Corporate venturing deal net: 11-15 February 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
Lilly Asia Ventures lifts $40m for fifth fund
Lilly Asia Ventures has secured a $40m commitment for its fifth biosciences fund, LAV Biosciences, from San Francisco’s city and county pension fund.
Corporates board space accelerator
Lockheed Martin, SAIC and Maxar Technologies have all become sponsors of a new space-focused accelerator targeting industries including communications, energy and robotics.
MML seeks corporate commitments for second fund
The Irish private equity investor is reportedly approaching AIG, Goldpoint and Cigna, all of which backed the firm’s debut vehicle in 2013, for commitments to its Fund II.
JustCo works with Trive to launch incubator
Trive Ventures and the co-working office space operator have launched a Singapore-based incubator to provide working support and space for startups.
Evonik catalyses $170m second fund
The chemicals producer now has a total of more than $280m under management for its corporate venturing activities, having launched its first fund six years ago.
Armilar accepts Semapa and KNP for fifth fund
The corporate venturing units of Semapa and KPN have contributed to Armilar’s TechTransfer Fund, which has raised almost $51m on its way to a target of about $68m.
AirAsia invites passengers on to investment fund
The airline operator’s Redbeat Ventures unit is seeking limited partners for a corporate venturing fund that will be anchored by the corporate.
Mandiri Capital makes for external backers
Bank Mandiri’s corporate venturing unit is seeking $50m to $100m for a second fund and is targeting LPs outside the company.
Krungsri Finnovate banks on another $30m
Krungsri Finnovate, formed by the eponymous Thai bank in mid-2017, could be doubled in size to $60m as it looks to increase the size of its investments.
The Association picks its 2019 winners
Trade body Association of International Certified Professional Accountants has selected fintech startups Gappify, Client Hub and Dryrun as winners in its 2019 accelerator cohort.
People
Groner goes to Koch Disruptive Technologies
Eli Groner, former director-general at the office of the prime minister of Israel, has been hired by Koch Disruptive Technologies as an Israel-based managing director.
Straub gets the rub at Bioventure
Siemens Technology Accelerator venture director Nico Straub has taken a partner position at Bioventure Consulting after nearly six years at the unit.
Siegel seeks out board position at Illumina
GE’s chief innovation officer and GE Ventures’ CEO, Sue Siegel, has been appointed by Illumina to sit on its board of directors.
Taber takes up DataRobot offer
Intel Capital managing director Igor Taber has left the chipmaker’s corporate venture capital unit to join portfolio company DataRobot as senior vice-president of corporate development and strategy.
David Schenkein is GV’s latest general partner and will focus on life sciences while retaining a chairman position at oncology therapy developer Agios Pharmaceuticals.
Exits
Tencent-backed Douyu has confidentially filed to go public in the US, following another Chinese livestreaming platform, Huya, which floated last year.
Corporate venturing unit GM Ventures is set to exit high-definition mapping software provider Ushr in an acquisition by Dynamic Map Platform.
Comcast and Grace Beauty-backed interactive exercise platform Peloton Interactive is interviewing banks for an offering slated for the second half of 2019.
Match Group, which acquired a 51% stake in CAA-backed dating app Hinge last summer, has purchased the remaining shares in the business.
Harpoon snags public markets listing
The Taiho and Eli Lilly-backed immunotherapy developer floated in the middle of its range to raise $75.6m, valuing it at about $334m.
Stealth to make stock market appearance
Nan Fung-backed biopharmaceutical company Stealth Bio has filed for an IPO that could bring in almost $87m if it floats at the top of the range.
Euclid goes to WeWork in acquisition
Cox Enterprises, Groupe Arnault and Novel have achieved an exit as location analytics platform Euclid was acquired by WeWork for an undisclosed sum.
Mol, DeNA and Digital Garage are exiting the social news platform through an acquisition by Scroll, which will use it to test consumers’ interest in content.
IT
Corporates chip into AIStorm’s series A round
Egis Technology, TowerJazz, Meyer Corporation and Linear Dimensions have provided $13.2m for AI-in-sensor processor developer AIStorm.
Bloomberg-backed data analytics platform InfluxData has completed a $60m series D round led by Norwest Venture Partners, almost doubling its overall funding in the process.
Second Measure results in $20m funding solution
Citi Ventures took part in the consumer data analytics software provider’s series A round, which will support expansion, hiring and product innovation.
Mode pinpoints REV for $23m series C
Corporate venturing unit REV Venture Partners returned for a series C round that took the total raised by the data collaboration platform developer to $50m.
Stratifyd rounds up series B to $29m
The AI-based customer analytics software developer, which counts Tencent as an investor, has increased its series B round to $29m and its overall funding to almost $40m.
Cybersecurity software producer Illumio, which counts Juniper Networks among its backers, has now raised a total of more than $333m from five rounds.
Cisco hits Gong in $40m series B
Existing investor Cisco chipped in for a series B round that boosted sales data platform Gong.io’s overall funding to $68m.
