Corporate venturing deal net: 1-5 April 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 buy into ByFounders $112m debut fund
The venture firm has collected $112m for its Nordic and Baltic-focused fund, which counts Digital Garage and Danske Bank among its limited partners.
Okta verifies $50m corporate venturing fund
The identity verification software provider will invest up to $2m in each deal through its newly formed Okta Ventures fund, with Trusted Key its first portfolio company.
Vision Fund invites another $15bn
SoftBank Vision Fund is reportedly seeking $15bn as a top up in advance of a second iteration of the $98.6bn investment vehicle.
Mars Petcare finds Kinship with $100m fund
The pet food and care provider has formed an open innovation subsidiary, Kinship, which will oversee a $100m strategic investment fund.
Corporates enter Infinity for $120m fund
Gree Ventures and Miki have both contributed to a North Asia-focused venture capital fund that Infinity Ventures plans to close at $120m.
Dai-ichi dares to back EEI Fund
Dai-ichi Life has supplied $9m for the fund, which is targeting technologies such as renewable energy, electric vehicles and energy storage.
Corporates join Tribe Accelerator
BMW Group Asia, Intel and Nielsen have formed partnerships with Tribe Accelerator, which is focusing on distributed ledger startups.
WeWork launches food accelerator
The co-working space operator plans to invest $1m in about 10 food startups through its Food Labs accelerator.
Chevron Technology Ventures checks $90m for Fund VII
Energy company Chevron’s strategic investment arm recently passed its 20th anniversary and has launched its latest fund, which is sized at $90m.
People
Smilovitz snags NY Times promotion
New York Times has promoted its director of M&A and investments, Jacob Smilovitz, to executive director of corporate development and financial planning and analysis.
Gopinath and Yerkes go from SAP to new firm
Balaji Gopinath and Ron Yerkes, formerly global vice-president and director at SAP.IO respectively, have joined forces to form venture firm Twelve Venture Capital.
Sabas seeks out Centrica Ventures position
Marc Sabas has left his head of business development and partnerships position at Telefónica to accept a principal role at Centrica Ventures.
Keith to keep charge of Salesforce’s Australia fund
Salesforce Ventures has promoted principal Robert Keith to head of Australia, where he will oversee its newly launched Australia Trailblazer Fund.
Leite leaves CPFL for Votorantim
CPFL Energia’s strategy and innovation specialist Danilo Leite has been hired by peer Votorantim Energia as an innovation manager.
Desai departs New York-Presbyterian
Parth Desai has stood down as an investment manager at NewYork-Presbyterian Ventures to offer his healthcare business acumen to venture capital firm Flare Capital Partners.
EDP’s Vidigal veers to Deutsche Bank
EDP Ventures head Cassio Carvalho Pinto Vidigal has departed from the unit to lead Deutsche Bank’s global subsidiary coverage in Brazil.
Exits
NGM energises itself with $107m IPO
The biopharmaceutical developer floated at the top of its range and will secure $65.9m from existing backer Merck & Co through a private placement.
Citi Ventures has exited the mobile trading software provider in an acquisition by TradingView reportedly sized at less than $20m.
Ruhnn shows influence with $125m IPO
Alibaba-backed social influencer network Ruhnn floated in the middle of its range in the US, with Weibo buying $8m of shares.
Thoma Bravo fires off Mailgun acquisition
Thoma Bravo has bought a majority stake in the email automation tools provider, which spun out of cloud services firm Rackspace in 2017.
Alibaba assimilates Teambition
Alibaba has paid an undisclosed sum to acquire collaboration software tool developer Teambition, enabling Microsoft and Tencent to exit.
Slack sets NYSE for direct listing
B Capital has returned to reinvest in Ola-backed payment terminal supplier Mswipe in a round sized at $30m that is expected to fuel domestic growth.
Precision Bio hits public markets with $126m
The Baxter and Amgen-backed genome editing technology developer floated in the middle of its range and is now valued at more than $780m.
Life360 circles Australia for $100m IPO
The ADT, BMW and Duchossois Group-backed family tracking platform is reportedly looking at Australia for an initial public offering that could value it at $675m.
Aria Insights comes down to earth
The Motorola and UPS-backed drone manufacturer has shut down just two months after switching focus to a data-based business model.
NetMeds nets KiviHealth in acquisition deal
Claris Lifesciences has exited the online clinic management platform in a cash-and-share acquisition by NetMeds.
IT
Aqua Security acquires $62m in funding
The cloud application security technology provider has now raised more than $100m altogether, having secured cash in an M12-backed series C round.
Salesforce and SBI co-led a $50m round for the identity verification provider that included Microsoft and CreditEase, valuing it at about $250m.
Xiaoyang Edu chalks up $22m series B
New Oriental Education & Technology Group co-led the online education management platform’s series B round with China Growth Capital.
DocuSign helps Seal perform $15m funding trick
DocuSign has invested $15m in the contract management software provider, following a strategic partnership signed by the companies last year.
GV helps send $175m to Segment
The customer data technology provider has secured funding in a series D round co-led by existing backer GV at a $1.5bn valuation.
ProteanTecs prises $35m from investors
Electronics monitoring system developer ProteanTecs has now raised nearly $50m in two years, having completed a series B round featuring Intel Capital.
AI application platform developer SambaNova has raised $150m in a series B round led by Intel Capital that also featured existing investor GV.
Intel spreads $117m across 14 companies
Intel’s corporate venturing vehicle has announced participation in 14 funding deals and backed non-profit organisation HBCU.vc.
Orbbec makes ReadSense in series B round
The AI-equipped image verification technology developer has pulled in a nine-figure renminbi sum, in a round backed by corporate investor Orbecc.
