Corporate venturing deal net: 22-26 February 2021

Air conditioning manufacturer Daikin led a ¥1.02bn ($9.7m) series B round on Wednesday for FairyDevices, a Japan-based developer of voice recognition technology. Internet group United and DG Daiwa Ventures, a joint venture between internet company Digital Garage and securities brokerage Daiwa, also took part, as did financial services firms Mizuho Bank, Resona Bank, Shoko Chukin Bank, Shinkin Central Bank and Bank of Yokohama, the last two through Shinkin Capital and Yokohama Capital respectively. It had previously raised $4.8m from DG Daiwa Ventures, IT services firm TIS, Line Ventures and Saison Ventures, which invested on behalf of messaging platform Line and payment services firm Credit Saison.

CGTrader, the Lithuania-based operator of an online marketplace for 3D models and virtual and augmented reality projects, has secured $9.5m in a series B round led by venture capital fund Evli Growth Partners and backed by Karma Ventures, LVV Group and private investor Mikael Hed, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. VC firm Practica Capital invested $240,000 in the company in 2013 and returned for a round of undisclosed size alongside Intel Capital, the investment arm of chipmaker Intel, in 2014. Both came back for a $2.4m round led by Karma Ventures three years later.

Cambridge GaN Devices, a UK-based developer of high-performance gallium nitride power electronic devices, has received $9.5m in a series A round featuring Martlet Capital, the investment arm of aerospace manufacturer Marshall Group, and Foresight Williams, the investment fund backed by engineering services firm Williams Advanced Engineering. The round was co-led by Parkwalk Advisors, IQ Capital and BGF, and included Cambridge Enterprise, Cambridge Angels and Cambridge Capital Group. It followed an undisclosed sum from the Parkwalk-managed University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund VI in 2019.

Fashion retailer Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail agreed today to pay Rs 670m ($9.3m) for a 33% stake in Indian fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani’s luxury couture brand as part of a strategic partnership that will give it the option to increase that stake to 51%. The companies will also collaborate on the launch of a contemporary men’s ethnic fashion brand.

Regional climate agency The Atmospheric Fund invested an undisclosed sum in Canada-based smart city technology provider Peak Power on Tuesday, adding to a round already featuring sensor technology producer Sensata Technologies, engineering consultancy Hatch’s Canadian Shield Capital unit, Export Development Canada (EDC) and BDC Capital. Peak Power raised the Sensata and EDC funding in November 2020, and property developer Osmington supplied an undisclosed amount for the company in 2017.

Raena, an Indonesia-based provider of e-commerce services for social media influencers, has raised $9m in a funding round led by hedge fund manager Falcon Edge Capital’s Alpha Wave Incubation fund and backed by Gree Ventures, a subsidiary of digital media company Gree, as well as e-commerce company Beenos, Bennett and Alpha JWC Ventures, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday. It had previously received $1.8m in a mid-2019 seed round led by Beenext and backed by Beenos and Gree’s Strive vehicle.

Psychic VR Lab, the Japan-based operator of mixed reality platform Styly, received ¥900m ($8.5m) from DG Ventures and KDDI Open Innovation Fund, on behalf of internet company Digital Garage and mobile network operator KDDI, as well as DG Daiwa Ventures and DK Gate, joint ventures between Digital Garage and securities brokerage Daiwa and publisher Kodansha respectively. It has now raised approximately $17.8m in total, including an undisclosed sum from mobile game developer Colopl’s VR Fund  in 2016.

Bose Ventures, the investment arm of hi-fi equipment producer Bose, has supplied $3m to lead an $8.3m funding round for HearX, a South Africa-based developer of digital health products designed to improve hearing, ITWeb has reported. The round included approximately $3m from Futuregrowth Asset Management, $1.3m from investment and advisory firm Havaíc and $1m from investment holding company Sphere Holdings.

Singapore-headquartered mobility technology provider Swat Mobility has secured an undisclosed amount in a round led by VC firm Global Brain’s GB-VII Growth Fund Investment Limited Partnership vehicle that included University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC) Partners, iGlobe Platinum Fund II and LKJ Capital Japan. The company raised $2.2m in pre-series A funding from investors including iGlobe Platinum Fund II and Goldbell Group in 2017 and added an undisclosed sum from transport operator ComfortDelGro’s investment arm, ComfortDelGro Ventures, in June 2019. UTEC led a $10.1m series A round featuring ComfortDelGro Ventures, LKJ Capital Japan, SMRT Momentum Ventures, Singapore Economic Development Board New Ventures, EDB Investments, iGlobe Platinum Fund II and Goldbell Group five months later.

