Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds
US-based cybersecurity technology provider Praetorian completed a $10m series A round yesterday that included consulting firm McKinsey. VC fund Bill Wood Ventures also took part in the round while McKinsey invested in connection with a strategic partnership agreement intended to assist its clients in solving cybersecurity challenges facing their organisations.
Intel Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of semiconductor and data technology provider Intel, led a $9m series A round for US-based mainframe data-management software developer Model9 on Wednesday. StageOne, North First Ventures and GlenRock Israel also participated in the round, as existing investors, and the cash will go to international growth, the expansion of its product range and strengthen its technology.
Aiera, the US-based developer of a strategic platform for investment analysis, received $7m in series A funding on Wednesday from investors including financial services firm Citi’s Markets FinTech Investments unit. VC firm Fin Venture Capital led the round, which also featured investment bank Macquarie Group and investment manager Franklin Templeton. The company had previously raised $3.5m in a December 2018 seed round led by Flybridge Capital Partners and backed by Macquarie, Fin Venture Capital, Innovation Endeavors and WGI Group.
AdQuick.com, the US-based operator of a purchasing and analytics system for outdoor advertising, completed a $6m series A round yesterday featuring media holding company WndrCo and strategic advisory firm MediaLink. The round included Shrug Capital and The Todd & Rahul Angel Fund, and it increased AdQuick’s overall funding to $9.4m, the company said. It had received $1.1m in seed funding from Initialized Capital, VTF Capital and Haystack Ventures in 2017, before Initialized Capital added another $2.1m in July 2018.
Japan-based nucleic acid drug developer Luxana has secured ¥650m ($5.9m) in a series A round led by Osaka University Venture Capital that included Summit Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical services subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Sumitomo, as well as chemicals producer Nissan Chemical Industries, Mizuho Capital and Senshu Ikeda Capital, subsidiaries of financial services firms Mizuho Bank and Senshu Ikeda Bank. Luxana had received approximately $1.2m in debt financing from Japan Finance Corporation over September and November 2019.
Consumer electronics producer Xiaomi has invested Rs 420m ($5.9m) in WorkIndia, the India-based operator of an online platform that connects businesses to blue-collar workers, the Economic Times has reported. The company raised $500,000 in pre-series A funding from angel investors including Satyen Kothari in 2015 and undisclosed amounts from Beenext and Asuka Holdings subsidiary Asuka Global the following year.
Online classified listings operator Info Edge has paid Rs 371m ($5.2m) for a 25% stake in Sunrise Mentors, the India-based owner of online learning platform CodingNinjas, through a primary and secondary transaction, VCCircle reported on Tuesday, citing a stock exchange filing. The investment was made alongside the launch of a six-month training scheme called the CodingNinjas Career Camp.
Internet group Tencent has provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Germany-based computer and video game studio Yager as the latter prepares to expand into game publishing. Yager was founded in 1999 and specialises in flight-simulation and shooting games, and the funding will support development of its latest title, The Cycle.
Financial services firm Wells Fargo has supplied $5m in series B funding for Elliptic, the UK-based developer of a crypto-asset security platform, CNBC reported yesterday. Financial services firm SBI Group led the round’s $23m first tranche in September 2019, which also featured banking firm Santander’s corporate VC unit, Santander InnoVentures, as well as AlbionVC, Octopus Ventures, SignalFire and unnamed existing backers. Elliptic has now secured $30m in funding altogether.
Thailand-based digital travel agent Tourkrub has raised an undisclosed amount as part of a series B round with a $5m target, e27 reported on Monday. The company had previously received $3m from investors including King Power Click, a subsidiary of travel retailer King Power Group, as well as snack provider Tao Kae Noi, 500 TukTuks and Government Savings Bank of Thailand’s SMEs Private Equity Trust Fund, according to e27, but has not confirmed the participants in its latest round.
Mellow, the Japan-based owner of mobile catering service TLunch, received ¥500m ($4.6m) in funding on Wednesday from Toyota Financial Services, the financing and leasing arm of automotive manufacturer Toyota, as well as Pksha Sparx Asia Algorithm Fund, a joint venture between AI algorithm provider Pksha Technology and asset manager Sparx Group. The company said the round took its total funding to approximately $8.2m but has not revealed details of earlier funding.