Toast orders up $250m in series E funding
GV-backed restaurant management platform developer Toast is now valued at $2.7bn, having secured funding in a round co-led by TCV and Tiger Global Management.
Authine leans to series B round
Alibaba-backed software services provider Authine has secured $14.9m in a series B round led by Gaorong Capital.
Qualcomm and Inven Capital co-led a round that boosted the infrastructure-focused cybersecurity software provider’s total funding to $48m.
Health
Inscripta gets to next series C scene
Gene engineering tool provider Inscripta has grown its series C round to almost $106m, securing the extra capital from existing backers such as Mérieux Développement.
Nutrafol looks to grow with $35m
Unilever Ventures returned to participate in an L Catterton-led series B round that will fund the hair supplement developer’s marketing and research and development activities.
Aura to expand with $40m series D
Lundbeckfonden Ventures co-led ocular cancer therapy developer Aura’s series D round, which also featured Chiesi Ventures.
Fusion gets reaction in $105m series B
Varian led a round for the targeted cancer drug developer that included fellow existing investors including Johnson & Johnson and Pivotal BioVenture Partners.
China Pacific finds More in $74m round
The healthcare management software producer received $74m in a series C round backed by China Pacific Insurance and will use the cash for product development.
Karuna makes room for more series B cash
Sofinnova Investments added $12m to a series B round backed by PureTech Health and Pivotal BioVenture Partners that has now closed at $80m.
Mswipe settles latest round at $30m
B Capital has returned to reinvest in Ola-backed payment terminal supplier Mswipe in a round sized at $30m that is expected to fuel domestic growth.
The digital prescription platform’s series A round included McKesson Ventures, Novartis, Philips, ResMed, Providence Ventures, UPMC and Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
SpringWorks blossoms with $125m series B
Pfizer spinoff Springworks has followed up its $103m series A round two years back by adding $125m in a round that also included GlaxoSmithKline.
Waterdrop falls for Tencent in series B round
The healthcare insurance and financing platform secured $74.3m in a Tencent-led series B round that will fund hiring and AI technology development.
Corporate venturing units Kamet Ventures and Dell Technologies Capital both contributed to a round that will fund the growth of Ibex Medical Analytics’ team.
Prevail proceeds to $50m series B
AbbVie has contributed to a round that took the gene therapy developer’s total funding to $129m in approximately two years.
Consumer
NTT Docomo Ventures and Novel TMT invested in the inventory management technology provider as it gears up to commercially launch its first product.
1stdibs marks series D with $76m
Alibaba-backed luxury goods marketplace 1stdibs has gained Groupe Artémis as an investor in a round it said took its primary funding to $170m.
Sonae helps CB4 cement $16m series B
Sonae IM joined Octopus Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Pereg Ventures to lift retail management platform CB4’s overall funding to approximately $23m.
Alibaba is investing $50m in the grocery e-commerce platform at a $1.2bn valuation to retain its position as the company’s largest shareholder.
Financial
Bitmain drops funding into Liquid at unicorn valuation
Bitmain took part in the first tranche of an IDG Capital-led series C round that values the cryptocurrency trading platform at over $1bn.
Bill.com invoices investors for $88m
Cloud payment software producer Bill.com raised the cash at a valuation of more than $1bn, securing investments from Mastercard and Fleetcor in the process.
Mswipe settles latest round at $30m
B Capital has returned to reinvest in Ola-backed payment terminal supplier Mswipe in a round sized at $30m that is expected to fuel domestic growth.
Trading bourse SGX has picked up a 20% stake in foreign exchange trading platform BidFX, with the pair entering an alliance to support SGX trades using BidFX’s software.
Qupital collects $15m in series A funding
CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund joined existing investor Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund in business financing platform Qupital’s latest round.
MineralTree looks to grow with $50m
The First Data-backed payment automation software developer has notched up $50m in a Great Hill Partners-led round, boosting its overall funding to near $70m.
Ellevest sells corporates on $33m round
PayPal, Mastercard and existing investor Creditease Fintech Investment Fund helped provide $33m for the female-focused investment platform.
Rewire connects to banks in $12m round
BNP Paribas’ Opera Tech Ventures and Standard Bank have backed a series A round for remittance banking services provider Rewire, which plans to spend the cash on expansion and recruitment.
Energy and Natural Resources
TerViva turns to Evans for $20m
TerViva, which grows oil and protein-producing trees, has received series D funding from investors including existing strategic backer Evans Properties.
Industrial
Fast Radius accelerates for $48m series B
UPS has reinvested in additive manufacturing service provider Fast Radius, which will use the cash for hiring and product development.
Hearst goes to 3D Hubs in $18m series C
Hearst Ventures has come on board at 3D printing services platform 3D Hubs as part of a series C round that took its funding to almost $30m to date.
Transport
Hellobike enters new funding cycle
The bicycle rental service, which counts Ant Financial, Fosun and WM Motor among its investors, is said to be targeting $500m to $1bn in its next round.
Zoomcar revs up for $500m round
Existing investor Mahindra & Mahindra is reportedly in line to lead the car rental platform’s next round with an investment of between $300m and $400m.
Services
Tencent led the academic social network and research portal’s series C round, which brought its overall funding near the $35m mark.
Airbnb has confirmed an investment in the short-term accommodation platform reportedly sized at up to $200m, at a valuation substantially higher than $5bn.
Proxy unlocks series A capital
WeWork has backed Proxy in a $13.6m round after introducing the company’s workplace access control system at its New York and San Francisco offices.
Byju’s rises with another $31m
Tencent invested $6m as educational app developer Byju’s raised $31m to boost its overall funding to more than $820m.
WndrCo provides Tinkergarten with $21m to play with
The outdoor educational course provider plans to expand to additional cities using the investment from WndrCo, which took its total funding to almost $30m.