Insurance firm American Family’s Institute for Corporate and Social Impact co-led an $8m series A round for US-based green building retrofitter BlocPower on Monday with Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group and AccelR8. The round included Salesforce Ventures – part of enterprise software provider Salesforce Ventures – as well as Kapor Capital, Elemental Excelerator, CityRock Venture Partners and The Schmidt Family Foundation, and was raised together with $55m in debt financing. Blocpower said it has secured $68m in total, and named power producer Exelon, Andreessen Horowitz, MaC Venture Capital, New York Ventures and Echoing Green as additional investors.

Pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co’s Global Health Innovation Fund invested an undisclosed amount in Canada-based synthetic biology technology developer AbSci on Monday. Casdin Capital led a $65m series E round for AbSci in October 2020 that also featured Redmile Group, ArrowMark Partners and Phoenix Venture Partners, nine months after a $10.4m series D round co-led by chemical and life science product provider JSR Life Sciences and its KBI Biopharma subsidiary that included WRF Capital, Phoenix Venture Partners, Oregon Venture Fund and Columbia Ventures Corporation.

HowGood, the US-headquartered creator of a sustainability database for food and personal care product makers, received $6m from investors including Danone Manifesto Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of packaged food producer Danone, on Monday. VC firm Contour Venture Partners led the round, which also featured FirstMark Capital and Trailhead Capital. It came after $2m from FirstMark, Highline Ventures, Serious Change and angel investors Jake Lodwick and Joanne Wilson in 2014 and $4.2m in a 2017 series A round featuring all the 2014 investors, Contour Venture Partners and Humanity United.

Proeza Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of plastics producer Proeza, has led a $6m funding round for Spain-based mobility service provider BusUp, Nordic9 has reported. The round included Autotech Ventures as well as Finaves V, a fund operated by University of Navarra’s IESE Business School.

Loship, a Vietnam-based e-commerce logistics service backed by digital media company DesignOne Japan, has raised an undisclosed amount in a series C round led by MetaPlanet Holdings, KrASIA reported today. It had received a seven-figure amount from DesignOne and Golden Gate Ventures in 2015; an eight-digit amount in an October 2019 series B round led by Smilegate Investment, which is sponsored by video game developer Smilegate, in addition to DTNI, Ascendo Ventures, JC Capital and Vietnam Silicon Valley; and, according to KrAsia, an undisclosed sum in an October 2020 bridge round led by Vulpes Investment Management.

MyRefer, a Japan-based talent referral service incubated by recruitment firm Persol’s 0to1 scheme, received ¥600m ($5.6m) in series B funding from advertising technology provider Hakuhodo DY’s corporate venturing arm, Hakuhodo DY Ventures, digital media company Gree’s Strive unit and VC firm Global Brain yesterday alongside debt financing from unnamed financial institutions. The round took its total funding to about $9m and came after $3.2m from Persol, Gree Ventures (now Strive) and angel Yasuhide Uno in an April 2019 series A round.

Online information portal All About joined All-Japan Kanko Rikkoku Fund, private investor Atsushi Sakano and four returning backers to provide an undisclosed amount of additional series B financing for Japan-based travel technology developer Matsuri Technologies today to take its overall funding to about $13m. Globis Capital Partners, a subsidiary of education services firm Globis, led the $5.3m first close in September 2019, investing with including property developer Asahi Planning and unnamed others. It had raised a nine-figure yen (¥100m = $909,000 at contemporary rates) sum from DasCapital, Fund Creation and Linking Orient Fund I in 2018.

Beamable, the US-based developer of a software platform to help run live games, secured approximately $5m on Tuesday in an oversubscribed round co-led by Companyon Ventures and GrandBanks Capital that included Defy.vc, Oyster Funds and undisclosed others. Formerly known as Disruptor Beam, the company had raised a total of $15.4m in debt and equity financing from investors including GV, a subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet, as of its $8.5m series B round in 2017.

