Spin Master has joined forces with Nørdlight while Aspen Digital and Coinhako took part in Merkle Science’s series A extension.

M&A

Game product provider Spin Master has paid an undisclosed sum to acquire portfolio company Nørdlight, a Sweden-based digital game publisher. Spin Master had disclosed its investment in the latter when it launched its corporate venturing fund, Spin Master Ventures, in October 2021.

Funds

Financial services firm Bank of America has committed an undisclosed amount to US-based venture capital firm Backstage Capital’s Opportunity Fund I.

Toyota Tsusho, the trading subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Toyota Group, has committed an undisclosed sum to Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures, the $100m vehicle formed by Africa-focused investment firm Verod-Kepple Africa Partners. The corporate and its Mobility 54 unit intend to use Verod-Kepple’s network to identify early-stage developers of healthcare, consumer goods and carbon-neutral technologies across Africa.

Funding

Company Company description Sector Country Round Round size($m) Deal date Investors
Merkle Science Predictive crypto risk and intelligence platform Financial Singapore A 24 (Updated) 11/08/2022 Aspen Digital, Hako Technology (Coinhako), Wanxiang (HashKey), Kraken (Kraken Ventures); Beco Capital (lead), K3 Ventures, Republic Crypto, Summer Capital, 500 StartUps APAC and US, Digital Currency Group, Kenetic, Uncorrelated Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, Lucy Gazmararian, Libertus Capital.
Edamama Parenting-focused ecommerce platform Consumer Philippines A 20 12/08/2022 Robinsons Retail Holdings, Globe Telecom (Kickstart Ventures); Alpha JWC (lead), Gentree Fund, Innoven Capital, Foxmont Capital Partners, Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng
Abridge Conversation AI software developer for medical communication Healthcare US A1 12.5 11/08/2022 UPMC (UPMC Enterprises); Wittington Ventures (lead), Union Square Ventures, Pillar Venture Capital, Yoshua Bengio, Whistler Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners
Invisible Universe Internet-focused animation studio Media US A 12 11/08/2022 Dapper Labs; Seven Seven Six (lead), Cosmic Venture Partners, Franklin Templeton, Dapper Labs, Gaingels, Initialized Capital, Schusterman Family Investments, 75 & Sunny, TCG, Cassius, Dreamers VC, Serena Williams, Jennifer Aniston
WeSure Global Tech Digital insurance provider Financial US N/A 11 11/08/2022 AmTrust Financial Services
Satellite IM Decentralised peer-to-peer communications platform Media US Seed 10.5 11/08/2022 Ideo (Ideo CoLab), Solana (Solana Ventures); Multicoin Venture Fund (lead), Framework Ventures, Hashed Venture Fund, PSL Ventures (Pioneer Square Ventures Fund)
Hoopo Power-efficient tracking technology provider Energy Israel A 10 12/08/2022 ZIM (co-lead), HICO; TheDock (co-lead), TAU Ventures
Interaxon Consumer neurotechnology producer Healthcare Canada C 9.5 11/08/2022 Intretech; BDC Capital (lead), Export Development Canada, Alabaster, Phyto Partners, Iter Investments, The Clavis Foundation, Ariel Garten
Heirloom Web3 onboarding software developer IT US N/A 8 10/08/2022 Ripple Labs (co-lead), Forte (co-lead)
Locad Supply chain management integrator Services Singapore A 7.9 10/08/2022 Rocket Internet; Reefknot Investment (lead), Sequoia Capital (Surge Ventures 3), Febe Ventures, Antler
Genvax Technologies Animal vaccine developer Healthcare US Seed 6.5 10/08/2022 United Animal Health (lead), Johnsonville (Johnsonville Ventures), Summit Agricultural Group; Iowa Corn Growers Association, Ag Startup Engine
Aloha Factory Casual mobile game developer  Media South Korea A 4.6 11/08/2022 Com2uS (Crit Ventures), Posco (Posco Technology Investment); LB Investment (lead), with Korea Investment Partners
Stimulus Relationship intelligence startup in the supply chain space Services US Seed 2.5 11/08/2022 Penn Medicine (Wharton Fund for Health), Northwestern Mutual (Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures); Black Ops VC (lead), Genius Guild, Refashiond Ventures, Bronze Valley, BFM Fund, Plain Sight Capital, Morgan Stanley
ReadOn Blockchain content distribution platform Media US 2 11/08/2022 Wanxiang (HashKey), CyberConnect; SevenX Ventures (lead), Foresight Ventures, Sky9 Capital, ArkStream Capital, Puzzle Ventures, M23 Fund, Smrti Lab, unnamed individual investors
Dropbase Collaborative data management service IT US N/A 1.75 11/08/2022 Alphabet (Gradient Ventures); Y Combinator, Liquid2 Ventures, Bragiel Brothers, Unpopular Ventures
Ankr Web3 infrastructure provider Media US N/A N/A 11/08/2022 Binance (Binance Labs)
Droppa On-demand logistics service provider Services South Africa A N/A 11/08/2022 SkyNet Worldwide Express
Latch Medical Vaccine and medicine delivery technology developer Healthcare Ireland N/A N/A 08/08/2022 West Pharmaceutical Services
Shanghai Enflame Technology AI chipmaker IT China C+ N/A 10/08/2022 Tencent (Tencent Investment); Jiezou Dashi, Mingjian Zhizhen, Riverhead Capital, Conduit Ventures, Yunhe Capital, Redpoint Ventures China, China International Capital Corporation, Primavera Capital, ZhenFund, Maiqiuguyu, China Capital Investment, Summitview Capital, Shanghai STVC Group, Zhongqing Zhenghe Tech Investment, Oceanpine Capital, ChinaEquity Group, Hogwarts Investment, China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, Delta Capital, CEP Asset, Shanghai Guofang Private Equity Fund Management
Edison Fu

Edison Fu is head of Asia development at Global Corporate Venturing.