Biopharmaceutical firm Takeda provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Seqster, the US-based developer of a health-data management platform, yesterday. Seqster will put the capital towards enhancing its interoperability technology, which makes up part of a software platform intended to strengthen clinical trials by helping patients engage more thoroughly with the process and share data more effectively.
‘Nuffsaid, the US-based developer of a workplace intelligence software platform, secured $4.3m in funding on Tuesday from Gradient Ventures, internet technology provider Google’s artificial intelligence fund. The round also featured General Catalyst, Global Founders Capital. Wasabi Ventures and SV Angel, and the round was disclosed alongside the launch of the company’s debut product.
Quantitative trading and technology firm Susquehanna International Group co-led a $4.3m pre-series A round for US-based blockchain security and analytics startup AnChain.AI yesterday with VC firm Amino Capital. The round included Aligned Partners and Brightway Future Capital, and followed $2m in a January 2019 seed round featuring Amino Capital and CRCM Ventures, with SIG and Brain Robotics Capital also listed as investors.
Online ticketing service Tix ID has added an undisclosed sum to a series B round for Singapore-based event-management platform developer PouchNation that stood at $3m as of June 2019. The first close was co-led by online travel agent Traveloka and SPH Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for media company Singapore Press Holdings, and came after an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Captii Ventures and $1m from Cradle Fund and assorted angel investors in 2017.
Payment services firm Visa invested an undisclosed amount in ChargeAfter, the US-based developer of a point-of-sale financing system, in connection with a strategic partnership agreement. ChargeAfter raised $8m in a May 2019 series A round led by banking firm BBVA’s VC firm, Propel Venture Partners, and backed by financial services firm Synchrony, Pico Venture Partners and Plug and Play.
Japan-based event marketing service EventHub has completed a ¥230m ($2.1m) seed round, it announced late last week. Enterprise software producer Salesforce provided the first tranche through corporate venturing vehicle Salesforce Ventures in April 2019 before business card management platform Sansan added the rest in December.
Pharmaceutical company Taisho Pharmaceutical and pharmaceuticals distributor Alfresa have joined unnamed investors to provide an undisclosed amount of funding for Quantum Operation, a Japan-based developer of internet-of-things sensors for the healthcare industry. The company raised an undisclosed sum from sleep aid developer Sweemie in October 2018, $400,000 from unnamed investors in February 2019, $280,000 from undisclosed backers in April and the same amount from pharmaceutical chemicals provider Tomita Pharmaceutical in August.
Business-to-business e-commerce company Udaan has supplied about $2m in funding for India-based restaurant billing technology startup PetPooja through subsidiary Trustroot Payments, Times of India reported on Monday, citing a regulatory filing. The funding will support company growth and Udaan reportedly made the investment to give it more insight into the fresh produce supply chain.
Orange Digital Ventures, telecommunications company Orange’s corporate venturing arm, has co-led a $2m seed round for Gebeya, an Ethiopia-based company that runs a training service and online marketplace for skilled IT workers. The round was co-led by investment firm Partech and also featured early-stage investment firm Consonance Investment Managers. Orange participated through its $55m Orange Digital Ventures Africa scheme.
Motorcycle manufacturer TVS Motor has invested another $1.95m in Scienaptic, a US-based developer of credit underwriting tools, Hindu Business Line reported yesterday, citing a stock exchange filing. The corporate agreed in July 2019 to provide $7m in series A funding for Scienaptic, three years after angel investor Pramod Bhasin had supplied an undisclosed amount of funding.
Diversified trading group Itochu provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Winch Energy, a UK-based developer of solar-powered mini-grid systems, on Monday through subsidiary Itochu Europe. Winch has piloted its scalable systems in five African countries and intends to expand into other areas, such as wifi provision, postal delivery and cold storage.
Nippon Passport, a restaurant and shop-focused tourist app subsidiary of Japan-based cashless payment technology provider Nippon Platform, raised ¥200m ($1.8m) in pre-series A funding from undisclosed ‘business companies’ and private investors yesterday. The cash will support further development of the NP Pass app and the expansion of Nippon Passport’s affiliate partners as the company looks to raise ¥1bn for a series A round by the end of April this year.
