Corporate venturing deal net: 21-25 August 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
China Life and Baidu combine for $1bn fund
China Life will invest as much as $800m and Baidu $200m, in a fund formed by the China-based corporates to make mid and late-stage investments in internet-focused companies.
SparkLabs sets up $50m Seah-anchored fund
The Korean accelerator operator has formed a $50m early-stage fund with steel pipe maker Seah and Korea Development Bank as anchor investors.
Kuppam’s Epsilon anticipates $350m close
Epsilon Venture Partners, the fund formed by Sudheer Kuppam when he left Intel Capital in 2015, has reached a first close and is targeting a $350m final close in 2018.
Alibaba and InnoSpring jump to Jiading
Alibaba has teamed up with venture capital and innovation company InnoSpring for an innovation centre in the Shanghai district of Jiading that will focus on foreign startups.
Exits
Accenture leaves Applause to Vista
Vista Equity Partners has agreed to buy Applause, a brand services provider that had raised $115m from investors including corporate venturing unit Accenture Ventures.
Cisco gets on Springpath with $320m acquisition
The corporate has agreed to acquire hyperconvergence software provider Springpath, two years after its Cisco Investments unit invested in the company.
Krystal Biotech to touch public markets
The skin disease therapy developer has filed for a $34.5m initial public offering, days after raising $11.3m in a Sun Pharmaceutical Industries-led round.
Osram to switch on Digital Lumens acquisition
Smart commercial lighting developer Digital Lumens, which has raised about $60m from investors including Nokia, is reportedly set to be bought for a mid-sized eight-digit sum.
Avnet captures Dragon Innovation
Amazon Alexa Fund has exited Dragon Innovation through an acquisition of undisclosed size by design and supply chain services firm Avnet.
Smarsh captures Cognia in acquisition deal
The phone-based audio archiving software provider has been acquired for an undisclosed amount, allowing Swisscom Ventures and Vodafone Ventures to exit.
IT
Wipro verifies Emailage potential in $10m round
Email-based verification platform Emailage has secured $10m in a Wipro Ventures-backed round that will support international growth and product development.
Visa helps provide Bridg funding in $11m round
Point-of-sale marketing data provider Bridg has raised $11m in a Morpheus Ventures-led series B round that included Visa.
Cubic Telecom connects to corporates to raise $47m
Valid Soluciones Tecnologicas and existing investors Qualcomm and Audi Electronics Venture took part in a round that boosted Cubic’s total funding to $88m since 2006.
Bloomberg and New York Life-backed cybersecurity software provider Versive has raised $12.7m, increasing its overall funding to almost $55m.
IndoorAtlas pinpoints Yahoo Japan for series B
Yahoo Japan has led a $4.3m round for geomagnetic positioning technology developer IndoorAtlas, three years after Baidu invested $10m in the company.
Dell gets Redis in $44m series D
Database software producer Redis Labs took its overall funding to $86m in a Goldman Sachs-led series D round that included Dell Technologies Capital.
Sight Plus goes Autohome to raise $15m
Automotive information portal Autohome has led the augmented reality startup’s series A round and plans to begin using its technology to help users test cars.
Hyper Anna accelerates to series A round
Hyper Anna, the developer of a natural language business analysis platform, has secured $12.7m in a round featuring investment vehicles for customers IAG and Westpac.
Riverwood Capital led the NTT-backed data management and protection platform’s latest round, which increased its total funding to almost $200m since 2008.
Monstar scares up more funding
YJ Capital, San-In Chuo Television Broadcasting and Tanabe Corporation were among the investors in a round that almost doubled the app developer’s total funding.
LiftIgniter lights up series A
NTT Docomo Ventures participated in a $6.4m Storm Ventures-led round that followed the app personalisation technology developer’s previously undisclosed seed round.
ZingBox springs a $22m series B
The internet-of-things security technology developer has raised $22m in a round led by Dell Technologies Capital that will support an increase in its headcount.
Alibaba, Lenovo and Tuling Century all contributed to the deep learning chip developer’s series A round, which reportedly valued it at more than $1bn.
