Weekly corporate venturing deal net: 29 June-3 July 2015
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Advance Publications affiliate targets $400m for fund
Venture capital firm Advance Vixeid Partners, which counts the media company as its largest investor, has already led native advertising company Nativo’s $20m series B round.
William Hill to gamble on WHLabs accelerator
The bookmaker has formed a London and Israel-based accelerator that will invest $39,000 in each of its startups.
Holtzbrinck pays for entry to Founders Factory
The publishing company has invested an undisclosed sum in the newly formed accelerator and incubator, also transferring some of its educational assets.
People
Arvind Sodhani to leave Intel Capital in January
Sodhani will retire at the start of 2016, and will be replaced by Wendell Brooks in a move that will merge Intel’s venture capital and M&A activities.
Lifetime achievement award: Arvind Sodhani, Intel Capital
As news emerged today that Arvind Sodhani was stepping down as head of Intel Capital in Autumn, we republish our write-up for the lifetime achievement award he received at our Global Corporate Venturing Symposium last month.
Santiso gets on the line to new fund
Javier Santiso is set to leave his position as managing director of global affairs and new ventures at telecommunications group Telefónica to form a growth stage fund.
McCartney joins Whitespace Ventures
Andrew McCartney, part of Microsoft Ventures as one of its entrepreneurs in residence, has co-founded a fund called Whitespace that will support corporate spin-outs.
Exits
Catabasis closes out IPO at $69m
The MedImmune-backed rare disease drug developer initially raised $60m when it went public on Nasdaq last week.
Seres closes IPO at almost $154m
The Nestlé and Mayo Clinic-backed pharmaceutical company’s stock almost tripled on its first day of trading, resulting in it raising almost $20m extra from the offering.
AppFolio manages $74.4m in IPO
The business management software provider, which received early investment from Cisco and Berteslmann, had raised $57m in funding prior to the initial public offering.
Cisco to pay $635m to secure OpenDNS
The cybersecurity company, which had raised $51m from backers including Cisco, will be integrated into the corporate’s Security Business Group.
Quikr enters talks to give Housing.com new home
The SoftBank and Qualcomm-backed real estate listings platform was valued at $270m as of December 2014, but its investors are seeking a sale.
Legend reveals $2bn Hong Kong IPO
The Ping An-backed holding company, which oversees three investment units, raised $1.96bn in an initial public offering that will fund strategic expansion.
Espial tunes in to Bluestreak for acquisition
Bluestreak Technology had raised approximately $42m from investors including Iris Capital, the venture firm backed by Orange and Publicis.
LY.com to guide itself to public listing
Tencent and Dalian Wanda are lining up investments in the online travel guide operator, which raised $200m from Ctrip last year.
The biotechnology company previously raised more than $100m from investors including Medimmune, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Novo exits Spinifex in $200m Novartis acquisition
Spinifex had raised just over $60m in funding, including $45m in a Novo-backed series C round in April 2014.
IT
IDG services FXiaoke in $100m series D
Enterprise software provider FXiaoke has now raised $163m in total, securing funding for the third time in the space of a year.
PubNub serves up $20m series C
Blackberry-backed firm Relay Ventures and SAP-affiliated Sapphire Ventures both contributed to a round that increased PubNub’s overall funding to more than $35m.
Foxconn helps sort $15.8m for Enevo
Foxconn and its affiliated venture capital firm Ginko Ventures co-led the waste collection management company’s series B round.
Prevedére to fund future growth with $6.7m
The predictive analytics software developer, backed by Norwest Venture Partners at seed stage, has raised series A funding that will support product development.
Matterport finds extra dimension for $30m series C
The 3D technology developer has now raised $56m altogether, after closing a round led by existing investor Qualcomm Ventures.
Intel was among the investors in the latest round raised by the cybersecurity company, which focuses on guarding cryptographic keys and digital certificates.
Norwest Venture Partners has contributed to a series G round for the software-as-a-service company, which is also backed by Salesforce.
IDG helps ship $20m to OlymTech
IDG Capital Partners has contributed to series A funding for OlymTech, which provides IT services to the logistics industry.
AllMobilize assembles investors for $10m series B
International Data Group-affiliated IDG Capital Partners made its second investment in the web development services provider as part of the round.
