Virgin Group helped its cruise ship spinoff, Virgin Voyages, raise $550m while American Express Ventures lined up two M&A exits.
Funds
Real estate developers Mitsubishi Estate, Tokyu Fudosan, Obayashi Corporation, Mori Trust and Hitachi Solutions have contributed to a $32m fund closed by US-based venture capital firm Agya Ventures. The firm will invest in real estate and metaverse technology.
M&A
Digital payment services provider Razorpay has agreed to purchase a stake sized above 80% in Ezetap, an India-based mobile payment processor that counts payment services firm American Express as an investor. Ezetap had raised over $51m from backers including corporate VC vehicle American Express Ventures as of 2017. The acquisition is likely to value it between $100m and $120m that will be paid in cash and stock, sources told Entrackr.
American Express Ventures is also set to exit Lockstep, a US-based developer of software that connects accounting teams, in an acquisition of undisclosed size agreed by human resources software provider Sage Group yesterday. The unit invested $2.5m in Lockstep in an August 2021 deal taking its total funding to $17m.
Remitly Global, a digital financial services provider targeting immigrant users, agreed yesterday to pay $80m in cash and stock to buy Rewire, the Israel-based creator of a migrant-focused financial services platform. Rewire had raised at least $37m as of February this year from investors including insurance provider Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings and financial services firms Standard Bank and BNP Paribas, the latter having also funded Rewire through its Opera Tech Ventures vehicle.
| Company name | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size ($) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virgin Voyages | Cruise provider spinoff from Virgin Group | Services | US | N/A | 550 | 16/08/2022 | Virgin Group; funds and accounts managed by BlackRock (lead) Bain Capital |
| Orna Therapeutics | Circular RNA therapeutics developer | Healthcare | US | B | 221 | 16/08/2022 | Merck & Co; MPM Capital, BioImpact Capital |
| Senda Biosciences | Programmable medicine developer | Healthcare | US | C | 123 | 16/08/2022 | Samsung (Samsung Life Science Fund), Alexandria Real Estate Equities (Alexandria Venture Investments), Mayo Clinic; Flagship Pioneering, Qatar Investment Authority, Bluewave Capital, Stage 1 Ventures, Longevity Vision Fund, Partners Investment, State of Michigan Retirement System |
| Pliops | Data processor developer | Information Technology | Israel | D | 100 | 16/08/2022 | Koch Industries (Koch Disruptive Technologies) (lead), SK Hynix; Lip-Bu Tan, State of Mind Ventures (State of Mind Ventures Momentum) |
| Bluejay Therapeutics | Hepatitis B treatment developer | Healthcare | US | B | 41 | 16/08/2022 | Synergenics; Arkin Holdings (Arkin Bio Ventures) (lead), RiverVest Venture Partners, Yonjin Capital, Octagon Capital, InnoPinnacle International |
| GrowthSpace | Talent development service | Services | US | B | 25 | 16/08/2022 | Microsoft (M12); Zeev Ventures (lead), Vertex Ventures |
| GrayMatter Robotics | Robotics automation technology producer | Industrial | US | A | 20 | 16/08/2022 | 3M (3M Ventures); Bow Capital (lead), B Capital Group, Calibrate Ventures, OCA Ventures, Pathbreaker Ventures, Stage Venture Partners, Swift Ventures |
| Sea6 Energy | Seaweed product provider | Industrial | India | B | 18.5 | 17/08/2022 | BASF (BASF Venture Capital); Aqua-Spark |
| Omni | Business intelligence software producer | Information Technology | US | A | 17.5 | 16/08/2022 | Alphabet (GV); Redpoint Ventures (lead), First Round |
| Connect&Go | Guest and attractions management technology developer | Services | Canada | A | 17 | 16/08/2022 | Gestal; Financière Outremont, Carey, Finalta Capital |
| Sync Computing | Deep tech-focused cloud optimisation technology developer | Information Technology | US | A | 15.5 | 16/08/2022 | National Grid (National Grid Partners); Costanoa Ventures (lead), The Engine, Moore Strategic Ventures, Satyen Sangani, Ron Avnur, Rebecca Li |
| QuotaBook | Equity and fund management software provider | Financial | South Korea | A2 | 11 | 17/08/2022 | Hana Financial Group (Hana Securities), Toss, Carta (Carta Ventures); Elefund (lead), Draper Associates, Access Ventures, Y Combinator |
| GiftPad | Online gift catalogue | Consumer | Japan | N/A | 7.5 | 17/08/2022 | Kansai Television Broadcasting, Direct Marketing Mix; JIC Venture Growth Investments |
| C2C Platform | Customer-to-customer trading platform | Consumer | Japan | A | 5.6 | 17/08/2022 | AirTrip; Daiwa Trust, Midas Capital |
| Abhi Loans | Digital lending platform | Financial | India | N/A | 4.5 | 16/08/2022 | DMI Finance (DMI Sparkle Fund) (lead); Niten Malhan, Ashvin Chadha, SK Jain |
| Ledgebrook | Insuretech platform for wholesale brokers | Financial | US | Seed | 4.2 | 16/08/2022 | American Family (American Family Ventures); Brand Foundry Ventures, 15 unnamed angel investors |
| Violet | Upskilling platform for clinicians | Healthcare | US | Seed | 4.1 | 16/08/2022 | Northwell Health (Northwell Holdings); SemperVirens (lead), Hopelab, The Venture Collective, Naomi Allen |
| Prolocor | Thrombosis risk test developer | Healthcare | US | Seed | 3.2 | 16/08/2022 | Labcorp; Green Park & Golf Ventures (lead), undisclosed angel investors |
| Striemo | Electric scooter provider | Transport | Japan | Seed | 1.5 | 17/08/2022 | Honda Motor Co.; Mirai Sozo Co, SOSV |
| Sunday Design | Furniture and home decor brand | Consumer | India | Pre-A | 1.5 | 16/08/2022 | Kama Group; QRG Investment, Holdings, KCT Family Office; unnamed existing investors |
| AliveCor | Personal electrocardiogram system developer | Healthcare | US | F | N/A | 16/08/2022 | General Electric (GE Healthcare) (lead), NGK Spark Plug (Pegasus Tech Ventures), Qualcomm (Qualcomm Ventures); Khosla Ventures, Bold Capital Partners, WP Global Partners |
