Corporate venturing deal net: 24-28 July 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
Google invites startups to take off from its Launchpad
Developers Launchpad Studio will provide $50,000 of equity-free funding to artificial intelligence and machine learning developers along with technical assistance.
Corporates drive $40m Maniv Mobility fund
Valeo, Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures and equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd have put their weight behind Maniv Mobility’s $40m first fund.
BlackFin steers to $117m for fintech fund
Insurance groups including Vaudoise Assurances, Groupama, Sogecap, Natixis Assurances and Swiss Life, have backed the first close of BlackFin’s Tech Fund 1.
ST Engineering assembles $150m corporate venturing arm
ST Engineering Ventures will focus on startups developing technologies relevant to its parent company, such as robotics, data analytics and cybersecurity.
BanRegio backs four venture funds
The Mexico-based financial services firm has contributed capital to Jaguar Ventures, Variv Capital, 500 Startups and Endeavor Catalyst in a bid to access the fintech ecosystem.
Argentine banks put $3m into ArFintech
The ArFintech fund is backed by six Argentine banks and will invest in financial technology startups, five of which have received a total of $800,000.
Propeller Shannon starts up in Ireland
Enterprise Ireland is launching an aviation and aerospace accelerator with partners including Shannon Group, Boeing and Datalex.
Tiller and Transgourmet dish up incubator
The incubator, La Frégate, will focus on restaurateurs hoping to develop eateries that take advantage of modern technologies such as point-of-sale systems.
Wipro invests to help build Work-Bench
Enterprise-focused venture firm Work-Bench has secured an undisclosed amount of capital from Wipro’s corporate venturing unit, representing its second fund investment.
People
Bashir breaks free from Infosys
Yusuf Bashir has resigned as managing director of Infosys Innovation Fund, the $500m corporate venturing fund formed by Infosys, after two years at the helm.
Exits
Sage to pay $850m to integrate Intacct
The American Express and Deloitte-backed cloud financial management software developer has agreed to an acquisition by enterprise software producer Sage.
Snapdeal board accepts $950m from Flipkart
E-commerce marketplace Flipkart has had a bid of between $900m and $950m accepted from the board of corporate-backed rival Snapdeal that now needs only shareholder approval.
Source3 becomes property of Facebook
Facebook has paid an undisclosed amount to buy Source3, an intellectual property management startup that had raised $4m from investors including Autodesk.
Permira has become a strategic investor in Visa-backed payment services provider Klarna in a secondary transaction reportedly valued between $225m and $250m.
Snapdeal acquisition becomes more complex as Infibeam approaches
E-commerce firm Infibeam has reportedly bid $700m for corporate-backed Snapdeal, which looked likely to be bought by Flipkart, in a deal that would allow its founders to stay.
Viber pounces on Chatter Commerce
E-commerce keyboard app developer Chatter Commerce has been acquired by Viber, having raised $1.25m in a round led by parent company Rakuten.
IT
Node notches up series A funding
The marketing discovery tool developer has come out of stealth having raised $16.3m, including $10.8m in a Gree-backed series A round.
IonQ calculates $20m series B in funding
GV and New Enterprise Associates have co-led the quantum computing technology developer’s latest round, after the latter had supplied it with $2m of series A capital.
Slack tightens up next funding round to $250m
Reports that Slack was set to raise $500m in its forthcoming round seem to have been premature, but SoftBank and Accel reportedly are set to co-lead the round.
Vicarious commissions $50m series C
The robotics artificial intelligence developer, which counts Samsung, Wipro and ABB as investors, has raised $50m in a Khosla Ventures-led series C round.
Fosun clutches Teddy in series B round
Phone number recognition startup Teddy Mobile has now raised $29m in total, after securing an undisclosed amount in a round co-led by Fosun RZ Capital.
SoftBank to take up Slack in $500m round
The corporate is expected to co-lead a round that would value the GV and Comcast-backed workplace communication platform at $5bn post-money.
Toast salutes $101m investment
Alphabet-backed point-of-sale technology developer Toast has added $101m to its coffers to fund further development of its cloud platform.
Iguazio includes corporates in $33m series B
Verizon Ventures, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Dell Technologies Capital and CME Ventures all invested in the data analytics technology provider, which is valued at $100m.
Growth equity firm Viola Growth led a round that took Naspers-backed online market intelligence provider SimilarWeb’s overall funding to $112m.
SkyGuard takes 360 turn to raise $24m
Cybersecurity software provider 360 Enterprise Security Group was among the participants in a series A round for data security startup SkyGuard.
Hearst speaks Liulishuo’s language in $100m series C
English language learning platform developer Liulishuo has closed a Hearst Ventures-backed round that was co-led by China Media Capital and Wu Capital.
