Corporate venturing deal net: 28 January-1 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
Sapphire gets corporates onside for $115m sports fund
City Football is the anchor investor in Sapphire Sport, which is also backed by SAP, Adidas, Sinclair, AEG, Major League Baseball, the New York Jets and the San Jose Sharks.
Lilly Asia Ventures lands $100m for Fund V
US-based pension fund Lacera has provided $100m for the latest fund to be raised by corporate venturing unit Lilly Asia Ventures, which has a $750m target.
Hana Financial hits the venture capital space
Hana Ventures intends to provide some $890m in loans and direct investment for VC firms targeting biotech and ICT companies, over the next three years.
Barclays to give startups a Rise
Rise Growth Investments will back each cohort of Barclays tri-national fintech accelerator scheme with a total of up to $13.2m of funding.
MásMóvil hooks up Másventures accelerator
MásMóvil has established a startup accelerator after rising to become Spain’s fourth biggest telecommunications player.
Verily to expand Partner Space
Alphabet’s healthcare spinoff, Verily, is doubling the amount of companies in its investment and collaboration hub to about 15 participants.
Japan Airlines propels $70m to strategic fund
The air carrier aims to enhance the consumer travel experience by targeting startups internationally, following investments in Boom Supersonic and iSpace just over a year ago.
Cisco greets Kustomer in $35m series C
Cisco Investments took part in the customer relationship platform developer’s series C round, which increased its total funding to approximately $74m.
Raystone Capital raises $148m for AI fund
Corporate-backed asset management vehicle Raystone Capital will invest in artificial intelligence developers through the fund, which secured capital from several state-owned funds.
People
Eneco brings in Baneke to head corporate venturing
Leonie Baneke, formerly an investment director at Eneco Innovation & Ventures, has been promoted to head of venturing for its parent company.
Exits
In-game communication platform Vivox has been acquired by game development technology provider Unity after raising more than $16m from investors including Peacock Equity.
Samsung captures Corephotonics in $155m deal
Samsung has agreed an acquisition of the smartphone camera technology provider, allowing SanDisk, Western Digital, CK Telecom, MediaTek and Foxconn to exit.
Aproplan and GenieBelt merge to build new company
The newly merged digital construction platform has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from existing investors including corporates Solar and Inventures.
Whistle channels New Form with acquisition
Video content studio New Form’s investors, including ITV and Discovery Communications, have become shareholders of Whistle following the acquisition.
Maoyan gets $250m for IPO ticket
Maoyan is floating in Hong Kong at the bottom of its range, in an offering that will provide exits to Enlight, Tencent and Meituan Dianping.
Naspers fully absorbs Avito in $1.16bn deal
Naspers subsidiary OLX has fully acquired classified listings platform Avito, six years after Naspers paid $50m for a minority stake and four after it took a majority share.
IT
Pliops prises $30m in series B
SoftBank, Western Digital, Xilinx and existing backer Intel all invested, as the cloud storage technology developer increased its overall funding to $40m.
Fortanix forges $23m series B round
Intel Capital has led a $23m series B round for Fortanix, with the corporate venture capital unit’s Sunil Kurkure joining the encryption technology developer’s board of directors.
Verbit translates ClalTech interest into $23m
ClalTech has taken part in a Viola Ventures-led series A round to increase the AI-based speech translation platform’s total funding to $34m.
NumberAI calls in Gradient for series A
Costanoa Ventures has led a $10.5m round for the landline-based smart messaging platform that also featured Alphabet’s AI-focused Gradient Ventures fund.
Collibra collates $100m series E
The CapitalG-led round valued the data governance software producer at more than $1bn and increased its total funding to $233m.
Futurus displays promise in series B round
The SoftBank-backed smart windscreen display developer has received $14.8m in pre-series B funding from Cathay Capital and Dohold Capital.
Corporates spice up Cinnamon’s $15m series B
The document-reading software developer plans to expand in the US after a round featuring TIS, Sony, Itochu, SBI, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Bank of Fukuoka and Nomura Group.
Featurespace authenticates new funding
Worldpay-backed fraud detection software provider Featurespace won $32.9m from investors including commercialisation firm IP Group to bring its overall funding to $70.9m.
Health
Dewpoint gets its due with $60m
Leaps by Bayer, 6 Dimensions Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments are among the investors that have provided series A funding for the biomolecular medicine startup.
Lyndra swallows $55m in series B round
Partners Healthcare has resubscribed in the round, which included fellow corporates Gilead Sciences and Orient Life, increasing the long-lasting medicine developer’s total funding to $78m.
Molex breaches Windgap in latest funding round
Shepherd Kaplan Krochuck and Molex Ventures have helped the epinephrine pen developer raise $12.1m of a funding round expected to close at $39m.
