Mobile internet company Cheetah Mobile has agreed to acquire a 22% share of China-based smartphone display provider Moxiu in return for an investment of RMB 30m ($4.9m). Cheetah, already an investor in Moxiu, will buy the stake from Starsinhand, a subsidiary of internet portal Tencent, boosting its share of the company to 50.5% in the process.
Canada-based software developer Flybits raised $3.75m on Wednesday in a series A round co-led by Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the corporate venturing arm of industrial equipment maker Robert Bosch, and Trellis Capital Corp. The round also featured Mars Investment Accelerator Fund, which previously contributed $30,000 in seed funding to Flybits, and Ryerson Futures.
LTG Exam Prep Platform, the US-based developer of a learning platform for standardised test revision, has secured $3m from tutoring service Tal Education Group, Atlas Venture, Jaime McCourt, Yongjin Group and Zhen Fund, TechCrunch reported today. The company plans to use the funding to develop more test preparation apps.
US-based location tracking technology company Swift Navigation raised $2.6m in seed funding today from Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of wireless technology provider Qualcomm, First Round Capital, Fall Line Capital, Felicis Ventures, Kal Vepuri, Lemnos Labs and VegasTechFund, according to TechCrunch. Swift claims its GPS modules can provide far greater accuracy than conventional models.
Lavante, a US-based developer of supplier management software, secured $2.5m on Tuesday from SAP Ventures, the corporate venture capital subsidiary of software producer SAP, and venture capital firms PointGuard Ventures and ATA Ventures. Formerly known as AuditSolutions, Lavante had previously raised $21.8m from investors including SAP.
Algorithmia, the US-based operator of a cloud marketplace for algorithms, raised $2.4m on Monday in a seed round led by VC firm Madrona Venture Group that also featured Rakuten Ventures, the corporate venturing fund owned by e-commerce company Rakuten, as well as Deep Fork Capital and angel investors Oren Etzioni and Charles Fitzgerald. The company is in private beta but expects to launch by the end of 2014.
Japan-based market research firm Research & Innovation secured ¥220m ($2.1m) today from Mizuho Capital, the corporate venturing fund for financial services firm Mizuho Financial Group, Jafco, and DBJ Capital. Mizuho was already an investor in the company prior to the latest funding, as were the corporate venturing subsidiaries of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and social gaming company KLab.
Mobile app developer Quan invested an undisclosed amount in Magic Box Asia, the Thailand-based developer of a platform for mobile games, on Monday. Magic Box operates across various markets in Southeast Asia, and runs an app localisation service alongside its games business.
HearHere Radio, the US-based owner of personalised news app Rivet News Radio, raised $1.7m on Wednesday from an issue of convertible promissory notes to media company Associated Press, A.H. Belo Management Services, Whittier Ventures, Ringleader Ventures and individual investors including venture capitalist Steve Miller.
US-based Product Hunt, which provides exposure to new technology products, secured $880,000 in seed funding on Thursday from backers including Google Ventures, internet company Google’s corporate venturing subsidiary. Y Combinator invested $120,000 in Product Hunt last month and the latest capital brings its total funding to $1m.
Semiconductor and software producer ARM Holdings has invested £250,000 ($415,000) as part of a £500,000 ($830,000) round raised by UK-based fingerprint scanning technology developer SimPrints, Business Weekly reported on Thursday. The other half of the funding came in the form of a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
EastMeetsEast, a US-based dating site for people of East Asian descent, has raised $500,000 in seed funding from internet company DeNA and investment partnership Eureka Ventures, according to TechCrunch. The start-up, formed in late 2013, plans to utilise the funding to expand beyond its home city of New York to other North American cities with sizeable Asian populations, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.