Corporate venturing deal net: 26 February-2 March 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
Startups board JD.com’s AI Catapult
JD.com’s AI and blockchain accelerator, AI Catapult, has selected an initial cohort of five companies from Europe, Asia and Australia.
Novo commits $165m to Repair Impact Fund
The fund will invest up to $40m a year to back developers of drugs that will address the growing resistance of diseases to antibiotics.
Amazon’s Alexa Accelerator voices 2018 plans
Amazon Alexa Fund’s accelerator, run in partnership with Techstars, will welcome 13 startup to its 2018 cohort, three of which will be able to work in London.
Retail conference host Shoptalk has teamed up with Commerce Ventures for a $1m fund that aims to back 20 e-commerce and retail startups.
Alibaba ventures to SkyDeck for $24m fund
University of California, Berkeley’s accelerator has closed an oversubscribed fund that numbers Alibaba among its limited partners.
Vision Venture Partners’ eSports-focused fund has raised $38m from LPs including Evolution Media, the New York Yankees and St Louis Cardinals.
Exits
Spotify tunes up for $1bn direct listing
The music streaming platform, whose largest shareholders include Tencent and Sony Music, will list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Grail could greet Hong Kong in $500m IPO
The Illumina cancer testing spinout, which counts a range of other corporates as investors, is talking to advisers about a flotation this year.
C2FO benefits from $100m investment
Allianz X has invested $30m to co-lead a $100m funding round for online business lending platform C2FO with Mubadala Investment Company.
The smart vehicle developer, backed by Tencent, Baidu, JD.com and Lenovo, has hired banks for an IPO expected to raise between $1bn and $2bn.
IQiyi targets $1.5bn as it joins IPO queue
The online video streaming platform is majority owned by Baidu but counts Xiaomi as its second largest investor.
Ring provides billion-dollar answer for Amazon
Amazon has agreed to pay upwards of $1.2bn for the smart doorbell maker, which counts the corporate’s Alexa Fund among its investors.
Photo sharing platform 500px, which had raised $22m from investors including Visual China Group and CAA, has been acquired by the former.
Glassdoor to recruit banks for IPO
CapitalG-backed hiring platform Glassdoor has initiated talks with banks that could manage an initial public offering in the second half of 2018.
Alibaba aligns itself with $9.5bn Ele.me purchase
The prospective deal would involve Alibaba buying out the food delivery platform’s other backers, including Baidu, Tencent and JD.com, at a $9.5bn valuation.
EBay to surrender Giosis stake in $700m deal
The online marketplace could give up its stake in e-commerce company Giosis as part of a deal where it will pay $700m for the latter’s Japanese assets.
Rocket Internet shifts $242m of Delivery Hero shares
The e-commerce holding group has now sold nearly $1.2bn of its shares in the publicly-listed food delivery platform, having invested $568m in 2015.
Dropbox puts down $500m IPO filing
Salesforce is set to exit the file storage and sharing platform, which has filed to go public after raising more than $1.7bn in debt and equity financing.
Splitting Fares heads to Bosch acquisition
Robert Bosch has paid an undisclosed amount for the carpooling platform, giving InMotion Ventures its first exit.
IT
Cloudian closes $125m in debt and equity
Digital Alpha Advisors invested $25m in the Intel and Lenovo-backed data management platform, which has also secured $100m in debt.
Skelter Labs conjures up $9.2m
Internet services firm Kakao and retailer Lotte contributed as Skelter prepares to take its AI development expertise into foreign markets.
Upchain makes series A breakthrough
OpenText Enterprise Apps Fund co-led the design collaboration software startup’s $5.8m series A round with BDC Capital.
SK Telecom helps IDQ crack $65m funding code
Cryotography technology provider ID Quantique has agreed to a $65m investment plan by SK Telecom, which will reportedly own more than 50% post-investment.
Qualcomm docks at Dover for $6m seed round
Research and development firm Draper has spun off cyebrsecurity startup Dover Microsystems with $6m from backers including Qualcomm Ventures.
Health
Amgen helps send $53m to Senti Biosciences
Adaptive drug technology developer Senti has completed a New Enterprise Associates-led series A round that included Amgen Ventures.
