GSK, Johnson and Johnson and Asahi Kasei helped take Pulmocide’s series C round to $144m while Slingshot raised nearly $41m from investors including Lockheed Martin.

Crypto

Reverse merger

Circle, the US-based blockchain payment platform backed by corporates FTX, Baidu, Bitmain, CreditEase and Wanxiang, has terminated a reverse merger agreement with New York-listed special purpose acquisition company Concord Acquisition Corp. The deal was first announced in July 2021, potentially valuing the merged entity at $4.5bn, before Circle managed to double its valuation seven months later.

M&A

Cryptocurrency group Animoca Brands has acquired a majority stake in US-based portfolio company Pixelynx, the operator of a music-focused metaverse gaming platform, for an undisclosed amount. Animoca led a $4.5m seed round for Pixelynx in December 2021, investing with Solana Ventures, a subsidiary of crypto app developer Solana, as well as quantitative trading firm Alameda Research, Alumni Ventures’ Blockchain Fund, Hyperedge Capital, Republic Realm, SevenX and Sfermion.

Funding

Company Company description Sector Country Round Round size($m) Deal date Investors
Pulmocide Respiratory disease therapeutics developer Healthcare UK C 144 (updated) 06/12/2022 GlaxoSmithKline (SR One), Johnson & Johnson (Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC), Asahi Kasei Pharma; Pictet Group (Pictet Alternative Advisors) (lead), IP Group, Vivo Capital, SV Health Investors, Jeito Capital, Fidelity (F-Prime Capital), Adjuvant Capital, Longwood Fund, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Slingshot Aerospace Space-focused data analytics technology developer Industrial US A2 40.8 06/12/2022 Lockheed Martin (Lockheed Martin Ventures); Sway Ventures (lead), C16 Ventures, ATX Venture Partners, Valor Equity Partners, Draper Associates (equity), Horizon Technology Finance (debt)
NeuReality AI-equipped semiconductor manufacturer IT Israel A 35 06/12/2022 Samsung (Samsung Ventures) (co-lead), XT Holdings (XT Hi-Tech) (co-lead), SK Group (SK Hynix); Cardumen Capital (co-lead), Varana Capital (co-lead), OurCrowd (co-lead), Cleveland Avenue, Korean Investment Partners, StoneBridge, Glory Ventures
LongPath Technologies Carbon emissions detection and quantification technology producer Industrial US A 22 05/12/2022 ProFrac, Williams; White Deer (lead), Buff Gold Ventures, unnamed existing investors
Virgio Fast fashion brand Consumer India A 17.4 (updated) 06/12/2022 Prosus (Prosus Ventures) (lead); Accel India, Bhavish Aggarwal, Sri Harsha Majety, Kunal Shah, Vidit Atrey, Mekin Mahesh
Cacheflow Zero-code enterprise software provider IT US Seed+ 10 06/12/2022 Alphabet (GV) (lead); GGV Capital, Pelion Venture Partners
Treble Technologies Sound simulation technology developer Media Iceland Seed 8.4 06/12/2022 Saint-Gobain (Nova); Frumtak Ventures (lead), undisclosed angel investors (equity), European Innovation Council (grant)
Highcon Digital packaging equipment maker Industrial Israel N/A 8 06/12/2022 Sealed Air Corporation 
Natee Creators’ marketing support provider Media Japan N/A 3 07/12/2022 Cuebic (Cuebic Ventures), Benesse Holdings, Shizuoka Bank (Shizuoka Capital), GMO Nikko; XTech Ventures, unnamed angel investors
SafeStack Cybersecurity training platform developer IT New Zealand N/A 2.5 05/12/2022 National Australia Bank (NAB Ventures); Blackbird Ventures (lead), Jelix Ventures, Carthona Capital, K1W1, New Zealand Growth Capital Partners (Aspire NZ Seed Fund)
Accacia Real estate decarbonisation platform Services India Seed 2.5 06/12/2022 Zerodha (Rainmatter Fund); Accel, Blume Ventures, Good Capital, Loyal VC, unnamed angel investors
Sollective Online freelancer marketplace Services Japan Pre-A 2.3 07/12/2022 Coconala (Coconala Skill Partners); Kusabi (lead), Chiba Dojo Fund, Kepple Capital (DX Fund), 90s, Masaki Yamamoto
Algobulls Algorithmic trading platform developer Financial India Pre-A 2 06/12/2022 DSP Group; Venture Catalysts, Findoc Finvest, Nitin Shahi, Dishant Milan Parikh, Yuvraj Thakker, Sharath Kumar 
Abscint Molecular imaging technology developer Healthcare Belgium N/A 1 05/12/2022 Trasis; Noshaq (co-lead), Qbic (co-lead), UZ Brussel, Kazoku
Jetti Resources Developer of a sustainable copper extraction system Energy and Natural Resources Us N/A N/A 01/12/2022 BMW (BMW i Ventures)
Edison Fu

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