US-based home care provider CareLinx raised $5m on Tuesday from investors including Ziegler Link·age Longevity Funds, the venture capital firm co-launched by senior care provider Link·age, and Generator Ventures. Founded in 2011, CareLinx raised $1.5m the following year from undisclosed private investors and will use the fresh funding to expand its workforce and implement a national marketing initiative.
Shell Technology Ventures and Statoil Technology Invest, the respective corporate venturing units of petroleum company Shell and energy company Statoil, invested an undisclosed amount in a series A round raised by Quantico Energy Solutions, a US-based provider of data technology for shale drilling, on Monday. Both companies plan to incorporate Quantico’s data analytics technology in their shale drilling activities.
US-based silk protein product supplier Silk Therapeutics closed an oversubscribed $3m series A-1 round on Tuesday led by conglomerate Kraft Group that also included real estate developer BML Group, health-focused seed fund Altman Health Investments and Summer Road, the family office of the Richard Sackler Family. It has now raised a total of almost $4.3m in series A funding.
Construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar invested an undisclosed sum in Yard Club, the US-based operator of a peer-to-peer equipment rental platform. Yard Club, which secured seed capital from backers including Andreessen Horowitz and Michael Dearing, will use Caterpillar’s funding to further develop its platform and expand coverage for its members.
Thailand-based payment platform operator Omise has secured $2.6m in a series A round backed by mobile network True, East Ventures, 500 Tuktuks and SMDV, which led the round. East Ventures previously invested $300,000 in Omise in August 2014, and the company plans to raise series B funding in early 2016, when it will also look to expand its platform into offline payments.
Synoste, a Finland-based developer of implants for the correction of skeletal deformations, raised €2.2m ($2.5m) for the first close of its series A round, €1.2m of which came from corporate-backed VC fund High-Tech Gruenderfonds (HTGF), mechanical engineering equipment producer Mectalent, Finnvera, Lifeline Ventures, Metsola Ventures and assorted angel investors, and €1m in the form of a grant from European Eurostars. HTGF, Lifeline and Finnvera previously invested €2.8m in Synoste in 2013.
US-based group travel planning service Travefy has secured $1.8m in series A and strategic funding from investors including travel agency group Travel and Transport, online lender Nelnet, Nebraska Global Investment Company, Columbia University, Linseed Capital and Invest Nebraska Corporation. The cash, raised over the past six months, will be used to support expansion and innovation, according to Travefy.
Trading company Metro Group has invested an undisclosed sum in Culinary Agents, the US-based operator of a networking and recruitment site for the restaurant and hospitality industries. Metro’s retail subsidiary Metro Cash & Carry has also formed a strategic partnership with Culinary Agents, which had previously raised $1.7m from backers including RRE Ventures and Correlation Ventures.
Indonesia-based online payment startup Kodu raised a “seven-digit” sum on Monday in a round co-led by Gree Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of online media company Gree, and East Ventures. The round, which also included 500 Startups and IMJ Investment Partners, followed an East Ventures-backed seed round raised in November 2014.
Cytena, the Germany-based developer of a laboratory device that can separate single cells, has secured €1.1m ($1.2m) from High-Tech Gruenderfonds and an undisclosed private investor. The funding will be used to launch the startup’s product, and to expand its marketing and distribution capabilities.
HTGF also provided an undisclosed amount of seed funding for EnShape, a Germany-based spin-out from University of Jena that is developing highly accurate 3-D sensor technology, alongside Dr Doll Holding. Enshape previously received support from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
Japan-based mobile analytics tool developer Repro has raised ¥100m ($840,000) from DG Incubation, the early-stage investment subsidiary of internet company Digital Garage, as well as big data technology provider Brain Pad and software testing company Shift, The Bridge reported on Wednesday. Repro’s system tracks specific app information such as how the user works with the interface and their facial expressions while they do so.