Weekly corporate venturing deal net 2 – 6 October 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
SoftBank targets $300bn in asset management activities
The corporate, which plans to close its Vision Fund at $100bn by the end of 2017, is reportedly considering forming a $300bn unit that will incorporate the fund.
Shell Technology Ventures shuttles to China
Shell’s corporate venturing unit has chosen Shanghai as the location for its sixth office, enabling it to access a market it views as “exploding”.
The Indonesia-based fund, formed by telecom companies SoftBank and Indosat in 2014, has invested 80% of its $50m but has no plans to raise more capital.
Union Square Hospitality serves up $200m fund
The restaurant group has closed an oversubscribed fund that included commitments from external investors and will focus on companies in the hospitality sector.
Panasonic commits to Lai’s Conductive
Intel Capital alumnus Carey Lai, who will speak at this month’s Global Corporate Venturing Synergize conference, has formed a VC firm called Conductive Capital.
Salesforce sets up $50m impact investment fund
Salesforce Impact Fund will invest in companies using its parent’s technology to address issues in equality, sustainability, workforce development and the social sector.
6 Dimensions seeks $450m from first fund
The firm, launched in May by WuXi Healthcare Ventures and Frontline BioVentures, is looking to raise $450m for its first US fund, according to a regulatory filing.
GE to anchor African healthcare fund
GE Healthcare has agreed to be the anchor investor in the $200m Rx Healthcare Fund, which will back companies that can help improve healthcare in Africa.
People
Domingo warms up with Spice ICO
Carlos Domingo, formerly chief new business and innovation officer for Du, left last month to co-found Spice Venture Capital, which is using an ICO to raise capital.
Khatri moves to investor at J&J
Ajay Khatri has been promoted to an investor position at Johnson and Johnson Innovation – JJDC, having previously been a senior finance manager at its parent group.
Bodas bids goodbye to Amex to join Propel
Rohit Bodas has departed from his partner position at American Express Ventures and will take the same role at BBVA-backed VC firm Propel Venture Partners.
Dewost said: “With Leonard, Vinci is offering me a chance to contribute to the digital transformation of durable structures and move from bytes to concrete.
Graillot leaves Axa for Astorya
Florian Graillot has left Axa Strategic Ventures to form an insurance-focused venture firm called Astorya.vc, the same month as colleague Minh Tran departed.
Laura Bond, formerly senior innovation partnerships manager at Alliance Boots, has moved to Accelerated Digital Ventures where she will be investment lead for venture partnerships.
Barrett bids hello to Frazier Healthcare
Mark Barrett, who has held business development roles at Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi Genzyme, has taken an entrepreneur-in-residence position at Frazier Healthcare Partners.
Renard finds a foxhole away from Western Digital
Western Digital Capital director Aymerik Renard has departed to join an emerging venture capital player.
Renard becomes a member of Hardware Club
Ex-Western Digital Capital director Aymerik Renard has joined VC firm Hardware Club, which reached a $28m first close of its fund in June, as a general partner.
Tudor enters new period at Centrica
Jonathan Tudor, formerly of Castrol InnoVentures and BP Ventures, has accepted an offer to join Centrica Innovations.
Exits
Deutsche Bahn and General Motors were among the existing investors as Daimler paid an undisclosed amount to acquire ride sharing platform Flinc.
The underwriters for the corporate-backed television subscription platform’s IPO have fully exercised the over-allotment option.
Body Labs achieves acquisition result
Intel Capital has exited 3D body scanner developer Body Labs in an acquisition by Amazon reportedly sized at about $70m.
StackCommerce makes Joyus acquisition
Time Warner has exited sponsored video producer Joyus in an acquisition by StackCommerce reportedly sized at less than $50m.
Apama swings to Boston Scientific in $300m deal
Ascension Health is set to exit medical device maker Apama Medical, which has agreed to an acquisition by Boston Scientific for up to $300m.
ForeScout tracks a path to public markets
The network cybersecurity software provider, valued at $1bn as of 2015, has filed for a $100m IPO that will allow Intel Capital and Itochu to exit.