Health
1mg to scale with $15m in new funds
The Bright Lifecare spinout, which counts Intel Capital as an investor, has now raised $37m in total, after securing $15m in a round led by HBM Healthcare.
Complexa structures $62m series C round
The round, which was co-led by Pfizer, will support clinical trials of Complexa’s kidney disease and pulmonary arterial hypertension treatments.
Circulation moves to series A funding
Providence Service Corporation co-led a $10.5m round also backed by Echo Health Ventures, Intermountain Healthcare Innovation Fund, Boston Children’s Hospital and Humana.
Pfizer helps expand Effector with series C funding
Pfizer Venture Investments led the small-molecule cancer drug developer’s $38.6m series C round, which included Novartis, GlaxoSmithkline, AbbVie and Astellas.
Rodeo ropes in corporates for series A
Tissue regeneration startup Rodeo Therapeutics has secured $5.9m in a round featuring Eli Lilly, WuXi AppTec, AbbVie Ventures and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC.
Vitreoretinal disease therapy developer Allegro Ophthalmics has raised $10.7m in funding, 18 months after receiving $20m from Hanmi Pharmaceutical.
Media
Corporates explore Within in $40m series B
WPP, Macro Ventures and 21st Century Fox all contributed to the augmented and virtual reality content provider’s latest round, the latter as an existing investor.
Consumer
Existing backers Comcast and Qualcomm were joined by investors including AGL and Liberty Mutual for a series C round that took the smart lock developer’s total funding to $75m.
Alibaba and Paytm consider putting $200m in BigBasket
Grocery e-commerce platform BigBasket is in talks with both companies over an investment that would value it at about $1bn, while Amazon is also interested.
Tokopedia tools up for $500m round
Alibaba is in talks to lead the Indonesia-based e-commerce company’s next round, which would include existing investors SoftBank and Sequoia Capital.
Financial
Goldman Sachs provides $35m to Beqom
The Swisscom-backed cloud-based compensation software provider has received $35m in funding from Goldman Sachs Private Capital Investing.
Iqianbang crowds in $74m for series B round
Shanda-backed Iqianbang has secured series B funding as part of a strategic partnership to help Shenzhen Grand Electronics expand into the financial sector.
Betterment bolsters series E to $170m
The Citi and Northwestern Mutual Life-backed online financial advisor has raised $70m in a Kinnevik-led extension to the $100m it secured in March last year.
Morgan Stanley picks out iCapital
Alternative investment platform iCapital Network has added Morgan Stanley to a round already featuring UBS and BlackRock, taking its total funding to $50m.
Energy and Natural Resources
Qualcomm helps provide Prospera with $15m
Agricultural digitisation technology developer Prospera has secured $15m in a series B ronud led by Qualcomm Ventures that included Cisco Investments.
Transport
Ofo offers $1bn round to SoftBank
Ofo has entered talks with SoftBank to lead a $1bn round that would include existing investor Didi Chuxing, just three weeks after closing a $700m series E round.
SpaceX flies higher with $350m
The Alphabet-backed spacecraft developer and launch services provider has raised $350m at a valuation that makes it the world’s sixth most valuable VC-backed private company.
Tencent tees up $400m Ola investment
The internet company is in advanced discussions over an investment that could boost the on-demand ride service’s latest round to more than $800m.
Ola and Microsoft discuss funding pickup
Microsoft may invest $50m to $100m in Ola as part of a strategic agreement that will involve the ride hailing service switching to its cloud platform, Azure.
SoftBank mulls multi-billion dollar Uber bet
SoftBank is reportedly seeking to make a large investment in the ride hailing platform which would comprise the purchase of primary and secondary shares.
Momenta moves to $46m series B
Nio Capital co-led the round, which also featured Daimler, and which will be used to enhance and commercialise Momenta’s autonomous car technology.
Existing investors SoftBank and Didi Chuxing invested $2bn at a $6bn post-money valuation, and Grab aims to use the money to expand its services far beyond ride hailing.
Services
Expedia exports $350m to Traveloka
The investment increased the Southeast Asian tourism booking platform’s funding to $500m over the past year, JD.com also having provided funding.
Duolingo dives into series E with $25m
The Alphabet-backed language learning platform increased its total funding to $108m with a series E round led by Drive Capital that valued it at $700m.
SoftBank helps WeWork’s China subsidiary find space for $500m
SoftBank and Hony Capital have provided $500m in funding for WeWork’s newly formed Chinese subsidiary, with each set to take a minority stake.
Tencent buys its way into Byju’s
Educational app developer Byju’s has raised funding from Tencent as part of a round reportedly sized at $40m that could value it at up to $800m.