Corporate venturing deal net: 15-19 October 2018
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Truphone dials up backers for more funding
Independent News & Media-backed Truphone has added $23.6m to its coffers through a rights issue, with about $47m more committed on a conditional basis.
Fundraising
The technology media company and data and business services provider has been operating a $144m fund for almost a year and backed 25 companies.
SoftBank Vision Fund seeks $9bn in debt
The fund is reportedly lining up the debt financing from the banks serving as underwriters for the $27bn IPO of SoftBank’s wireless division.
MPI hits Stride to back $65m fund
Schibsted spinoff MPI is among the limited partners for Stride.VC, which has closed a $65.5m fund that will concentrate on UK-based seed investments.
Dentsu joins Scrum in competitive game
Dentsu and Scrum Ventures have formed an accelerator for sports technology startups known as Sports Tech Tokyo.
Taiho takes corporate venturing fund to $300m
Taiho Ventures, launched two years ago with $50m in capital, has had its reserves expanded by a further $250m as Taiho Pharmaceuticals looks to enhance its open innovation work.
Micron enlarges ventures with $100m
Micron Technology has put $100m in capital towards corporate venturing subsidiary Micron Ventures, which will go towards the artificial intelligence and machine learning sectors.
People
Peter Berg, who helped set up Visa Ventures during his stint at the corporate, is Very Good Security’s new vice-president of business development and strategy.
Exits
SI-Bone burrows into public markets with $108m IPO
The Novo-backed surgical implant provider floated at the top of its range and increased the number of shares in the offering.
Palantir puts 2019 IPO on the plate
The Relx-backed data miner could double its valuation to $41bn in the proposed offering, according to prospective underwriters.
Uber and Lyft take another step toward public markets
Banks have reportedly suggested a $120bn valuation for Uber’s IPO, while Lyft has chosen JP Morgan to lead an offering that could value it at more than $15bn.
Innovent advances closer to $500m IPO
Legend Holdings, Eli Lilly, Ping An, China Life and Taikang Insurance are in line for exits as Innovent Biologics gears up for an initial public offering sized at $400m to $500m.
Allogene closes IPO at nearly $373m
The underwriters took up the option to buy another 2.7 million shares after the Pfizer and Gilead-backed oncology therapy developer’s shares leapt substantially post-IPO.
Turnitin marks Gradescope for acquisition
Gradescope has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire schoolwork analysis software developer Turnitin, which had raised more than $5m from investors including Bloomberg.
Anaplan has raised close to $264m in its flotation on the New York Stock Exchange that provided exits for Salesforce and Workday.
IT
Edianzu downloads $60m in series D round
Source Code Capital and an unnamed sovereign wealth fund have provided capital for Edianzu, the IT equipment supplier backed by Lakala.
Stratifyd straightens up with $25m series B
Tencent-backed customer analytics platform developer Stratifyd has now raised $36m altogether and will use the latest funds for product development and international growth.
Zhizhangyi zips to series B funding
The mobile cybersecurity technology developer has added $28.8m in a Gaocheng Capital-led round that came just over a year after a Fosun RZ-led round.
Demisto soars to $43m series C
Demisto, a cybersecurity technology producer backed by Slack Fund, has closed a $43m series C round led by Greylock Partners to bring its total funding to date to $69m.
Arcadia Data conjures up $15m series B
Intel Capital has returned with Mayfield Fund and Blumberg Capital to back visual analytics software developer Arcadia Data, taking its total funding to $27m.
Health
Oxford Nanopore expands latest round to $206m
Amgen has invested $66m in genetic sequencing system provider Oxford Nanopore, increasing its latest funding round to $206m.
Berkeley Lights attracts Nikon for $95m round
The cell biology technology developer took its total funding to almost $220m in a Nikon-led round that included fellow strategic backer Varian.
Media
The eSports team manager has added series B funding to a 2017 series A backed by WWE, FunPlus, Beverly Hills Sports Council and UTA Ventures.
Kahoot loots funding at $300m valuation
Datum Invest has led a $15.3m round for the Microsoft-backed educational game platform that tripled its valuation from its last funding round in March.
Consumer
Alibaba makes a $288m date with 1919
Alibaba is set to invest $288m in the alcoholic drinks retailer at a time when consumer demand for wine and spirits is rapidly growing in China.
Holatek raises $86m from successful series D projection
Smart projector and TV manufacturer Holatek has attracted $86.5m in series D funding from a consortium led by Alibaba that featured the newly unveiled 36Kr Fund.
Thread pulls out $22m from series B round
Men’s styling and fashion e-commerce platform Thread has now raised $40m altogether, having secured funding from H&M Co:Lab among others.
Swiggy gets ready to swallow $900m
The food ordering platform has reportedly drawn up a term sheet for a $900m primary and secondary round led by Naspers and backed by Tencent.
The grocery delivery service, which counts Amazon, American Express and Comcast as investors, has increased its valuation 75% to $7.6bn in just six months.
EHI helps fill Goldbelly with $20m
Online specialty food retailer Goldbelly has raised cash in a series B round led by Union Square Hospitality’s Enlightened Hospitality Investment vehicle.
Ant Financial has returned to put another $210m into Zomato, after purchasing $200m worth of primary and secondary stock in the food delivery company earlier this year.
Financial
Linklogis connects to corporates for $220m
Bertelsmann and Tencent returned for supply chain financing provider Linklogis’ $220m series C round, which also attracted fellow corporates GLP and Skyworth.
PayActiv accesses $20m in series B round
Ziegler Link-Age Fund II and affiliate funds of SoftBank Capital Employee both backed employee wellness service PayActiv, which has now raised more than $33m in total.
Transport
Corporates drive Momenta to $1bn valuation
Tencent and existing backer Nio Capital both invested as autonomous driving software developer Momenta took its overall funding to $200m.
Careem clears $200m in new funding
Al Tayyar and Rakuten are reportedly among the existing investors that provided $200m for on-demand ride platform Careem at a $2bn valuation.
Services
Loggi locates SoftBank for nine-figure round
SoftBank Vision Fund has reportedly put $100m into the delivery service provider, whose existing shareholders include Qualcomm Ventures.
Chehaoduo shifts into next round with $162m
Seven months after raising $818m in a series C round led by Tencent, Chehaoduo has added $162m in series C-plus funding alongside a $430m commitment from the city of Kunshan.
Maersk helps carry $21.6m to Loadsmart series A
Loadsmart has pushed its total funding to $34.7m following a $21.6m series A round co-led by Maersk Growth, Connor Capital and Chromo Invest.