MediaTek returns Spice Digital stake for loss
Spice Mobility will pay $5.25m for the 10.8% stake in mobile services provider Spice Digital acquired by fabless semiconductor provider MediaTek in 2011 for $20m.
Money Forward pushes to $25m IPO
The Japan-based mobile accounting software provider has floated in an offering that valued it at more than $500m, giving exits to a host of corporate investors.
Thomas H. Lee moves into Ten-X
The private equity firm has acquired a majority stake in online property marketplace Ten-X at a $1.6bn valuation, $400m more than when CapitalG invested in 2014.
Rhythm Pharmaceuticals rides to $120m IPO
The Pfizer and Ipsen-backed metabolic disorder drug developer floated above its range and saw its share price rise more than 75% on its first day of trading.
IT
Comcast goes back to Eden in $10m round
Comcast Ventures, which backed office management services marketplace Eden at seed stage, has returned for a series A round that will support growth and hiring.
MariaDB prepares to index $27m in investment
Alibaba is set to lead a funding round in database technology developer MariaDB, whose existing shareholders include Intel Capital.
Dialpad’s series C talks lift round to $52m
The enterprise communication platform has raised $17m from investors including GV, a participant in the round’s 2015 first tranche, which also featured SoftBank.
Featurespace makes room for new capital
Worldpay took part in a $21.7m Highland Europe-led round that will support the behavioural analytics platform’s international expansion.
Legal & General puts cash into SalaryFinance
The insurance firm, which formed a fintech division in July, has co-led a $52.3m round for SalaryFinance, which provides software that boosts employee financial health.
Seven corporates, including returning investors GE, Saudi Aramco, Robert Bosch and Dell, have contributed to the data analytics software developer’s series B round.
AtScale measures out $25m in series C cash
The big data-equipped business intelligence software provider has now raised $45m in total, securing new funding in a UMC Capital and Comcast Ventures-backed round.
Skydisc senses success in series A
Nippon Life and Kaga were among the participants in a $6.5m round for connected sensor technology developer Skydisc, which will use the cash for hiring.
Health
Cardinal Analytx assesses series A funding
Health insurer Premera Blue Cross has backed a $6.1m series A round for Cardinal Analytx, developer of technology that calculates the potential risk of new policy buyers.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities has contributed to a $76m round for KSQ, which is developing genomics-focused oncology and immunology drugs.
AbbVie Ventures has participated in a $20m round that will support nanotechnology drug developer Exicure’s reverse merger with a shell company.
Corporates inject series A capital in Thermalin
Insulin developer Thermalin has raised an undisclosed sum from investors including Sanofi and JSR, and plans to close the round at $17.5m.
Magenta Medical colours in $15m series B
Magenta, the developer of a heart failure treatment device, has added an Abiomed-backed series B round to the $4m series A it raised five years ago.
Evotec executes Exscientia deal
Evotec has invested $17.7m in Exscientia, becoming the first strategic shareholder in the drug discovery spinout, which is based on research at University of Dundee.
VoxelCloud takes $15m in Tencent-led round
Tencent led the medical imaging startup’s series A+ round, which increased its overall funding to almost $29m.
Immatics develops $58m series E
Amgen has joined a consortium of existing investors to provide $58m in funding to Immatics, a cancer immunotherapy developer spun out from University of Tübingen.
Palleon pals with corporates for series A
SR One, where the cancer drug developer was incubated, joined fellow corporate venturing units AbbVie Ventures, Pfizer Ventures and Takeda Ventures for a $47.6m round.
Merck visits Visterra to help close series C
Merck & Co and Serum Institute of India are among the investors in Visterra’s series C round, which has now closed at $46.7m following a $23.6m second tranche.
Corporates find Harmony in $270m round
Novo and Nan Fung Life Sciences are among the investors as Harmony Biosciences, which focuses on central nervous system disorders.
Altibbi gets $6.5m cash injection
The digital health platform has raised $6.5m in a round backed by Al Rashed and Sons unit Rimco Investments, and will use the funding for regional expansion.
