Corporate venturing deal net: 29 October-2 November 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
Significant Capital to stand out with $36m
Significant Capital Ventures was officially launched this week with backing from Hindmarsh to invest in seed-stage spinouts emerging out of five Australian universities.
Fortune VC finds favour with $667m fund
Real estate developer Century Golden Resources Group is among the contributors to the latest fund for venture firm Fortune Venture Capital, which has closed at $667m.
Hyundai looks to Yield for $100m fund
Carmaker Hyundai has teamed up with Yield Capital to set up a hydrogen-related investment fund and has targeted a $100m close.
Brightlands Agrifood Ventures builds to second close
Van Herk Ventures is one of three limited partners that helped the agrifood-focused venture fund reach a $22.7m second close a year after it was formed.
Naspers goes home with $96m fund
Naspers, which has had some substantial success with its overseas investments, will fund South African startups through the Naspers Foundry from 2019.
CIC joins Japanese banks for $1.8bn fund
Nomura Holdings, Daiwa Securities, Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial will aim to raise up to $1.78bn for the fund, in partnership with China Investment Corporation.
People
Jain jets into Sistema Asia Fund
Sumit Jain has taken on a managing partner job at Sistema’s Asia Fund on the back of nine years expertise at Kalaari Capital which included a role in seeding two VC funds.
Gaceta makes tracks to Mondelez
Mel Gaceta, a highly-experienced leader of corporate venturing units, has joined Nasdaq-listed packaged food and beverage producer Mondelēz International to set up its new venture capital unit.
Intel Capital renews carried interest payments
Wendell Brooks is set to reinstate carried interest for Intel Capital investors, a measure removed shortly before he took charge of the unit in 2015.
Paul leaves Driscoll’s for Yamaha
After four years leading Driscoll’s agtech corporate venturing investments, Nolan Paul will now oversee Yamaha Motor Ventures’ agricultural robotics and data activities.
Exits
Twist Bio hits public markets in $70m IPO
Illumina, WuXi PharmaTech, Kangmei and Institut Mérieux-backed synthetic DNA producer Twist Bioscience floated at the bottom of its range.
Simppler hustles with Teamable
Matchmaking recruitment platform Teamable has picked up its peer Simppler for an undisclosed sum, after the latter had been backed by Workday Ventures in 2016.
Orchard IPO bears $200m of fruit
GSK, Sphera Global and Medison-backed gene therapy developer Orchard Therapeutics raised $200m in an offering that could possibly close at $230m.
Axonics accepts $120m in initial public offering
The Legend Capital-backed sacral neuromodulation device developer floated in the middle of its range while upping the number of shares in the IPO.
Gamida Cell goes public in $50m IPO
Novartis and Access Industries were among the investors that bought $37.5m of the shares, which the cell therapy developer issued at a downgraded price.
Spring falls to Shoprunner in acquisition deal
Fashion e-commerce marketplace Spring had raised more than $97m from investors including GV, and has been bought for an undisclosed sum.
Qualcomm-backed video conferencing platform Zoom is gearing up for an initial public offering that would reportedly value the company at several billion dollars.
Lyft gains Blue Vision in acquisition deal
GV has exited autonomous driving software developer Blue Vision in an acquisition by Lyft that was reportedly sized at $72m.
Pintec lends itself to public listing
Sina invested $5m as online financing platform Pintec, which also counts Xiaomi as an investor, went public in a $44.3m initial public offering.
The Brazilian payment and commerce services provider floated above its range and raised an extra $100m from Ant Financial through a private placement.
IT
Intel Capital and Coinbase Ventures both chipped in as the blockchain technology developer raised its second round in less than a year.
Relx helps Quid quicken fundraising pace
Data analytics software provider Quid has secured $37.5m in a round led by Relx subsidiary REV Ventures that included Lixil and Salesforce Ventures.
Conversica works out $31m series C
The Recruit-backed conversational AI technology provider took its overall funding to $87m in a round that will support product development and sales and marketing.
Quanergy surges to series C round
The lidar sensor provider, whose existing backers include Samsung, Sensata Technologies and Delphi Automotive, has raised an undisclosed sum at a $2bn valuation.
Arctic Wolf hunts down $45m in funding
The cybersecurity services provider almost doubled its overall funding to more than $90m in its second Sonae IM-backed round in the space of a year.
Soul Machines seeks $20m with Daimler help
Daimler Financial Services has committed $7m to a series B round for intelligent avatar technology developer Soul Machines that has a $20m target.
Siemens takes Yellowbrick road in $48m round
Yellowbrick Data has raised $48m in a round led by Siemens’ Next47 unit, adding to the $44m from investors including GV and Samsung Next it disclosed two months ago.
