Weekly corporate venturing deal net 12 – 16 September 2016
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Big Deal: AcuFocus captures $66m
The Medtronic and Bausch & Lomb-backed eye care medical device maker has raised $66m in a KKR-led round that took its total funding to more than $215m.
Fundraising
Information Venture Partners powers on toward $100m
Financial conglomerate Power Financial Corporation has contributed to a $96m second close for the firm’s latest’s fund, which also counts D+H as a limited partner.
Foxconn helps Sinovation with $675m fundraise
Foxconn is the anchor investor in a $300m dollar-denominated fund closed by VC firm Sinovation Ventures alongside a $375m renminbi fund.
Baidu launches $200m corporate venturing unit
Baidu Venture will target artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality startups, and will operate separately to Baidu’s existing CVC activities.
Razer joins corporate venturing game with $30m fund
The gaming product maker has formed a $30m fund called zVentures which will target sectors including virtual reality, game development and connected devices.
Bill Maris begins raising new fund
The ex-managing partner of GV is in talks with investors over a new venture capital fund and has a preliminary target of $350m to $500m in place.
Sapphire rings up $1bn from SAP
Sapphire Ventures has raised $1bn in capital from its sole sponsor, software provider SAP, and will divide it into a $300m early-stage fund and a $700m growth fund.
People
Kliavkoff leaves Hearst for a Jaunt
Hearst Ventures president George Kliavkoff has departed to take the chief executive position at virtual reality content developer Jaunt.
Flynn resurfaces at Tyton Partners
Rich Flynn, who stepped down from his position as president of Apollo Education Ventures in April, has joined Tyton Partners as managing director.
Exits
Soft Machine to be consumed by Intel
Intel has reportedly agreed to buy the semiconductor technology developer in a $250m deal that will provide exits to AMD, Samsung and GlobalFoundries.
Crispr plays it cool with IPO filing
Existing backer Bayer will invest $35m through a private placement alongside an initial public offering in which the gene editing company is initially looking to raise $90m.
Corporates to take leave of Sensity in Verizon acquisition
Simon Property, Cisco, General Electric and Acuity Brands are set to exit LED technology provider Sensity Systems, which will be bought by Verizon.
Ford pays $65m to win Chariot race
Ford Smart Mobility is set to acquire shuttle service Chariot, which had raised $3m from investors including Major League Baseball, for a reported $65m.
Hipmunk shows it means business in Concur acquisition
Nokia has exited the travel comparison platform, which had raised at least $55m since 2010, in an acquisition by business travel and expenses service Concur.
Citrus Pay proves fruitful investment
Beenos and eContext are set to exit Citrus Pay in a $130m acquisition by Naspers subsidiary PayU Corporate, defying earlier reports valuing the deal at up to $180m.
Ant Financial identifies EyeVerify for $100m acquisition
Qihoo 360, Sprint and Samsung have exited the eye verification technology provider, which had reportedly raised about $13m in venture funding.
Hubert Burda-backed Mode shuts its doors
Lifestyle media company Mode, valued at $1bn just three years ago, has shut down after failing to secure financing or a buyer.
Amdocs processes Vindicia acquisition
Amdocs has purchased Bertelsmann-backed payment processing technology provider Vindicia as one of three deals in which it spent a total of $260m.
IT
Cisco joined fellow returning investor Bessemer Venture Partners and Vintage Investment Partners for a round that lifted CTera’s total funding to almost $70m.
Cato Networks, developer of a secure enterprise network product for the cloud, took its overall funding to $50m in a round backed by Singtel Innov8.
Claroty networks with Mitsui for $32m
The cybersecurity technology producer, created by corporate-backed incubator Team8, has emerged from stealth with $32m in funding from investors including Mitsui.
Carbon generates $81m in new funding
BMW, Nikon, GE and JSR were among the investors adding to the 3D printing technology company’s $100m series C round, already backed by Alphabet, FIS and Autodesk.
Time Warner tunes into You.i TV
Time Warner has contributed to a $12m round for video app technology developer You.i TV through its corporate venturing subsidiary.
Accenture backs $35m round of Applause
Applause has raised $35m in its first funding round since rebranding from UTest in 2014 and increased its total equity capital to more than $115m.
Corporates catch BitSight in $40m series C
Security risk analysis provider BitSight increased its total funding to $95m in a round featuring Singtel Innov8, Liberty Global Ventures and existing investor Comcast Ventures.
SoftBank helps puts $9.4m in packet
Bare metal cloud technology provider Packet has received $9.4m in a series A round led by strategic partner SoftBank.
Health
HaloDoc examines $13m series A
HaloDoc, backed by corporates Go-Jek and Blibli, operates an online platform that connects patients to licensed doctors, medical lab services and partner pharmacies.
Novartis enters Inflazome in $17m series A
Novartis has co-led a $17m series A round for Inflazome, which is working on treatments for a range of chronic inflammatory diseases.
Phononic keeps its cool with $30m
Rex Healthcare has returned to back a $30m round for the thermal heating and cooling technology maker, having previously contributed to a $44m series D in 2014.
Glooko sweetens Diasend merger with $8m of funding
Glooko has merged with its peer Diasend and raised $8m in funding in the process in a round featuring existing shareholder Samsung.
Relay Therapeutics sets itself in motion with $57m
DE Shaw Research has backed a series A round for Relay Therapeutics, launched yesterday to commercialise research from Shaw and a range of universities.
Eyevensys spies $10m series A close
The ophthalmic disease treatment developer has closed its series A round, which included Boehringer Ingelheim’s corporate venturing unit.
Media
Defy Media reaches out for $70m
The Viacom and Lionsgate-backed online video producer has secured $70m in a Wellington Management-led series B round that will support an expansion in its programming.
Consumer
The high-grade luggage producer has now secured $11m in total, closing a Global Founders Capital-led series A round that included Comcast Ventures.
Nykaa plays nice with $12m round
TVS Capital Funds reinvested as part of a round that doubled the beauty e-commerce platform’s funding to more than $24.5m.
Online video platform iQiyi provided the funding for the smart television maker as part of a strategic partnership agreement.
Financial
Corporates prove someone likes a SmartAsset after all
Personal finance modelling company SmartAsset has raised $12m in series B funding from investors including New York Life and Transamerica Ventures.
American Express has contributed to a $19m funding round that follows the anti-fraud technology developer’s $20m series B round in February this year.
Westpac proves the one for Uno
Westpac has put money into a $16.5m funding round for digital mortgage broker Uno, which comes four months after the company was launched.
Ripple to grow with $55m series B
CME and Seagate joined new investors Standard Chartered, SCB, Accenture, Santander and SBI Holdings for the enterprise blockchain company’s latest round.
Industrial
Sarcos brings corporates on board in $10.5m round
The robotics technology developer raised the funding in a round featuring strategic investors General Electric, Caterpillar and Microsoft.
Services
The Petco-backed dogwalking service marketplace is reportedly set to close a series E round that will value it at close to $300m.
Huazhu visits Fountown for $30m series A
Co-working space provider Fountown has achieved a $150m valuation in a series A round led by CDH Investments that included Huazhu Hotels Group.
The corporate returned to support a series B round for OTMS, developer of a cloud platform that connects logistics companies and shipping providers.