Quentis wins $48m from series A quest
The immuno-oncology therapy startup has completed a round that included Taiho Pharmaceuticals and AbbVie Ventures.
Inscripta details series C funding
Mérieux Développement has co-led a $55.5m round for Inscripta, a gene-editing technology developer that has now raised about $85m in total.
Helix comes back to corporates for $200m round
Illumina and Mayo Clinic have reinvested in the genomics services platform, which has closed the first tranche of its series B round.
Itochu Technology Ventures, Dai-ichi Life, Saison Ventures, Mizuho Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital have all invested in the medical access app developer.
Viela Bio begins life with $250m
The MedImmune spinout is targeting inflammation and autoimmune diseases and will be equipped with up to $250m of series A funding.
Collective Health unites investors in $110m round
Existing investor GV returned to take part in a $110m round for the healthcare management software provider that included strategic partner Sun Life Financial.
Genesis Healthcare generates new funding
Strategic partner Omron and existing backer Rakuten have invested $15.4m in the genetic testing services provider at a $392m valuation.
Endotronix enlarges series C round
The heart monitoring platform has boosted its series C round to $37.1m, having reached a 2016 first close that included OSF Healthcare.
Analysis: GV exits Flatiron Health
US-based oncology research technology provider Flatiron Health became the latest of GV’s life sciences-focused exits, after a $1.9bn acquisition by pharmaceutical firm Roche.
Evelo Biosciences digests new funding
Celgene, Mayo Clinic and GV-backed Evelo has added $47.5m to its coffers, seven months after closing a $50m series B round.
Media
Tencent is joining founding investor Times Internet to provide $115m for the India-based music streaming platform, which is also backed by Micromax.
Magic Leap to ascend with another $400m
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is considering adding up to $400m to Magic Leap’s series D round, two weeks after Axel Springer invested.
ZCool pulls in $15m from Shutterstock
The creative content platform, which has been Shutterstock’s Chinese distributor since 2014, also counts Dell and Hearst as investors.
Consumer
Continental Grain finds Perfect Day in series A
Continental Grain was among the investors in the vegan dairy protein developer’s $24.7m round, which was led by Temasek.
Club Factory produces $100m series C
Bertelsmann Asia Investment was among the investors that contributed to the cross-border e-commerce platform’s series C round.
Financial
Meritize mints $6.8m seed round
College Loan Corporation and Educational Credit Management Corporation are among the investors in the student lending platform.
Gabi grabs $9.5m in series A round
Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and Securian Ventures backed a round that will fund the insurance comparison platform’s domestic expansion.
Telecoms
Daimler tracks Anagog to $10m series B
Daimler and Mizmaa Ventures have co-led the first tranche of the latest round for phone handset tracking technology producer Anagog.
Industrial
Corporates pick out Magazino for investment
Magazino, a developer of robots for automated stock picking, has raised $24.8m from investors including Körber, Zalando and Fiege Logistics.
Transport
Tencent chases down Chehaoduo in $818m round
Online automotive retail and services platform Chehaoduo has raised more than $1.7bn in total, after Tencent led its series C round.
Corporates shuttle seed funding to May Mobility
BMW i Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures co-led an $11.5m seed round for the microtransit service provider, which has now raised $15m in total.
Kakao Mobility picks up new funds
Kakao’s ride hailing spinoff, which is also backed by Orix, has raised almost $47m from Hong Kong Monetary Authority and two US pension funds.
On-demand vehicle leasing startup Honcker has raised $23m in series A funding from IAC that will support hiring and geographic expansion.
Statkraft finds a spot in ParkBee’s series A
The Netherlands-based parking spot finder has closed a $6.1m round led by Statkraft Ventures that will fund hiring and a UK expansion.
Services
SoftBank makes DoorDash in $535m series D
The food delivery service is now valued at $1.4bn after raising cash in a SoftBank-led round that boosted its overall funding to $722m.
Industrious finds space for corporates in $80m round
Alrai and Wells Fargo Strategic Capital contributed to a series C round that took the working space provider’s total funding to $156m.
HIS kicks in for KKday series B
The travel services provider has led $10.5m round for curated tourism experience portal KKDay, taking its total funding to $22m.
Bertelsmann Asia Investments took part in a series B round that will be used to expand the apartment manager’s services and develop its big data technology.