Corporate venturing deal net: 27 November – 1 December 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
AG Insurance and Flemish government-owned PMV have committed to be cornerstone investors in the fund, which has achieved a $150m close.
Real takes in $140m for two funds
Real Ventures has secured capital from limited partners including Tencent and Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek for funds aimed at Montreal and wider Canada.
Optum Ventures will invest in early-stage startups that focus on delivering better healthcare.
Unilever agrees fund after Sundial purchase
Bain Capital, which acquired a stake in Sundial in 2015, is reviewing with the final set up of the fund with Unilever Ventures and Sundial’s founder and CEO, Richelieu Dennis.
Nio Capital to charge $500m fund
The investment firm, co-founded by electric vehicle manufacturer Nio, is looking to raise $500m for a fund that would focus on the automotive industry.
Genesis Innovation Group launches $10m fund
The Cultivate(MD) Capital Fund will start investing in medical device and orthopaedic technology companies in early 2018.
IDG Ventures pulls in $10m from Unilever
Unilever Ventures has committed $10m to the IDG Ventures India Fund, with the money going towards startups operating in the consumer and digital spaces.
Data research and analytics firm Nordic Web has launched an angel fund that will invest in up to 15 early-stage startups based across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
People
Vancura leaves RBVC to join Imec
Imec had a first close at €60m for the fund, Imec.xpand, earlier this year, Vančura said, and was targeting up to €100m ($114m) in the second by February.
Lam joins with Parsons to set up Imagination
Lam, a GCV Powerlist 2016 winner, founded the Time Warner Investments group in 2003 and invested more than $325m in 54 companies before leaving earlier this year.
Holtzman leaves AARP for Longevity
In 2015, AARP and bank JP Morgan set up the AARP Innovation Fund to target startups developing technologies and services for customers aged 50 and above.
Sargent marches on to Generation
Sargent had spent nearly six years at Flex, “responsible for worldwide innovation activities including Innovation labs, global design and engineering, launching new product businesses, the Lab IX technology accelerator, and corporate and venture investments”.
SoftBank grows Vision Fund team
The internet and telecoms conglomerate has added a range of executives to its global team managing the $97.7bn Vision Fund.
Exits
Innovid is set to acquire SoftBank-backed marketing technology provider Taykey for an undisclosed amount.
Wistron is set to exit Advanced Telematic Systems as mapping company Here has agreed to acquire it for an undisclosed sum.
Tencent joins Uber secondary transaction
SoftBank and Dragoneer have been joined by Tencent, Sequoia Capital and TPG as investors hoping to purchase shares in a secondary transaction.
Puridify clears GE Healthcare acquisition
UCL spinout Puridify has been acquired by GE Healthcare for an undisclosed sum, also providing an exit to Touchstone Innovations and GlaxoSmithKline’s SR One unit.
McAfee will acquire Skyhigh Networks for an undisclosed sum, providing an exit to Salesforce.
WeWork is set to acquire Meetup, a social networking platform backed by eBay.
Trend Micro has acquired Immunio for an undisclosed amount, enabling Bloomberg and BDC Capital to exit.
Qualcomm and Harman-backed Navdy has contacted potential creditors as part of a bankruptcy process known as General Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors.
Huochebang heads for $2bn merger
Huochebang, backed by Baidu and Tencent, is set to merge with its local peer Yunmanman in a deal that would value the combined entity at more than $2bn.
Good Doctor to specialise in $1bn IPO
Ping An Good Doctor, an online healthcare platform backed by Ping An Insurance, is targeting a $1bn initial public offering in Hong Kong as early as the first half of 2018.
IT
H2O.ai steeps $40m in series C
Nvidia has co-led a round for H2O.ai that brought the company’s total funding to $75m and also featured New York Life and returning investor Transamerica.
Dejero connects to Intelsat for $25m
Dejero is working on networks that enable internet connectivity in remote locations and secured the backing of Intelsat as a strategic partner.
Yaskawa transfer $15m to Transphorm
Yaskawa Electric has injected $15m into Transphorm, a semiconductor technology producer already backed by Nihon and Alphabet.
SenseTime clocks $227m investment
Alibaba has injected $227m into SenseTime at a $3bn valuation, following an investment of undisclosed size by Qualcomm earlier this month.
Fujitsu has led a series B round for the quantum software developer, investing alongside Accenture, Allianz, CME and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Health
GV has participated in a series D round for Fractyl Laboratories, which is developing minimally-invasive treatment for metabolic diseases.
