News round up 10 December 2018
A round up of all the latest news on www.globalcorporateventuring.com for our subscribers.
Corporate venturing deal net: 3-7 December 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
Salesforce Ventures sends $100m to Japanese fund
Salesforce Ventures has followed the formation of a $100m Canadian fund in May by investing a further $100m in Japan Trailblazer Fund.
Finland adds to corporate impact investing
Energy utility Fortum is putting $170m into venture firm Valo Ventures, which was founded by CapitalG alumnus Scott Tierney.
SoftBank expands Vision Fund prior to China entry
SoftBank’s Vision Fund has got closer to its $100bn target and now stands at $98.6bn, as it puts together a team for its Chinese office.
People
Kieran Gartlan has departed from a Latin America-based senior director position at CME Group for a managing director role at The Yield Lab.
McIntyre reemerges as corporate and social impact investor
John McIntyre has left his position as managing director of Citrix’s Startup Accelerator to join the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact.
Exits
Lyft, which has raised some $4.4bn from investors including Alibaba, GM, Tencent, Alphabet, Magna, Rakuten, Jaguar Land Rover and Didi Chuxing, has confidentially filed to go public.
IT
Looker captures $103m at $1.6bn valuation
Looker has completed a series E round that bought the Alphabet-backed data analytics platform’s overall funding to more than $280m.
Cogito calls in corporates in $45m series C
The voice analytics platform developer has added $8m from investors including Hearst Ventures and Avava to a $37m first close featuring Salesforce and Goldman Sachs.
Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners returned for a round that boosted the enterprise architecture technology developer’s total funding to approximately $40m.
Contentful collects $33m in series D round
The content management software provider has received $33m in a Salesforce Ventures-backed series D round, boosting its total funding to about $78m.
Japan Post ships series E cash to Sansan
Sansan raised $26.4m, adding Japan Post to a roster of corporate shareholders that includes CyberAgent, GMO, Nikkei Nippon Life, Recruit and Salesforce.
Workato perks up with $25m series B
ServiceNow joined existing backer Workday Ventures in a $25m round for Workato, whose earlier investors also include Salesforce Ventures.
Corporates hear Pindrop in $90m series D
Pindrop has raised $90m in series D funding from a consortium that included Allegion, Dimension Data, Citi and Alphabet, the latter investing through both GV and CapitalG.
Amplitude sizes up $80m series D
The Tencent-backed data analytics software provider is now valued at $850m following an $80m series D round led by Sequoia Capital.
SnapTravel books Telstra for series A extension
Telstra Ventures has contributed to a $13.2m extension that brought the AI-powered hotel booking platform’s series A round to a $21.2m close.
Alibaba helps build $14m round for ZStack
Cloud services management platform ZStack has collected $14m in a Shenzhen Capital-led round that featured existing investor Alibaba.
The data sharing software producer has received series A funding from investors that included Singtel Innov8, ANZ, Reinventure and new strategic partner Singapore Airlines.
Corporates help send series A cash to Sentryo
The industrial-focused cybersecurity software provider has raised $11.3m in a series A round backed by Sopra Steria and existing investor Breed Reply.
Health
The patient engagement software producer has landed $28m from new and existing investors roughly a year after being picked for the Cedars-Sinai accelerator.
ResMed procures Propeller for $225m
The acquisition of respiratory management system developer Propeller Health will provide exits for McKesson, Aptar Pharma, Hikma, GlaxoSmithKline, Walgreens and 3M.
Incon injects $10m into Variant Pharmaceuticals
Kidney disease drug developer Variant has raised $10m from new strategic partner Incon in connection with a distribution agreement.
Aprea appraises $56.8m series C
Praktikertjänst-backed anti-cancer therapy developer Aprea Therapeutics has now raised more than $100m of funding.
Elpiscience gets $35m in series A-plus
Lilly Asia Ventures has contributed to a $35m funding round for Elpiscience which has brought its overall funding to $55m.
Asahi Kasei has supplied $1m in a series A extension to bring the total of the series A round, already backed by GC, to $10.5m.
Media
Acast accepts $35m in series C round
The Bonnier Growth Media-backed podcast marketplace has taken series C funding at a $190m valuation, boosting its total funding to more than $67m.
Go-Jek is finalising a $30m investment through its Go Ventures unit that will value eSports game platform Mobile Premier League at $150m.
Consumer
Juul staff rebuff Altria offer
Employees of Juul Labs are resisting a deal with Altria, which is also holding talks with cannabis producer Cronos, that would value the vaping product supplier at approximately $30bn.
Agricool heats up with Danone funding
Danone unit Manifesto Ventures has participated in a $28.5m round for Agricool, which grows strawberries in containers, and which plans to now hire 200 more staff members.
Financial
Cross River banks on $100m investment
CreditEase has participated in a $100m funding round for Cross River Bank, which will invest in recruitment and the strengthening of its compliance infrastructure.
ErisX flexes muscles in series B round
Consensys, Fidelity, Nasdaq, Bitmain, CVC, Digital Currency Group and DRW have joined the cryptocurrency trading platform’s $27.5m series B round.
Experian helps expand Jirnexu’s series B to $21m
Experian and SBI have added $10m to the $11m the financial comparison platform developer raised in May, taking its total funding to $26m.
Lufax attacks with $1.3bn in new funding
SBI, JP Morgan, Macquarie Group, UBS, Goldman Sachs and UOB have all invested in the online wealth manager at a $38bn pre-money valuation.
TransWiseway finds route to $102m
The traffic and driving data platform developer raised the cash in a series A round that was led by Ant Financial with backing from a China TransInfo Technology fund.
SBI Group and existing investor Signal Iduna both backed a round that will support digital insurance platform Element’s international expansion.
Energy and Natural Resources
OG DNA Genetics grows funding to $35m
The cannabis production manager has invested $6m as part of a total fundraising of $35m for cannabis grower OG DNA Genetics.
Industrial
Spiber spins $44m into its web
Synthetic silk developer Spiber, backed by Godwin and Dai-ichi Life, has now raised a total of more than $260m.
Ultrahaptics savours $44.8m sensation
Cornes has pumped more cash into Bristol’s haptics technology spinout Ultrahaptics to take its total to $84.3m.
Keking maps out $144m series C
Alibaba has led the logistic information and service provider’s series C round, bringing Keking’s overall funding to $187m.
Transport
FreeWire charges up $15m series A
EV charging technology provider FreeWire Technologies has closed a series A round backed by BP Ventures, Volvo Cars Tech Fund and Stanley Ventures.
Oyo checks in $104m Grab investment
A regulatory filing has confirmed that Oyo has invested $104m in the hotel room provider that will likely be added to the $800m it secured in September.
Services
ParkJockey to ride SoftBank investment to $1bn
The parking app developer has lined up SoftBank as lead investor in a round in which it is looking to raise $800m to $1bn, with Mubadala Investment also set to take part.
Eruditus in talks to raise $40m series C
The Bertelsmann India Investments-backed education course provider is reportedly in talks to raise $40m in a series C round led by Sequoia.
Tech Will Save Us moulds $6.7m series A
Educational toy maker Tech Will Save Us has closed a $6.7m series A round to fuel its European expansion, after M&C Saatchi had supported a first close in March this year.