Maersk Growth took part in Afresh’s $115m series B round while ZeroFox acquired a Nasdaq listing when it completed a reverse takeover.
M&A
Blockchain-equipped enterprise payment software provider Paystand has acquired Yaydoo, a Mexico-based, Latin America-focused accounts payable management service backed by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank. The transaction size was undisclosed, but Paystand described it in a statement as one of the largest technology company mergers in Mexico and the LatAm region. Yaydoo has raised $21.5m including $20.4m from a series A round featuring SoftBank’s Latin America Fund.
Biopharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences has agreed to acquire UK-based autoimmune disease therapeutics developer MiroBio for about $405m, allowing SR One, the venture firm spun off by pharmaceutical firm GSK, to exit. MiroBio raised $97m in series B funding from investors including SR One in June this year, three years after a $33.1m series A round.
Fund
US-based air carrier American Airlines has anchored billionaire entrepreneur Bill Gates’ newly formed Breakthrough Energy Catalyst fund with a $100m commitment. The vehicle will focus on companies developing sustainable aviation fuels and net-zero emissions technologies including green hydrogen, direct air capture and long-duration energy storage.
Reverse merger
External cybersecurity software provider ZeroFox completed a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company L&F Acquisition Corp yesterday, listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The company had raised over $150m in funding from investors including Intel Capital, the corporate VC subsidiary of semiconductor technology producer Intel, as of early 2020.
Funding
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afresh | Fresh food technology provider | Consumer | US | B | 115 | 04/08/2022 | AP Moller (Maersk Growth); Spark Capital (lead), Insight Partners, VMG Partners, Bright Pixel Capital, High Sage, Innovation Endeavors, Walter Robb |
| Everytable | Fresh food provider focused on underserved communities | Consumer | US | C | 55 | 04/08/2022 | Kaiser Permanente (Kaiser Permanente Ventures); Creadev (lead), Desert Bloom Food Ventures, Gullspång Re:food, Kimbal Musk, The Beacon Fund, Brener International Group, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, The Libra Foundation |
| Kurtosis | Crypto developer tool provider | Financial | US | A | 20 | 04/08/2022 | Coinbase (Coinbase Ventures); Coatue (lead), Mantis VC, Olivier Pomel |
| Mosey | Payroll compliance technology developer | Financial | US | A | 18 | 04/08/2022 | Gusto; Canaan Partners (lead), SemperVirens, Charge |
| Ghost Security | Application security software provider | IT | US | N/A | 15 | 04/08/2022 | Munich Re (Munich Re Ventures); 468 Capital, DNX Ventures |
| Rill | Database management tool provider | IT | US | Seed | 12 | 04/08/2022 | Bloomberg (Bloomberg Beta); True Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Park West Asset Management, DCVC, unnamed angel investors |
| Vori | Inventory management software producer | IT | US | A | 10 | 03/08/2022 | Mollie Stone’s Markets; The Factory (lead), Greylock, E2JDJ, MKT1 |
| Darwin Seguros | Digital auto insurance provider | Financial | Brazil | Pre-A | 8 | 21/07/2022 | Banco Votorantim (lead); HIX Capital, Guti Vidigal, Invisto |
| Lumu | Continuous compromise assessment-focused cybersecurity software developer | IT | US | N/A | 8 | 05/08/2022 | KnowBe4 (KnowBe4 Ventures), SoftBank (SB Opportunity Fund); Panoramic Ventures (lead), Lane Bess, Tom Noonan |
| Stride | Multi-chain liquid staking protocol developer | Financial | US | Seed | 6.7 | 05/08/2022 | Imperator, Cosmostation, Everstake, Staking Facilities; North Island VC (lead), Distributed Global, Pantera Capital, Imperator, 1Confirmation, Cerulean Ventures, Node VC, Picus Capital, Road Capital |
| Financie | Blockchain-equipped crowdfunding platform | Financial | Japan | N/A | 5.7 | 05/08/2022 | MTG (MTG Ventures), Amuse; B Dash Ventures, Headline Asia, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Dawn Capital, W Ventures, The Seed, Kosuke Matsumoto |
| Stackwell | Minority-focused digital investment service | Financial | US | Seed | 3.5 | 03/08/2022 | Kraft Group (co-lead), Cuna Mutual Group (CMFG Ventures Discovery Fund), JF Shea (Shea Ventures); Michael Gordon (co-lead), Jeremy Sclar (co-lead), SSC Venture Partners, Shorehaven Wealth Partners, William “Mo” Cowan, Corey Thomas, Damian Wilmot, Terence Rozier-Byrd, Michael Fricklas, Sam Kennedy, Theo Epstein, Louis Maiuri, John Plansky |
| Overbond | Credit trading automation service | Financial | Canada | N/A | N/A | 03/08/2022 | Fitch Group (Fitch Ventures) |
| Web3Port | Web3 project accelerator | IT | US | Seed | N/A | 04/08/2022 | KuCoin (KuCoin Ventures); SNZ Holding, HashKey, FBG, Spark Digital Capital, 7 O’Clock Capital, MH Ventures, Web 3.0 SEA Alliance, BetterverseDAO, Bing Ventures, Bo Shen, Azdag |
| Sympatic | Healthcare industry-focused data management service | Healthcare | US | Pre-Seed | N/A | 05/08/2022 | Telus (ScaleGood Fund); Saltagen Ventures (lead) |
| EcoNaviSta | Sleep analysis technology developer | Healthcare | Japan | N/A | N/A | 05/08/2022 | Glory, Sony (Sony Innovation Fund), Hulic |
| DataMesh | Metaverse technology provider | Media | Japan | B2 | N/A | 05/08/2022 | Susquehanna International Group (SIG Asia Investment) (lead), Singtel Group (Singtel Innov8); Global Brain |
| AddRess | Flat-rate multi-location residence platform | Services | Japan | C | N/A | 05/08/2022 | Digital Holdings (Bonds Investment Group) (co-lead), Shizuoka Bank (co-lead) |
