Universal Avenue, a Sweden-based service that allows companies to hire staff on demand as ‘brand ambassadors,’ closed a $5m extension to its seed round from Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of cloud computing company Salesforce.com, as well as venture capital firm Northzone and VC fund Moor on Wednesday. Moor, which is backed by Kaj Hed, co-founder of mobile game studio Rovio, provided the startup with an initial $2m in 2014.
Germany-based 3D sensor developer Gestigon has raised “several millions of dollars” in a series A round led by VC fund NBR Technology Ventures that included Vorwerk Direct Selling Ventures, a subsidiary of household appliance seller Vorwerk, and corporate-backed fund High-Tech-Gruenderfonds (HTGF). The round, raised in July but announced this week, follows undisclosed sums raised in two rounds across 2013 and December 2014 from HTGF and MBG-SH.
Canada-based 360° camera developer Bubl Technology completed a $4.6m seed round on Wednesday featuring Samsung Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of electronics manufacturer Samsung, Sino-Canadian investment firm J-Tech Capital and additional, undisclosed strategic investors. The company, which raised almost $350,000 for its spherical Bublcam on crowdfunding site Kickstarter in 2013, marks J-Tech’s first publicised investment.
Super League Gaming, the US-based owner of a recreational gaming league, received an undisclosed amount of series B funding on Tuesday from cinema chain Cinemark Theatres, a fund affiliated with Japan-based telecommunications firm SoftBank, private equity group Quadrant Management and undisclosed institutions in Hong Kong and Singapore. The round will support an expansion into new markets as well as an increase in the games available for the league, which takes place in participating cinemas.
Reverie Technologies, the India-based developer of a platform through which developers can create native language content for websites, has raised $4m in a series A round led by Aspada Investment Advisors and backed by Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of wireless technology producer Qualcomm, the Economic Times reported on Monday. Founded in 2010, Reverie won $100,000 through Qualcomm’s Q-prize contest in 2011 and secured an extra $100,000 from an undisclosed US-based investor.
Automotive manufacturer BMW invested an undisclosed sum in US-based on-demand parking and car services startup Zirx on Wednesday through its corporate venturing unit, BMW I Ventures. Zirx had previously raised $36.4m from Norwest Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partner and Trinity Ventures across two rounds, in September 2014 and April 2015.
Zuoyebang, a learning platform developed and spun out by China-based internet company Baidu, raised an undisclosed amount today in a series A round co-led by Legend Capital, the corporate venturing arm of conglomerate Legend Holdings, and Sequoia Capital. Along with Baidu Takeout Delivery and 91 Desktop, it is one of several startups recently opened up for external investment by Baidu.
Instabridge, the Sweden-based operator of a community sharing service for wifi, received $3m on Wednesday in a series A round co-led by Moor and Balderton Capital that also included Swisscom Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of mobile network Swisscom, and Creandum. The startup, which received $1m in seed backing from Creandum and various angel investors in October 2014, will spend the money on growing its engineering, product and design teams and expanding in select emerging markets.
Macro, a US-based multi-platform media asset holding company, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from multimedia and entertainment company MNM Creative, VC fund Emerson Collective, business development firm Medialink and assorted angel investors. The company has been established to supply the African American, Latino and multicultural market with premium media content.
Fastmedia, the Japan-based owner of smartphone app development platform Yappli, secured ¥330m ($2.7m) on Tuesday from Salesforce.com, YJ Capital, which acts as the corporate venturing arm of internet company Yahoo Japan, VC firm Globis Capital Partners and Shogo Kawada, co-founder of mobile internet platform DeNA. Yappli enables users without programming skills to develop and run mobile apps by selecting templates, functions and design from a range of options.
Guru, the US-based developer of a web extension that filters relevant information for its users, emerged from stealth on Tuesday with $2.7m of seed funding led by VC firm FirstMark Capital that included Salesforce Ventures, MSD Capital and unnamed angel investors. The funding, raised in 2013, was revealed as Guru launched its technology out of beta.
