AAA News round up 30 March 2015

News round up 30 March 2015

GCV 2015 Awards shortlist

Global Corporate Venturing has decided the shortlist for its 2015 awards ceremony, which takes place at our London Symposium on the evening of June 2. The shortlist has been curated by GCV’s editorial team and will be voted on by our editorial advisory board. The time period analysed was the period from today to the beginning of April 1, 2014.

Weekly corporate venturing deal net: 23-27 March 2015

Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.

Big Deal: Health Catalyst mixes investors for series D

The healthcare data analysis technology provider has raised $70m in funding that will strengthen its technology as it seeks to help healthcare providers become more efficient.

 

Fundraising

Alibaba ventures to Jerusalem

The e-commerce company has become the latest limited partner for IT-focused venture capital firm Jerusalem Venture Partners, committing $15m.

Daum Kakao chats up K Cube

Online chat service and internet portal Daum Kakao has acquired the venture firm and plans to turn it into its corporate venturing arm.

Pebble allocates $1m to skim smartstrap projects

The smartwatch developer will distribute the cash among promising projects that incorporate technology into watch straps.

 

Exits

Northwestern puts on LearnVest in $250m deal

American Express exited the financial planning service after participating in two funding rounds over the last two years.

SolarEdge cuts to $126m IPO

The Israel-based solar inverter maker, which counts General Electric and Norwest Venture Partners as investors, will go public in the US next week.

Edenred increases ProwebCE stake

Iris Capital has agreed to exit the communication and management services provider by divesting its stake to employee services provider Edenred.

Cellectis raises terms again for $228m IPO

The gene editing company, backed by investors including Pfizer, is set to raise almost double its initial target, after pricing a flotation of 5.5 million shares.

Gunosy to curate public markets

The KDDI-backed media curation app developer has filed for an initial public offering that will reportedly value it at about $335m.

 

IT

Investors get message for $135m Slack round

The Google-backed communication app developer has raised an initial $135m from investors that could rise to $160m before the round is closed.

Aryaka downloads $16m

Sumitomo’s corporate venturing subsidiary Presidio Ventures returned for the network-as-a-service company’s series E round and it has now raised $76m in total.

FinancialForce funding plans herald $110m

The company, which has built an enterprise resource planning system on Salesforce1, secured the funding in a round backed by Salesforce Ventures.

August locks in $38m for series B

Comcast, Qualcomm, SanDisk, Singapore Telecommunications, KDDI and CAA have all contributed to a $38m round for the smartphone lock developer.

Localytics tracks down Sapphire for series D

Sapphire Ventures, the venture firm backed by software producer SAP, led the $35m round, which took the mobile analytics company’s total funding to $60m.

Cheetah hunts Nanigans for $24m series B

Advertising software developer Nanigans has also signed a commercial agreement with lead series B investor Cheetah Mobile to expand in Asia.

Keywee unlocks $9.1m

Keywee secured the cash, raised as it launches its content marketing platform, in a round featuring publishing company New York Times.

Skycure brings along New York Life for series A

Mobile threat defense company Skycure has closed an $8m round backed by New York Life Insurance and will use the funding to increase its sales and marketing efforts.

Ayasdi funding machine brings in $55m

The machine learning company, which counts General Electric among past backers, has completed a series C round featuring Citi.

Slack off to raise new funding

The Google-based communication app developer is looking to add to its $180m of equity funding with a round that would value it at up to $2.6bn.

Cyanogen closes $80m corporate-backed series C

Tencent, Qualcomm, Twitter, Telefónica, Smartfren, Access Industries and existing backer Tencent all took part in a round that boosted Cyanogen’s overall funding to $110m.

Infosys considers $120m in international investments

The India-based IT services provider, which launched a $250m corporate venturing effort in January, may invest up to $120m in California, Israel and India.

Cohere connects to Telstra for $35m series C

The wireless connectivity technology developer has secured $35m from a Telstra-backed series C round that boosted its total funding to $52m.

IFC considers $20m NxtGen investment

Intel-backed IT infrastructure services provider NxtGen could receive a $20m debt and equiity investment from International Finance Corporation.

Coding programmes $10m series B

IDG Capital, IDG’s China-based corporate venturing affiliate, has backed a $10m funding round raised by the cloud development tools startup.

Gorilla calls up Telstra for series C

Telecommunications company Telstra’s corporate venturing unit has backed a series C round of undisclosed size for the big data analytics company.

 

Health

NGM treats itself to series D funding

The biopharmaceutical company, which recently received $106m in equity from Merck, has raised an additional $57.5m, taking its overall funding to almost $295m.

Medtronic sweetens $44m Semma series A pot

Diabetes treatment company Semma will use the funding, as well as a strategic partnership with Novartis, to move its programme through initial clinical trials.

Health Fidelity looks after UPMC investment

Healthcare system UPMC has invested an undisclosed amount in Health Fidelity, which provides healthcare data analysis technology.

Boston Scientific helps InterVene negotiate $5.9m series A

The medical device maker has backed a series A round for InterVene, which hopes to treat a condition where veins are incapable of pumping enough blood to the heart.

Rigontec extends series A to $15.6m

The biopharmaceutical company added €4.8m to a series A round already backed by High-Tech Gruenderfonds and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Enzyme developer Aeglea completes $44m series B

Aeglea, which is working on treatments for metabolic diseases, has now raised $56m in just over a year, after closing a series B round co-led by Novartis and Eli Lilly.

 

Media

Artsy draws up $25m series C

The online arts platform has now raised more than $50m in funding since it was founded from investors including IDG Capital Partners.

HubSpot makes friends with Rekindle

Seven months after its launch, Google-backed social network Rekindle has been acquired for an undisclosed amount by HubSpot.

 

Consumer

Tujia to organise $200m booking

The Ctrip and Homeaway-backed online room booking service plans to more than double its total funding with a series D round that could raise more than $200m.

IDG gets on 700Bike for $15m series A

The bicycle information portal, which recently expanded into custom manufacturing, raised the equity funding alongside $48m in debt financing.

 

Financial

Maybank to admit 20 to fintech bootcamp

The Malaysia-based financial institution has partnered with accelerator 1337 Ventures to select 20 startups for a Southeast Asian bootcamp.

Fenqile credits JD for new investment

Microfinance service Fenqile has secured an undisclosed amount from e-commerce company JD.com, three months after a $100m Bertelsmann-backed series B round.

 

Industrial

TTTech crosses T’s on €50m round

General Electric, Infineon and Audi provided the funding, and all plan to incorporate TTTech’s safety control technology into their products.

 

Transport

Greenroad stretches on further with $26m

The driving performance management company raised the cash in a Virgin-backed round that will facilitate growth in the US, Europe and the Middle East.

Mojio plugs into Deutsche Telekom for series A

Connected car platform Mojio raised $8m in a round led by telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom and has now received more than $10m in total.

Times Internet hitches ride on Uber

Times Internet and Uber have entered a strategic partnership that will include a strategic investment by the media company in Uber.

 

Services

Rocket Internet aids Helpling with $47m series B

Incubated by Rocket Internet, the domestic services marketplace has raised a series B round only a few months after securing $17m in series A funding.

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