Video game publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe invested an undisclosed amount in Germany-based game development studio Limbic Entertainment in December 2020, it revealed on Tuesday. Limbic’s mobile game portfolio is mainly tailored to strategy and role-playing titles.

Sirutasu, the Japan-based creator of a payment management app intended to help users make nutritious food choices, has raised ¥500m ($4.7m) from online gifting platform Giftee, staffing and consulting group City Creation Holdings, marketing research group Intage and VC firm TechAccel Ventures. The company (then known as Adwell) had secured $900,000 from SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services provider SBI, in 2018 before joining education services provider Globis’s G-Startup accelerator in February 2020.

She, the Japan-based operator of an online community targeted at millennials, secured ¥440m ($4.2m) on Wednesday from investors including marketing technology provider Hakuhodo DY’s Future Design Fund and telecoms firm KDDI’s Open Innovation Fund III. The round was led by VC fund Anri IV and included debt financing from undisclosed investors.

Cancer drug developer Onward Therapeutics has provided an undisclosed amount for EmerCell, a France-based creator of technology intended to produce off-the-shelf natural killer (NK) cells for use in cancer treatment. EmerCell’s partners are University Hospital of Montpellier, the University of Montpellier and research institute Inserm.

UK-based mobile verification technology developer Tru.ID received £3m ($3.7m) in funding in mid-2020 from investors including NHN Ventures, a corporate venturing vehicle for internet company NHN Corporation, it revealed last week. The round was led by Episode 1 and also featured MMC Ventures, Brightway Future Capital and angel investors Tony Jamous, Trevor Healy and Chris Mairs.

Online food delivery and ticketing platform developer Movile has led a round of undisclosed size for Argentina-headquartered last-mile delivery service Moova that, according to local media, was sized at $3.6m and included FJ Labs, Alaya Capital, Kalei Ventures and various private investors. It will put the funding towards expansion across Latin America.

TrustHub, the Japan-based owner of an online marketplace for collector items called Clove, raised ¥350m ($3.3m) today from Nissay Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance firm Nippon Life. The round lifted the company’s funding to approximately $4.2m altogether, and it said it intends to open a card-trading shop in spring 2021.

Praxis Labs, a US-based developer of virtual reality technology for use in diversity and inclusion training, publicly launched on Monday with $3.2m in seed capital from investors including telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s SB Opportunity Fund. The corporate was joined by Norwest Venture Partners, Emerson Collective, Ulu Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Firework VC and 20|20 Fund.

GiveSignup, the US-based creator of a supporter engagement software platform for non-profit organisations, completed a $3.2m series A round on Wednesday led by payment processor Payroc. The corporate was joined by Sacha Labourey, founder and former chief executive of software delivery platform developer CloudBees, and Randy Befumo, formerly chief financial officer and vice-president of strategy for event management software provider Eventbrite.

High-Reso, a Japan-based operator of data centres catered for graphical processing unit developers, received ¥330m ($3.1m) yesterday in a series A round featuring energy utility Hokuriku Electric Power Company, agricultural product provider Cifra and calendar publisher Jingukan. The equity portion of the round was filled out by Tokyo University of Science Innovation Capital and debt financing was provided by undisclosed financial institutions. The company said it has now raised $9.4m in overall debt and equity financing.

Finix, a US-based payment technology provider backed by payment services firm American Express, has raised $3m through a special purpose vehicle consisting of more than 80 investors from traditionally marginalised groups, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. Finix had raised a total of $96m as of August 2020, when it secured $75m in series B funding from American Express subsidiary American Express Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Acrew Capital, Activant Capital and Inspired Capital.

AG Capital and NEC Capital Solutions, respective subsidiaries of consumer finance provider Aiful Corporation and IT services firm NEC, joined Venture Labo Investment and unnamed existing backers to invest ¥300m ($2.8m) in Japan-based inventory management technology developer Smart Shopping yesterday. It raised $1.8m from airline ticket vendor Adventure, Monozukuri Ventures, Nos Ventures and individuals including Masaru Tange in 2018, $750,000 in debt financing from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Japan Finance Corporation, Shoko Chukin Bank and Mitsui UFJ Bank in January 2019 and $2.8m from unnamed investors eight months later.

