Corporate venturing deal net: 28 November – 2 December 2016
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Jungle Ventures hits $100m target
The Hubert Media-backed vehicle, which will support Southeast Asian startups, is ten times the size of the firm’s debut vehicle, which closed in 2012.
Patagonia renames venture fund
Phil Graves, managing director of Tin Shed Ventures and a Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist 100 awardee for 2016, by email said the rebranding was needed as it had already “invested $44m” in 12 portfolio companies since 2013 (when it won fund launch of the year at the GCV Awards).
Amazon launches Alexa accelerator
The e-commerce company has joined forces with Techstars to establish a 13-week program focused on artificial intelligence.
Holt Ventures is set to invest in technologies and startups that focus on the industrial and manufacturing sectors.
Infosys reaches for the stars with investment in Stellaris
The IT services provider is now a limited partner in the early-stage venture fund’s first vehicle, contributing capital from its $500m Innovation Fund.
Indosat thinks outside the Ideabox
The telecoms provider has joined Mountain Partners and Kejora Ventures to launch Ideabox Ventures, a VC firm offering pre-series A capital to startups.
BMW iVentures is establishing a $530m fund as it moves its headquarters from New York to Palo Alto to be closer to potential investees and drive an international expansion.
People
Auque and d’Halluin to pilot Airbus investments
Airbus has appointed François Auque and Thomas d’Halluin to head the group’s respective European and US corporate venturing activities.
Colella to take top innovation job at Citi
Colella, who had been ranked third in the GCV Rising Star 2016 awards, had been seen as heir apparent for the CIO role but the final confirmation could see a number of other personnel changes, insiders said.
GE Ventures drafts Suennen as MD
Lisa Suennen is set to join GE Ventures as managing director, focused on healthcare, on December 1.
Vermuri leaves Baxalta Ventures
Geeta Vermuri, head of Baxalta Ventures, has left following the corporate’s acquisition by Shire and a change in investment strategy.
Vincent Branch has taken over as chief executive of insurance provider XL Catlin’s Accelerate division.
Exits
AngelList catches Product Hunt
The deal is reportedly worth $20m and provides an exit to Alphabet’s GV unit, which contributed to a $1m seed round in 2014.
Century Pacific to exit Shakey’s Pizza in $79m IPO
Century Pacific Food Group will exit Shakey’s pizza franchise in Asia when the company lists on the Philippine Stock Exchange on December 15.
Enterprise Holdings-backed rental car provider Unidas is set to conduct an initial public offering in São Paulo that could raise up to $195m.
Operative Media’s acquisition is a go
SintecMedia has agreed to acquire the digital advertising management platform for an undisclosed amount, providing an exit to Orix USA.
Atopix is $80m acquisition subject
Chiesi Farmaceutici has agreed to acquire Atopix Therapeutics, an indirect spinout of Oxford University, in a transaction potentially worth in excess of $80m.
IT
Cerevance thinks up $21.5m series A
Takeda has supported a series A round for Cerevance as the company is spun out of Rockefeller University’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Appier’s series B haul rises to $42.5m
Temasek has joined three VC firms to top up a series B already backed by Mediatek by $19.5m for a round total of $42.5m.
Civis Analytics joins $22m series A community
Verizon Ventures and WPP are among the backers of a series A round that also attracted Drive Capital and Alphabet’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt.
AttackIQ tackles $8.8m series A
The corporate venturing division of Qualcomm and Telstra have backed cybersecurity startup’s AttackIQ’s series A round, alongside venture capital firm Index Ventures.
Hyphenate underlines $13.5m round
SIG-backed Hyphenate has added $13.5m to its coffers, which will support the company’s goal of expanding its market share in the app ecosystem.
Palantir uncovers $20m investment
RELX and In-Q-Tel-backed Palantir has added $20m to its coffers, following an $880m round in December.
Health
OrthoSpace moves into $7m round
Johnson & Johnson has joined returning investors including Smith & Nephew to help close a $7m funding round that will support an ongoing regulatory study in the US.
Zai Laboratory helps treat DMed to $8m
DMed provides contract clinical research services and will use the cash injection to hire additional assurance and clinical operations staff.
Oxthera gets a dose of fresh capital with $34m round
The biopharmaceutical developer, a spinout from medical device company Q-Med, is entering the third phase of testing a drug to prevent kidney failure.
