PLDT Capital, the corporate venturing arm of telecommunications firm Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, made a strategic investment reported by DealStreetAsia to be $5m in US-based digital commerce platform Matrixx Software on Wednesday. Matrixx raised approximately $24m from investors including Swisscom Ventures, the investment arm of telecoms company Swisscom, Innovacom, Adams Street Partners, Tugboat Partners and Greylock Partners through 2012, adding telecoms company Telstra’s Telstra Ventures unit as an investor two years later in a series C round of undisclosed size.
Grocery e-commerce company Womai.com has invested an undisclosed sum in China-based organic farm manager Okliang, China Money Network reported on Wednesday. Womai made the investment as part of a strategic collaboration that will involve the companies partnering on fresh produce supply chains, business models and cold chain logistics.
Internet company Renren has closed a $4m series A investment in OneRent, the US-based operator of an all-in-one rental and property management service. OneRent will use the funding to expand its offering to landlords in six US cities. It had previously raised $470,000 in June 2015 and $1m in January 2016, according to regulatory filings.
US-based wastewater treatment technology developer Clearas Water Recovery has closed a $4m series B round featuring diversified conglomerate Cowles Company and local venture capital funds Next Frontier Capital and Goodworks Ventures. Clearas, which was founded in Montana in 2007 as T Fuel, had previously raised $2.4m in financing according to securities filings, and will invest the money in retaining talent and further development of its advanced biological nutrient recovery platform.
France-based wireless multicast technology provider Expway raised €3m ($3.4m) on Wednesday in a round led by NTT Docomo Ventures, mobile network NTT Docomo’s corporate venturing unit, which provided half the funds. The round included Innovation Capital, I-Source, TechFund and Isatis Capital, and follows a $3.3m round in September 2015 backed by Isatis, I-Source, TechFund and CDC Innovation.
Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), the strategic investment arm of pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, acted as the cornerstone investor in a CHF 3m ($3.1m) series A round closed by Switzerland-based cancer vaccine developer Amal Therapeutics on Wednesday. VI Partners and High-Tech Gruenderfonds (HTGF) also took part in the round, which follows an undisclosed amount of seed funding from BIVF and HTGF in 2014.
E-commerce marketplace Start Today has made a “multi-million dollar” investment in Malaysia-based fashion e-commerce company FashionValet, Tech in Asia reported on Wednesday. Founded in 2010, FashionValet had previously received undisclosed amounts of funding from internet company Myeg in 2012 and private equity fund manager Elxir Capital in March 2015.
US-based intelligent security camera developer Umbo CV has secured $2.8m in a seed round led by accelerator AppWorks Ventures that included electronics manufacturer Phison, original design manufacturer Wistron Corporation and investment firm Mesh Ventures, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. Umbo, which has reportedly received $1.4m in pre-orders and letters of intent for its product, will invest the cash in research and hiring.
Electricity and energy management equipment manufacturer Schneider Electric has invested $2m in KGS Buildings, a US-based producer of analytics software that helps improve the energy efficiency of buildings, Dow Jones has reported. The company’s Clockworks software uses big data analytics to show prioritised energy efficiency and maintenance suggestions for building managers, operators and service providers.
E-commerce firm Rakuten agreed on Monday to invest an undisclosed sum in Japan-based drone and drone systems manufacturer Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory, acquiring both newly issued stock and shares held by process molding equipment provider Kikuchi Seisakusho. The funding will be supplied as part of a strategic partnership that will seek to utilise drones for use by industrial manufacturers.
Brain4Net, a Russia-based provider of software defined networks technology, has raised RUB 120m ($1.7m) from CommIT Capital, the corporate venturing unit of telecoms company Rostelecom, and VC fund Leta Capital, RBC has reported. CommIT paid RUB 100m ($1.45m) for a 20.3% stake in Brain4Net, and the same amount a few days earlier to take a 30% share of Russia-based data storage system company Raidix.
SoftBank Ventures Korea, a corporate venturing subsidiary of telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, has invested an undisclosed amount in India-based phone plan data and payment platform provider True Balance, Tech in Asia reported on Monday. True Balance’s app has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times since it was launched 18 months ago and the company aims to reach 10 million downloads by the end of this year.
BBG Ventures, the female-focused corporate venturing subsidiary of mass media company AOL, has led a $1.25m seed round for Shoowin, the US-based creator of a platform that enables people to buy, sell and trade ticket reservations for in-demand events, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Shoowin is in the process of forming partnerships with sports teams and leagues as it looks to get the platform up and running.
Japan-based mobile video advertising platform App-CM has raised ¥140m ($1.2m) in series A funding from advertising network Yeahmobi and various angel investors, The Bridge reported on Monday. App-CM, which has put together a video format capable of compressing large video files, is looking to expand to markets where mobile broadband coverage is less certain.
Canada-based video streaming technology developer Aterlo Networks has secured $1m from networking equipment producer Sandvine, BDC Capital and MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, which led the round. The capital will go to recruitment, marketing and the development of NightShift, the technology Aterlo has created to help people with lower internet bandwidth and data caps stream high definition video online.
RSK Labs, the Argentina-based operator of a smart contract platform for Bitcoin mining, has raised $1m in a seed round led by Bitcoin mining hardware producer Bitmain Technology. The round, which also included blockchain investment firm Coinsilium and VC firm Digital Currency Group, will precede the opening of a private testnet for RSK’s product, Rootstock, at the end of next month.
JetBlue Technology Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of airline JetBlue Airways, has made its first investment, providing $1m of funding for Flyr, the US-based operator of a data analytics platform for flights, according to a securities filing. Flyr had previously raised $500,000 from AXA Seed Factory, a subsidiary of insurance firm AXA, and $4.8m from investors including Streamlined Ventures, Montage Ventures and Western Technology Investment.