Big Deal: MuleSoft musters $221m in IPO
The software integration specialist floated above its range on Friday in an offering that could be the first of some hefty returns for Salesforce Ventures’ stable of unicorns in 2017.
Corporate venturing deal net: 20-24 March 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
Walmart will open a Silicon Valley incubator to back startups working on technologies that will impact the retail sector, including virtual reality and drone delivery.
SAP supplies $35m to strategic fund
Six years after it spun out SAP Ventures, the enterprise software producer has formed a corporate venturing arm called SAP.IO Fund together with an incubator scheme.
Hubert Burda’s CVC arm heads for Singapore
Albert Shyy has left Gree Ventures to run the newly opened Singapore office for the German media company’s corporate venturing subsidiary, Burda Principal Investments.
Aflac to assemble $100m corporate venturing fund
Aflac Corporate Ventures will invest in early-stage companies developing software and digital products that can complement its insurance provider parent’s core business.
Google launches machine learning startup contest
The Machine Learning Startup Competition will enable the winner to secure up to $1m from venture capital partners Data Collective and Emergence Capital.
People
Siegel to Align for board position
GE Ventures CEO Sue Siegel has joined orthodontic equipment and scanner producer Align Technology’s board of directors.
Exits
MapR reaches IPO starting point
The Alphabet and Qualcomm-backed data software producer has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs for an IPO expected to raise between $150m and $200m.
The Beenos-backed customer relationship management platform developer will shut down next month after failing to formalise a growth strategy.
Alibaba books in Damai acquisition
Alibaba, which already owned 32% of the online ticketing platform, has bought the remainder, giving an exit to Legend Capital in the process.
Tanyuan proves the right material in $59m IPO
Legend Capital has scored a significant exit as the graphite film producer, in which it held a share of almost 13%, floated in Shanghai.
Dell applies itself to ManyWho acquisition
Dell Boomi has paid an undisclosed amount to buy application development platform ManyWho, giving an exit to Salesforce Ventures.
AWS meets Do for acquisition deal
Amazon Web Services has paid an undisclosed amount to buy meeting tool developer Do, giving an exit to Salesforce.
PVH’s aim is True&Co as it closes acquisition
SoftBank has exited online lingerie retailer True&Co through an acquisition by apparel group PVH, five years after it invested as part of a $2m round.
IT
DataRobot restarts fundraising machinery to secure $54m
New Enterprise Associates has led the first tranche of a series C round for the machine learning platform, which is backed by Intel, Recruit and New York Life Insurance.
Reduxio rises to first series C close
Data storage technology provider Reduxio Systems has secured $22.5m out of a targeted $32m from investors including Intel Capital and Seagate Technology.
Google joined existing investors including Western Digital for a round that boosted the data storage provider’s total funding to $97m.
Bayshore bags $11m in series A cash
Cybersecurity startup Bayshore Networks has completed an oversubscribed round backed by Yokogawa and Samsung Next Fund.
Weather Analytics acclimatises to corporates for $17m
Tokio Marine HCC and WR Berkley have funded a series B round for the weather prediction software developer, more than doubling its total funding to $30m.
Health
Haoeyou greets Hakim Unique for $40m series A
Hakim Unique Internet has led a funding round for Haoeyou, which operates a medical tourism service for Chinese patients wanting to access doctors in the US.
Gauss sees EyeYon through to new round
Corneal edema device developer EyeYon Medical has secured $6.5m in a round backed by strategic investor Gauss Medical.
BioClin clears $30m in series B funding
Novo-backed BioClin Therapeutics will put the funding toward advancing an antibody it is developing as a metastatic bladder cancer treatment through phase 1b/2 trials.
Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline have contributed to a series B round for Pulmocide, a respiratory therapy spinout of Imperial College London.
SutroVax succeeds in raising $64m
The vaccine developer has secured $64m, $60m of which came from a series B round led by Nan Fung-backed firm Pivotal BioVenture Partners and backed by Roche.
Ivenix initiates $50m funding round
The WuXi PharmaTech-backed infusion pump developer has raised the first $10m of a three-tranche round expected to close at $50m.
eGenesis proceeds to $38m series A
Heritage Provider Network is among a consortium of investors that provided $38m in series A capital to genome editing technology developer eGenesis.
Suzhou Ribo Life Science, which is developing RNA therapies for hepatitis B, hyperlipidaemia and liver cancer, has secured funding in a Legend Capital-backed series B round.
AliveCor beats its way to $30m series D
The Qualcomm-backed mobile electrocardiogram developer has raised new funding in a round co-led by strategic investors Omron Healthcare and Mayo Clinic.
Media
Kuaishou screens $350m in new funding
The social photo and video app developer, which is preparing a flotation for later this year, has raised $350m in round led by new investor Tencent.
New investor A+E Networks plans to seek out synergies with the fashion media, e-commerce and events company, which is also backed by AOL, Hearst and CAA.
ZMT Zhongmeng zips to series B round
The round was co-led by corporate venturing units Fosun Kinzon Capital and IDG Capital, with the mobile marketing company raising an eight-figure dollar amount.
Consumer
Amazon grabs a $650m bargain in Souk
Naspers and Jabbar Internet have exited Middle Eastern e-commerce company Souq, which raised money at a $1bn valuation just over a year ago.
Singtel Innov8 has returned for a $12m round that will support development of vehicular e-commerce platform Carro’s Genie Financial Services subsidiary.
IDG Capital gets back in YCloset for $20m round
The fashion rental platform has received $20m in a series B round led by Pan-Lin Asset Management that included existing investor IDG Capital.
Makeblock constructs $30m series B
The round was co-led by Evolution Media China, a unit of corporate-backed Evolution Media Partners that focuses on investments across Asia.
Flipkart fits corporates into $1bn round
Microsoft, eBay and Tencent all contributed to a down round for the e-commerce company that could precede another $1bn in funding.
Financial
Kabbage seeks funding to feed acquisitions
The online business lending platform, which counts SoftBank, UPS and various banks as investors, is in talks to raise a nine-figure sum to support strategic acquisitions.
Corporates help plant $9m in Moneytree
Salesforce, SMBC, Mizuho Bank and Fukuoka Financial Group have backed asset management app developer Moneytree’s series B round.
Simplesurance secures corporates for new funding
Rakuten and existing investor Allianz have contributed to a round of undisclosed size that lifted the e-commerce insurance company’s total funding to more than $32m.
Energy and Natural Resources
Monsanto follows FarmLead to $6.5m series A
Online grain trading platform FarmLead has closed a Monsanto Growth Ventures-led round that will support its expansion from Canada to the US.
Transport
Logistics platform operator New York Shipping Exchange has collected funding in a series A round co-led by GE Ventures and Goldman Sachs.
Autotalks speaks corporates’ language to raise $30m
Mitsui, Samsung, Liberty Interactive and Delek Motors all took part in a series D round that boosted the autonomous car chipset maker’s total funding to $70m.
Services
BlackBuck carries itself to $70m series C
Flipkart returned to back a Sands Capital Management-led round that increased the amount raised by the logistics marketplace to $100m inside two years.
SoftBank supplies $300m to WeWork
WeWork has received $300m from SoftBank at a $17bn valuation and the corporate is expected to invest a further $2.7bn through its Vision Fund.
Existing investors hand new funding to Helpling
Asia Pacific Internet Group led the domestic services platform’s latest round, in which it raised $10.8m, reportedly at a lower valuation than its $47m series B.