In the third quarter, GCV Analytics tracked 726 funding rounds involving corporate venturers, a 17% increase over the 620 rounds recorded in the same quarter of last year. However, the estimated total investment stood at $33.6bn, down 6% from the $35.61bn recorded in the same period last year.
The US hosted the largest number of funding rounds, nearly half at 348. China came second with 79 deals, India third with 53, and the UK fourth with 39. There was a slight decrease in the number of deals compared with the second quarter of this year, down from 739. Estimated total investment went down considerably from $50.43bn, or 33%.
Emerging enterprises from the IT, health, financial and services sectors proved the most attractive for corporate venturers. The top funding rounds by size, however, were raised mostly by companies from a variety of sectors.
The most active corporate investors came from the financial services, IT, media, health and consumer sectors.
The leading investors by number of deals were diversified internet conglomerate Alphabet, cloud-based enterprise software provider Salesforce and financial services firm Goldman Sachs. The corporate venturers involved in the largest deals by size were telecoms and internet group SoftBank, e-commerce firm Alibaba, along with Goldman Sachs and Alphabet.
Deals
Most funding from the biggest rounds reported in the third quarter went to emerging enterprises in the consumer, transport, media and services sectors. Five of the top 10 rounds were above $1bn.
JD Finance, a financial services provider spun off from e-commerce firm JD.com, reportedly secured “at least” RMB13bn ($1.95bn) at an $18bn valuation. The cash came from BOCGI and CICC Capital, respective subsidiaries of financial services firms Bank of China and China International Capital Corp, along with private equity group Citic Capital and brokerage firm China Securities. Formed as an internal division of JD.com in 2013, JD Finance provides a range of financial services including consumer loans, supply chain financing, payment services, crowdfunding and microfinance, insurance, asset management and securities.
SoftBank committed $1bn to China-based image recognition technology provider SenseTime. The terms of the deal, made through the SoftBank Vision Fund, and the valuation of the company were not revealed. Founded in 2014, SenseTime develops artificial intelligence technology capable of recognising faces, vehicles and objects on a large scale. The company is increasingly moving into augmented reality and autonomous driving but its technology is used most in mass surveillance systems.
India-based accommodation provider Oyo Rooms secured $1bn from investors including the SoftBank Vision Fund in its initial $800m tranche. Oyo reportedly also secured commitments for the remaining $200m. The transaction valued Oyo at $5bn. Founded in 2013, Oyo partners hotels and rebrands rooms to offer a standardised service including toiletries and fresh linen that users can book through its website and app. The company is present in India, Malaysia, Nepal, the UK and China.
Singapore-based ride-hailing platform Grab doubled to $2bn a funding round featuring automotive manufacturer Toyota, insurance group Ping An and internet company Naver. Toyota had already provided the first $1bn earlier this year, and the second tranche featured Ping An Capital and Mirae Asset–Naver Asia Growth Fund, a joint venture set up by Naver and investment bank Mirae Asset Daewoo. The round reportedly valued Grab at $11bn post-money. Founded in 2012 as GrabTaxi, Grab operates an on-demand ride-hailing service available across Southeast Asia.
US-based short-form video production company NewTV closed an initial $1bn funding round, raising the cash from a consortium including a range of corporate investors. Media and entertainment groups 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney, Entertainment One, ITV, Lionsgate, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Viacom and Warner Media were among the investors. Alibaba, mass media group Liberty Global and investment banking firms Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase also participated. NewTV is developing an online platform featuring drama, comedy, documentaries and reality shows cut into 10-minute episodes, made with budgets comparable to high-profile cable channels or streaming services like HBO or Netflix.
Exits
GCV Analytics tracked 59 corporate-related exits during the third quarter of 2018, including 32 acquisitions, 22 initial public offerings, four mergers and one stake sale. Most took place in the US, China and Europe.
Top exiting corporates included technology and internet company Alphabet, internet company Tencent and media and research company International Data Group, which reported at least four exits each. The total estimated level of exited capital was $17.19bn. The top five recorded exits were above $1bn.
based services platform Meituan-Dianping closed a $4.22bn IPO that featured a $400m commitment by Tencent. Meituan-Dianping issued 480 million primary shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at HK$69 ($8.79) each, at the upper end of the HK$60 to HK$72 range it had set earlier. The transaction reportedly valued the company at about $52bn. Formed by the 2015 merger of group buying platform Meituan and restaurant listings service Dianping, Meituan-Dianping runs an online portal offering a range of services such as travel booking, event ticketing and food delivery.
Networking equipment manufacturer Cisco Systems agreed to acquire Duo Security, a US-based authentication software provider backed by human resources software producer Workday and Alphabet. Cisco will pay $2.35bn in cash and assumed equity awards for Duo’s outstanding shares, warrants and equity incentives on a fully diluted basis. Founded in 2009, Duo Security operates a cloud-based user verification platform that uses two-factor authentication – a unique time-limited code and a password.
Pinduoduo, a China-based group buying platform backed by Tencent, raised about $1.63bn when it floated in the US. The company priced its IPO at the top of its $16 to $19 range, issuing 85.6 million American depositary shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The IPO reportedly valued Pinduoduo at $23.8bn including all outstanding share options. The IPO was oversubscribed 20-fold and buyers reporedly included Fidelity Investments and Abu Dhabi-owned sovereign wealth funds. Pinduoduo’s group buying platform enables multiple buyers to form groups, either on the platform or through social media networks, to buy items in bulk at a discount.
