Germany-based online consumer price comparison platform PricePanda secured an undisclosed amount of funding on Thursday from Tengelmann Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of retail chain Tengelmann, the investment firm Kinnevik and Asia Pacific Internet Group, the joint venture between incubator Rocket Internet and telecommunications company Ooredoo. PricePanda, which raised $3m from Tengelmann in January 2014, revealed the funding at the same time as its acquisition of Australia-based counterpart GetPrice.
US-based digital marketing optimisation platform operator Accomplice raised $5m on Tuesday in a series A round featuring talent and literary agency WME. Previously known as Fractal Sciences, Accomplice, which had already secured $2m in seed funding, will invest the cash in advancing its engineering, data science, design resources as it looks to release its platform in beta.
E-commerce company VIPshop has paid $5m for a 12.2% stake in Thailand-based daily deals provider Ensogo, E27 reported on Tuesday. VIPshop made the investment in Ensogo, which was originally acquired by US-based daily deals company Living Social in 2011, as part of a strategic partnership that will cover inventory, logistics, merchandising, technology, marketing and user acquisition.
Ninja Logistics, the Singapore-based operator of local delivery service Ninja Van, has secured S$3.5m ($2.6m) in a series A round led by venture capital firm Monk’s Hill Ventures, and which also featured corporate backers including diversified conglomerate Insas Berhad, Tech in Asia reported on Monday. Ninja, which had previously raised S$200,000 from angel investors, will spend the money on product development and expansion within Southeast Asia.
Indonesia-based jobs listing platform Qerja has raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding from SB ISAT Fund, the joint in investment venture formed by telecommunications firms SoftBank and Indosat, Tech in Asia reported on Wednesday. Mountain Kejora Ventures provided an undisclosed amount for Qerja’s seed round.
NCSoft, a developer of multiplayer online games, provided $1.8m in seed funding for Korea-based mobile gaming startup Binaree on Tuesday. Binaree, which was founded by Kyungheon Kim, formerly a key developer for gaming companies Com2us and Rovio Entertainment who worked on the hugely popular Angry Birds, plans to release its first game, a zombie apocalypse-themed, story-driven title, next year.
Trading conglomerate Itochu has paid ¥200m ($1.7m) for an 18% stake in Japan-based peer-to-peer lending platform developer Crowdcredit, according to Nikkei. Crowdcredit, which previously secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Monex Ventures, GCI Capital and Femto Startup, will spend the money on adding features such as currency-hedging to its platform, while expanding the service to markets including Mexico, Italy, Spain and Finland.
Social network Renren invested $1.5m in Trucker Path, the US-based creator of an information app for truckers, on Wednesday. Tucker Path’s mobile app gives information on truck stops, parking, restaurant and many other relevant services, as well as other crowdsourced information including driver reviews.
Indonesia-based online wedding marketplace Bridestory has raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding from investors including Lippo Digital Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of conglomerate Lippo Group. The round also featured Rocket Internet, Skystar Capital, Sovereigns Capital, East Ventures and Fenox Venture Capital, the last three of which invested an undisclosed amount in the company in August 2014.
Connehito, the Japan-based developer of an app that provides information to mothers, received ¥150m ($1.25m) in early-stage funding from corporate-backed VC fund B Dash Ventures and VC firm Primal Capital on Tuesday. The company’s two sites, Mamari and MamariQ, get more than 1 million unique monthly visitors between them.
India-based mobile payment services provider Momoe has raised $1.2m in a seed round co-led by IDG Ventures India, media and data provider IDG’s local corporate venturing affiliate, and VC firm Jungle Ventures, according to the Economic Times. The round, which also featured early-stage VC fund India Quotient, will support the expansion of Momoe’s team.
France-based mobile programmatic technology startup AdotMob secured €1m ($1.1m) in seed funding from Iris Capital, the VC fund backed by telecommunications company Orange and public relations firm Publicis, and VC firm Kerala Ventures on Monday. AdotMob will invest the money in further developing its technology and expanding its sales team.
Healthcare information service RingMD has invested an undisclosed amount in Indonesia-based counterpart PilihDokter, Tech in Asia reported on Thursday. The investment represents the first external funding received by PilihDokter since its December 2013 launch.
YesGraph, the US-based developer of a tool that makes app invite systems more intelligent, has raised $1m in a seed round led by Bloomberg Beta, the early-stage investment unit belonging to media company Bloomberg, TechCrunch reported on Monday. The round, which also featured Y Combinator and various angel investors, followed $1.3m secured from NextView Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Accel Partners, Founder Collective, Quotidian Ventures, Rivet Ventures and a host of angels.
Uberchord Engineering, the Germany-based developer of a guitar coaching app, received a “high six-figure” amount of seed funding on Thursday in a round led by media company Ebner Publishing. Although undisclosed, the amount was reported to be €400,000 ($430,000) by German startup news site Gruenderszene.
Corporate-backed venture capital fund High-Tech Gruenderfonds invested an undisclosed sum in ALS Automatic Logistic Solution, a Germany-based manufacturer of automatic package opening systems, on Wednesday. ALS claims its technology can increase efficiency in package receiving areas by up to 75%.