India-based ready-to-prepare meal service Fingerlix has secured Rs 200m ($2.8m) in series C funding from investors including food delivery service Swiggy, packaged food provider Frigerio Conserva Allana and lift and escalator technology producer Horizon Techno, Entrackr has reported, citing a regulatory filing. Rhodium Trust, Accel and unnamed individuals also took part in the round. Fingerlix had previously raised a total of $17.5m as of April 2020.

Conglomerate Astra International has provided an undisclosed amount for Ngelesin, the Indonesia-based operator of an online platform where students can connect with teachers, through its Astra Ventura unit, DealStreetAsia reported today. Ngelesin is a previous winner of the corporate’s Astra Startup Challenge.

Xmart, a food distribution digitalisation affiliate of Japan-based property developer Mitsubishi Estate’s open innovation arm, XTech Group, raised ¥270m ($2.6m) on Monday in a series A round featuring e-gifting portal Giftee. The round included SBI Investment, Mizuho Capital and SMBC Venture Capital, on behalf of financial services firms SBI Holdings, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation respectively. Saison Ventures, part of payment services firm Credit Saison, had joined XTech Ventures, Venture United and angel investor Yuma Umeda to provide $1.1m for Xmart in September 2019.

Yuimex, the Japan-based owner of products including anime scene collection platform AniPic, has received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from investors including Anobaka, the subsidiary of mobile game producer KLab formerly known as KLab Venture Partners. The round also featured iFund and Sevenwoods Investment’s Upstart Ventures fund.

Railroad equipment producer Empresas Randon provided R$13m ($2.5m) for Grupo Delta, the Brazil-based operator of an online marketplace for corporate fleet insurance, through corporate venturing subsidiary Randon Ventures, Baguete has reported. The deal came after Randon Ventures invested approximately $530,000 in Brazil-based 24-hour motorised assistance provider Reboque.me in October 2020.

Grão Direto, the Brazil-based operator of an online marketplace for agricultural commodities, has secured R$13.5m ($2.5m) from investors including Leaps by Bayer, the corporate venturing arm of chemical and pharmaceutical group Bayer, Valor Econômico has reported. Financial services firm Grupo Rendimento, private equity firm Lanx Capital and VC firm Barn Investimentos also took part in the round, which came after $610,000 from Monsanto Growth Ventures, which has since been absorbed into Leaps by Bayer, as well as Canary and OpenVC, in 2018.

Footwear producer Allbirds has supplied $2m for Natural Fiber Welding, the US-based creator of a material called Mirum that uses no synthetic materials or polyurethane and which can function as a plant-based substitute for leather, WWD reported yesterday. The company said it had raised $25m as of a $13m round in August 2020 that was led by fashion brand Ralph Lauren and which also featured Central Illinois Angels and Prairie Crest Capital.

RealTech Fund, a vehicle backed by biofuel supplier Euglena, research group Leave a Nest and investment firm SMBC Nikko, provided an undisclosed amount today for Sentient.io, a Singapore-based provider of Southeast Asian English accent analysis technology. Sentient had raised a total of $5m as of May 2020, from ABC Dream Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of broadcaster Asahi Broadcasting, as well as internet company Digital Garage, Leave a Nest, Beenext and A*Star.

Media company Hindustan Media has led a £1m ($1.4m) seed round for UK-based virtual workplace technology developer Wurkr, putting up half the amount of the capital, VCCircle reported yesterday. The corporate participated through its Hindustan Media Ventures unit and the round included equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs and angel investor Yan van de Velde.

Sumisei Innovation Fund, a joint venture between insurer Sumitomo Life and SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services firm SBI, closed its first deal yesterday, investing an undisclosed sum in Runtrip, the Japan-based operator of a social networking and e-commerce platform for runners. The company’s platform will be linked to Sumitomo Life’s health promotion tool, Sumitomo Life Vitality.

ConstellR, a Germany-based land monitoring technology developer spun off from research institute Fraunhofer and German Aerospace Center, has received €1m ($1.2m) in pre-seed funding from investors including space technology producer OHB’s investment arm, OHB Venture Capital, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. Fraunhofer’s tech transfer fund, FTTF, led the round, which included Baden-Württemberg’s state bank, L-Bank, and an unnamed additional investor.