Clover Health looks to prosper with $500m
Greenoaks Capital has led a $500m funding round for Clover Health, a health insurance provider that last raised cash in a $130m GV-backed round in 2017.
Taimei passes series E trial with $80m
Existing backer SoftBank China was among the participants in a series E round that will support the expansion of Taimei Technology’s clinical trial management platform.
Media
Simon Ventures-backed subscription commerce platform FabFitFun has added $80m in series A capital to its coffers nine years after it launched as a lifestyle newsletter.
Epic books in Evolution Media for $30m round
CAA-backed investor Evolution Media has led a $30m round for the digital library operator, which also counts Rakuten Ventures as an investor.
Alibaba gets in Sandbox for $68m round
Virtual reality entertainment operator Sandbox VR has amassed $68m in series A capital from investors including Alibaba.
StreamElements tunes into series A funding
Samsung Next partcipated in an $11.3m round that will be used to expand to the livestreaming production platform’s roster of brand partnerships.
Consumer
Madison Reed adds contrast for $51m series D
Hair colouring supplier Madison Reed, which is backed by Comcast and JF Shea, is pursuing a multi-channel distribution strategy and has now racked up $121m in capital altogether.
Financial
The financial analytics platform raised the capital in a series B round featuring Regions and Jefferies that boosted DV01’s overall funding to $33m.
Loanboox squares series B funding
Deutsche Kreditbank and LGT Group have put their weight behind Loanboox’s $22.2m series B round, which has boosted the lending marketplace’s valuation to $122m.
Forge heats up series B to $85m
Munich Re is leading a series B round for the pre-IPO share trading platform that now stands at $85m following the close of a $35m second tranche.
Stripe proves ripe for another $100m
The Alphabet, Visa and American Express-backed payment and business management tool provider has added $100m from existing investor Tiger Global at a $22.5bn valuation.
Comcast grows Acorns in $105m series E
Comcast subsidiaries Comcast Ventures and NBCUniversal both invested in the financial management app developer, bringing its valuation up to $860m.
Corporates help measure out $30m for Finxact
Accenture Ventures and existing investor First Data both participated in a round that increased the banking platform developer’s total funding to $42m.
SBI converts $15m to BRD funding
The Credit Saison and OKWave-backed cryptocurrency wallet developer has collected $15m from SBI Crypto Investment to fund its expansion in Asia.
Symbiont assembles $20m series B
The blockchain technology developer will use the proceeds from the Nasdaq Ventures-led round to commercialise its platform for mortgages, private equity and syndicated loans.
Energy and Natural Resources
Minna Denryoku gets series B recharge
Dentsu, Sega Sammy, Tokai Holdings, Marui and SBI all participated in a $10.7m round for the Japanese distributed energy marketplace.
Yellow Door opens to let in $65m
Mitsui and Equinor Energy Ventures were among the participants in a series A round that will help fund the development of 300 MW of distributed solar energy systems.
Industrial
Corporates help plant $30m in MycoTechnology
The organic food processing platform has closed its series C round following commitments from Continental Grain, Bunge Ventures, Eighteen94 Capital and Tyson Ventures.
Kinestral enjoys view from $100m series D
SK Holdings has led a series D round for Kinestral Technologies, which will use the capital to expand the manufacturing, sales and installations of its smart glass technology.
Transport
Tencent, JD.com and Google co-led a $1bn investment in the ride hailing service that represents the first tranche of a series F round expected to close at $2bn.
Mogu Zhixing mobilises Tencent to raise $120m
In-car connected technology developer Mogu Zhixing has received $120m in a Tencent-led series A round that included JD.com and Bertelsmann Asia Investments.
Central Group makes Grab with $200m
On-demand ride service Grab has received $200m from the shopping centre operator that will be channelled into its Thai subsidiary.
Services
Clutter to pick up SoftBank in $250m round
SoftBank is reportedly set to lead the next round for GV-backed storage and home removal services provider Clutter, which has targeted $200m to $250m.
RigUp unearths $60m in series C funding
The General Electric-backed oilfield services marketplace operator has reportedly increased its valuation to $300m following a round led by Founders Fund.
Singtel Innov8 helps Cato link to $55m
Singapore Telecommunications’ CVC unit, Singtel Innov8 reinvested in a round that took enterprise network developer Cato Networks’ total funding to $105m.
Jusda gets $356m series A delivery
The end-to-end supply chain services provider, which was spun off from Foxconn, has raised $356m in a China Life-led round that also featured China Railway Group.
Corporates drive Urgent.ly’s series B to $21m
BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Porsche all backed a series B round for the roadside assistance app developer, whose early investors include Verizon, Allianz and ATD.