Med-El hears AudioCure’s call in $9m series A
The implant technology provider says the drug AudioCure is developing to treat auditory disorders is an ideal complement to its hearing devices.
Innovent Biologics researches $260m series D
Legend Capital returned for the round that also featured a host of other insurance providers and Chinese state-owned entities such as Temasek.
Galera pushes series B to $57m
Sofinnova Ventures has provided a $15m extension to the series B round, which is already backed by Novo and Novartis.
Netmeds places an order for Pluss
Online pharmacy Netmeds acquired the medicine delivery app for an undisclosed sum, providing an exit for Pluss backer IDG Ventures India.
Media
21st Century Fox, which made an initial commitment to the AR technology developer’s round in January 2016, has now been joined by investors including Shenzhen O-Film Tech.
Alibaba has Hehe Pictures smiling
Alibaba Pictures has acquired a 30% stake in the movie investment firm, becoming Hehe Pictures’ second largest shareholder in the process.
O-Film Tech realises $8m stake in Shenzhen VR Tech
Touch panel maker O-Film Tech is moving into virtual reality with a stake in the VR device developer, whose backers include China Mobile Games and Entertainment.
Consumer
Glossier puts on $24m series B
WME-backed Glossier has added $24m to its coffers, two years after securing $8.4m in series A capital.
Grokker, which offers on-demand fitness, yoga and cooking video tutorials, has added Comcast to its shareholders.
BioWink solves $20m series B clue
Nokia has led a series B round for BioWink, which provides a mobile app to track the user’s menstrual cycle and previously also attracted capital from Dr Kade and Groupe Arnault.
Investors tune into $106m Devialet round
Foxconn has led the round through its European investment arm Ginko Ventures, while the corporate also invested directly alongside a consortium that included Renault and Sharp.
Inagora inaugurates $26m series B
Led by World Innovation Lab, the round also featured Itochu Corporation and follows earlier series A and A+ investment by IDG Capital Partners.
IDG Capital finds Magmode fashionable
Magmode has attracted approximately $10m in funding that featured existing shareholder IDG Capital.
The online sports lottery service provider has made a strategic investment in mobile poker gaming operator Qufan to develop its games platform.
Edaixi irons out $14m series B+ round
The laundry service provider secured cash from detergent maker Libai Group just over a year after raising $100m from backers including Baidu and SIG China.
IDG Capital has put money into Tangdou, an app that provides group dance exercises, two months after Legend Capital contributed to a $15m round.
Financial
Nihon Kotsu hails Money Design
The taxi and limousine services provider joined corporates Recruit and Kyoto Bank in the latest funding round for the Dentsu-backed robo-adviser.
AvidXchange accounts for $18m investment
The round was led by strategic investor Fifth Third Bancorp, which will offer AvidXchange’s invoicing and payment processing technology to its business clients.
Moody’s has led the round, which will help Finagraph accelerate its product development and expand further across North America.
Deutsche Börse pulls out its purse for Figo series B
DB1 Ventures, the securities exchange provider’s corporate venturing arm, paid a seven-figure sum to acquire a significant minority stake in the fintech platform.
Stripe continues funding streak with $150m
Visa and American Express-backed Stripe has secured $150m in series D capital co-led by Alphabet at a $9bn valuation, up from its previous valuation of $5bn in July 2015.
QuantGroup brightens up with $73m
Sunshine Insurance has led a series C round for fintech startup QuantGroup, while Fosun Capital also supplied funds.
Energy and Natural Resources
Exeger powers up $5.5m investment
Fortum has invested $5.5m in Exeger Sweden in return for a 5% stake in the solar technology producer.
Industrial
The tidal turbine company secured funding from investors including Farinia and IWF Group as it aims to expand internationally.
Transport
Transpod speeds to $15m seed funding
Angelo Investments will collaborate with the high-speed transportation developer to develop a commercially viable technology by 2020.
Services
OpenDoor welcomes $210m series D
Led by Norwest Venture Partners, the round also featured return investor Access Industries and put OpenDoor’s total funding at $320m.
DS365 stores $102m in series B
China UCF has contributed capital to a series B round for DS365 Technology, a supply chain services provider for convenience stores.