Health
Axovant Sciences has spun out its small molecule team into a startup called Arvelle, which will develop an anti-epileptic drug after raising $100m in external funding.
Burning Rock fires up $126m series C
Lilly Asia Ventures had contributed to cancer diagnostics technology provider Burning Rock’s series C round, which was led by GIC.
Novartis and Johnson & Johnson have contributed to a series A round for Vor Biopharma, an oncology drug developer co-founded by PureTech Health.
RapidDeploy gets $12m funding dispatch
Samsung Next and GreatPoint Ventures supplied series A capital for emergency response software provider RapidDeploy, which recently moved from South Africa to the US.
Ascletis helps 3-V ascend to series E
Ascletis has led new strategic partner 3-V Biosciences’ $18m series E round, which included existing investors New Enterprise Associates and Kleiner Perkins.
Haihe Biopharma greets corporates to raise cash
CSPC Pharmaceutical Group and Daehwa Pharmaceutical both invested in a round that will be used to take Haihe’s anti-tumour therapies further down the clinical path.
Xiaomi-backed smart toothbrush producer Soocas Shenzhen Technology has received almost $30m from investors including Fosun-founded Kinzon Capital.
The General Electric-backed medical device developer has reached a first close of a $15m round that was led by Cormorant and backed by Lilly Asia Ventures.
UL takes a risk on KenSci in $22m round
UL Ventures’ parent company will offer assistance in growth and compliance to the healthcare risk assessment platform developer, which has just raised series B funding.
HiberCell absorbs series A funding
The metastatic cancer drug developer has secured $60.8m from investors including Celgene and the WuXi AppTec-backed 6 Dimensions Capital.
Media
Tencent led a round that valued the Condé Nast-backed online social forum at $3bn post-money as it seeks to boost its advertising revenue.
Consumer
The SoftBank-backed food delivery service is seeking funding at a valuation above $6bn, having already raised $785m in the past year.
Zilingo struts away with $226m
The fashion e-commerce platform is reportedly valued at $970m following a series D round featuring existing corporate investor Burda Principal Investments.
Financial
Stripe lines Rapyd’s pockets in $40m round
Stripe and General Catalyst co-led the series B round, which reportedly increased the finance management software developer’s total funding to $60m.
Lunar Way points path to funding
The Nykredit-backed personal banking app has raised $14.7m in a Seed Capital-led round that included Greyhound Capital and Socii .
Goldman Sachs has led the business financial management platform’s $44.8m series C round, which included existing investors Experian and CreditEase’s corporate venturing units.
Tradeplus24 raids corporates for $119m
Six Fintech Ventures led a series A round consisting of debt and equity that included fellow corporate venturing units Berliner Volksbank Ventures and Credit Suisse Entrepreneur Capital.
Barclays helps sink $13m into Bink
Bink, the creator of a platform that links loyalty schemes to customers’ bank accounts, has secured funding in an oversubscribed round led by Barclays.
Energy and Natural Resources
Mistubishi energises Ovo with seven-figure investment
The conglomerate has paid approximately $256m for a 20% stake in smart energy distributor and technology provider Ovo Energy.
Industrial
Konux tracks Alibaba for $33m series B
Alibaba has participated in a $13m extension that adds to the $20m the AI-based rail infrastructure sensor provider collected last April.
Arm and Avery Dennison stay Pragmatic
The flexible electronics maker once known as Pragmatic Printing has retained the interest of Avery Dennison, Arm and CIC in a $16.7m round that took its total funding to $46.8m.
Transport
Go-Jek is seeking bankers to work on a round already backed by JD.com, Google and Tencent that it now aims to close at $3bn.
Didi Chuxing has invested $100m in the hotel platform, allowing Oyo to close a $1bn round led by SoftBank Vision Fund and backed by Grab.
GM makes way to Wejo with $25m
General Motors has reportedly purchased a 35% stake in the automotive data sharing platform through a cash and data deal that valued it at $275m.
Sina rides TuSimple to $95m series D
Existing backer Sina returned a second time to lead a $95m series D round for autonomous truck developer TuSimple, which has now raised a total of $178m from investors also including Nvidia.
May Mobility makes $22m in series A
LG Technology Ventures, BMW i Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures have contributed to a $22m round that increased the shuttle bus provider’s total funding to $37m.
Rivian revs up for billion-dollar valuation
The plug-in electric truck developer is reportedly in negotiations with Amazon and General Motors over a round that would value it at $1bn to $2bn.
Mancando assembles $25m series A round
Legend Capital has contributed to a $25m series A round for Mancando, which provides supply chain services for the automotive parts industry.
Mancando assembles $25m series A round
Legend Capital has contributed to a $25m series A round for Mancando, which provides supply chain services for the automotive parts industry.
SoftBank Vision Fund delivers $940m to Nuro
Nuro has already begun trialling its self-driving delivery vehicle and will use the funding to move into new cities and further develop the technology.
Services
Flexport courts SoftBank for $500m round
SoftBank is reportedly in talks to lead a $500m round for shipping services platform Flexport at a possible valuation of $3bn.