citi has provided an extension to Axoni’s series A, joining a host of other financial services firms in the round, which is now sized at over $20m.
Industrial
Osram plants funding in Agrilution
Osram invested in Agrilution through its newly formed corporate venture capital unit, Fluxunit, and Tengelmann Ventures is also an investor in the agritech startup.
Transport
Majid Al Futtaim, Nokia, Almajdouie and Kanoo are among the investors in a series B round for Fetchr, which enables shipping to locations that do not have an address.