World Life Mapping, the Japan-based operator of an artificial intelligence-equipped mental health assistance service, closed a seed round of undisclosed size on Monday featuring robotics technology provider Cyberdyne. The cash has been earmarked for research and development, and the company plans to collaborate with Cyberdyne on digital mental health services.

Sri Lanka-based telemedicine app developer oDoc, which counts apparel exporter Brandix Lanka and leasing services provider Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) as investors, has secured $1m in a pre-series A round led by Techstars led that included Hustle Fund, Unpopular Ventures and angel investors including Cherif Habib, Vir Kashyap and Bill and Leonard Lynch, YourStory reported on Tuesday. The company had received $1m from Brandix Lanka, LOLC, Phoenix Ventures and angel investor Ajit Gunewardene in 2017, and entered the Techstars Bangalore Accelerator in February 2019.

Japan-listed property management firm Striders’ Singapore-based investment subsidiary, Striders Global Investment, supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Horizon Internusa Persada, the Indonesia-headquartered operator of apartment rental service platform Travelio, on Wednesday. Samsung Ventures, a subsidiary of electronics producer Samsung, provided an undisclosed amount for Travelio in December 2019, the month after it closed its $18m series B round.

Plant-based shampoo producer NatureLab and contract cosmetics manufacturer Saticine Medical joined undisclosed angel investors to provide ¥100m ($940,000) in funding for Japan-based clean skincare brand Sisi on Wednesday. The capital will go to product development, marketing, recruitment and the development of new services.

LBV, the Japan-based operator of a software platform called NiceCloud that helps users manage corporate software-as-a-service accounts and billing information, also raised ¥100m ($940,000), yesterday, from investors including Anobaka, the subsidiary of mobile game producer KLab formerly known as KLab Venture Partners. The round also featured VC firm Coral Capital and unnamed individuals while undisclosed financial institutions supplied debt financing, according to Nikkei.

Mainichi Future Creation Laboratory, Nagoya TV Ventures and OLM Ventures, respective vehicles for newspaper publisher Mainichi Newspapers, broadcaster Nagoya TV and animation studio Oriental Light and Magic, took part in a round of undisclosed size yesterday for Japan-based augmented reality software developer Gatari that took its total funding to ¥100m ($940,000). The startup was spun out from University of Tokyo’s U-Tokyo Entrepreneurship Supporter’s Club, and its Incubation Fund also took part in the round, as did VC firm W Ventures and angel investors Ken Baba, Akira Hamamoto, Naoya Koizumi and Hiro Kunimitsu.

Tokyo Artisan Intelligence, a Japan-based developer of edge artificial intelligence technology, has received ¥86m ($810,000) from cybersecurity software producer Soliton Systems and undisclosed individual investors. The startup was spun out of Tokyo Institute of Technology in March 2020.

Beauty product distributor Beauty Garage supplied an undisclosed amount on Wednesday for HairCamp, the Japan-based education and online salon service provider formerly known as Charmpoint. The company made the investment through corporate venturing unit BG Ventures, as part of a business and capital alliance.

Ziritz, the Japan-based developer of real estate investment scoring service StockFormer, secured ¥50m ($470,000) from online real estate marketplace Toggle and VC firm Digital Base Capital today. The startup will use the funding to expand the capabilities of its online platform.

Branding agency Manifesto invested an undisclosed amount in US-based document management software developer Cirrus on Monday. Cirrus had participated in Queen City Fintech’s accelerator in May 2020 and entered financial technology provider FIS’s Fintech Accelerator Program the following year.

Real estate developer Hinoki led a ¥36m ($340,000) funding round on Monday for SucreCube, a Japan-headquartered provider of electricity and communication services for remote African villages. The round was also backed by asset manager Shibusawa and Company.

For It, the subsidiary of Japan-based internet marketing group Full Speed that owns advertising platform AFB, secured an undisclosed amount from marketing technology provider Micoworks on Monday. The investment was made through a capital and business alliance.

Energy utility Chugoku Electric Power was among the participants in a $2m funding round for Japan-based enterprise ordering platform developer Co-Nect in December 2020, it revealed on Monday. The round also featured GMO VenturePartners, a subsidiary of internet company GMO, as well as data management technology producer Pipedo HD’s Double Sharp Partners unit. It follows $1.1m from GMO VenturePartners and existing investor Genesia Ventures in late 2019.

Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu.