Big Deal: Ant Financial commits $200m to Kakao Pay
Last week, Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate spun off by New York-listed, China-based e-commerce group Alibaba, agreed to invest $200m in Kakao Pay.
Corporate venturing deal net: 27 February – 3 March 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
Virginia Tech and Carilion launch $15m fund
The university has partnered healthcare provider Carilion Clinic to establish a $15m fund focused on the local area.
Symantec Ventures will focus on opportunities in the cybersecurity sector, building on the investment in Appthority that the corporate conducted through subsidiary Blue Coat.
MFEC to establish $20m investment arm
The software company has set aside $20m to invest in startups and will move some of its human resources staff to manage the new corporate venturing subsidiary.
Facebook has $170m Tip for startups
Facebook has partnered IP Group, Oxford Sciences Innovation and Touchstone Innovations, among others, to help guide investments in the telecoms infrastructure sector.
Baloise has committed $50m to an investment vehicle operated by Anthemis to identify opportunities in insurance technology startups based in Europe and the US.
CYTS Hongqi Fund welcomes corporates
IDG Capital has joined forces with China CYTS Tours Holding and Sequoia Capital China to establish an investment fund focused on the tourism sector.
Baihe says yes to investment fund
The online dating platform has partnered JD Capital to launch a fund aimed at the wedding industry.
Kore kicks off corporate venturing fund
Kore, which provides business management software for entertainment companies and sports franchises, has formed a strategic investment arm and closed its first deal.
Qualcomm launches virtual reality headset accelerator
The wireless technology developer is offering its Snapdragon 835 headset as a reference design to foster new products developed in just a few months.
People
Eric Xu, former managing director at SIG Asia Investment, has joined GGV Capital.
Park follows Echo Health Ventures call
John Park has joined Echo Health Ventures as a managing director, joining from Alegeus where he was chief strategy officer.
Exits
Tencent, Alibaba and Yahoo celebrate an exit as Snap prices its shares at $17 a piece and reach a valuation of approximately $24bn.
Yelp has acquired its portfolio company Nowait, a restaurant booking app that it backed last August.
Ecovacs to clean up on Shanghai Stock Exchange
IDG Capital-backed robot vacuum producer Ecovacs has filed for a flotation on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Mozilla helps itself to Pocket
The acquisition has provided an exit to shareholders including Axel Springer, Digital Garage and Alphabet.
Data analytics provider Alteryx has filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, providing an exit to Thomson Reuters and Sapphire Ventures.
Emerald Technology Ventures has secured an exit as O-Flexx is acquired by Mahle for an undisclosed sum.
The custom doll manufacturer, backed by Disney, has reportedly been acquired by the corporate.
Mixi has purchased the family photo service provider for an undisclosed sum, providing an exit to Beenos, Architype, United and Digital Garage.
Foxconn acquires SoftBank Asia Capital
Foxconn is set to acquire a majority stake in the fund in return for $600m, with the deal expected to close on March 1.
Next Games to score $31.7m IPO
The mobile game developer is seeking a flotation in Helsinki, providing an exit to Lionsgate, AMC, IDG Ventures and IDG Capital.
Wix draws up DeviantArt acquisition
DeviantArt’s shareholders include Autodesk and DivX, which had invested more than $13.5m in the platform.
IT
Investors distribute $21.5m to Hedvig
Hedvig has obtained series C capital from a consortium that included Hewlett Packard Enterprise and several government-owned entities.
VeloCloud keeps wheels spinning with $35m
Telstra has participated in a $35m series D round for VeloCloud, while existing shareholders include Cisco also returned.
Incorta courts GV for $10m series A
GV has led a series A round for Incorta, a real-time analytics platform that reduces query times from several hours to seconds.
Baidu Ventures and Qihoo 360 Technology are among the backers of a funding round for Shumei Technology.
Layer folds $15m into series B
Microsoft and Salesforce have taken part in a $15m series B round for Layer, a communications platform that previously obtained seed funding from Bloomberg.
CloudMinds conceives $100m series A
The company, which previously obtained $31m in angel and seed capital from investors including Foxconn and SoftBank, has raised $100m in a series A round.
Health
Grail pours first $900m into series B
Illumina spinout Grail has raised a first tranche of its series B round, thanks to investors including Johnson & Johnson, as it targets a second close of up to $1.8bn.
Medisafe personalises $14.5m series B
Merck KGaA and Qualcomm have put money into Medisafe, which is aiming to solve the problem of patients not adhering to their medication.