WeDoctor prepares $500m injection
Tencent-backed online healthcare services provider WeDoctor is aiming to secure $500m in a funding round before an initial public offering next year.
Semma generates $114m series B
Medtronic, Novartis and SinoPharm are among the investors in a series B round for Semma Therapeutics, which is working on a treatment for patients suffering from diabetes.
ElectroCore drills into $70m series B
Merck returned for the series B round, which was previously revealed through a regulatory filing made in September 2017.
Prognos diagnoses $20.5m series C
Cigna, Guardian Life Insurance, Hikma and Merck are part of a consortium that has provided $20.5m in series C funding to healthcare-focused AI software developer Prognos.
NanoCellect chooses series B investors
The round, backed by Illumina Ventures, brought in $10m in funding though some of that amount was in the form of convertible notes.
General Electric has launched Drawbridge Health, a healthtech developer that will develop a device to draw, collect and stabilise blood samples.
Codiak develops $76.5m series C
Alexandria Venture Investments was among the investors in a series C round for Codiak Biosciences, based on research at Gothenburg and Texas universities.
Qool heats up with $8m series A-1
The biotechnology developer was backed by Zhongji Holdings in the round and will use the capital to complete product development on its temperature management device.
Crescent Enterprises backs two medtech developers
The diversified conglomerate has put $16m into ColubrisMX and XCatch, both of which are developing robotic medical devices based on research at University of Texas.
Ping An treats Fullerton Healthcare to $121m
The deal marks another investment for Ping An’s Global Voyager Fund, launched in May with $1bn in funding to focus on fintech and healthcare startups.
Medeor lights up $57m series B
WuXi Healthcare Ventures has returned for a $57m series B in immunotherapy developer Medeor Therapeutics, with the round led by RA Capital Management.
Dizal Pharmaceutical dials AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca and the Chinese Future Industry Investment Fund have joined forces to launch drug development firm Dizal Pharmaceutical.
Biolinq relates to $10m series A
Merck and Hikma are among the backers of a $10m series A round for Biolinq, the developer of a wireless biosensor patch that monitors a patient’s condition.
Media
Niantic catches $200m series B
Mobile game developer Niantic, backed by Nintendo and known for its augmented reality game Pokémon Go, has secured $200m in its latest funding round.
Consumer
SoftBank targets Flipkart shares
SoftBank is aiming to acquire shares from existing investors in Flipkart, valuing the business at $9bn to $10bn for the deal.
Swiggy drafts SoftBank for investment
Less than two weeks after Swiggy secured $50m from Flipkart, SoftBank is in talks with the food delivery service for a commitment of $200m to $250m.
Fineway makes its way to $8.3m series A
Axel Springer and MairDumont are among the backers in Fineway’s series A round, which also featured Bavaria state-owned investment firm Bayern Kapital.
Paytm Mall markets itself to SoftBank
Paytm Mall is seeking an investment of $500m to $600m and has approached SoftBank about serving as lead investor in the round.
Financial
The accounting, audit and tax software developer has secured $7.8m in a series A round featuring XBTO and will use the funds to continue developing its platform.
Industrial
GV returned for the round, as did Acre Venture Partners, after both previously backed a $40m series C this past March.
Alphabet-backed spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX has added $100m to its latest funding round, taking the total to $450m and the company valuation to $21.5bn.
QCP refines LyondellBassel partnership
LyondellBassel will buy stakes from the local government of Limburg and VC firm Chemelot Ventures, to hold joint ownership in QCP with Suez.
Transport
Amazon’s Alexa Fund, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners and Innogy Ventures all contributed to the $23.3m series B round.
SoftBank shoots for Uber discount
A group of investors including SoftBank hopes to spend approximately $6bn for a stake in Uber that would value the business at $48bn – some 30% below that of its last round.
Fram acquires Vietnam arm of Carmudi
Rocket Internet-backed car classified portal Carmudi has sold its site in Vietnam to Fram Skandinavien for $50,000.
Analysis: Lyft hails additional $500m
In addition to the $1bn series G round led by CapitalG, US-based ride hailing platform Lyft now puts another $500m into its coffers. This latest round comes to highlight the upward trends in the ride hailing and car sharing space.
Services
Alo7 greets Legend in series D
Legend Capital has led a $37.5m funding round for Alo7 and was joined by existing investors Qualcomm and New Oriental.