News round up 8 October 2018
Corporate venturing deal net: 1-5 October 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
ASR Insurances and KLP are among the limited partners in Forbion IV, which will invest in biopharmaceutical companies across Europe and North America.
People
Wesley Tang-Wymer has left SoftBank Investment Advisers for a role at Rucker Park Capital, which was formed by a fellow SoftBank alumnus.
WeWork keeps Keeton to head fund
WeWork’s head of M&A, Emily Keeton, will head up newly formed corporate venturing unit WeWork Creator Fund as managing director.
Brian Gallagher, Jr has left SR One after eight years as a partner, setting up a Boston office on the way, to join Abingworth.
Exits
Walmart fits in $100m Eloquii acquisition
Grace Beauty-backed plus-size clothing brand Eloquii has become the latest online fashion producer to be added to Walmart’s e-commerce assets.
Gamida goes for public markets
Cellular therapy developer Gamida Cell, which counts Novartis as its largest investor, has filed for a $69m initial public offering.
Merck & Co and Takeda are in line for exits when drug developer NGM Biopharmaceuticals lists on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The SIG China-backed mobile app developer raised $52.2m despite floating at the bottom of the IPO’s range.
Liulishuo has listed on the New York Stock Exchange following a $71.9m initial public offering that provided an exit to publishing house Hearst.
The Eli Lilly-backed immuno-oncology product developer floated at the top of its range, with Bluebird Bio investing $10m.
Funding Circle rings up $576m IPO
The lending platform’s existing shareholders, which include Rocket Internet, sold $184m in shares as part of the offering.
SurveyMonkey adds surplus to close IPO at $207m
The underwriters for the initial public offering have bought another $27m in shares in the Alphabet and Salesforce-backed online survey platform developer.
IT
Braze raises $80m in series E funding
Meritech Capital Partners led a round that valued the Citi Ventures-backed consumer engagement software provider at $850m.
SoftBank pays Heed with $35m investment
Heed, a joint venture developing audience analytics technology for sporting events, has received $35m in funding from SoftBank.
Ctera seats corporates at $30m series D
CTera Networks has now raised almost $100m altogether, after securing capital in a Red Dot-led round that included Cisco and SingTel Innov8.
Foursquare goes forth with $25m
Simon Ventures and Naver have joined USV to co-lead the $25m first tranche of the location services provider’s series F round on the way to a $33m close.
Snyk sneaks $22m in series B round
GV has invested in open-source software debugging platform Snyk, in a round that reportedly valued the company at about $100m.
Talkdesk gets $100m funding call
Viking Global Investors led a series B round that valued Salesforce Ventures-backed call centre software provider Talkdesk at more than $1bn.
Tanium secures $200m at $6.5bn valuation
Wellington Management led a $200m round that brought the Citi Ventures-backed enterprise cybersecurity software provider’s total funding to $780m.
Nozomi looks to Energize in $30m series C
Industrial cybersecurity software provider Nozomi Networks took its overall funding to almost $54m in a round featuring Invenergy-backed Energize.
Udesk works out series C funding
The customer service platform developer raised $43.5m in a Legend Capital-backed round that took its total funding to approximately $66m.
DarkTrace attracts $50m in series E funding
The SB Isat-backed cybersecurity technology developer increased its overall funding to $230m in a Vitruvian-led round that valued it at $1.65bn.
Forter courts Salesforce to raise $50m
The Salesforce-backed series D round will help e-commerce anti-fraud platform Forter beef up its research and development activities.
Instana inserts $30m in series C round
Meritech Capital led a $30m round for Codecentric spinoff Instana, increasing the app performance manager’s total funding to $57m.
Data.world records $12m in funding
The proceeds from the round, which was led by Workday Ventures and backed by Associated Press, will support the enterprise version of Data.world’s data collaboration platform.
Health
Owlstone Medical outdoes itself to raise $50m
Foxconn was among the investors in a $35m second tranche of a round also backed by Aviva Ventures which now stands at $50m.
Aohua says aloha to series D funding
Legend Capital returned to back a $43.7m round for endoscope producer Aohua, which will use the proceeds to expand internationally.
Minoryx mines corporates for series B cash
Roche Venture Fund and Chiesi Ventures returned for a $25m round that lifted the orphan disease therapy developer’s total funding to more than $51m.
