Weekly corporate venturing deal net 19 – 23 June 2017
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Big Deal: Walmart’s buys Bonobos for $310m
Coppel and Nordstrom-backed Bonobos has become the latest online retailer to be bought as part of Walmart’s e-commerce growth strategy, in what could be a hugely-sized acqui-hire.
Editorial: State-owned enterprises’ towering role in innovation
‘It is important to create subdivisions that will work closely with startups and small innovative companies, as well as venture funds.’
Fundraising
Sanovas performs $75m fundraising
Sanovas has signed an agreement with the government of Suzhou in China to create a $75m fund and innovation centre at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Corporate-backed 500 Startups Japan scales to $35m
The government-owned Cool Japan Fund has provided $10m for the seed-stage venture firm’s Japanese fund, which also counts Nikon, Mixi, Mitsubishi Estate and Mizuho Bank as backers.
Hardware Club has secured $28m for a first close of its inaugural fund from investors including contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn.
Guerbet gets capital to BioMedTech
The medical imaging technology provider has contributed $16.8m to BioMedTech, a fund managed by life sciences-focused VC firm Truffle Capital.
Juewei and Ele.me to cater to startups
The corporates have launched a $30m joint venture that will invest in catering companies with growth potential with which they can partner.
Corporates eye $280m IrisNext fund
The firm has achieved the first close of its latest fund, backed by corporates including Orange, Publicis and Valeo as well as state-owned investment bank Bpifrance.
Woodford joins Dementia Discovery Fund backers
Woodford Investment Management has supplied approximately $19m for the fund, whose backers include Biogen, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Takeda and Astex.
People
Kirk Coburn picks up Shell role
Coburn has joined Shell Technology Ventures, having last year shut the energy accelerator he founded, citing a lack of industry support.
Myers leaves Cisco for Redpoint
Prior to joining VC firm Redpoint Ventures, Astasia Myers worked at Cisco Investments where she focused on cloud infrastructure deals.
Famolari matters for Hearst Ventures
Dave Famolari has left his post as director at Verizon Ventures to take up a managing director role at another corporate venturing unit, Hearst Ventures.
SoftBank Vision Fund is set to add Colin Fan, former co-head of investment banking at Deutsche Bank, to its roster of executives.
Exits
FTC calls foul on DraftKings/FanDuel merger
The US Federal Trade Commission has joined two US states to seek an injunction blocking the merger of the corporate-backed daily fantasy sports companies.
Recruit takes TrustYou in acquisition deal
Recruit has acqured Ganske Verlagsgruppe and HP Autonomy-backed consumer feedback platform TrustYou for an undisclosed amount.
BrideClick acquires Mode assets
Mode Media, which shut down in September after raising $220m from investors including Hubert Burda, has had its assets acquired by wedding advertising platform BrideClick.
IT
Microsoft backs partner WhiteSource
The open source software management company has secured $10m in a Microsoft Ventures-backed round led by 83North.
Buildout structures $8m series A
Susquehanna Growth Equity supplied all of the funding, which real estate marketing platform Buildout will use to almost double its 30-strong team.
Augury activates $17m series B
Industrial internet-of-things technology developer Augury has now raised $26m altogether, after Munich Re/HSB Ventures co-led its latest round.
Cybereason secures $100m in SoftBank investment
SoftBank has provided $100m for the cybersecurity software producer, about 18 months after investing $50m as part of a $59m series C round.
The TV analytics software provider has raised new funding from investors including MDC Partners, Interpublic Group, A+E Networks and Time Warner.
Salesforce hits Highspot in $15m series B
AI sales support technology developer Highspot has now raised almost $25m in equity funding, in the process adding Salesforce Ventures as a new investor.
Panasonic and Pentalog were among the investors in a series A round that followed an undisclosed amount of seed funding two years ago.
Snips has launched its AI-equipped voice activation platform and revealed a $13m series A round co-led by corporate venturing unit Maif Avenir.
Caterpillar sets Alight for $11m series A
Business planning software startup Alight will use the proceeds from the Caterpillar Venture Capital-led round to scale its mining and mortgage industry products.
Textio compiles investors for $20m series B
The augmented writing platform has now raised almost $30m since it was founded, having attracted Bloomberg Beta for a third successive round.
Safran Corporate Ventures took part in a round that took microprocessor provider Kalray’s overall funding to $65m.
Sphero rolls out Misty with $11.5m
Connected toy maker Sphero has spun out a personal robotics startup called Misty Robotics with a series A round that included Venrock and Foundry Group.
Health
Sleep aid developer Rythm has disclosed $22m of funding from investors including insurance company Maif, about $11m of which it has secured since early 2016.
Novartis helps transplant $40m into Gamida
Gamida Cell has raised new funding from a consortium including Novartis, a shareholder since 2014 when it invested $35m in the cellular therapy developer.
