Corporate venturing deal net: 22-26 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
Corporates board Skydeck initiative
UC Berkeley’s Skydeck accelerator has launched a semiconductor-focused scheme in partnership with strategic backers SiFive, Cadence and TSMC.
Exits
Tuanche starts engine on $150m IPO
Bertelsmann Asia Investments owns almost 10% of the Chinese automotive marketplace, which has filed to raise up to $150m in a US offering.
Dome9 reaches Check Point in $175m acquisition
Cloud security software provider Dome9 has been acquired by Check Point for $175m plus stock and options, following $29m in funding from investors including SoftBank.
Innovent enters public markets with $421m IPO
Legend Holdings, Eli Lilly, Ping An, China Life and Taikang-backed Innovent Biologics priced its shares near the top of the range of to raise $421m.
Cerevel sets pace with $350m round
Cloudflare, which has raised more than $180m from investors including Microsoft, Baidu, Qualcomm Ventures and GV, could command a $3.5bn valuation in the offering.
Ant Financial backs StoneCo on way to $1.1bn IPO
Payment technology provider StoneCo will raise about $1.1bn if it floats at the top of its range, while Ant Financial is investing $100m through a private placement.
Tongcheng-eLong journeys towards $1bn IPO
The online travel agency is reportedly seeking $1bn from an initial public offering in Hong Kong that would provide exits to Tencent, Ctrip and Dalian Wanda.
PhaseBio finds $46m in initial public offering
Orphan disease drug developer PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, which counts Johnson & Johnson, Astellas and AstraZeneca as investors, cut the price of its shares sharply pre-offering.
CrowdStrike considers 2019 IPO
The endpoint security software producer has hired Goldman Sachs for an initial public offering that would enable Alphabet, Rackspace and Telstra to exit.
Revolution acquires Warp Drive to accelerate progress
Warp Drive Bio, the genomic medicine developer co-founded by Sanofi, has agreed to an all-share acquisition by Revolution Medicines.
IT
Team8 attracts more corporates to raise $85m
Walmart, Airbus, Softbank, Moody’s, Dimension Data, Nokia, Munich Re, Scotiabank, Barclays, M12 and Cisco Investments have all backed the cybersecurity company builder.
Terminus takes $173m in SenseTime-backed round
SenseTime will provide technology assistance as well as capital, having invested in IoT and AI technology provider Terminus Technologies’ latest round.
Datarobot gets $100m funding upgrade
Meritech Capital and Sapphire Ventures led the machine learning technology provider’s series D round, which did not include existing corporate investors Intel, Recruit and New York Life.
Microsoft returns to WhiteSource for $35m round
Open-source cybersecurity software provider WhiteSource has raised cash in a series C round led by Susquehanna Growth Equity that included Microsoft’s M12 unit.
Health
Sanofi sends Enable Injections part way to $50m
The drug injection device developer has reached the first close of a $50m round, with Sanofi leading the tranche and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Cleveland Clinic also investing.
Stoke sticks another $90m in its wallet
Alexandria Venture Investments invested in the genetic drug developer, which completed a series B round that followed a $40m series A in January.
Scythian Biosciences is investing $88m directly in Verano and will sell its subsidiary 3 Boys Farm to the cannabis producer in return for another $100m worth of shares.
Investors pump $20m into Gauss
Gauss Surgical has received series C funding from SoftBank and eight healthcare providers including Northwell Health, OSF Healthcare and Providence Healthcare.
Qpex Biopharma, which was spun off to develop The Medicines Company’s anti-infective drug assets, has received $33m in its series A round.
Cerevel sets pace with $350m round
Pfizer has joined forces with Bain Capital to establish Cerevel Therapeutics, which has secured $350m in funding to target central nervous system disorders.
Aledade adds $23m to latest round
GV-backed care manager Aledade has doubled the size of its latest funding round to $46m and increased its overall funding to $100m.
Corporates hit Click in $19m round
Drug developers Sanofi and Hikma both contributed to a funding round for health management app developer Click Therapeutics to bring its total financing to more than $26m.
TP Therapeutics tops series C with $80m
The cancer therapy developer has raised $80m in a mezzanine round that came almost 18 months after its series C, with Lilly Asia Ventures and SR One backing both rounds.
CuraSen lures Johnson & Johnson to series A
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC was among the investors in CuraSen Therapeutics’ $54.5m series A round, which was led by New Leaf Venture Partners.
Media
Tastemade cooks up $35m in funding
Amazon and existing backer Comcast both invested in a round that boosted lifestyle media platform Tastemade’s total funding to $115m.
Consumer
August Capital led a $40m funding round for e-commerce network Shoprunner that came four years after a reported $206m round led by Alibaba.
Chefs Plate reaches HelloFresh’s table
Tengelmann-backed Emil Capital will exit meal kit service Chefs Plate in an acquisition by HelloFresh sized in the mid-eight figures.
Kite Hill consumes $40m in 301-led round
The plant-based food producer has completed a round led by General Mills subsidiary 301, which also co-led its last round in mid-2016.
Financial
Hard Yaka swings $30m to Yoyo Wallet
Hard Yaka has supplied $30m in funding for Yoyo Wallet, a portfolio company of Telefónica and Metro Group, as part of a strategic partnership.
Crux lucks out in $20m series B
Goldman Sachs and Citi have returned to back a $20m series B round for Crux Informatics that almost doubled its overall funding to $41m.
BitGo recalculates series B funding
Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital Ventures have joined a $15m series B extension for BitFury-backed BitGo that took the round’s total to $57.5m.
Plaid to pad out funding with $200m
GV-backed fintech provider Plaid is reportedly in talks with investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers over a round that could value it at $3bn.
Energy and Natural Resources
Corporates see Sense for $18m series B
Household energy monitor developer Sense has expanded its overall funding to almost $39m in a round backed by Schneider Electric and existing investors Shell and iRobot.
Industrial
ASAP engineers ZF Friedrichshafen deal
ZF Friedrichshafen has paid an undisclosed sum for a stake in engineering services provider ASAP Holding sized at over 35%.
Bright Machines breaks out of stealth with $179m
The Flex spinoff is developing industrial robotics software and has secured $179m in a series A round led by Eclipse Ventures, which was founded by Flex alumnus Lior Susan.
The natural chemistry developer has increased its funding to $50m altogether, in a Kraft Group-backed round that will support an expansion into the textile industry.
Vector successfully angles for $70m series B
Kanematsu-backed microsatellite launch services provider Vector has collected $70m in a series B round that brought its total funding to more than $100m.
Transport
Huashenghaoche drives series D to $210m
Minsheng Financial Leasing-backed online car marketplace Huashenghaoche has received $210m from investors including JD.com spinoff JD Finance and Goldman Sachs.
Private equity firm QJY Capital invested the money, which follows roughly $138m from investors including Do-Fluoride Chemicals and Haijing.
Services
Unifonic tunes into $21m series A
The Saudi Telecom-anchored STV led the round, while Raed Ventures also invested in cloud communications technology provider Unifonic.
Manbang makes way towards $1bn round
Existing investors SoftBank and Tencent are in advanced discussions to invest in a round that will increase the trucking services platform’s valuation from $6.5bn to $9bn.
Vacasa has added $64m in an Assurant-backed round that will help the holiday property manager pursue further domestic and international expansion.