China Chengtong took part in CR Biopharma’s $89m series B round while Huafa and SAIC Motor contributed to a $44.5m series A-plus round for Astsic.

online marketing

M&A

Swrve, a US-based mobile marketing platform operator backed by chipmaker Intel, has been acquired by customer engagement tool provider MessageGears for an undisclosed amount. The company’s total funding stood at $75m when it closed a $25m series D round in 2017.

Funding

Company Company description Sector Country Round Round size($m) Deal date Investors
CR Biopharma Cardiovascular disease-focused drug producer Healthcare China B 89 13/01/2023 China Chengtong Holdings; China Structural Reform Fund Corporation (CTT Fund) (lead), Mixed Ownership Reform Fund, China Merchants Bank, China Construction Bank, Guangdong Technology Financial Group, Wuxi Guolian Development Group (Wuxi Guolian Venture Capital)
Astsic Semiconductor silicon carbide developer IT China A+ 44.5 13/01/2023 Zhuhai Huafa Group, SAIC Motor (Hengxu Capital); SummitView Capital (lead), Shanjin Capital, China Development Bank, CSC Financial
No Meat Factory Vegan food product manufacturer Consumer Canada B 42 12/01/2023 Tengelmann Group (Tengelmann Growth Partners) (lead), Tengelmann (Emil Capital Partners)
VilCart Rural B2B ecommerce platform Consumer India A 18 13/01/2023 Texterity; Asia Impact (lead), Nabventures
Joyn Insurance Technology-equipped insurance underwriter Financial US A 17.7 12/01/2023 CSAA Insurance Group (Avanta Ventures), SiriusPoint; Cohen Circle, ManchesterStory
Chooose Climate activities integration software provider Energy and Natural Resources Norway N/A 15 13/01/2023 Shell (Shell Ventures); GenZero (co-lead), SoundWaves (co-lead), Vinyl Capital
Kwara Credit union digitalisation service Financial Kenya Seed 7 (updated) 16/01/2023 SoftBank (SoftBank Vision Fund Emerge); Finca International (Finca Ventures), DOB Equity, Globivest and Willard Ahdritz, One Day Yes, Base Capital, Mikko Salovaara, Breega, New General Market Partners
Canary  Emergency employee relief platform Financial US Seed 2.85 12/01/2023 Capital One (Capital One Ventures); Marguerite Casey Foundation, Sting (Propel Capital), Sorenson Impact Foundation, Financial Health Network
Okticket Travel expense management platform Financial Spain N/A 1.9 13/01/2023 GVC Gaesco (Zamit Capital); Angels Capital (lead), Carlos Blanco, Encomenda Smart Capital (Oriol Juncosa), Asterius
Knewit Inter-company logistics tool provider Services Japan Seed <1 (410,000) 16/01/2023 MTG (MTG Ventures); Mint; Japan Finance Corporation (debt)
Miteki Online salon services platform Services Japan N/A N/A 16/01/2023 CyberStep
Man-Machine Synergy Effectors Robotics technology developer Industrial Japan Pre-B2 N/A 16/01/2023 Nippon Signal
BPR Cloud (formerly Play) Business visualisation platform IT Japan Pre-A N/A 16/01/2023 Vector; Naoya Usuba, Taku Toguchi, unnamed other investors
Toooon Freelancer-focused business management tool provider IT Japan Seed N/A 16/01/2023 Z Holdings (Z Venture Capital), Dogan Beta, Digital Garage (DG Ventures’ Open Network Lab), Globis (G-Startup), Fan Communications; F Ventures, FGN ABBALab, East Ventures, 90s, Tatsuo Sakamoto, Kuniaki Yamada, Kazuhide Hashida, Daisuke Takanashi, Hidekazu Kouno, Shinobu Izumi, unnamed other investors
PicoCela Mesh wifi system provider IT Japan N/A N/A 16/01/2023 Nishio Rent All
Psychic VR Labs Fashion-focused virtual and mixed reality service provider Consumer Japan N/A N/A 13/01/2023 Animoca Brands
Paige  Cancer-focused digital pathology technology developer  Healthcare US N/A N/A 11/01/2023 Microsoft
Percent Digital credit marketplace  Financial US N/A N/A 12/01/2023 Nomura Holding America (Nomura Strategic Ventures Fund 1)
Ztrus Document processing software provider Financial Thailand N/A N/A 13/01/2023 Winserve Corp; Innospace, Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) 
Edison Fu

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