Corporate venturing deal net: 23-27 July 2018
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Rocket Internet targets $2bn fund
The e-commerce holding company has set its sights on the US and expects to close its next fund at between $1bn and $2bn this year.
Alexa Fund alerts second accelerator batch
Amazon’s corporate venturing unit has announced the nine artificial intelligence developers that will make up its second cohort.
Credit Suisse Next Investors closes $261m fund
The bank’s strategic investment arm has reached the final close of its Next Investors II fund having received capital from several external limited partners.
Westly Group whets corporate interest for $130m fund
Innogy and Duke Energy are the anchor investors for a fund where CLP Group, American Electric, Chubu Electric and Bridgestone are LPs.
BIF’s fundraising efforts beget $50m
Bharat Innovation Fund has raised $50m from LPs including Philips, ICICI Lombard and Bajaj Electricals on its way to a $100m close.
BP pumps $10m into Nio Capital
Corporate venturing fund Nio Capital has received a $10m commitment from BP following a partnership agreement in May.
Exits
Ascletis to clear $400m in IPO
The Tasly-backed hepatitis C drug developer priced its shares in the middle of their range and is set to float at the start of next month.
The corporate got a $9.7m return from the acquisition of video analysis software provider by Canon that was agreed in May.
Okta opts for ScaleFT acquisition
Okta paid an undisclosed amount for remote-access technology developer ScaleFT allowing Rackspace to exit.
Pinduoduo picks up $1.6bn in IPO
The China-based group buying service is set to float at the top of its range today, with Tencent remaining its largest investor.
Bloom Energy generates $270m in IPO
The Eon-backed fuel cell system producer priced the offering at the top of its range, having previously raised more than $1.3bn in funding.
LevelUp rewards investors with $390m exit
Deutsche Telekom and Alphabet are among the investors set to exit payment and loyalty platform LevelUp in an acquisition by Grubhub.
Certify has bought real-time expense reporting and management platform developer Abacus for an undisclosed sum.
Pinterest prepares for 2019 IPO
The Rakuten-backed social media platform, valued at more than $12bn a year ago, plans to float in the next year.
Aridis arrows to public markets
Hepalink-backed Aridis Pharmaceuticals has filed to raise up to $34.5m that will support clinical trials for three immunotherapy drug candidates.
The Tencent-backed livestreaming platform is favouring the US for an initial public offering expected to raise between $600m and $700m.
Allakos accomplishes $128m IPO
The Roche-backed antibody developer floated above its range and has seen its stock almost double in price.
M17 formally moves away from IPO
The Yahoo Japan and MCN-backed digital media company priced its initial public offering last month before failing to float.
Constellation consummates $60m IPO
The SR One-backed cancer drug developer cut the number of shares in the offering but priced them at the mid-point of its range.
The UPMC Enterprises-backed mental health tool provider had raised more than $21m but is shuttering after failing to secure an acquisition.
IT
Rescale measures out $32m in series B
The computing infrastructure management software provider has secured funding from backers including M12 and Itochu Technology Ventures.
Salesforce books in SessionM for funding
Customer engagement software provider SessionM has completed a $23.8m round featuring existing backer Salesforce Ventures, taking its total funding to $97m.
GE helps Xage Security lock up $12m
The decentralised IoT security platform developer has raised series A funding from investors including General Electric’s GE Ventures unit.
Cogito cues corporates for $37m series C
Voice analytics software producer Cogito has mobilised investors including Salesforce and Goldman Sachs to bring its total funding to more than $63m.
AnyVision records $28m in series A funding
The machine vision technology developer has secured $28m in a Robert Bosch-led round that will fund product innovation and international growth.
Alibaba led the facial recognition technology provider’s latest round, which will support its expansion in the retail sector.
Health
Sanofi helps send $17m to Click Therapeutics
Click has secured financing in a round led by Sanofi Ventures as it develops digital medicines for conditions including depression, insomnia and chronic pain.
Baidu helps Quantapore create new round
The nanopore sequencing platform developer has closed a $15.5m series 3 round backed by Baidu Ventures.
Viz.ai, developer of a system that helps detect strokes, got the money in a Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers-led series A round backed by GV.
GlaxosmithKline gets $300m to 23andme
The genetic data services provider raised the cash from GSK as part of a collaboration deal, taking its total funding past $790m.
