Kelun Pharmaceutical spinoff Kelun Biotech raised $581m in a round also featuring Merck & Co, while KreditBee hiked its MUFG-backed series D to $180m.
M&A
Insurance software producer Duck Creek Technologies agreed to purchase Imburse Payments, the US-based creator of a payment software tool for insurers, for an undisclosed amount. Accenture Ventures, a subsidiary of consulting firm Accenture, invested an undisclosed sum in Imburse in mid-2021 following at least $1.7m in earlier funding from investors including financial services firm PostFinance and insurance software provider Guidewire.
Celleron Therapeutics merged with fellow UK-based cancer therapy developer Argonaut Therapeutics to form a new company called IngenOx Therapeutics. Pharmaceutical firm JW Pharma invested $2.6m in Argonaut in 2018 in return for a 25% stake after Celleron had received $16m from investors including internet group Naver’s NHN Investment unit and biopharmaceutical company Theragen Etex the previous year.
Fund manager LionTree led a consortium that bought a majority stake in Transmit.Live, the US-based operator of an online content monetisation platform, for an undisclosed sum. Transmit was part of the cohort for the Verizon MediaTech Venture Studio, a joint venture between telecommunications firm Verizon and R/GA Ventures – part of advertising agency R/GA – in 2018.
Automotive technology producer Luminar revealed it acquired US-based lidar mapping software provider Civil Maps, a backed by carmaker Ford Motor Company, in the second quarter of 2022 without disclosing the size of the transaction. Ford was among the participants in Civil Maps’ $6.6m seed round in 2016.
Online survey technology producer Alchemer bought US-based customer acquisition software developer Apptentive for an undisclosed sum allowing internet technology Alphabet and survey software provider Momentive (formerly known as SurveyMonkey) to exit. The company had raised approximately $10m as of 2016.
Funding
| Company name | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size ($) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelun Biotech | Small molecule-focused subsidiary of Kelun Pharmaceutical | Healthcare | China | N/A | 581 | 05/01/2023 | Kelun Pharmaceutical, Merck & Co; IDG Capital, China Merchants Group/SDIC (CMG-SDIC Capital) |
| KreditBee | Online lending platform | Financial | India | D | 180 (updated) | 06/01/2023 | Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group; Advent International (lead), Premji Invest, Motilal Oswal Alternates, NewQuest Capital Partners, Mirae Asset (Mirae Asset Ventures) |
| Immune-Onc Therapeutics | Cancer immunotherapy developer | Healthcare | US | B | 131 (updated) | 05/01/2023 | Wuxi Biologics (Wuxi Biologics HealthCare Venture); Triwise Capital (lead), Proxima Ventures, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Therapy Acceleration Program |
| Chronosphere | Cloud application monitoring platform | IT | US | N/A | 100 | 05/01/2023 | Alphabet (GV); undisclosed others |
| Ensoma | In-vivo genomic medicine developer | Healthcare | US | B | 85 | 05/01/2023 | Takeda (Takeda Ventures), Alexandria Real Estate Equities (Alexandria Venture Investments); Arix Bioscience (co-lead), 5AM Ventures (co-lead), Fidelity (F-Prime Capital), Cormorant Asset Management, Viking Global Investors, SymBiosis, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Qatar Investment Authority, Catalio Capital Management, Solasta Ventures, Mirae Asset |
| Perceive Biotherapeutics | Ophthalmology drug developer | Healthcare | US | B | 78 | 05/01/2023 | Johnson & Johnson (Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC) (lead); Deerfield Management, Braidwell, Retinal Degeneration Fund, Catalio Capital Management |
| Raynovent Biotech | Liver disease therapeutics developer | Healthcare | China | C | 53.7 | 05/01/2023 | Guangdong Zhongsheng Pharmaceutical; Wanlian Securities (Wanlian Guangsheng), Hongfu Investment (Yide Fund) (co-lead), Efung Capital (co-lead), Zhenghai Capital (Guoju Venture Capital), Lake Bleu Capital |
| Ophirex | Oral snakebite medicine developer | Healthcare | US | B | 37 | 05/01/2023 | AXA (AXA IM) (lead) |
| Perspectum | Digital healthcare technology developer | Healthcare | UK | C | 36.9 | 05/01/2023 | Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (Blue Venture Fund); British Business Bank (British Patient Capital), Oppenheimer, HealthQuest Capital |
| Blue Wireless | IoT connectivity technology provider | Telecoms | US | A1 | 32 | 05/01/2023 | Qualcomm; Positive Sum (lead), Four Rivers Group, Northgate Capital, Sequoia, Cascade Investment Management, XYZ Venture Capital, Lachy Groom |
| KeyCare | Virtual care software producer | Healthcare | US | A | 27 | 05/01/2023 | Spectrum Health (Spectrum Health Ventures); Ziegler, 8VC, LRVHealth, Bold Capital |
| PreAct Technologies | LiDAR technology manufacturer | IT | US | B | 14 | 05/01/2023 | State Farm (State Farm Ventures); I Squared Capital (lead), Luminate, Traylor Capital |
| Altitude Angel | Drone traffic technology provider | Industrial | UK | N/A | 5.9 | 04/01/2023 | BT Group (Etc) |
| Profet AI | Manufacturing-focused machine learning software producer | IT | Taiwan | A | 5.6 | 05/01/2023 | AUO; Darwin Ventures, Hive Ventures, Harbinger VC, Jensen Capital Management, SVTI |
| Msafe | Digital wallet technology developer | Financial | US | Seed | 5 | 05/01/2023 | Jump Trading (Jump Crypto) (lead), Circle (Circle Ventures), Coinbase (Coinbase Ventures); Temasek (Superscrypt), Redpoint Ventures, SV Angel, Shima Capital, Spartan Group |
