Corporate venturing deal net: 26-30 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.
Fundraising
Corporates boost Cathay Innovation fund to $320m
Private equity firm Cathay Capital has closed its first Cathay Innovation fund with backing from BNP Paribas Cardif, ADP, Artemis, Joyoung, SEB, Michelin, Total and Valeo.
The fund will act as a successor to the Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund, though it is not clear whether Diageo or Ulster Bank will put capital into the new vehicle.
Applied Ventures joins KVIC for $40m Korea fund
Applied Materials’ corporate venturing subsidiary will manage the fund, which was formed with Korea Venture Investment Corporation to back South Korean startups.
Trend Micro secures $100m for CVC fund
The connected cybersecurity software provider has put an initial $100m into a corporate venturing unit that will target growth sectors such as the internet of things.
Capnamic caps latest fund at $130m
German-focused VC firm Capnamic Ventures has reached the final close of a fund backed by Cisco, Axa, Rheinische Post Media Group and Sparkassen Group.
Microsoft arrives at Station F
Microsoft is the latest corporate to join France-based incubator Station F, where it will focus on artificial intelligence technology.
People
McManus promoted to head Motorola Solutions VC
Brad McManus had been investment director for Motorola Solutions Venture Capital and was selected as a Global Corporate Venturing Rising Star in January.
OurCrowd adds multinationals to Israel
OurCrowd has launched a collaboration scheme, OurNetwork, which has more than 200 multinational corporations, mentors and industry experts.
Pruitt joins Anthemis from Santander
Tee Pruitt’s move from Santander InnoVentures to Anthemis Group follows the latter’s hiring of Ruth Foxe Blader from insurance group Allianz last month.
While managing director of Novartis Venture Fund, König had made Global Corporate Venturing’s 2017 Rising Star list.
Exits
ZhongAn sets up $1.5bn Hong Kong IPO
Ping An, Tencent and the Alibaba-affiliated Ant Financial jointly own 40% of the online insurance platform, and are set to exit in an offering that could take place this year.
The cancer drug conjugate developer floated in the middle of its range, in an offering that provided exits to Takeda subsidiary Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer.
ProSiebenSat.1 sells media-for-equity assets
The media company has sold ad-for-equity stakes in 16 portfolio companies to private equity firm Lexington Partners for about $57m.
Lazada investors exit as Alibaba lays on $1bn
Alibaba has invested $1bn to increase its share e-commerce marketplace Lazada to 83%, with Rocket Internet and Tesco among the exiting shareholders.
IT
Auth0, which produces software that helps businesses manage identity verification, has welcomed NTT Docomo Ventures and Telstra Ventures as new investors.
Kinetica animates $50m series A
Citi Ventures helped boost Kinetica’s total funding to $63m as it looks to open new international offices and hire additional staff.
Cloudflare lights up $100m fund
Cloudflare Developer Fund will support developers building apps on the internet and cybersecurity software producer’s new Cloudflare Apps Platform.
SparkCognition lands $32m round
Verizon Ventures has led a round that also featured Boeing, which provided capital through HorizonX, the corporate venturing unit it established this past April.
Corporates help send $9m to Sentiance
Mobile data analysis technology developer Sentiance took its total funding to more than $17m in a round featuring KPN Ventures and Samsung Catalyst Fund.
Nuvolo gets $10m in new funding
The business asset management platform developer has raised $10m in a series A round led by GE Ventures that included fellow corporate venturing unit ServiceNow Ventures.
The database virtualisation technology developer has raised funding in a series A round featuring Dell Technologies Capital that will support product development.
Google catches Algorithmia for series A round
Google’s newly formed AI fund has made its first public investment, leading a $10.5m round for app algorithm marketplace Algorithmia that included Rakuten.
Health
Glooko looks up corporates to raise $35m
Samsung and Medtronic returned to back a $35m round for diabetes patient monitoring technology developer Glooko that included Insulet and Mayo Clinic.
DayTwo looks to tomorrow with $12m
Johnson & Johnson and Mayo Clinic both invested in DayTwo, the developer of a microbiome health management app, with the latter set to expand its research partnership with the startup.
Orig3n forms $20m funding round
The genetic disease treatment developer boosted its overall funding to more than $35m, with LabCorp and corporate venturing unit Spectrum Health Ventures investing.
Johnson & Johnson funds Provention in private placement
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC was among the investors in a $28.4m private placement for immune-mediated disease therapy developer Provention Bio.
