Corporate venturing deal net: 18-22 February 2019
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Mubadala mobilises SoftBank in $400m fund
SoftBank has reportedly invested $200m in a Europe-focused venture capital fund formed by Mubadala, which had committed $15bn to its Vision Fund two years ago.
Rabobank deposits another $90m in CVC fund
Rabo Frontier Ventures now has $170m under management to invest in fintech and agtech developers, and will expand its focus internationally.
Exits
Pinterest proceeds to IPO stage
Rakuten is among the investors in line for an exit following Pinterest’s decision to file confidentially for an initial public offering expected to value it at more than $12bn in the next four months.
Ucommune seeks home in public markets
The workspace operator is reportedly seeking a $3bn valuation in a US IPO that would allow a host of corporates including several real estate developers to exit.
Intel conducts Ineda Systems acquisition
Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures and Cisco Investments have exited the low-power chipmaker in an acquisition of undisclosed size by Intel.
SoYoung looks to mature with $300m IPO
Tencent is in line for an exit after China-based cosmetic surgery booking platform SoYoung confidentially filed to go public in the US in an offering that could raise $300m.
GN Audio records $125m Altia Systems acquisition
GN Audio has acquired Altia Sytems for $125m, providing an exit for Intel Capital, which had backed a $10.7m series B round for the camera maker in 2014.
Demisto heads to Palo Alto for $560m
Palo Alto Networks will acquire the cybersecurity orchestration platform developer, which had raised $69m from investors including Slack and Wipro, for a mixture of cash and stock.
Kinnevik to kick in $96m for MatHem
Kinnevik has agreed to invest $42.5m in Clas Ohlson-backed online supermarket MatHem while buying $53.5m in a secondary investment deal.
Stealth Bio shifts to $78m IPO
Nan Fung-backed mitochondrial therapy developer Stealth BioTherapeutics floated at the foot of its range to raise $78m, having disclosed $100m in financing last June.
Shell to store Sonnen in acquisition deal
Sonnen is set to be acquired by existing investor Shell for an undisclosed sum, while General Electric, Envision Energy and Inven Capital will also exit.
Catapult Capital catches JibJab
Catapult has partnered St. Cloud Capital to buy the electronic greeting card platform for an undisclosed sum, allowing Sony and Overbrook Entertainment to exit.
IT
GV helps send $50m to ThousandEyes
The network management software producer has increased its overall funding to more than $110m in a series D round led by GV with backing from Salesforce Ventures.
Telstra files in as Nasuni raises $25m
Telstra Ventures has led a $25m growth round for the Dell-backed cloud file storage provider, which has now raised $145m altogether.
The payment protection software provider received $15m in a round co-led by Microsoft’s M12 unit and venture firm Viola Ventures.
The video messaging technology developer has collected $11m in a Kleiner Perkins-led round that also featured existing backer Slack.
Sonae helps ViSenze sieze $20m
The visual shopping tool provider increased its total funding to more than $34m in a series C round co-led by Sonae IM that featured several more corporate units.
Redis retrieves $60m in series E round
Dell Technologies Capital has re-upped in the Francisco Partners-led round, which increased the database software provider’s overall funding to $146m.
Corporates locate Pinpoint for series A round
Pinpoint has launched its software engineering analytics platform following a $13.5m round that featured Bloomberg Beta and Slack Fund.
OP helps operate Nordcloud funding
OP Corporate Bank has backed a $22.6m round for Nordcloud, which the cloud infrastructure developer will use to hire new staff and grow internationally.
Mitsubishi charts further DMP investment
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and INCJ provided a total of $36m for the mapping technology developer while Japan Infrastructure Initiative added an undisclosed amount.
MassMutual finds Affinity in series B round
Mutual Life Insurance has tapped its investment unit to take part in a $26.5m round that increased the business relationship platform operator’s overall funding to more than $40m.
Health
Calypso Biotech dances through series A round
Merck Group and Johnson & Johnson both invested in a $22.6m round for the autoimmune disease drug developer, six years after it was spun off from Merck Serono.
Johnson & Johnson, Takeda, Chong Kun Dang and Handok were among the participants in a series B round expected to advance acne and IBD drugs into the clinic.
Neuspera concludes $26m series B round
Neuspera Medical has secured a $12m extension to bring its series B round to the targeted $26m close, with 6 Dimensions Capital returning from the first tranche.
Arvelle sells investors on $180m series A
Axovant spinoff Arvelle Therapeutics received $180m in the LSP-led series A round, and will focus on the development of a recently licensed epilepsy drug.
Alan hauls in series B funding
The CNP Assurances-backed health insurance provider has collected $45.3m in a series B round that more than doubled its total funding.
Eli Lilly enters Passage Bio in series A round
Passage Bio has launched to develop treatments for diseases affecting the central nervous system, after raising almost $116m in a series A round backed by Lilly Asia Ventures.
CK Hutchinson ventures into Sight Diagnostics’ series C
CK Hutchinson’s Longliv fund has made its first investment, leading the medical diagnostic system producer’s $27.8m series C round.
Sciwind blows through series A stage
Legend Capital led a $29.5m round for SciWind, which is developing treatments for metabolic and liver diseases, with backing from Kawin Technology.