Omega, the Japan-based creator of a big data-equipped advertising network, has received an undisclosed amount from Reality Accelerator, PE & HR, Over-Under Digital, MM Incubation Partners and angel investors including Kenta Katsumata. The company had raised undisclosed amounts from media company Asahi Shimbun and various angel investors in 2016, and in 2017 from Voyage Ventures, digital advertising technology provider Voyage Group’s investment arm, as well as Solera Investment and KLab Venture Partners.
OutThink, the UK-based creator of a predictive software platform that analyses human risk, has closed a £1.2m ($1.6m) seed round that included cybersecurity software vendor Paramount Computer Systems and data analytics consultancy Subatomic Analytics, Bdaily reported on Wednesday. The round was led by VC firm Forward Partners and will precede a series A round OutThink aims to close by the end of this year.
Second Century Ventures, the VC vehicle for trade association the National Association of Realtors, invested an undisclosed amount in US-based moving services provider Updater on Tuesday. Updater had raised a total of $10m from Second Century Ventures, Softbank Capital, which invests on behalf of telecommunications group, Softbank, IA Ventures and Commerce Ventures as of 2014 before adding $22.9m from investment and financial services group Fidelity in 2016 and $45m from unnamed investors through a 2017 private placement.
Internet company Digital Garage’s DG Ventures unit has joined VC firm Incubate Fund to provide an undisclosed amount of seed capital for Cuicin, the Japan-based operator of smart accommodation access platform AIPass. The product is currently in beta and the funding will support its commercial launch.
Medical and pharmaceutical product wholesaler Pharmacon Holdings has co-led a $1m pre-series A round for medical cannabis product developer HempStreet, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday. The round was co-led by angel investor Romain Barberis and the proceeds will support technology development and additional research in the field.
Design studio Takram has invested an undisclosed sum in Japan-based talent referral service provider Rifcome having also designed the company’s new logo. Rifcome had previously received $1.8m in 2017 from Itochu Technology Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of diversified trading group Itochu, and existing investors Anri, Beenext and Draper Nexus Venture Partners.
Ferguson Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of plumbing supplies and piping supplier Ferguson Enterprises, led the first close of a $1.5m series A round for PypeServer, a US-based developer of software for the management of steel pipe-manufacturing, on Tuesday. PypeServer has raised $860,000 for the round so far, according to a securities filing, and Blake Luse, managing director of Ferguson Ventures, is joining its board of directors.
Robot Start, the Japan-based creator of text-to-voice conversion tool Audiostart, has secured an undisclosed amount from consumer electronics producer Onkyo Corporation and digital advertising network operator Fan Communications. The company had previously received $910,000 from Energy & Environment Investment in May 2016, after undisclosed sums from Mizuho Capital, the VC arm of financial services firm Mizuho Bank, in January 2016, and robot developer VStone the following month.
Arengu, a Spain-based developer of software that automates the creation of sign-in forms, has completed a €500,000 ($550,000) funding round led by VC fund K Fund that also featured angel investment group Lanai Partners and angel investor Rafael Garrido. The round follows an investment of undisclosed size by digital marketing company Viko Group in July 2018.
Internet company Yahoo Japan invested an undisclosed amount in Japan-based customer engagement platform developer Repro through corporate venturing vehicle YJ Capital yesterday. Repro secured $840,000 from internet company Digital Garage’s DG Incubation subsidiary, data processor BrainPad and software testing service Shift in 2015 before adding $2.6m from Voyage Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of advertising technology provider Voyage Group, and VC firm Jafco in 2016.
Japan-based human resources analytics platform developer Trans.HR received ¥50m ($460,000) yesterday from investors including e-commerce company Mercari, career counselling service Key Players and crowdsourced services marketplace CrowdWorks. The corporates were joined by angel investors Fumiaki Koizumi, Hidetoshi Takano, Kōichirō Yoshida and Nobuhiro Ariyasu, and the funding will support research and development as it prepares to launch its product.
Howler, the South Africa-based operator of an event ticketing and cashless payment platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from software development services provider Platform45, VC firm and accelerator operator Techstars and investment and advisory firm Platform Investment Partners Growth, ITWeb has reported. It had previously received $20,000 through its participation in the 2017 batch of Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars, a joint venture between Techstars and financial services firm Barclays.