Founding investors GE Ventures and Mayo Clinic Ventures have taken part in a $13.8m round for Vineti, which aims to increase access to gene and cellular therapies.
Merck and Illumina map out $8m SerImmune round
Illumina Ventures has led a series A round for SerImmune, which will use the funding to enhance its immune system mapping platform.
Media
Youku Tudou helps show Yinhekuyu series B funding
Online video producer Yinhekuyu Media has raised $29.4m in a series B round that included Youku Tudou, one of the Alibaba subsidiaries with which it will partner for new shows.
Clique Media admits investors to raise $15m
Existing investors Amazon and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments returned for a round that took Clique Media Group’s total funding to $28m.
Dook Book reaches next chapter with $18m
Legend Capital has led a series A round for publishing-focused media company Dook Book that reportedly valued it at approximately $295m.
WPP and Unilever send $15m to Celtra
Celtra, the developer of a creative management platform for digital advertisers, has raised funding in a round co-led by WPP and Unilever Ventures.
Consumer
Big Deal: Houzz welcomes $400m
The Comcast-backed company, which links a visual social media platform with goods and services, is valued at $4bn and is potentially pointing a new way forward for mobile commerce.
Naspers led a $30m part of the investment, which will support the mobile commerce platform’s growth across Latin America.
Naspers reveals $71m Flipkart investment
The media and e-commerce group invested an additional $71m in Flipkart in April 2017 as part of a $1.4bn funding round also backed by Tencent, eBay and Microsoft.
OneAssist serves up $18m series C
Assurant, which backed OneAssist’s $7.7m series B round in 2015, has returned for the personal device security company’s Sequoia Capital-led series C.
Financial
Riskified wraps up series C at $33m
Capital One Growth Ventures and existing investor Phoenix Insurance backed a round that took the fraud prevention software provider’s total funding to $64m.
Next Insurance charges to $35m with Amex investment
American Express Ventures has added $6m to the $29m Next had already raised for a series A round backed by Munich Re, Markel and Nationwide Mutual.
Fintonic doses up with series B round
ING Group and PSN have provided $28.2m of series B funding for personal finance management app developer Fintonic, which will use it to expand in Spain and Latin America.
Yoyo Wallet strings together series B
Metro Group led the mobile payment and loyalty app developer’s $15.3m series B round, increasing its overall funding to more than $30m.
EaseCentral benefits with $6.5m
BBVA-backed venture firm Propel Venture Partners led the series A round, which came after a $2.1m seed round for the employee benefits software provider in 2015.
Ottonova ensures $11m investment
Debeka invested $11m into Ottonova, an insurance technology startup that has now raised a total of $44m in capital from backers also including Tengelmann and Vorwerk.
Energy and Natural Resources
ChargePoint closes series G round at $125m
EV charging network ChargePoint’s Daimler-led series G was increased from $106m to $125m, with existing investor and strategic partner Siemens joining the round.
Industrial
Highcon cuts to $20m in funding
Existing backer Landa Ventures participated in the round, which will support product development and global growth for the post-printing technology provider.
The dynamic glass provider, which is backed by Corning and GE, has closed a $200m round led by BlackRock that includes TIAA Investments and unnamed existing backers.
BASF helps provide Slips with an $8.6m catch
BASF Venture Capital, which had led industrial coating supplier Slips Technologies’ 2014 series A round, has returned for a round that included a US government grant.
Satellogic convinces Tencent in $27m series B
Tencent has led a series B round for satellite imaging provider Satellogic, having previously supported its 2015 series A.
Transport
AutoTalks bumps series D round up to $40m
The vehicle communication technology developer has added $10m from investors including the Toyota-backed Mirai Creation Investment Fund to the $30m it raised in March.
Services
Catalant canters to $41m round
GE Ventures contributed to a $41m capital injection for Catalant, with the money split into a series D round and the expansion of an existing debt facility.
TechSee takes $7.5m in series A round
Comdata and Innogy both invested as the customer support technology developer closed a series A round that will fund market penetration and technology enhancement.
AproPlan constructs series A round
Digital construction aid AproPlan has raised $5.6m in a round that included Matexi and SmithBucklin, and which will be used for sales, marketing and product improvement.
Sense employs GV to raise $10m
Sense, the creator of an engagement platform for temp workers, has disclosed $10m raised across seed and series A rounds co-led by GV and Accel.