Media
Overtime clocks up $23m in series B
MSG Studios contributed to a round that led by Spark Capital that boosted the digital sports media platform’s valuation to about $100m.
Consumer
Just sets $200m funding course
Just, the Uni-President Enterprises-backed, plant-based food supplier formerly known as Hampton Creek, is seeking $200m in fresh funding primarily from Chinese investors.
Opendoor looks to access $200m
Opendoor, whose shareholders include GV and SoftBank Vision Fund, is reportedly seeking $200m at a $3.7bn valuation, which would take its total funding to $1.25bn.
Financial
Credit Suisse expands Entrepreneur Capital to $199m
Credit Suisse has added an extra $70m to its Entrepreneur Capital fund and invested an undisclosed amount in drone developer Perspective Robotics.
Ajisen Ramen pays another visit to Yunnex
Fast food retailer Ajisen Ramen reinvested in the smart point-of-sale device provider in a $20m series B-plus round led by Hezhi Investment.
Bynk retains links to Schibsted and LMK
Schibsted has increased its stake in Bynk to 32% in a $54.4m round that included LMK Industri, and which valued the Swedish mobile lender at about $215m.
Allianz X expands past billion-dollar mark
Allianz has boosted the capital reserves of digital investment unit Allianz X, whose portfolio includes unicorns G-Jek and N26, to more than $1.1bn.
Iwoca takes down $26m in series D
The CommerzVentures and Intesa Sanpaolo-backed business lending platform secured the series D funding together with some $169m in debt financing.
CommerzVentures tumbles for Mambu
Commerzbank’s corporate venturing unit has returned for a $33.8m round that was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and backed by several existing investors.
Deutsche Bank and Axa rush into Zeitgold
The business finance management app developer has secured $11.3m in a round that included Deutsche Bank and Axa, increasing its overall funding to approximately $27m.
GoCardless pins $75m in series E round
Salesforce Ventures and GV both invested, as the business payment processing software provider took its total funding up to $123m.
Energy and Natural Resources
Utilities send funding Zenobe’s way
Tepco Power Grid and Jera, both of which represent Tokyo Electric Power, have provided $32.3m in funding for the battery storage provider.
The electricity-to-hydrogen technology developer has secured $12.4m in a round featuring Air Liquide subsidiary Aliad to fund production of its storage units.
Mitsui finds the right Tonik to invest
Mitsui led a $16.8m round for the green energy and clean energy product supplier, investing together with undisclosed existing backers.
Depsys deepens cash reserves in series B round
The Statkraft-backed energy management software producer has secured $13.1m series B funding from financial services firm BNP Paribas and Set Ventures.
Dandelion warms up $16m series A
Geothermal heating and cooling system provider Dandelion Energy received $16m in a Comcast Ventures-led round that included GV and Lennar.
Industrial
Phylagen traces corporates for $14m series A
The environmental microbiome testing kit maker has collected capital from investors including Western Digital Capital, 3M Ventures and Agfunder in its series A round.
Transport
The connected vehicle technology developer has expanded a series B round that includes Assurant, Robert Bosch, Amazon, Innogy, Telus, Deutsche Telekom and its T-Mobile subsidiary.
Ant Financial parks up in Like Chuxing
Ant Financial has joined existing investor Legend Holdings in a series B-plus round that adds tens of millions of dollars to the car leasing platform provider’s overall funding.
Lalamove reaches $300m in series D
The round consisted of two tranches, led by Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital respectively, and pushed Aria Group-backed Lalamove’s total funding to $460m.
Ola adds $92m stop to funding route
Sachin Bansal, co-founder of e-commerce company Flipkart, has contributed $92m to corporate-backed Ola’s $1bn series J round, following reports last month that suggested he had committed $21m.
Amazon has led the electric truck developer’s latest round, which featured existing backers likely to have included corporates Abdul Latif Jameel and Sumitomo.
Services
Flexport extracts $1bn in SoftBank-led round
Cargo shipping services platform Flexport is now valued at $3.2bn following a $1bn round led by SoftBank Vision Fund that will go to technology development and hiring.
DoorDash reaches series F with $400m
The last-mile consumer goods delivery service has almost quadrupled its valuation in under a year, as SoftBank Vision Fund returned for a $400m round.
Mofang Apartment has tapped its investment unit to invest in the 58.com-backed apartment rental platform operator’s $29.7m series B round.
SoftBank Vision Fund and GV have contributed to a $200m series D round for Clutter, following reports earlier this month that estimated the round would be sized at up to $250m.
Supermonkey works out series D funding
The Fosun-backed fitness brand plans to open 100 more unmanned gymboxes in 2019 following a $53.3m round that was co-led by Starquest Capital and Yao Capital.
TPG-SV fund bites into Shiheng
SoftBank and TPG’s venture capital partnership has supplied an eight-figure dollar amount of series B2 funding to food retail management platform Shiheng.
The on-demand logistics service provider, which counts Transmed and Delivery Hero as existing shareholders, is looking to raise $12.9m in its latest round.
The wholesale fashion e-commerce platform will expand into Asia with the proceeds from the Itochu-led round, which boosted its total funding to $36m.