Guavus processes $30m for series E
Big data analytics technology provider Guavus has secured $30m to close a $50.9m series E round featuring Intel Capital and SingTel Innov8.
BitSight eyes Comcast for $23m series B
Comcast has joined existing investors including IDG spin-out Flybridge to provide series B funding for the data analytics company, which has now raised $49m in total.
Health
Corvus Pharmaceuticals has revealed it raised a $33.5m series A round in December 2014 from investors including Novo’s corporate venturing unit.
Graham looks after HomeHero series A
The senior home care marketplace has revealed a Tencent and Graham Holdings-backed $20m series A round alongside $3m of seed funding.
Allscripts issues $200m cheque to NantHealth
Allscripts purchased a 10% stake in the cloud-based healthcare IT company, following on from a strategic partnership formed by the two in March this year.
Teva implants $35m in Microchips Biotech
The cash is being provided in the form of equity and an access fee as the two companies form a partnership agreement to improve drug delivery systems.
NantCell, an immuno-oncology subsidiary of conglomerate NantWorks, has acquired biotechnology company VivaBioCell, providing Generali with an exit.
Media
Tabcorp bets on Unirkn series A
The eSports platform raised $7m in a series A round that came less than six months after its $3m seed round.
Consumer
Global Fashion Group stays trendy with $167m
Rocket Internet and Kinnevik both returned to invest in the e-commerce holding company, which has announced two acquisitions in Brazil.
Movile entertains Playkids with $15m
The mobile commerce company’s investment doubles Playkids’ funding, and comes from the $40m invested by Naspers in April.
Financial
Salesforce makes Classy investment in $18m round
The charity crowdfunding platform will invest the funding in product development and an expansion of its user base.
PayRange collects $12m in series A
The Google Ventures-backed company’s technology enables vending machines to accept debit and credit cards, as well as digital wallets.
Transport
GrabTaxi to collect $200m in SoftBank backed round
SoftBank, which invested $250m in the ride sharing service in December, is reportedly among the investors in a series E round being raised at a $1.5bn valuation.
Trucker Path clears $20m in series A
Renren has taken part in a series A round raised by trucking information app developer Trucker Path, which has just launched an online shipping marketplace.
Corporates drive $250m UCar series A
The chauffeur service, which operates in 60 Chinese cities, has raised $125m from partner CAR and a further $125m from Legend Holdings and Warburg Pincus.
Proterra picks up new passengers in $55m round
The General Motors, Mitsui and Exelon-backed electric bus manufacturer has increased its total debt and equity financing to more than $200m.
Didi Kuaidi raises funding target to $2bn
The Weibo, Tencent and Alibaba-backed ride sharing company, the largest in China by market share, is set to raise the funding at a $15bn post-money valuation.
Zinka hauls in $6m for series A
Flipkart reportedly invested in the online logistics platform in order to support its own upcoming hyperlocal delivery service.
BGF triggers $11.8m Reflex round
The commercial vehicle hire service intends to use Business Growth Fund’s investment to almost triple the size of its fleet.
Services
Corporates help ship $64m to Youkeshu
E-commerce services company Youkeshu raised the money in a series B round co-led by Xiamen Academy of Buliding Research and Zhuhai Hiashilong Health Food.
Shapeways forges $30m series D
The 3D printing services provider has secured funding from backers including Hewlett Packard and Sumitomo, taking its overall financing to almost $80m.
PowerToFly recruits Hearst for $6.5m series A
Hearst Communications was among the investors in the latest round raised by the female-focused online human resources marketplace.
Corporates dish out $6.1m to MangoPlate
Qualcomm, SoftBank and Yahoo Japan have provided series B funding for the Korea-based restaurant discovery platform.
Singapore Press books place in $8m Chope series C
Singapore Press, which led Chope’s 2013 series B round, has returned to lead the restaurant booking platform’s latest round.
Onefinestay completes $40m series D
The holiday room booking platform raised the cash in an $80m round, as competitor LoveHomeSwap received $11.8m in equity from Wyndham Hotels.
Tutoring app developer Changingedu raises $100m
Tal Education and IDG both committed capital to Changingedu, which operates an online service where tutors can connect to student customers.