AAA Weekly corporate venturing deal net: 22-26 June 2015

Weekly corporate venturing deal net: 22-26 June 2015

Healthcare system Aurora Health Care provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based healthcare technology fund StartUp Health on Tuesday, taking a lead investor role. Startup Health’s strategic partners and investors include GE Ventures and Kaiser Permanente Ventures, the corporate venturing units of industrial conglomerate General Electric and healthcare consortium Kaiser Permanente, and medical centre Cleveland Clinic.

Brazen, the US-based creator of an online platform through which organisations can chat to their stakeholders, raised $4.7m yesterday from Randstad Innovation Fund, the corporate venturing subsidiary of human resources firm Randstad, Osage Venture Partners, Militello Capital and Kegonsa Capital Partners. The company has now raised more than $10m since it was founded in 2008, with Militello and Kegonsa participating in the latest round as existing investors.

Are You A Human, the US-based developer of a platform that enables users to determine whether they are interacting with a human online and not a bot, has completed a $4.2m series A round backed by MDC Dream Ventures, the corporate venturing unit owned by advertising holding company MDC Partners, as well as Detroit Venture Partners, Foundry Group Angels and NCT Ventures. It has now raised $5.2m since it was founded in 2011.

Austria-based biopharmaceutical company ViraTherapeutics reached the first close of its series A round on Wednesday, raising €3.6m ($4m) from Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim, venture capital firm EMBL Ventures and state-backed development bank Austria Wirtschaftsservice. ViraT, which was spun out of Medical University of Innsbruck in 2013, will use the funds to advance its lead cancer immunotherapy through Phase 1b clinical trials.

Singapore-based technology finance media company Tech in Asia raised $4m on Monday in a round led by SB ISAT Fund, the joint investment venture formed by telecommunications companies SoftBank and Indosat. The round also included Walden International, Marvelstone, M&S Partners, Eduardo Saverin and Andrew James Solimine, as well as existing investors East Ventures, Fenox Venture Capital and Simile Venture Partners.

Educational services provider Apollo Education Group invested an undisclosed sum in US-based IT training institution Iron Yard Academy on Tuesday. Iron Yard, which is also backed by VC firm Capital A Partners, will use the investment, described as “significant”, to grow and intends to expand overseas.

Neoteric Technology Solutions, a subsidiary of IT product distributor Neoteric Infomatique, has invested $3m in India-based 3D printer manufacturer Fracktal Works, the Economic Times has reported. In addition to Julia, its flagship 3D printer, Fracktal is also the developer of 3D printing application Fracktory.

South Korea-based crowdfunding platform Tumblbug has raised KRW 1.7bn ($1.4m) in series A funding from Naver, the owner of messaging app Line, as well as DCM Ventures and Strong Ventures. The company, which has also formed a strategic partnership with Naver, did not disclose whether the funding was the same as, or separate to the $15.5m it reportedly received from the same investors last month.

Prairie Cloudware, a US-based digital payment technology provider backed by educational services and finance provider Nelnet, closed its latest funding round on Wednesday, securing an undisclosed amount from its founders and unnamed angel investors. The company had previously received $4.9m from Nelnet, Invest Nebraska Corporation, Croghan Investments, Tetrad Corporation and Treetop Ventures.

Germany-based flight booking software startup eWings.com secured €1.1m ($1.2m) in a seed round led by corporate-backed VC fund High-Tech Gruenderfonds (HTGF) on Monday. The round, which also included FSF Beteiligungs, Kima Ventures and undisclosed existing investors, follows an undisclosed amount of seed funding from DN Capital, Dirk Graber and Michael Brehm in January 2014.

HTGF has also invested an undisclosed sum in Solandeo, the Germany-based developer of a platform that enables the operators of renewable energy plants to trade the power they produce on the energy exchange. The cash will be used to accelerate development of the platform and support growth.

CareerFoundry, the Germany-based creator of a technical skills education platform, closed a seed round yesterday led by Tengelmann Ventures, the investment arm of retail chain Tengelmann, that also featured Stefan Glänzer, Paul Föckler and Victor Henning, and which took the startup’s funding to more than €1m ($1.1m). The cash will fund an increase in CareerFoundry’s support services and the range of courses it offers.

Mapme, the Israel-based creator of a visualisation platform for online communities, closed a $1m seed round on Tuesday backed by trading firm DRW Trading Group, Kima Ventures, Gigi Levy and Daniel Recanati. The startup, which has launched in beta, will use the funding to support product development and global expansion.

Stockspot, the Australia-based developer of an automated investment adviser, has raised A$1.25m ($960,000) from internet holding company Rocket Internet and H2 Ventures, the VC fund successor of earlier Stockspot investor AWI Ventures, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Monday. The series A funding will primarily be invested in marketing.

Caeruz Ventures, the India-based operator of health and fitness app HealthifyMe, has received an undisclosed amount of series A funding from unnamed angel investors, following on from series A capital provided by mobile handset manufacturer Micromax last month. Caeruz previously raised $250,000 from angel investors including Rajesh Mushroowala, Srini Koppulu, Arun Seth, Kunal Bajaj and Sashi Reddi in 2012.

Canada-based financial technology startup Lending Loop has launched with an undisclosed amount of seed funding from conglomerate Kirsh Group. Lending Loop operates a peer-to-peer lending marketplace it plans to fully unveil over the coming weeks.

Mobile content provider Xurpas has paid PHP 18m ($400,000) for a 70% stake in Philippines-based mobile app services provider Seer Technologies, ABS-CBN News reported today. Xurpas said it made the investment in a bid to source content for its enterprise customers.

CyberAgent Ventures, the investment arm of internet company CyberAgent, has invested an undisclosed amount of series A funding in Vietnam-based bus ticket booking platform VeXeRe, Tech in Asia reported yesterday. CyberAgent previously provided a “small” amount of seed capital for VeXeRe in 2014.

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