Weekly corporate venturing deal net 27-31 July 2015
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Yahoo has partnered with Microsoft and Entrée Capital to set up its first-ever accelerator programme, which will be located in Israel.
Dassault regulates fintech accelerator
Design software provider Dassault is set to host its financial technology accelerator programme in partnership with Deutsche Börse this year.
Expensify puts corporate venturing into its budget
The accountancy software provider has closed $17.5m in funding and announced a corporate venturing unit dubbed Expensify Ventures.
Golden Gate admits corporates for $50m fund
Messaging app provider Naver and property developer Far East are among the limited partners that supplied $35m for the fund’s first close.
Deerfield launches $550m hospital-backed healthcare fund
Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Seattle Children’s Hospital are among the limited partners in Deerfield’s new fund.
People
Xange chairman Schricke looks to Africa
Hervé Schricke, who has spent 14 years at La Poste-backed fund Xange as CEO and chairman, is set to form an African club at VC body AIFC.
Exits
Vizio screens markets for $172m IPO
The flat screen television producer, backed by two of its manufacturing partners, is set to go public 13 years after it was founded.
Grace Beauty gets good results from GraphScience funding
Grace Beauty-backed advertising optimisation platform GraphScience has been acquired by adtech company Centro for an undisclosed sum.
ViewRay oversees funding and reverse merger
Siemens-backed cancer therapy developer ViewRay has raised $26.7m in equity and gone public through a reverse merger with a shell company.
Metaps to monetise stock in $30.7m IPO
Metaps, which has grown from an app monetisation platform into a more diversified technology business, is set to go public, giving exits to Intec and MotionBeat.
Celgene will invest $17m in the immuno-oncology company, also backed by Sorrento, as it floats in the largest biotech initial public offering ever.
The mobile payment company has filed confidentially for an initial public offering that would grant exits to Visa, Citi and Starbucks.
Alibaba and Nvidia console themselves after Ouya exit
Games console maker Ouya, which has raised $25m in VC money, has been acquired by Razer, providing an exit to Nvidia and Alibaba.
Allergan holds nerve for $560m Naurex acquisition
Baxter, Takeda, Shire and Lundbeck will all exit central nervous system disorder drug developer Naurex, which had raised $160m in funding.
Intel, Sumitomo and Cisco are set to exit cloud storage company Soonr after Autotask agreed to acquire it for an undisclosed amount.
IT
Hearst performs Acrobatiq funding manoeuvre
Acrobatiq, an adapting learning spin-out from Carnegie Mellon University, has raised $9.75m in a series A round featuring Hearst Media.
Philips seeks illumination from Plug and Play
Accelerator Plug and Play will help Philips locate internet of things startups in which to invest, with lighting technology set to be a priority.
Cybersecurity company Cylance has added corporates Dell, TenEleven and Capital One to its backers and boosted its total funding to $77m.
AltspaceVR makes room for $10.3m
Tencent and Comcast both invested in the Google-backed virtual reality communications company’s series A round.
Occipital structures $13m series B
Intel and JF Shea both backed the company, which is developing the 3D technology required to scan objects and people for virtual reality recreation.
Radius draws Salesforce for $50m series D
The marketing platform developer has added Salesforce to an investor base that already includes Comcast, American Express and BBVA.
Twilio enlists corporates for $130m series E
The cloud communication platform increased its overall funding to more than $240m in a round backed by Amazon and Salesforce.
Salesforce engages Autopilot in $7m round
The marketing automation company took its total funding past the $20m mark in a series C round featuring Salesforce’s corporate venturing unit.
Health
Oncobiologics conducts $31m series D
The funding will be used to further develop the company’s BioSymphony platform, which enables biosimilars to be produced cost-effectively.
TytoCare calls in Cambia for $11m series B
Fosun and Walgreens-backed telehealth company TytoCare has added Cambia Health Solutions to its investor base and has now raised $18.5m in total.
Novartis grabs Mereo stake in $119m round
Recently formed Mereo BioPharma raised the cash from Invesco and Woodford Investment, and issued an equity stake to Novartis.
Almirall invested $15m in dermatological products manufacturer Suneva as part of a larger debt and equity round.
Media
Second time lucky for DraftKings as it secures $300m
Fox Sports invested $150m in the round, acquiring an 11% stake in the fantasy sports company, whose $250m deal with Disney fell through in June.
NBCUniversal lines up big investments in Buzzfeed and Vox
The media company is reportedly in talks to invest $250m in Buzzfeed at a $1.5bn valuation, while Vox would receive funding at an $850m valuation.
Consumer
Legend Holdings has led a series A round for Duzhoumo, the developer of a weekend-focused travel services platform.
Secret Escapes gets away with $60m
The members-only travel agency has added Google to its backers as part of a series C round that will fund international expansion.
Ecovent conditions $6.9m series A
Electronics maker Emerson led the air conditioning technology company’s series A round, bringing its total funding to $10.3m.
Pepperfry heats up with $100m series D
The lifestyle e-commerce company has secured series D funding in a round that included existing backers Bertelsmann and Norwest.
Flipkart puts pedal to the floor for $700m
The Naspers and IDG-backed e-commerce company has now raised more than $3.1bn, after closing a Tiger Global and Steadview-backed round.
Consumer lifestyle marketplace Little has raised $50m in a series A round led by strategic partner Paytm.
Restaurant chain Ajisen provided $60m of the cash, and the online food ordering company secured the rest from Hina Group.
Thrive Market prospers with $30m series A
Wholesale buying club Thrive has followed up $8m in convertible note financing with a series A round featuring Scripps Network.
Financial
Small business loans platform Kabbage, which also counts SoftBank as a backer, is targeting $150m in the UPS-backed series E round.
Stripe spots Visa to raise valuation to $5bn
Visa has formed a strategic partnership with Stripe in addition to backing a series D round, raised at a $5bn valuation, that included American Express.
Industrial
Zhaosuliao shapes $36m series B
IDG made its second investment in the plastics trading platform, which has now raised more than $57m altogether.
Services
Hometeam reveals $11m series A win
The care services app developer revealed the Recruit-backed round at the same time as its US expansion plans.
Tripping cruises to $16m series B
Holiday home search engine Tripping previously raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding from investors including Recruit Holdings.
Vaniday touches up $16m series A
The Rocket Internet-backed online beauty marketplace was launched in March and is already operating in four continents.