Turner, a broadcast subsidiary of media and entertainment group Time Warner, has invested an undisclosed amount in US-based digital media company Refinery29, Recode reported on Wednesday. Refinery29 had previously raised about $80m from WPP Ventures, the strategic investment subsidiary of marketing firm WPP, media companies Hearst and Scripps Networks Interactive, Floodgate, Lead Edge Capital, First Round Capital and Lerer Ventures.
IDG Ventures India, the venture capital affiliate of IT media company International Data Group, and venture capital firm Accel Partners have participated in a Rs 335m ($5m) round for India-based home appliance and furniture rental service Rentomojo likely to be its series A round, VCCircle reported on Wednesday. The investment, which closed last month, follows $2m secured from the same two investors in November 2015.
Granules Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical manufacturer Granules India, agreed yesterday to acquire a 12.5% stake in US-based generic pharmaceutical developer USpharma, for an undisclosed amount, Business Standard has reported. The companies signed an agreement last month to allow Granlues to market and distribute four of USpharma’s products in the US.
BP Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of petroleum producer BP, led a funding round of undisclosed size for US-based surfactant synergy technology developer Advanced BioCatalytics Corporation on Tuesday. The company, which was founded in 1996, will use the funding to increase manufacturing capacity for its product, which enhances the performance of microbiology metabolic processes in the industrial, water treatment, marine and energy sectors.
Trace Genomics, the US-based developer of a soil testing kit for farmers, has raised $4m in funding from gene testing company Illumina, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. The round, which was led by Refactor Capital and backed by Fall Line Capital and Viking Global, follows the startup’s participation in Illumina’s corporate accelerator initiative.
Retail group Nordstrom has invested an undisclosed amount in US-based cloud logistics software developer Dsco, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Dsco will use the capital, which comes after $2.5m of funding in 2014 and another $1.2m in March this year according to securities filings, to expand its technology team and add features to its platform.
US-based blockchain tool developer Netki has secured $3.5m in a seed round led by O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV), the corporate venturing arm of digital media company O’Reilly Media, Coindesk has reported. The round, which represented OATV’s first investment in a blockchain startup, also included internet domain name provider Donuts, Colle Capital, Husseini Group, Digital Currency Group, Bitfinex, Plug and Play, Base Ventures and angel investor Tom Turney.
Medical equipment manufacturer Laborie has invested an undisclosed amount in Medi-Tate, the Israel-based developer of a device that will treat the symptoms of enlarged prostate. Medi-Tate will now look to make use of Laborie’s resources and global presence to help it distribute its iTind device internationally.
Smartphone and virtual reality technology producer HTC has led a $2.2m series A round for Radd3, a US-based startup that uses VR technology to help train American football players. The round, which also featured Presence Capital, was closed earlier this month alongside the formation of a strategic partnership that will allow Radd3 to access HTC’s technical and business resources.
Japan-based smartwatch developer Veldt has received an undisclosed amount of funding from CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of internet company CyberAgent, and VC firm Accord Ventures that enabled it to close its seed round. Founded in 2012, Veldt released its first watch in 2014 and its next generation of products in March this year, and will put the latest funds towards product development.
BankerBay, the US-based operator of a global investment banking platform for M&A and private equity deals, closed $2m in convertible debt funding on Wednesday from unnamed investors. Professional services firm Ernst & Young, financial services provider Nomura Holdings and the Singaporean government’s Media Development Authority provided almost $1m in funding for BankerBay in May 2014 before the company raised $2m from Scale.VC and various angel investors in June 2015.
Zenrez, the US-based operator of a fitness subscription service that covers multiple venues, raised $2m in funding from Summit Action Fund, the investment arm of event promoter Summit Series, as well as Artis Ventures and Precursor Ventures yesterday. The round boosted Zenrez’s overall funding to $4m and was announced together with the launch of ZenrezMedia, a platform for videos about boutique fitness studios.
US-based network infrastructure technology producer 6Connect received an undisclosed amount of equity funding from Swisscom Strategic Fund, a corporate venturing vehicle of telecom company and strategic partner Swisscom, yesterday. VC firm Hummer Winblad Venture Partners led a $2m series A round for 6Connect in 2011.
Electronics manufacturing services provider Foxconn led a $1.5m seed round for ColorTV, the US-based creator of a connected television marketing platform, on Wednesday. The startup is developing software that will help drive native advertising on connected TVs while helping app developers monetise their offerings through the medium.
Phrasee, a UK-based developer of artificial intelligence-equipped marketing software, closed £1m ($1.3m) in seed funding yesterday from investors including digital communications company Next Fifteen and angel syndicate Galvanise Capital. It will invest the capital in research and development, and expansion in the UK and US.
AXA Strategic Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance firm AXA, has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Autolina.ch, a Switzerland-based startup that provides a range of e-commerce services that can be used by car dealers. Autolina will invest the capital in strengthening its existing activities to build up an online automotive trading ecosystem in Switzerland while helping to develop online garage service DriveAgain.
Healthcare system Lafayette General Foundation’s Health Innovation Fund provided $500,000 in series B funding to CirraGroup, a US-based company that has developed a crowdsourced medical debt settlement service. The company’s cloud-based software suite helps patients put together crowdfunding campaigns to help them pay off medical debt.