Payment services firm Credit Saison has agreed to lead a series B round for Japan-based music hardware developer Beatrobo expected to close at $2.4m in November 2015, through its corporate venturing subsidiary Saison Ventures, Tech in Asia reported on Tuesday. Founded in 2011 as an online music sharing service, Beatrobo raised $600,000 from CyberAgent Ventures, the investment arm of internet company CyberAgent, KLab Ventures, and Movida Japan in 2012, and another $1.1m from retail chain Lawson in April 2014.
Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of semiconductor technology provider Intel, invested an undisclosed sum in US-based computational imaging technology developer Almalence on Monday. The funding, supplied as part of a strategic partnership between the companies, will support the development of Almalemce’s technology, which would enable mobile cameras to capture images with the same quality level of DSLR cameras.
Wiselike, the US-based creator of a platform that anyone can use to field questions in a public forum, raised $1.25m on Monday in a seed round led by VC firm GGV Capital that also included online media company Gree and 500 Startups. The platform is based on the ‘Ask me Anything’ format that has proven so successful for online community Reddit.
Restaurant listings and reviews platform Zomato has paid an undisclosed sum for minority stakes in India-based on-demand delivery services Grab and Pickingo in order to boost its food ordering capabilities, Live Mint reported on Wednesday. Pickingo raised $1.3m in seed funding from Orios Venture Partners and angel investor Zishaan Hayath last month, while Grab secured $1m from Oliphans Capital and Haresh Chawla in April this year.
Minimal Technologies, the Japan-based owner of website localisation service Wovn.io, has secured ¥130m ($1.1m) in a pre-series A round led by Opt Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of digital marketing company Opt that also included Nissay Capital, The Bridge reported on Wednesday. The funding followed a $280,000 seed investment by Incubate Fund in 2014.
Paymium, the France-based operator of an online marketplace for cryptocurrency Bitcoin, raised €1m ($1.1m) on Wednesday from payment technology provider Galitt, private equity firm Newfund and early-stage specialist Kima Ventures. The company, founded in 2011, will use the cash to accelerate its European growth and introduce new features to its platform.
Dentsu Ventures, the investment arm of marketing firm Dentsu, has supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Agolo, a US-based startup that can create a personalised summary of what is happening in a user’s social networks and the news, The Bridge has reported. Agolo won the New York City event at VC firm Sunbridge Global Ventures’ Innovation Weekend World Tour 2015 in July this year.
Eyeball, the Canada-based owner of an online community for amateur sports, raised $1m in seed capital on Tuesday from food producer Clearwater Fine Foods that will support growth and a relocation of its headquarters to larger offices. The startup, which received the funding in May this year, launched apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store this week.
US-based drug developer Tetra Discovery Partners has secured $1m from J&J Investments, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson, in a round that also featured Grand Angelsm Invest Michigan, Biosciences Research & Commercialization Center and Muskegon Angels. Tetra previously received an undisclosed sum from Johnson & Johnson and Grand Angels in October 2014, after raising $1m from Grand Angels, Biosciences Research & Commercialization Center, Michigan PreSeed Capital Fund and Michigan Emerging Technology Fund in 2013.
US-based gaming and eSports startup Unikrn extended a series A round previously closed in June this year with additional investments by Sound Ventures and actor Ashton Kutcher om Tuesday, with both providing an undisclosed amount. Unikrn raised $3m in seed capital in February this year before securing $7m in series A funding from gambling company Tabcorp, Binary Capital, Advancit Capital, 500 Startups, Indicator Ventures, Freelands Group and Mark Cuban.
Reliance Capital, the financial services subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Reliance Group, has provided Rs 60m ($900,000) in seed funding for India-based luxury e-commerce platform Luxury Hues.com, VCCircle reported on Tuesday. The funding, reportedly made in partnership with investment banker Ravi Viswanathan, is part of a venture in which he and Reliance will jointly invest in up to 10 India-based brands.
Mainport Innovation Fund, a joint venture formed by airline KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, financial services firm Rabobank and Delft University of Technology, has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Netherlands-based internet of things technology developer Undagrid. The startup, which is working on mesh networks of nodes for the internet of things, graduated from accelerator Startupbootcamp in 2014.