CEFC fattens up Thinxtra’s series B
The Rakon-backed internet-of-things deployment company has received a $7.9m commitment from Clean Energy Finance Corporation for its latest round.
LVL Technologies, the developer of a sensor that can track hydration as part of a wearable device, has raised $6.75m in a Samsung-led round that included Maxim Ventures.
Health
Strategic investors Aetna and Horizon Healthcare Services were among the investors in a $36.6m round that took AbleTo’s total funding to more than $57m.
Channel Medsystems funnels in series C-1 capital
Boston Scientific was among the investors that provided $14.1m in series C-1 funding for the medical device developer, taking its total funding to about $46m.
Aethon to delivers exits for corporate investors
Mitsui and corporate venturing units Robert Bosch Venture Capital and Ascension Health Ventures had helped provide $60m to the Aethon, which is set to be acquired by VTLS.
BioTime runs out AgeX with $10m
BioTime has contributed to a $10m round for AgeX, an age-related disease treatment developer it has spun out that is now valued at $68m.
Media
Podcast hosting platform Art19 has raised $7.5m in a round co-led by corporate venturing unit Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments and venture firm DCM.
Sliver.TV seals series A funding
Sony and Samsung were among the investors in a $9.8m round that took the eSports streaming startup’s overall funding to $17.5.
Corporates dive into Immersv series A
HTC Vive, MCJ, I-mobile, Gree and Metaps all contributed to a $10.5m round for Immersv, the creator of an advertising platform for virtual reality and 360-degree media.
Consumer
Investors feed Vida more seed funding
The GV and Universal Music-backed fashion e-commerce platform has expanded its seed round to $5.5m and is one of Y Combinator’s latest batch.
The William Morris Endeavor-backed bepoke pet food delivery service has secured just over $10m in funding according to a securities filing.
Financial
Money Forward charges to public markets
The personal finance app developer has received approval for a Tokyo IPO that will give exits to corporates including Credit Saison, GMO and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance.
Ezetap fills up coffers with $16m
Mobile payment platform Ezetap, which counts American Express as an investor, has now raised $51m in total, after securing funds in a JS Capital-led round.
The Saudi Aramco-backed online payment processor has raised $20m from unnamed investors that will fund a geographical expansion drive.
Credit Saison and OKWave are among the investors that contributed to a round announced as the bitcoin wallet developer opened its Swiss head office.
Energy and Natural Resources
Zhaoyouwang refuels in Huochebang-backed series B
Petroleum trading platform Zhaoyouwang has secured $31.8m in a series B round that included Huochebang and SIG Asia Investments.
Shell helps power up Innowatts in $6m round
Energy analytics platform developer Innowatts has raised $6m in a series A round led by Shell Technology Ventures that included Iberdrola’s corporate venturing unit.
Utilities help Kingo crown $8m series B
Energy providers Engie and EPM have participated in the off-grid solar energy platform’s latest round, taking the company’s overall funding to $19m.
Transport
On-demand ride service Go-Jek has followed a reported seven-figure investment from Tencent with $100m from JD.com as part of a round set to be sized at about $1bn.
Ford helps deal $10m to AutoFi
The point-of-sale car finance platform has raised $10m from strategic partner Ford Motor Credit Company as well as Crosslink Capital and Lerer Hippeau Ventures.
Services
SoftBank ploughs $4.4bn into WeWork
The corporate and the Vision Fund it manages have combined to buy $3bn of new and secondary shares and invest another $1.4bn in three regional WeWork subsidiaries.
Roost runs the rule on series B round
The smart home device maker secured $10.4m in an Aviva Ventures-led round that included fellow corporate investors Desjardins Insurance and Fosun RZ Capital.
Tencent has participated in a round that valued the online education platform at more than $1.5bn, taking its total funding past the $325m mark.
New York Shipping Exchange boxes up series A
Shipping firms Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM joined GE Ventures and Goldman Sachs to add $4.5m to the freight contract platform’s series A round, which now stands at $13m.