Health
PatientPop progresses funding to $75m
Athenahealth-backed PatientPop has now raised a total of $75m in funding, after receiving an undisclosed in a round led by Leerink Transformation Partners.
Terns burns through series B with $80m
Lilly Asia Ventures, which supplied $30m to help small-molecule therapy developer Terns Pharmaceutical launch last year, has returned for its $80m series B round.
Lenovo tips Scale toward series F close
Virtualisation technology provider Scale Computing has reached the $21.2m Lenovo-led first close of a round expected to close at $34.8m.
Milestone Pharmaceuticals pumps in $80m
Novo has returned for Milestone’s latest round, having led its $55m series C last year, helping the cardiovascular drug developer’s total funding to $167m.
Galecto collects $90m in series C
Bristol Myers-Squibb, Merck Group and Novo all took part in a $90m series C round for Galecto Biotech that was co-led by Ysios Capital and OrbiMed.
Galecto collects $90m in series C
Bristol Myers-Squibb, Merck Group and Novo all took part in a $90m series C round for Galecto Biotech that was co-led by Ysios Capital and OrbiMed.
XtalPi processes $46m series B extension
China Life’s Healthcare Fund led the series B-1 round, which followed a series B featuring fellow corporates Google and Tencent in January.
Media
Epic reaches next level with $1.25bn
Axiomatic was among the new investors in Epic Games, developer of the hugely popular Fortnite, which is now valued at almost $15bn.
Consumer
SoftBank drops off $375m for Zume
Pizza delivery service and food logistics developer Zume could also raise another $375m from SoftBank Vision Fund at a post-money valuation of $2.25bn.
Akulaku accumulates $70m in series C round
FinUp has returned to lead a $70m series C round for Akulaku, whose other existing shareholders reportedly include Legend Capital.
SoftBank looks to grow Grofers in $150m round
Grocery e-commerce platform Grofers is in talks to raise $100m to $150m in a SoftBank Vision Fund-led round that could value it at up to $650m.
Wadi gets $30m funding delivery
Majid Al Futtaim took part in the round in connection with a partnership agreement that will involve Wadi becoming its grocery delivery partner.
Financial
Wukongbao puts in series B claim
Guohua Life Insurance and 58 Group both took part in online insurance platform Wukongbao’s series B, adding to a $15.3m pre-series A sum secured in 2016.
Monzo successfully mounts $108m fundraising effort
The digital bank, whose shareholders include Orange and Stripe, has added $108m to its coffers in a round led by General Catalyst that valued it at almost $1.3bn.
Coinbase puts $300m in its coffers
The NYSE, BBVA, USAA and NTT Docomo-backed cryptocurrency trading platform and wallet developer is now valued at $8bn after a Tiger Global-led series E round.
Energy and Natural Resources
General Fusion gets more than $37m in government deal
Canadia’s Strategic Innovation Fund has invested $37.6m in the fusion power technology developer, which had previously raised more than $83m from investors including Cenovus.
Amazon, Eon and Čez Group have backed a $50m funding round for smart thermostat manufacturer Tado that nearly doubled its equity to $102m.
Industrial
Astroscale captures $50m series D
Mitsubishi Estate and Koei Tecmo have backed a $50m series D for space junk removal service Astroscale that almost doubled its total funding to $102m.
Transport
DeepMap redrafts series B to $60m
Generation Investment Management has joined a series B round for DeepMap that is at least $60m in size and which already includes Nvidia and Robert Bosch.
Itochu charges up Dishangtie’s series B1 round
The electric vehicle rental service followed a $47m round in March with a $43.2m series B1 round that was led by Bojiang Capital and backed by Itochu.
Booking Holdings take a $200m ride on Grab
Ride hailing platform Grab raised the money from the travel and accommodation booking service through a partnership deal that will allow them to offer each other’s services.
Innovusion gets $30m funding infusion
The lidar technology startup has secured funding in a series A round co-led by Nio’s corporate venturing arm and Fidelity’s Eight Roads Ventures and F-Prime Capital units.
WM Motor begins journey to $287m round
Baidu is in talks to provide half the funding in the prospective round while another of the EV producer’s existing investors, Tencent, could also take part.
Services
Peilian strings together $150m series C round
Music tutoring platform Peilian has added $150m in funding from investors including Tencent to the series B funding it raised in January.
QinBaoBao sings series C lullaby
TAL Education joined conglomerate Fosun and VC firm Shunwei Capital for an eight-digit dollar round backing parenting app developer QinBaoBao.
PropertyGuru moves into series D with $145m
Emtek-backed online property real estate platform PropertyGuru has attracted $145m in a KKR-led series D round and acquired Batdongsan to expand into Vietnam.
Yunxuetang snags $50m in series C round
The employee training software provider has confirmed a $50m round that included SIG, the corporate that led its series B round in 2017.