VelosBio vets investors for $58m series A
Existing investor Takeda Ventures was among the participants in a round that valued the cancer therapy developer at approximately $100m.
JHL assimilates cash at $750m valuation
Cancer biosimilar developer JHL Biotech raised an undisclosed sum in a Sanofi-backed round as it prepares to re-list on a stock exchange, this time choosing Hong Kong.
KSQ takes $80m in series C round
Lilly Asia Ventures and existing backer Alexandria Real Estate Equities helped the cancer immunotherapy developer add $80m to the $76m it closed last year.
Immunotherapy developer Sutro Biopharma has floated on the Nasdaq Global Market, providing exits for Merck & Co, Celgene, Amgen and Eli Lilly.
Media
WndrCo falls for Infatuation in $30m deal
The Infatuation, an online restaurant media brand that also owns Zagat, has received $30m in funding from WndrCo as it prepares to expand into new cities.
Attn attends to series C with $15m
The short-form video producer has received $15m from existing investor Evolution Media as it prepares to grow its television content.
Consumer
Chunmi cooks up series C-plus round
The Xiaomi-backed rice cooker maker has secured a nine-figure renmini sum in a round that included NGP Capital.
Bloom & Wild blossoms with new financing
Fresh from leading the flower delivery service’s last round, Burda Principal Investments has come back for a $19.5m round that will fund entry into new markets.
Miniso minds cash reserves with $146m
Tencent joined Hillhouse Capital to make an equity investment in fast fashion retailer Miniso as the latter continues to expand internationally.
Seabuy sees Taofen8 in series A round
The cross-border e-commerce platform raised $14.6m in a Taofen8-led round that included Santuo Investment Management and Ningbo Municipal Government Angel Guidance Fund.
Bertelsmann India Investments co-led the online meat and fish merchant’s series C round, which included fellow CVC Sistema Asia.
Hopper steps into $100m series D round
Citi Ventures has joined several existing investors led by Omers Ventures for a round that valued travel booking platform Hopper at $750m.
Financial
GV pays another visit to Veem in $25m round
Existing backer GV returned to reinvest in cross-border payment platform Veem as part of a round led by Goldman Sachs.
Tencent joins Voyager Innovations in $175m deal
Voyager Innovations, a digital technology spinoff from telecommunications firm PLDT, is set to raise $175m in a round co-led by Tencent and KKR.
Industrial
Pivot Bio reaps $70m in series B funding
Monsanto-backed Pivot Bio has now raised a total of almost $87m and will use the latest funding to develop its second crop nutrition product.
Transport
M12 drives Netradyne’s series B to $21m
Reliance Industries returned to invest $8m in an M12-led round that took Netradyne’s funding to $37m in just over two years.
SoftBank tries to hail Grab for $500m investment
SoftBank is reportedly close to providing half of a $1bn round the on-demand ride platform is lining up, though it is unclear whether its other corporate backers will reinvest.
Services
Traveloka seeks $400m from fundraising journey
Travel booking platform Traveloka, which raised $350m from Expedia last year at a $2bn valuation, has reportedly entered talks with unnamed parties to raise a further $400m.
SoftBank considers $250m Delhivery funding package
SoftBank Vision Fund is exploring an investment of up to $250m in e-commerce logistics service Delhivery, which already counts Fosun and Times Internet as investors.
Cargo stocks up with new funding
Kellogg-backed in-car product sampling service Cargo has raised $22.5m according to a regulatory filing, nine months after closing its seed round.
Bellen sells investors on series C round
Laboratory services supplier Bellen Chemistry has followed a Legend Capital-backed round last year by raising a nine-figure renminbi sum.
Shopal shuts series B-plus round
The luxury branding services provider raised $29.2m in a round led by Youngor Group that included existing investor Cathay Capital Private Equity.
Vision Fund plots course to Zuoyebang investment
SoftBank Vision Fund is in discussions to invest some $500m in the online educational assistance platform, which was spun off from Baidu three years ago.
Pymetrics picks out corporates to raise $40m
Recruitment analytics technology provider Pymetrics has closed a series B round featuring Salesforce Ventures and returning investor Workday Ventures.
Byju’s treasures $100m investment
General Atlantic India has acquired a 5% stake in Tencent-backed Byju’s in return for a $100m commitment that pushed the education services provider’s valuation to $2bn.