Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer helped drug developer TRexBio close its $59m series A round while Slack backed human resources software provider Oyster at a $475m valuation.
Funding
US-based immunology therapy developer TRexBio completed a $59m series A round yesterday featuring pharmaceutical firms Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer. The last two invested through Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and Pfizer Ventures respectively, and the round included Alexandria Venture Investments, the venture capital arm of life science real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, as well as SV Health.
US-headquartered recruitment software provider Oyster secured $50m yesterday in a series B round that included Slack Fund, the corporate venturing arm of communication app developer Slack, at a valuation reported by TechCrunch to be $475m. Growth equity firm Stripes led the round, which also featured Emergence Capital and Avid Ventures. The company had raised $20m in a February 2021 series A round led by Emergence Capital and backed by Slack Fund and existing investor Connect Ventures, bringing its total funding to $24.2m.
Capricorn Investment Group’s Technology Impact Fund led a $41m series B round for Seurat Technologies, a US-based developer of metal additive manufacturing technology, yesterday, that included Siemens Energy, a subsidiary of industrial technology producer Siemens, as well as automotive component producer Denso and carmakers Porsche and General Motors (through GM Ventures). The round was also backed by Maniv Mobility and True Ventures, both having joined GM Ventures, Porsche and Siemens’ Next47 unit in Seurat’s $13.5m series A in 2018.
China-based network security technology provider Tophant has completed a RMB200m ($30.9m) series D1 round led by Smart Internet Industry Fund, a joint venture between telecommunications firm China Telecom, China Internet Investment Fund Management and Qianhai Ark Asset Management, China Money Network reported today. The round included Eastern Bell Venture Capital and unnamed existing investors, and it followed $14.2m in series C funding from Eastern Bell, Cowin Capital, Linear Capital, Shenzhen Hui Capital and Yinxinggu Capital in February 2020.
Telecoms and internet group SoftBank has provided $9m for South Korea-based artificial intelligence software developer VoyagerX as part of a $27m series A round, Korea Herald reported today. The corporate invested through its SoftBank Ventures Asia subsidiary, and Altos Ventures and Yellowdog each supplied the same amount.
Insurance firm Phoenix Insurance has led a $20m series C round for Equinom, an Israel-based company using artificial intelligence technology to produce better seeds, AgFunder News reported yesterday. Chemical producer BASF also took part, as did Fortissimo Capital, Trendlines Group and Maverick Ventures Israel. Equinom had raised a total of $16.3m as of a $10m series B round in February 2020 led by BASF subsidiary BASF Venture Capital that included agribusiness Roquette, Trendlines and Fortissimo Capital.
Memory, the Norway-based creator of time tracking app Timely, has secured $14m in a funding round co-led by electrical equipment producer Sanden, Tech.eu reported yesterday. Investment firm Melesio Capital co-led the round, which also featured Investinor, Concentric and Snӧ Ventures, the three having provided $5m for Memory in its 2018 series A round. The company had already raised $1m in seed funding from Snӧ Ventures and 500 Startups in 2016.
BP Ventures, the strategic investment arm of petroleum producer BP, supplied $7m yesterday to lead a $13.2m funding round for IoTecha, a US-based provider of smart vehicle charging products. Shaun Healey, principal at BP Ventures, has taken a seat on the company’s board of directors in conjunction with the round, which added to a $1.5m round led by electronics producer ECS in 2018.
NuvoAir, the US-headquartered developer of a disease management system, received $12m yesterday in a series A round featuring dRx Capital, the medical technology fund formed by pharmaceutical firm Novartis and mobile chipmaker Qualcomm. VC firm AlbionVC led the round, which included Kaya, Amino Collective, Spiltan and Industrifonden and which came after Spiltan supplied $2.3m for the company in 2017 and joined Industrifonden in a $3m seed round in April 2019.
US-based healthy infant food brand Tiny Organics has raised $11m in series A funding from investors including baby products retailer Babylist, Forbes reported yesterday. Springdale Ventures led the round, which also featured InvestEco, Silas Capital, Human Ventures, Veglnvest, Gaingels, XFactor Ventures, Natureza, Elizabeth Street Ventures, Rocana Ventures, Chingona Ventures, Bonin Ventures and angel investors Gary Vaynerchuk, Howard Morgan and Liz Lange. It was preceded by a $2.5m seed round backed by Elizabeth Street Ventures, Rocana Ventures, Chingona Ventures, Bonin Ventures, Vaynerchuk and Lange in 2019.
US-based smart oil and gas technology developer mIQrotech has secured “nearly double” its $6m target for its series A round, with oil and gas supplier Chevron’s investment arm, Chevron Technology Ventures, among the participants. The round was co-led by Page Angel Investor Fund and an unnamed investor, according to Tampa Bay Inno.
Energy utility EDP participated in Portugal-headquartered open banking software developer Loqr’s €8m ($9.6m) series A round yesterday through corporate venturing unit EDP Ventures. The round was co-led by Iberis Capital and Semapa Next with backing from Big Start Ventures and HCapital – both, like EDP Ventures, named as existing investors. The company had received an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from REDangels in 2015.
Investment bank JP Morgan led a round of undisclosed size for digital mortgage exchange operator Maxed yesterday that included AGNC Ventures, an affiliate of real estate investment trust AGNC Investment Corp, and Moore Asset Backed Fund. Both took part in Maxex’s $16m series B round in May 2019, eight months after a $38m round led by Moore Asset Backed Fund. The company had previously raised $35m from Ellis Capital, Fenway Summer Ventures and Bienville Ventures.
ResQ, a US-based provider of general contractors for restaurants, has secured $7.5m in seed financing from investors including fast food franchisee Soul Foods, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Homebrew, Golden Ventures and Inovia Capital co-led the round, which also featured angel investors including Nilam Ganenthiran and Gokul Rajaram. ResQ has now raised a total of $9m, according to TechCrunch.
US-based carbon removal technology developer Boomitra raised $4m yesterday in a round led by agricultural chemical producer Yara through corporate venturing subsidiary Yara Growth Ventures. Petroleum supplier Chevron also took part in the round, through Chevron Technology Ventures, along with private investors Jerry Yang, Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor.
Transport technology producer and fruit processor Proeza co-led a $3.7m ‘post-seed’ round for Canada-based micromobility software developer Joyride today through corporate VC vehicle Proeza Ventures. The round was co-led by Urban Innovation Fund and included Liil Ventures, Two Small Fish Ventures and angel investor Craig Miller.
Consulting firm Accenture provided an undisclosed amount for Switzerland-headquartered payment software developer Imburse yesterday through subsidiary Accenture Ventures. Financial services firm PostFinance and VC fund SixThirty led a $1.7m round for Imburse in November 2019, and its investors also include insurance software provider Guidewire.
M&A
Identity verification technology provider Ping Identity has acquired SecuredTouch, a US-based developer of bot protection software, in a deal of undisclosed size allowing media group Bertelsmann and RDC, the joint venture formed by weapons producer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and technology holding company Elron Electronic Industries, to exit. The company had raised $8m in a 2018 series A round led by Bertelsmann subsidiary Arvato Financial Solutions and backed by RDC, following $3.5m supplied by Eshbol Ventures, Wellborn Ventures and Swarth Group the previous year.
Internet and gaming group Tencent has increased the share of Germany-based video game developer Yager it owns to a majority stake. The corporate had invested an undisclosed amount in Yager in February 2020 and paid a similarly undisclosed sum this time.