IBM Watson Group, the cloud computing unit set up by computer maker IBM, has invested an undisclosed amount in Pathway Genomics, a US-based genetic information researcher working on the world’s first consumer-facing app to be based on a person’s genetic make-up. The investment took Pathway Genomics’ funding to more than $80m over a six-year period.
US-based online eyewear retailer Ditto secured $5m in series A funding on Thursday from eyewear seller National Vision and August Capital, the venture capital firm that led the company’s seed round in 2011. Ditto will use the funds to hire more staff and further develop its technology, which can fit glasses based on a smartphone recording of a user’s face.
UK bank-backed fund Business Growth Fund has paid £3.1m ($4.8m) for a minority stake in UK-based dialysis service provider Renal Services. Founded in 2007, Renal operates six dialysis centres across the UK, and claims to be the fourth largest dialysis provider in the country.
Essess, a US-based developer of thermal imaging technology, raised an undisclosed amount of series B financing on Thursday from Constellation Technology Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of energy company Exelon, Vocap Investment Partners and DFJ Athena that increased its overall funding to $10.75m. Vocap and DFJ Athena previously contributed to a $6m series A round for Essess in 2012.
GE Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of industrial conglomerate General Electric, invested an undisclosed sum in Airware, the US-based developer of a software platform for drones, on Wednesday. Airware said it has now raised more than $40m altogether, and its previous backers include internet company Google’s venture investment subsidiary Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Andreessen Horowitz and First Round Capital.
Allunite, a Denmark-based operator of free wifi services for retail locations, has closed a €3m ($3.8m) series A round led by Northzone that also featured grocery retailer Coop, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. The company, which has now raised $5m in total, will use the funding to expand in Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa.
Flash storage technology producer Sandisk invested an undisclosed amount in Israel-based chipset manufacturer Altair Semiconductor on Wednesday through its corporate venturing subsidiary, Sandisk Ventures. Altair received $25m from Jerusalem Venture Partners in June this year, bringing its total funding to more than $125m, with past investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, BRM Capital, Giza Venture Capital and Pacific Technology Partners.
Dispatch, the US-based creator of a scheduling and delivery platform for on-demand services, closed a $3.1m seed round on Tuesday backed by Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of cloud software provider Salesforce.com. The round was led by Promus Ventures and GrandBanks Capital, and also included Launch Capital, Kima Ventures, Ray Lane and Mark Goldstein.
US-based mobile advertising and rewards platform Kiip has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Verizon Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of telecommunications company Verizon, and Michael Lazerow, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. Payment services provider American Express invested an undisclosed sum in Kiip in August 2013, which followed $15.3m raised across three rounds from backers including Verizon, internet company Digital Garage and insurer Transmedia.
US-based emerging markets solar finance provider SunFunder has closed a $2.5m series A round backed by power and control equipment maker Schneider Electric, Better Ventures, Khosla Impact, a Palo Alto-based private family foundation and undisclosed angel investors. SunFunder has so far financed $1.3m of solar projects developed by 14 solar companies across six countries, and aims to deploy $100m of project finance in the next three years.
Pansend, a subsidiary of industrial holding company HC2 Holdings, provided an undisclosed sum of for US-based cancer immunotherapies developer BeneVir Biopharm on Wednesday. BeneVir will use the capital to fund initial proof-of-concept clinical studies for its lead product candidate and to develop its pipeline of drug candidates.
Overdog, a US-based company that matches online gamers up based on their respective interests, closed a $1.8m funding round on Thursday co-led by Atlas Venture and Chicago Ventures that also featured United Talent Agency, Mountain Group Capital and several angel investors. The company, founded in 2007 as ProPlayerConnect.com, has now raised $4.6m in total.
India-based digital entertainment company Nazara Technologies has formed a $1.6m fund that will invest in mobile game developers, Tech in Asia reported on Thursday. Nazara, which led a $680,000 seed round for India-based mobile game company HashCube last week, will invest between $40,000 and $320,000 in each startup.
Oppex, a Finland-based search engine for public sector tenders, launched on Monday with $1.5m of seed funding from media company Alma Media, startup accelerator Veturi, Finnish state-backed fund Tekes and seven undisclosed angel investors, according to TechCrunch. The startup provides a freemium service that converts information from a range of countries into English for its users.
Heirloom, a US-based startup that enables users to convert photographic prints into digital images, launched on Monday, backed by a $1.5m seed round raised from internet company Tencent and angel investors including entrepreneur Eduardo Vivas. The company’s app can capture, organise and share photographs using a smartphone camera.
7-bites, the Japan-based owner of online cultural memorabilia marketplace A2mato, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a series A round led by CyberAgent Ventures, internet company CyberAgent’s corporate venturing fund, The Bridge reported on Monday. The round, which also featured East Ventures, Ryu Okada and Osamu Shibata, followed a $295,000 seed round raised by 7-bites in June 2013.
Indonesia-based online beauty portal Female Daily Network (FDN) has raised $1m in a series A round led by VC firm Ideosource that also featured Sinar Mas Digital Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of local conglomerate Sinar Mas, and Convergence Accel, Tech in Asia reported on Wednesday. Founded in 2009, FDN combines a themed social community with original content and an online retail element.
Ireland-based IT certification company Certification Europe has received €400,000 ($500,000) in funding from Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity Fund, the fund run by Bank of Ireland and VC firm Kernel Capital, the Irish Examiner reported on Thursday. The capital will support Certification Europe’s expansion beyond the 16 countries in which it operates.
DC Thomson Ventures, the corporate venturing unit for media company DC Thomson, provided £300,000 ($470,000) in seed funding on Wednesday for PlayCanvas, the UK-based creator of a cloud-based collaborative development platform for games. Founded in 2011, PlayCanvas has already formed partnerships with game producer Activision, internet portal Mozilla and semiconductor chip maker ARM.
Mayonnaise producer Kewpie Corporation has invested ¥50m ($425,000) in Kompeito, a Japan-based vegetable delivery service for offices, The Bridge reported on Thursday. Founded in Tokyo in April, Kompetito will use the seed funding to expand its Office de Yasai service into other cities, and aims to have 2,000 delivery centres in place by the end of 2015.
Ukraine-based e-marketing company Netpeak has paid $100,000 for a 10% stake in Q-Page, a Russia-based startup that helps businesses and entrepreneurs create sales pages, according to East-West Digital News. Netpeak revealed the investment at the same time as it disclosed it had acquired a 51% stake in Bulgaria-based marketing agency Optimization.bg in return for an undisclosed sum.