Media
Yitiao screens investors for $40m series C
The SIG-backed lifestyle media and e-commerce brand has raised $40m in a round co-led by China Broadband Capital and Ocean Link.
ShareChat calls on Xiaomi for $15m round
Smartphone maker Xiaomi and venture firm Shunwei Capital have signed a term sheet to co-lead a series B round that will value the social media app developer at up to $70m.
Cloud9 trains for $25m investment
The esports company, backed by FunPlus and United Talent Agency, has secured $19.7m out of a targeted $25m in funding.
GV lifts Anchor in $10m series A
Podcasting app developer Anchor has closed a $10m series A round led by GV that was also backed by existing investor Chernin Group.
Macro looks to maximise $150m investment
MNM Creative contributed to a the $150m in debt and equity raised by Macro, which will use it to fund the production of four to six television and movie projects a year.
YourStory gets to new chapter with $6m
The media platform, which covers India’s startup ecosystem, has raised $6m in a round that included existing investor Qualcomm Ventures.
Consumer
Silk adds another $11m to series A
Skincare brand Silk Therapeutics has secured $11m in series A3 funding, raising capital from Kraft Group and Lear Corporation among others.
Secret Escapes schedules $111m series D
GV-backed online travel marketplace Secret Escapes has collected $111m in equity and debt financing from investors including Singapore state-owned Temasek.
Souqalmal sucks up series B funding
UK-based GoCompare has made its first strategic investment outside its home country, in a $14.5m round for Middle East price comparison platform Souqalmal.
Nissay Capital funds fashionable Lifestyle
Nippon Life-backed Nissay Capital has returned to back a $6.6m round for Lifestyle Design, the operator of custom fashion e-commerce platform LaFabric.
Financial
A-Cap supplies funding cover for Ensurem
The online insurance platform will receive a $12.3m investment as part of a collaboration partnership with insurance holding company A-Cap.
Rakuten helps present PremFina with $36m
Insurance financing platform PremFina has raised $36m in debt and equity in a round co-led by Rakuten Capital and Draper Esprit.
Energy and Natural Resources
Phytech harvests $11m in series B round
Internet company Tencent has led an $11m series B round for digital farming platform Phytech that included agribusiness Syngenta.
Angaza powers up series B round
Salesforce Ventures participated in a $10.5m round for off-grid solar system producer’s Angaza, taking its overall funding to more than $16m.
Industrial
Foxconn has contributed to a $20m round for robotic arm technology developer Kinova that was led by BDC Capital.
Transport
On-demand ride service Grab has been revealed to have been a contributor to the $45m in series B funding bicycle rental network oBike raised in August.
Drive.ai gets a Grab in $15m round
Grab joined undisclosed others to invest $15m in Drive.ai, a developer of AI software for driverless cars, bringing its total funding up to $77m.
Ola gets nearer to $2bn series G close
SoftBank is reportedly set to add funding to a round that will include a $400m investment by Tencent that has already been agreed.
Uber approves billion-dollar SoftBank investment
The ride hailing service’s board of directors has given the go-ahead to a SoftBank investment sized between $1bn and $1.25bn at a $69bn valuation.
The ride hailing platform aims to relaunch as a chauffeur service with $11.8m in funding, following a ruling in April that declared the company an illegal taxi service.
Services
Investors hand series B funding to Glovo
Glovo has raised series B capital from a consortium that included Rakuten, enabling the delivery network operator to bolster its international expansion efforts.
Rakuten helps deliver series B for Glovo
On-demand delivery platform Glovo has confirmed a $35.2m series B round co-led by Rakuten Capital that took its total funding to approximately $43m.
Enevo collects $12m in new round
The Foxconn-backed municipal waste management software provider has raised $12m in a round led by Lifeline Ventures that boosted its total funding to more than $30m.
Urgent.ly flags down corporates for $10m series B
American Tire Distributors joined existing investors Verizon Ventures and Forté Ventures to take the digital roadside assistance service’s total funding to almost $19m.
AVP takes care of UrbanSitter in $17m series C
Childcare service provider UrbanSitter took its overall funding to $40m with a round led by the corporate-affiliated Advance Venture Partners.