Astra Group took part in a $41m round for digital bank Yap while GV led artificial intelligence developer platform Modular AI's $30m seed round.
Funds
Italy-based farming group Cereal Docks formed a corporate venture capital unit called Grey Silo Ventures in May this year. Giacomo Fanin, business development manager at Cereal Docks, will oversee its investment activities and said the fund is set to target Europe and Israel-based food technology developers. Grey Silo Ventures will make up to four investments per year at seed or series A stage, providing between €300,000 and €500,000 ($310,000 to $520,000 at current rates) per deal.
M&A
Formal attire-driven marketplace and search engine operator Queenly has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire Mi Padrino, the US-based, quinceañera celebration-focused crowdfunding platform backed by investors including wedding planning service XO Group (TheKnot).
Funding
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yap | Digital banking app operator | Financial | UAE | N/A | 41 | 04/07/2022 | Astra Group; Aljazira Capital (lead), Abu Dawood Group, Audacia Capital, unnamed family offices |
| Modular AI | AI developer-oriented software provider | IT | N/A | Seed | 30 | 30/06/2022 | Alphabet (GV) (lead); Greylock, The Factory, SV Angel |
| Fisdom | Wealth management technology provider | Financial | India | C | 21 (updated) | 30/06/2022 | PayU; Quona Capital, Saama Capital |
| Mona | Metaverse creation technology developer | Media | US | A | 14.6 | 01/07/2022 | Protocol Labs (co-lead), Polygon (Polygon Studios), ConsenSys (ConsenSys Mesh); Archetype (co-lead), Collab+Currency (co-lead), Placeholder, Rogue Capital, Synergis, A_Capital, Palm Tree Crew Crypto, Venture Reality Fund, SV Angel, Fourth Revolution Capital, OpenSea Ventures, LongHash Ventures, Taavet+Sten, Big Brain Holdings, Everyrealm, Ready Player DAO, Poap Ventures, Gaingels, The Grey Trust, Rahilla Zafar, Conlan Rios, Miles Anthony, Dennison Bertram |
| Stake | Renter-focused cashback platform | Financial | US | A | 12 | 30/06/2022 | National Association of Realtors (Second Century Ventures); RET Ventures Housing Impact Fund (lead), Enterprise Community Partners, Hometeam Ventures, Operator Stack, Shadow Ventures, Olive Tree Ventures |
| AltLayer | Blockchain technology developer | IT | Singapore | Seed | 7.2 | 01/07/2022 | Jump Trading Group (Jump Crypto); Polychain Capital (lead), Breyer Capital |
| MoHash | Decentralised finance protocol provider | Financial | India | Seed | 6 | 30/06/2022 | Jump Trading Group (Jump Crypto), Coinbase (Coinbase Ventures), CoinSwitch; Quona Capital (co-lead), Sequoia Capital India (co-lead), Hashed Ventures, Ledger Prime, Balaji Srinivasan, Sandeep Nailwal, Jaynti Kanani |
| Juragan Material | B2B marketplace for the construction industry | Industrial | Indonesia | Seed | 4 | 04/07/2022 | GoTo (Go-Ventures) (lead), Susquehanna International Group |
| Srush | Data analysis technology developer | IT | Japan | Pre-A | 1.3 | 04/07/2022 | Money Forward (Money Forward Venture Partners’ Hirac Fund), Nippon Life (Nissay Capital) |
| Karty | Digital payment technology developer | Financial | Qatar | Pre-seed | 1.2 | 04/07/2022 | Visa; Qatar Development Bank, Qatar Foundation, unnamed angel investors |
| Schol | Scholarship digitalisation technology developer | Services | Japan | N/A | <1 ($740,000) | 04/07/2022 | Obunsha (Obunsha Ventures), Mizuho Bank (Mizuho Capital); Kibow, Now |
| ChemDirect | Online speciality chemical marketplace |
Industrial | US | A | N/A | 01/07/2022 | Schneider |
| Zhixin Semiconductor | Fabless automotive microcontroller unit designer | Transport | China | A | N/A | 30/06/2022 | iFlytek; Tianjin Bohai Fund, Forebright Capital, MTM Capital |
| Back of the Yards Algae Sciences | Algae-based alternative protein product developer | Industrial | US | N/A | N/A | 04/07/2022 | DIC Corporation |
