Corporate venturing deal net: 24 December 2018-4 January 2019
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Corporates help ATM Capital get $200m deposit
Venture firm ATM Capital has raised $200m for a first close anchored by 58.com and the Alibaba-headed Electronic World Trade Platform.
SoftBank reshuffles its CVC activities in Asia
SoftBank Ventures Korea has relaunched as SoftBank Ventures Asia with an expanded remit that will take in the US and Europe as well as the whole of Asia.
People
GV brings in Kapeller to target biotech
Alphabet subsidiary GV has bolstered its biotech focus by bringing in Rosana Kapeller as an entrepreneur-in-residence and David Reshef as venture partner.
Zeaske seeks out Echo Health position
GE Ventures’ director of healthcare investments, Jessica Zeaske, has left for a partner role at corporate-backed investment vehicle Echo Health Ventures.
Exits
BMS and Celgene combine in $74bn deal
Bristol-Myers Squibb is set to buy peer Celgene in a cash-and-stock deal that will bring together two healthcare corporate venturing portfolios.
Tencent owns a 38% stake in the online brokerage, which has filed to go public in the US with a smaller target than previously reported.
The immuno-oncology drug developer has filed for an $86.5m offering, having raised more than $115m in equity funding from investors including Taiho and Eli Lilly.
Corel purchases Parallels as corporates exit
Cisco and Ingram Micro are among the investors in virtualisation software producer Parallels, which has been acquired by Corel for an undisclosed sum.
Consensys to disperse its startups
The blockchain software producer is planning to spin out most of its incubator startups as its Consensys Labs unit refocuses on direct investments.
IT
Light Theto senses corporates for series B round
Existing backers Baidu Ventures and Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group contributed to a $14.5m round that will fund Light Theto’s R&D activities.
NuoDB nets $30m in new funding
The database software provider reportedly boosted its total funding to $95m in a Temenos-led round that included existing investor Dassault Systèmes.
SonicAI tunes in to $29m series B
The Baidu-backed acoustics technology developer has raised money in an Addor Capital-led round that reportedly boosted its overall funding to $86m.
Deutsche Flugsicherung and Terra Drone were among the investors in a $16.6m round for Unifly, the creator of a drone-traffic management platform.
The AI-powered video analytics technology producer, which is backed by Telstra, EMC, Acer and HTC, has raised $15m to fuel an expansion into fintech.
NetEase tops up Second Dinner with $30m
NetEase has invested $30m in the game studio that will be used to hire staff and develop a debut game that will be released in partnership with Marvel.
Health
HJB finds MabSpace in merger deal
Eli Lilly-backed biotech companies HJB and MabSpace have agreed to merge into a newly formed business called Transcenta.
Alphabet spinoff Verily gets $1bn
Silver Lake and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan backed a round that will fund acquisitions for Verily as well as the expansion of its strategic partnerships.
Boston Scientific picks up Millipede for $325m
Boston Scientific has exercised its option to wholly acquire Millipede, having purchased a $90m stake in the mitral regurgitation treatment device maker last year.
Thousand Oaks to grow with $45m
The series A capital will support construction of a cellular production plant in China for the pharmaceutical services provider.
Martin Bauer’s PRM Holdings unit has contributed to a round that will help Syqe expand use of its medical cannabis inhaler to other substances.
Astellas chipped in as UC Berkeley spinout Iota Biosciences captured $15m in a series A round that will fund the entry of its neural dust technology into preclinical testing.
Itochu kicks off Promethera’s series D round
Promethera Biosciences has received $11.3m in series D funding from Itochu and $16.6m in a convertible debt round backed by Sosei.
The blood-testing device producer, which counts Access Industries and Haisco as investors, has added $28m to its coffers.
Vedanta steadies $27m series C
Bristol-Myers Squibb and PureTech Health both backed a round that followed the $50m that PureTech spinoff Vedanta secured in 2016.
Antengene generates $120m in series B round
Celgene, Taikang and WuXi AppTec have all taken part in a series B round for Antengene, which is working on treatments for cancers with a focus on Southeast and East Asia.
iThera recalibrates series C round
The tissue-modelling technology developer has expanded its Osram-backed series C round to $10.3m with cash from Occident Ventures, Falk Strascheg Holding and BayBG.
Inscripta engineers $30m series C extension
Existing investors including Institut Mérieux have added $30m to the $55.5m in series C funding secured by the gene-editing technology developer in March.
Media
Following reports last month that Alphabet spinout Niantic was looking to secure $200m, the augmented reality game developer has secured $190m.
Consumer
Linlinyi links to Suning in $30m series A
A subsidiary of Suning has backed the community e-commerce platform’s series A round, with the proceeds to fund geographic expansion and enhancement of its supply chain.
Zomato readies billion-dollar order
Ant Financial is set to lead a round that could value online restaurant listings and ordering platform Zomato at $3bn, while SoftBank looks to rival Swiggy.
Dolls Kill rolls to new funding
The Novel TMT Ventures-backed online boutique has raised $10.7m of a round slated to close at $15m according to a securities filing.
The beverage producer and retailer was valued at a reported $60m in a seed round backed by Coca-Cola’s Venturing & Emerging Brands vehicle.
Financial
ABC Technology assembles $30m round
The financial analysis software provider, which counts SIG as an investor, has secured series B funding to take its overall funding to date to $60m.
Singapore Life attracts $20m from Aflac
Aflac has invested $20m in the life insurance portal in connection with a reinsurance services agreement, following a $50m series A round in 2017.
Bakkt attracts corporates for nine-figure round
Bakkt, a digital asset exchange formed by Intercontinental Exchange, received approximately $183m from investors including Microsoft, PayU and Boston Consulting Group.
Hello TransTech greets Ant Financial in $582m round
Hellobike owner Hello TransTech has defied difficulties in the bicycle rental sector to raise $582m in a round co-led by existing investor Ant Financial.
Energy and Natural Resources
Malta stores $26m in series A funding
Concord New Energy and Alfa Laval have both invested in Alphabet spinout Malta, which is working on electrothermal energy storage systems for the grid.
Transport
Youche Yihou drives away with $29m
Existing investor Tencent returned in a $29.1m round for automotive media platform Youche Yihou, which also counts BlueFocus among its earlier investors.
CarDekho cashes in with $110m series C
Three months after raising an initial $75m in series C funding, CarDekho has closed the CapitalG-backed round at $110m.
Blackbuck racks up new funding
The Flipkart-backed shipping services platform has raised additional capital from Accel and Sands Capital, taking its total funding to approximately $141m.
Grab takes a stab at raising $5bn
Interest from SoftBank Vision Fund has reportedly encouraged the ride hailing service to consider bumping up its series H round from $3bn to $5bn.
HoloMatic parks series A funding
The AI-powered driverless vehicle technology developer received tens of millions of US dollars in the Sequoia-led round, which includes re-ups from Bertelsmann and NavInfo.
Services
FloWater mixes with Bluewater for $15m
The water dispenser provider has received $15m in funding from Bluewater, which manufactures water purification products.
Toreta tables NTT Docomo funding
The restaurant reservation software provider, received $27.2m from NTT Docomo which, like Salesforce, Itochu and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, is an existing investor.