Alector collects $133m in series E funding
Upwards of 17 investors, including AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Alphabet, Merck & Co and Amgen, backed the neurodegenerative disease drug developer’s series E round.
Comcast helps kick in cash for K Health
Comcast Ventures was among the investors that put up $12.5m of financing for the care advice app developer.
Allcure gets series B treatment with $103m
Concord Medical’s radiotherapy-focused spinoff has raised new funding from investors including a China Electronics Corporation Data-owned fund.
Telus joins League in $47m round
Telus Ventures has led a $47m round for the flexible workplace benefits platform that included existing backer Royal Bank of Canada.
Media
The WndrCo-run short-form video startup has secured media companies including Disney, 21st Century Fox, Warner Bros and Entertainment One as backers.
Pocket.watch clocks in with $15m
Viacom led a series B round for the children’s digital media brand that included corporate venturing unit UTA Ventures.
TVision Insights draws attention in series B round
The Itochu-backed attention measurement technology provider has raised $11.5m, taking its overall funding to more than $20m.
Anchorage Capital has led a $30m funding round for Chernin Group-backed online video content studio Brat, which has now raised more than $42m in total.
Consumer
The RealReal luxuriates in $115m
The Novel TMT-backed pre-owned luxury items platform has added series G cash to its coffers, bringing its total funding to date to $288m.
Secret Escapes reveals $68m in funding
Old Mutual has supplied $68m to GV-backed online travel marketplace Secret Escapes, taking its funding to more than $251m to date.
Alibaba picks Pekon for investment
Cosmetics-focused retail software provider Pekon has raised $13.3m in an Alibaba-led round backed by existing investor LightHouse Capital Management.
Financial
FinAccel finds corporates for $30m series B
Corporate venturing units MDI Ventures and GMO Venture Partners chipped in to help FinAccel, owner of e-commerce credit system Kredivo, raise new funds.
PayU sees PaySense in $18m series B
Online lending processor PaySense has raised money in a series B round led by an $11.5m investment from strategic backer PayU.
Existing investor Consensys returned for a $52.5m round that will help the crypto-to-dollar lender expand into new areas.
Metromile claims $90m in series E round
Tokio Marine and Intact Financial co-led the automotive insurance platform’s series E round, bringing its overall funding to $295m.
Blast pushes seed round to $12m
CreditEase was among the investors that added $7m to the $5m game-based saving platform Blast raised in March.
The Qualcomm-backed budgeting app developer has secured $40m to increase its funding to $52m altogether.
Energy and Natural Resources
Stem grows bigger to close $106m round
The energy storage system supplier, which is backed by several corporates, added $26m to the $80m it raised in January.
Volta plugs in to corporates for $35m
Invenergy Future Fund led the EV charging network’s series C round, which included GE Ventures and Orsted Venture.
Industrial
Spacety finds cash after series B launch
Legend Capital led a $22.2m round for the microsatellite developer that included a fund backed by property developer Galaxy Holding.
Seeq finds corporates in $23m series B
Chevron Technology Ventures and Siemens’ Next47 unit were among the investors as Seeq looks to fund sales, marketing, global growth and R&D.
Services
WeWork China shows it means business, raising $500m
SoftBank and its Vision Fund were among five investors that co-led the round to double the amount raised by WeWork’s China spinoff to $1bn.
Stamps.com collects MetaPack in $230m deal
E-commerce logistics platform MetaPack, which counts WPP among its investors, has agreed to an acqusition by Stamps.com.
ClassPass works out $85m series D round
Temasek led a round that increased the total raised by GV-backed fitness membership platform ClassPass to $255m.
Mesh Korea nets Hyundai as an investor
Hyundai has invested $20m in last-mile delivery service Mesh and an undisclosed sum in electric scooter developer Immotor.
Corporates join Guild for $40m series C round
Salesforce Ventures and Workday Ventures contributed to a round that took adult education platform Guild Education’s total funding to more than $71m.
Peerspace hosts GV in $16m series B
The event space provider has now raised almost $34m altogether and added GV’s Joe Kraus to its board of directors.
Tencent explores nine-figure Oyo Rooms deal
The corporate could provided $300m to $500m of funding to help the India-based short-term room provider expand into China.
Skillshare skins $20m from investors
Burda Principal Investments was among the participants in a round taking the online learning platform’s total funding to $42m.