Ocugen eyes Abdi Ibrahim for series B
The eye disease treatment developer has raised $7.5m in a round co-led by pharmaceutical company Abdi Ibrahim, six months after closing a $6m series A.
OSF HealthCare’s corporate venturing unit has led a series A round for mental health telemedicine provider Regroup Therapy.
Mindstrong shows smarts in $14m round
Optum Ventures was among the contributors to a series A round that will fund the mental health diagnostics platform’s R&D activities.
The CHA Medical Center-founded Solidus Investment Company was among the participants as the therapeutic antibody developer raised series A funding.
Hospitals help prescribe $8.5m for Xealth
Providence Health and Services, UPMC, Hennepin Health and Froedtert Health have backed the digital medicine prescription platform’s seed round, which was led by DFJ.
Imprimis Pharmaceuticals spinout Eton Pharmaceuticals has secured $20m in a private placement from a syndicate of unnamed investors.
Syntimmune sinks $50m in series B round
Baxalta-backed Syntimmune has raised $50m in an Apple Tree Partners-led series B round that will fund clinical development of its autoimmune diseases treatment.
Bone implant developer GreenBone Ortho has secured $9.4m in funding from investors including Helsinn’s corporate venturing subsidiary.
Celgene fixes $68m series A round for Repare
Oncology drug startup Repare Therapeutics has emerged from stealth with series A funding from investors including Celgene Switzerland.
Media
FuboTV channels $55m for series C
Scripps Networks Interactive and existing backers 21st Century Fox and Sky all participated in a Northzone-led round that will be used to expand FuboTV’s range of channels.
Vice Media has raised $450m from TPG at a $5.7bn valuation, adding to earlier funding from the likes of Walt Disney, 21st Century Fox, A&E Networks and WPP.
Time Warner Investments returned for a round led by Australia’s Future Fund that reportedly valued the video streaming data provider at about $300m.
Scopely reaches next level with $60m
Revolution Growth led a series C round for the gaming network, which counts Take-Two Interactive and Chernin Group as investors, and which has now raised $159m in total.
WPP has invested $6.5m in Mic Network, the millennial-focused online news platform already backed by Axel Springer, You & Mr Jones, Time Warner and Hakuhodo.
Consumer
Nestlé helps delivery $77m to Freshly
Healthy meal subscription service Freshly has closed a series B round led by new strategic partner Nestlé USA, taking its total funding to more than $105m.
Target invested a reported $75m to lead the series C round, which will fund the expansion of the bedding maker’s distribution and R&D activities.
InTurn positions series B round
Novel TMT Ventures returned for a $22.5m round that increased the excess inventory sales platform’s overall funding to $36m.
Farfetch picks up $397m from JD.com
The e-commerce firm will help luxury fashion marketplace Farfetch expand in China as part of a strategic partnership deal that took Farfetch’s total funding to about $700m.
M.Gemi indulges in $16m series C
Hubert Burda Media is among the investors that have injected $16m into M.Gemi, pushing the luxury consumer goods company’s total funding to more than $47m.
Financial
Nationwide Ventures joined investors including Assurant and AmTrust to supply $8m for Sure, an insurance app that just launched a smartphone protection product.
First rumoured a month ago, MobiKwik has now confirmed it is seeking between $100m and $150m in a funding round expected to close in the next couple of months.
Razer has paid $19.9m for a 19.9% stake in MOL Global as part of a deal that will make MOL a master distributor of its virtual currency.
Ola, which took part in Mswipe’s series C round two years ago, has returned for a round that enabled another strategic investor, Axis Bank, to exit.
Scalable Capital calibrates series B
Tengelmann Ventures, which previously took part in the digital wealth manager’s series A round last year, has returned for a $33.5m series B.
Blockchain links to GV in $40m series B
The digital currency technology developer has raised $40m in a round co-led by GV and backed by Virgin which will support global expansion and R&D.
Sequent reaches first close of $16m series C
Card digitisation technology provider Sequent has achieved the first close of a round led by TIS that also includes corporate venturing unit SBT Ventures.
Industrial
The urban produce supplier has raised $20m in a series A round featuring GV, just four months after closing its $7.5m seed round.
Transport
Corporates respond to MaaS appeal in $11m round
Toyota and Aioi Nissay Dowa have participated in an $11m round for mobility app developer MaaS Global, which received funding from several corporates last year.
Services
Hongfu Group has led a series A round for Bigger, a green co-working spinout of Modern Land, investing alongside First Care.
Dispatch receives $12m in corporate-backed round
ServiceMaster co-led the home services management platform’s series A round, which also featured Assurant, Liberty Mutual, Salesforce and Recruit.
ClassPass clasps $70m in series C round
The fitness subscription service has now raised more than $150m altogether, securing series C funding from investors including returning backer GV.