Freenome manages $65m series A
The disease detection technology developer has received cash from a consortium that included GV.
iGenetic Diagnostics detects $20m investment
The transaction was supported by Manipal Education and Medical Group and state-owned CDC Group.
Malin Corporation returned to back Xenex, which will use the cash to drive international expansion, recruitment, product development and scientific research.
Arrakis emerges with $38m series A
Pfizer and Celgene, as well as Osage University Partners and others, have backed a $38m series A round to help launch Arrakis Therapeutics.
Fusion puts together $25m series A
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC has led a series A round for newly launched, cancer-focused radiopharmaceutical startup Fusion Pharmaceuticals.
Media
Up Pictures documents $15m investment
Legend has led a series A round for the web TV and film studio, which is now valued at $200m.
ResearchGate opens to $52.6m series D
LVMH has taken part in a round for ResearchGate, a professional network that is aimed at the scientific community and also counts backers such Bill Gates among its shareholders.
Line, which already owned a 25% stake in the messaging service, has increased its shareholding to 48.6%.
Citi markets Tealium series E investment
Tealium has closed its series E round following a commitment from Citi Ventures, having previously raised a $35m initial tranche in September 2016.
Rockfish-backed MomentFeed has added $16.3m to its coffers, enabling it to develop new products, features and services.
Consumer
Dora’s Dream wakes up to $12m series A+
Legend Holdings and La Chapelle Fashion both injected cash into Dora’s Dream. Putting its total funding at $19m.
Didi Chuxing has returned to back a series D round for the bike sharing platform, which has now reached unicorn status.
L Catterton helps Getaway with $15m
LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton is putting $15m in strategic funding into Getaway.
Financial
Paytm E-Commerce collects $200m
The round, first rumoured a month ago, will be led by Alibaba with a $177m injection and value Paytm E-Commerce at $1bn.
Alphabet-backed lending platform Upstart has attracted Rakuten as a lead investor for its $32.5m series D round.
CampusLogic solves $10m series B
The company, backed by Great Lakes Higher Education, has collected $10m in series B funding.
Money Design cashes in on series C extension
The round has closed at $13.4m following an extension provided by Fenox Venture Capital, which has joined existing backers such as Nihon Kotsu, Recruit and Kyoto Bank.
Home Credit Group has led a $16m funding round for Nymbus, which provides core banking technology.
CreditEase Insurance Agency amasses $11m
IDG Capital has participated in an $11m funding round for CreditEase Insurance Agency, a subsidiary of CreditEase.
Monzo banks on Orange for $24.5m
Orange Digital Ventures has supported a $24.5m funding round ahead of a $3.1m equity crowdfunding campaign.
Energy and Natural Resources
Daimler has led a first close for ChargePoint’s latest funding round, which also included BMW and other existing investors.
Mercatus generates $16.8m in series B round
TPG has led the $5.1m second tranche of a series B round that includes Trepp, and which will support the energy asset management technology developer’s global growth.
Corporates help distribute $12m to Enbala
ABB has led a series B round for Enbala that also featured GE and National Grid.
Industrial
OneWeb to connect to Intelsat for $13bn
OneWeb is set to merge with its corporate venturing investor Intelsat in a $13bn deal, with SoftBank paying $1.7bn in return for a 39.9% in the combined entity.
C3Nano inks agreement for $15m series D
Nissha Printing, Nagase America and Hitachi Chemical all took part in the conductive ink and film developer’s latest round, bringing its total funding to $37m.
Transport
The round would value Lyft at $6bn to $7bn, and come just over a year after General Motors led a $1bn investment before making a bid to acquire the ride sharing app developer.
PSA Group and MAIF have supported an investment in TravelCar, which is set to expand into the US in April.
The self-driving technology developer has added $14m to its coffers in a round co-led by Legend Capital.
SoftBank has contributed to another funding round for Ola, which has seen its valuation drop by 30% from $5bn to $3.5bn.
Services
Investors share $14.5m with 5Lmeet
The space-sharing provider has attracted capital from GIC and Kaifeng Culture Tourism Investment Group.
IFC previously committed $10m to the round in January and has now been joined by investors including Sands Capital, which in turn has also promised $10m.
Delhivery coordinates $100m round
Fosun is in talks to contribute to a $100m funding round for Delhivery, the logistics service provider already backed by Times Group.
The hotel aggregation platform is in talks with the SoftBank Vision Fund for an investment that could range from $300m to $500m.