China-based social recruitment company Jobtong.com secured CNY 28m ($4.6m) in series A financing on Monday from internet company NetEase. It will spend the cash on research and development in a bid to enhance its online platform.
Talent agencies William Morris Endeavor and AM Only have contributed to a $4.5m series A round raised by Splice, the US-based creator of a music production tool, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. The round, which also featured True Ventures, Union Square Ventures and several music industry angels, follows a $2.75m seed round in October 2013 from backers including Union Square, True Ventures, BoxGroup, SV Angel and Lerer Ventures.
Siemens Venture Capital, the corporate venturing arm of industrial equipment maker Siemens, invested an undisclosed amount in Israel-based cybersecuity company CyActive on Thursday. Venture capital fund Jerusalem Venture Partners is already an investor in CyActive, which uses bio-inspired algorithms to predict cyber attacks.
Internet company Tencent and online entertainment company Shanda have funded a $4m series A round for EjiaJie, a Japan-based service for hiring cleaners, Tech in Asia reported on Tuesday. EjiaJie, which raised $650,000 in seed funding from Tencent in September 2013, will use the cash to support an expansion from the 10 Chinese cities in which it now operates to 30 by the end of this year.
E-commerce company Alibaba provided an undisclosed amount of series A funding for China-based fun photo app developer MomentCam on Thursday, according to Tencent Tech. MomentCam, which is available on iOS and Android, claims to have as many as 160 million users, 60% of which are located outside mainland China.
China-based mobile crowdtasking platform WeiChaiShi closed a $3.2m series A round on Monday backed by Nokia Growth Partners, the corporate venturing arm of mobile phone maker Nokia, and ClearVue Partners. WeiChaiShi, which was launched in January this year, will use the funding to grow its workforce, expand its partner network and add new features to its product.
Loco Partners, the Japan-based operator of luxury hotel booking site Relux, has raised ¥330m ($3m) in a series A round backed by investors including staffing company Recruit Holdings, Japanese venture capital news source The Bridge has reported. CyberAgent Ventures, internet company CyberAgent’s corporate venturing subsidiary, invested an undisclosed amount in Loco’s 2012 seed round.
Japan-based online learning platform Mana.bo received ¥330m ($3m) from education and publishing company Benesse, venture capital firm Nissay Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, the VC arm of bank Mitsubishi UFJ, The Bridge reported on Thursday. CyberAgent Ventures invested approximately $370,000 in Mana.bo’s seed round last year.
Augmate, a US-based wearable technology software developer, raised $2.8m in seed funding on Thursday from investors including shipping service UPS’s Strategic Enterprise Fund and Siemens Venture Capital. Tim Draper led the round, which also included Simon Venture Group, Rothenberg Ventures, Excell Partners, Camp One Ventures, FP Angels and a consortium of angel investors.
Finc, a Japan-based weight loss and dietary advice service, has raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding from Itochu Technology Ventures and Gree Ventures, the respective corporate venturing units of trading firm Itochu and internet company Gree, as well as business consultancy Link and Motivation and MID Venture Capital, according to The Bridge. The company has also reportedly secured substantial loans from firms including Mizuho Bank.
New Zealand-based visual marketing company Shuttlerock secured $2.35m in series A funding on Thursday, three years after it raised a $500,000 seed round. Shuttlerock did not disclose the investors in the latest round, but did reveal that its investor base includes digital marketing agency Opt.
TargetingMantra, an India-based developer of personalisation tools for e-commerce companies, has raised $1.1m from One97 Mobility Fund, a subsidiary of mobile internet company One97 Communications, as well as 500Startups and Nexus Venture Partners, Times of India reported on Tuesday. It will put the money towards enhancing its core product and developing additional offerings.
Tengelmann Ventures, retail chain Tengelmann’s corporate venturing unit, led a $1m series A round for Malaysia-based online customer review aggregator TrustedCompany.com on Monday. The round also included Asia Venture Group, which provided seed funding for TrustedCompany in 2013, and Khailee Ng, and the proceeds will support an expansion from Southeast Asia and India into Brazil and South Africa.
Systems integrator NID has paid $1m for a 33.5% stake in Studio Ousia, a Japan-based developer of online keyword linking technology, The Bridge has reported. Studio Ousia previously received seed funding from Nissay Capital in 2012.
Orkney, a Japan-based developer of customer relationship tools, has raised ¥90m ($830,000) in seed funding from CyberAgent Ventures and SMBC Venture Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, according to The Bridge. Orkney previously received $1m in debt financing from the state-owned Japan Finance Corporation.
Corporate-backed venture fund High-Tech Gruenderfonds invested an undisclosed amount in Germany-based augmented reality start-up Bitstars on Monday. The technology, which allows users to develop their own augmented reality applications, as developed at RWTH Aachen University.
Vietnam-based online education start-up Rockit has raised a $500,000 seed round from corporate-backed VC firm Formation 8, Learn Capital and Jon Katzman, Tech in Asia reported on Thursday. Rockit provides test preparation resources for English, mathematics and science.
Software developer Persistent Systems agreed on Monday to invest $100,000 in India-based internet of things technology start-up Altizon Systems. The funding will be supplied through a series of tranches, the first of which has already been provided.