Zhongding Power, a subsidiary of China-based construction, power and engineering conglomerate Zhongding, agreed yesterday to lead a series D round for US-based fuel-efficient engine developer EcoMotors. EcoMotors had previously raised approximately $61m from Braemar Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Bill Gates, and has been a strategic partner of Zhongding Power, which has committed $200m to their joint activities, since 2010.
Blooom, the US-based developer of an automated investment advice service, has secured $4m in a series A round led by QED Investors that included data processing software provider DST Systems, financial services firm UMB, Commerce Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners, Startland has reported. Founded in 2013, the company manages more than $110m in funds.
US-based open infrastructure technology developer Solinea completed a $4m series A round on Wednesday led by Translink Capital that also included undisclosed angel investors and conglomerate Itochu, which invested as part of a strategic partnership between its subsidiary, Itochu Techno-Solutions Corporation, and Solinea. Solinea previously raised $400,000 in debt financing in March this year.
Chemical producer Evonik invested an undisclosed amount in Airborne Oil & Gas, a Netherlands-based manufacturer of thermoplastic composite pipes for use in oil and gas exploration, on Monday, alongside petroleum producer Shell and HPE Growth Capital. Evonik and Shell supplied their share of the round through their Evonik Venture Capital and Shell Technology Ventures subsidiaries.
Allay, the US-based creator of a customisable platform for employee benefits, insurance and management, secured $3.4m yesterday in a seed round led by BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, the strategic investment fund sponsored by health insurance partnership Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The round also included Sandbox Industries, 500 Startups, Arnold Capital, Thomas Korte, Ryan Holmes and Geoff Entress.
Pharmaceutical firm Takeda invested €3m ($3.3m) in Univercells, a Belgium-based developer of bioprocess technology used in biomanufacturing, today. The companies also plan to launch a development initiative that will integrate Univercells’ manufacturing methods into Takeda’s vaccines production platform.
US-based gifting platform Jifiti secured $3.3m yesterday from Liberty Israel Venture Fund, a corporate venturing unit of mass media company Liberty Media, and undisclosed existing investors. Jifiti previously raised $3.5m in seed funding between July 2013 and January 2014 from real estate company Simon Property Group, holding company Schottenstein Stores and Jesselson Group.
US-based healthcare management software startup LeanTaaS raised its first institutional funding on Tuesday in a round led by claims and productivity management software provider Sedgwick Claims Management Services. LeanTaaS will invest the money in promoting its recently launched iQueue Healthcare Suite and launching a Labs division that will concentrate on advanced algorithms for risk analytics.
India-based crowdfunding platform LetsVenture has raised an undisclosed amount of series A capital from investors including Times Internet, the internet subsidiary of media company Times Group, IDG Ventures India, the local corporate venturing affiliate of media and events company International Data Group, and Singapore Angels, the Economic Times reported on Monday. The round also featured angel investors including Kunal Bahl and Nandan Nilekani.
Singapore-based human resources software provider HRBoss has raised $2m in a round led by financial and IT services conglomerate Pacific & Orient Berhad, for which it was advised by HL Bank’s Investment Banking team. HRBoss has now raised a total of $14m from investors including private equity firm Jafco since it was founded in 2011.
Content delivery network company Akamai Technologies has joined a round being raised by US-based cybersecurity startup FireLayers that is being led by YL Ventures, the VC firm that, according to TechCrunch, previously invested several million dollars in FireLayers. Andy Champagne, Akamai’s vice president and the chief technology officer of subsidiary Akamai Labs, joined FireLayers’ board of directors as an observer in conjunction with the funding.
Howdy, the US-based developer of a that tool that automates mundane office group communication tasks, has raised $1.5m in a seed round led by media group Bloomberg’s Bloomberg Beta unit, Fast Company reported on Tuesday. The company, a spinout of workplace communications company Slack, also received funding from True Ventures, Betaworks and various angel investors in the round.
US-based game developer Artillery secured an undisclosed amount on Wednesday in a series A round led by internet company Tencent and backed by First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, Signia Ventures, General Catalyst, Crunchfund and Charlie Cleever. Artillery intends to begin testing its first game, a real-time strategy game codenamed Atlas, before the end of 2015.
Curacity, a US-based startup that partners with media brands to link their travel coverage to travel booking platforms, received $1.4m in seed funding on Tuesday from investors including SBNY Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of telecommunications company SoftBank formerly known as SoftBank Capital NY. The round, led by Greycroft Partners and backed by Pinnacle Investment and Third Point, followed $750,000 already raised from undisclosed investors.
Japan-based money management app developer Moneytree has received an undisclosed amount of series A funding from cloud computing company Salesforce.com, as well as financial services firms Mizuho Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, which invested through their Mizuho Venture Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and SMBC Venture Capital units, Tech in Asia reported yesterday. Moneytree’s $1.6m seed round in 2013 included internet company Digital Garage’s DG Incubation subsidiary.
US and Japan-based artificial intelligence technology developer AlpacaDB closed a $1m seed round on Monday that, according to The Bridge, featured SMBC Venture Capital, NEC Capital Solutions, an investment subsidiary of IT equipment producer NEC Corporation, systems integration company Bip Systems, consultancy firm Architype and angel investor Shinji Kimura. Alpaca revealed the funding alongside the beta launch of its deep learning trading platform, Capitalico.
Digital payment technology provider Interswitch has invested $1m in Nigeria-based e-commerce services provider SlimTrader, Ventureburn reported yesterday. The funding, provided through Interswitch’s $10m ePayment Growth Fund, follows its $850,000 investment in Nigeria-based logistics company Africa Courier Express.
Springboard Ventures, an investment subsidiary of Bennett, Coleman & Co, the holding company for media group Times Group, has invested an undisclosed sum in India-based recipe and ingredients delivery service iChef, VCCircle reported on Tuesday. The startup, currently only present in Mumbai, aims to expand to 10 more cities in the next two years.
IPlytics, the Germany-based creator of a big data platform that tracks market and technology intelligence and trends, received an undisclosed six-figure euro amount of funding on Wednesday from corporate-backed VC fund High-Tech Gruenderfonds (HTGF). The startup uses big data technology in a bid to connect and visualise data from a range of sources to provide faster and more thorough market insights.
HTGF also participated in a seed round of undisclosed size closed by EnOware, the Germany-based developer of a wireless, miniaturised geothermal measurement capsule, yesterday that also included LBBW Venture Capital and KIC InnoEnergy. EnOware was founded in July 2014 as a spinout from systems integrator Systec & Services.
Entrenar.me, the Spain-based creator of an online marketplace for personal trainer services, has raised €200,000 ($230,000) in funding from apparel producer Blueline Sportswear, SeedSyndicates, Sensu Invest, Plug and Play Spain, and Valencian Institute of Finance. The cash will support expansion in Spain and Latin America, as well as the development of a mobile app.
– Image courtesy of EcoMotors