Illumina and Celgene could exit genome researcher Human Longevity in a reverse merger while Openly raised $75m from investors including Advance Venture Partners and Gradient Ventures.
Public markets
US-based genome researcher Human Longevity has signed a letter of intent to execute a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Freedom Acquisition 1. The non-binding deal would involve the combined business taking Freedom Acquisition 1’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange and would come after $330m in funding from investors including genomics technology producer Illumina, pharmaceutical firm Celgene and GE Ventures, the now shuttered investment arm of power and industrial equipment manufacturer General Electric.
M&A
Advanced materials producer Meta Materials has agreed to acquire the assets and intellectual property of Optodot, a developer of nano-composite battery technology, for $3.5m in cash and $45m of shares. Although they did not reveal the size of the investment, Optodot had raised an undisclosed amount from LG Technology Ventures, a subsidiary of conglomerate LG, as of 2019.
Propel Venture Partners, the venture capital firm funded by financial services firm BBVA, has exited US-based digital brokerage services and software provider Embed Financial Technologies in an acquisition of undisclosed size by digital currency exchange FTX. Propel took part in Embed’s $20m seed round in April 2021 alongside Y Combinator, Bain Capital Ventures, Homebrew, Acrew Capital, SWS Ventures and angel investors including Lachy Groom and Josh Buckley. The company added $60m in debt and equity financing six months later.
Automation and energy equipment maker Schneider Electric paid an undisclosed amount to buy US-based vehicle charging software provider EV Connect yesterday, enabling diversified trading group Mitsui to exit. Mitsui and Ecosystem Integrity Fund co-led the company’s $12m series B round in 2019 to take its total funding to over $25m. It added $27.2m in debt and equity financing in December 2021, according to a securities filing.
Cainthus, an Ireland-based developer of computer vision technology for dairy farms, was acquired by agricultural supply technology producer Ever.Ag in a deal of undisclosed size yesterday, providing an exit for agribusiness Cargill. The corporate had invested an undisclosed amount in Cainthus in 2018.
Other Funding
| Company | Description of company | Sector | Country | Round | Round Size ($) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Openly | Premium homeowners insurance provider | Financial | US | C | 75 | 21/06/2022 | Advance Publications (Advance Venture Partners), Google (Gradient Ventures); Techstars, Mtech Capital, Clocktower Ventures, Obvious Ventures, PJC Ventures |
| Wingcopter | Delivery drone manufacturer | Industrial | Germany | A | 64 (updated) | 21/06/2022 | Rewe Group, Itochu; XAI Technologies, Salvia, Futury Capital, Xplorer Capital, Futury Regio Growth Fund, Hessen Kapital |
| Cyberint | Cyber threat intelligence provider | Information Technology | Israel | C | 40 | 21/06/2022 | Intesa Sanpaolo Group (Neva); StageOne Ventures (lead), Viola Growth |
| Carbon Biosciences | Gene therapy developer | Healthcare | US | A | 38 | 21/06/2022 | Astellas (Astellas Venture Management); Agent Capital (lead), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Camford Capital |
| Vidaa | Operating system developer for smart televisions | Media | US | N/A | 25 | 21/06/2022 | Tremor International |
| MyOme | Genome analysis technology developer | Healthcare | US | B | 23 | 21/06/2022 | SoftBank, Natera; Healthcare Venture Partners (lead), Sequoia Capital, Foresite Capital, Founders Fund |
| Deno | Secure runtime developer for JavaScript and TypeScript | Information Technology | US | N/A | 21 | 21/06/2022 | Netlify, Automattic; Sequoia Capital (lead); Four Rivers Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Insight Partners, Long Journey Ventures, Nat Friedman, Dylan Field |
| Idoven | Therapeutics and diagnostics system developer for cardiovascular diseases | Healthcare | Spain | A | 19.8 | 21/06/2022 | Telefónica (Wayra); Insight Partners (co-lead), Northzone (co-lead), European Innovation Council Accelerator |
| Scintil Photonics | Integrated circuit producer | Information Technology | France | N/A | 14.4 | 21/06/2022 | Robert Bosch (Robert Bosch Venture Capital) (lead); Supernova Invest, Innovacom, BPIfrance (BPIfrance Digital Venture) |
| Evergen | Energy management software provider | Energy | Australia | N/A | 10.4 | 21/06/2022 | Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV-X) |
| zCloak Network | Proof-as-a-service provider for public blockchains | Information Technology | Switzerland | A | 5.8 | 17/06/2022 | Coinbase (Coinbase Ventures), Bixin (Bixin Ventures), KuCoin (KuCoin Ventures) Matrixport (Matrixport Ventures); DFG, Sancus Ventures, Sanctor Capital, Hash Global, Jump Capital |
| Lista | Financial management software developer | Financial | Philippines | N/A | 5.1+ | 21/06/2022 | Credit Saison (Saison Capital); Openspace Ventures (lead), East Ventures, 1982 Ventures, Stephen CuUnjieng, Aurelien Pichon , Roland Ros, Rexy Dorado |
| Outland | Crypto art platform developer | Media | US | N/A | 5 | 20/06/2022 | OKG Ventures (lead); IMO Ventures, Dragon Roark, JDAC Capital |
| Augmenta | Design automation software provider for the construction industry | Industrial | Canada | Seed | 4.1 | 21/06/2022 | Ferguson (Ferguson Ventures); Hazelview Ventures (lead), Whiteshell Group |
| Datia | Sustainability analysis software developer | Financial | Sweden | Seed | 3.4 | 07/06/2022 | Sting; Nauta Capital (lead); Ramzi Rizk, Paul Schwarzenholz, Söderberg & Partners |
| Allthenticate | Access control technology provider | Information Technology | US | Seed | 3.1 | 21/06/2022 | Ping Identity; Silverton Partners (lead), Amplify |
| Apowiser | Chatbot developer for online medicine purchases | Healthcare | Israel | Seed | 1.5 | 21/06/2022 | CK Hutchinson (Longliv Ventures) (lead) |
| Castler | Cross-border escrow services provider | Financial | India | Seed | 1 | 22/06/2022 | Zerodha (Rainmatter) (lead); Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns, Faad Network, LetsVenture |
| Authentic Artists | Metaverse music platform developer | Media | US | N/A | N/A | 21/06/2022 | Warner Music Group, Crush Music (Crush Ventures); OVO Fund, Lupa Systems, Sebastien Borget, Mike Shinoda |
| Giva | Direct-to-consumer jewellery provider | Consumer | India | B | N/A | 22/06/2022 | Aditya Birla (Aditya Birla Ventures) (co-lead); A91 Partners (co-lead), Sixth Sense Ventures |
| Blacknut | Cloud gaming service provider | Media | UK | N/A | N/A | 21/06/2022 | Square Enix |
| NeuReality | Artificial intelligence chip developer | Information Technology | Israel | N/A | N/A | 21/06/2022 | Samsung (Samsung Ventures) |