Pharmaceutical company Alexion Pharmaceuticals acquired US-based autoimmune disease therapy developer Syntimmune, whose backers include drug producer Baxalta, for up $1.2bn. Alexion agreed to pay $400m in cash and up to $800m reliant on milestones. Founded in 2013, Syntimmune develops therapies for autoimmune diseases.
Funding initiatives
Corporate venturers supported a total of 64 fundraising initiatives in the third quarter of 2018, comparable to the 63 initiatives reported during the same period of 2017. The estimated total capital raised, $7.47bn, however, was 43% higher than last year’s third-quarter figure of $5.22bn.
The initiatives in question included 39 announced, open and closed VC funds with corporate limited partners (LPs), 16 new corporate venturing units, five corporate-backed accelerators and two incubators among others.
China-based oil, gas and chemicals supplier Sinopec formed investment firm Sinopec Capital with RMB10bn. Sinopec Capital invests in emerging areas such as new energy, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing and supply chain technologies. Although Sinopec has not stated directly that the vehicle will invest in startups, its activities will cover equity investments and management as well as project investments and asset management. The fund receives 49% of its capital from oil and gas refiner Sinopec Corp and the remaining 51% from parent company Sinopec Group.
JD.com joined a group of partners to raise up to RMB40bn for venture capital fund Starquest Capital, also known as Xingjie Capital. It will be run by private equity firm China Reform Holdings, which already oversees the $30bn Chinese state-owned Capital Venture Investment Fund. VC firm Sequoia Capital China is also an LP in the fund. The renminbi-denominated fund will target late-stage investments in technology companies and has so far secured 25% of its target.
Telstra Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Australia-based telecoms company Telstra, and private equity firm HarbourVest, launched a A$675m ($500m) fund of which Telstra is expected to hold 62.5% and HarbourVest 32.5%. Founded in 2011, Telstra Ventures has offices in Australia, the US and China, targeting deals in sectors such as mobile internet, media, cloud computing, machine learning and cybersecurity. The fund will take over management of Telstra Ventures’ portfolio .
SoftBank established a $300m corporate venturing fund in China in partnership with a subsidiary of private equity group TPG. SoftBank will participate in the venture through SoftBank Ventures Korea, the South Korea-based internationally-focused fund it set up in 2000, while TPG is represented by its TPG Growth division. The fund, China Ventures Fund I, will back early-stage companies focusing on areas such as artificial intelligence, deep tech, digital media and online content. It will be managed by SoftBank Ventures Korea CEO JP Lee and Jason Ding, a managing director of TPG Growth. SoftBank Ventures Korea’s investors include internet company Naver, mobile network operator LG Uplus, games producer Nexon, insurance provider KB and financial services firms KDB and NongHyup.
Longzhu Capital, the corporate venturing arm of China-based local services portal Meituan-Dianping, closed its first fund at RMB2bn. The capital came from Meituan-Dianping, Tencent and agribusiness New Hope Group as well as financial services firms China Merchants Capital, Noah Holdings, Guochuang Kaiyuan Fund and Xiangjiang Shengshi Fund. Longzhu Capital focuses on sectors such as catering, new retail and local services, and aims to leverage Meituan-Dianping’s expertise and resources.
Switzerland-based financial services firm Credit Suisse’s financial technology and data investment arm, Next Investors, closed its latest fund, Next Investors II, at $261m. It raised capital from unnamed financial services firms, funds of funds, family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals in North and South America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The fund will invest in growth-stage technology and financial services technology developers, focusing on companies where its management team can offer expertise. A regulatory filing indicates that Next Investors had originally targeted a $300m close.
US-based healthcare provider Cigna launched corporate venturing vehicle Cigna Ventures with $250m. Cigna provides both healthcare and health insurance but formed Cigna Ventures to access innovative technology that could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its services. The fund will target companies focusing on health insights and analytics, digital health and retail technology as well as healthcare delivery and management.
China-based educational services provider New Oriental Education and Technology formed a RMB1.5bn investment fund to target education-focused companies. Educational services firm Sunlands Education and recruitment platform 51Job also backed the fund, as did financial services providers Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Citic Trust, Noah Group and Gaodun Finance, and municipal government-owned fund manager Zhangjiagang Industrial Capital Centre. The vehicle will focus on early-stage startups based in China and plans to make up to 30 investments of between $3m and $15m. The firm also intends to launch a separate dollar-denominated fund of $220m.
UK-based venture capital fund AP Ventures was launched with $200m, half of which came from Anglo American Platinum, the platinum-focused subsidiary of mining company Anglo American. The remaining $100m came from AP Ventures’ other cornerstone investor, South African government-owned asset management firm Public Investment Corporation. AP Ventures will invest in companies developing technologies or products that make use of platinum group metals, including systems that can help integrate renewable energy or mitigate the effects of population growth. The fund will be based in London but plans to open a South African office as it looks to secure external investors. Its team was previously part of PGM Investment Program, a strategic investment initiative created by Anglo American Platinum in 2014.
Latitude Venture Partners, an Indonesia-based venture capital and business development vehicle affiliated with Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas, secured $200m. Latitude targets investments in growth-stage companies that can bring value to Indonesia. Sectors of interest include financial, industrial, healthcare and artificial intelligence technology. Sinar Mas already operates corporate venturing unit Sinar Mas Digital Ventures and is a partner in EV Growth along with internet company Yahoo Japan and VC firm East Ventures.