American Express took part in food marketplace Shef’s $73.5m series B round while Musahi Seimitsu-backed battery developer Sakuu agreed a $705m reverse merger.
M&A
Telecommunications and internet technology group SoftBank’s marketing subsidiary, Geniee, acquired portfolio company Zelto, the US-based operator of a content creator-focused revenue generation platform, for a price that a person privy to the development told TechCrunch was roughly $70m. The company, then known as AdPushup, had raised $630,000 before adding an undisclosed amount from Geniee in 2016.
Reverse merger
Sakuu, a US-based lithium-ion battery developer backed by transportation equipment manufacturer Musashi Seimitsu Industry, is set to go public through a reverse takeover with Nasdaq-listed blank cheque company Plum Acquisition Corp I at a combined pro forma valuation of about $705m. Musahi Seimitsu led a $14m series A round for Sakuu in early 2021, when it was still known as KeraCel, that took its total funding to over $16m.
Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company Viveon Health Acquisition Corp has cancelled a reverse merger with Suneva Medical, a US-based dermatology product developer that counts pharmaceutical company Almirall as an investor. Suneva and Viveon have until June 30 to put together another merger deal.
Stake sale
Internet and telecoms group SoftBank sold a 3.8% stake in Delhivery, the now Bombay-listed delivery services provider, for almost $116m. The corporate had invested a total of about $380m in the company.
Funding
US-based homemade food marketplace Shef raised $73.5m in a series B round featuring Amex Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of payment services firm American Express. Venture capital firm CRV led the round, which included Andreessen Horowitz and an additional $7m in debt financing. It took the company’s overall funding to more than $100m.
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circ | Textile recycling service | Services | US | B | 55 (updated) | 01/03/2023 | Zalando, Avery Dennison, Youngone; 8090 Industries, Circulate Capital, Vodia Capital, City Light Capital |
| SpotDraft | Contract management software provider | IT | US | A | 26 | 02/03/2023 | Prosus (Prosus Ventures), 100x Entrepreneur (100x Entrepreneur Fund); Premji Invest (lead), 021 Capital, Arkam Ventures, Riverwalk Holdings |
| Metrika | Provider of blockchain risk management software | IT | US | A | 18 (updated) | 02/03/2023 | Microsoft (M12), Siam Commercial Bank (SCB 10X), Samsung (Samsung Next), Coinbase (Coinbase Ventures); Nyca Partners, Neotribe Ventures |
| Videocites | Video recognition technology developer | Media | Israel | B | 10 | 01/03/2023 | NBA (NBA Equity), Infront Sports & Media; Velocity Capital Management (lead) |
| Indent | Provider of AI-equipped customer video review platform Vreview | Services | South Korea | A | 8.1 | 02/03/2023 | LG (LG Uplus); SV Investment (lead), Korea Investment Partners, Crit Ventures |
| Helika | Web3 gaming and NFT analytics platform | IT | Canada | Seed | 4 | 01/03/2023 | Animoca Brands/The Sandbox (Sparkle Ventures); Diagram Ventures (lead), Sfermion, Big Brain Holdings, Fenbushi, Builder Capital |
| Enstack | Digitalisation app developer for small businesses | Services | Philippines | A | 3 | 02/03/2023 | Xendit; Mangrove Capital Partners (lead), William Kim |
| Prana Thoracic | Developer of a lung tissue excision tool | Healthcare | US | A | 3 | 02/03/2023 | Johnson & Johnson (Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC), Texas Medical Center (Texas Medical Center Venture Fund); New World Angels (lead), University City Science Center (Phase 1 Ventures) |
| Sourcerie | Online beauty product retailer | Consumer | UK | Pre-Seed | 2.1 | 01/03/2023 | Vorwerk (Vorwerk Ventures) (co-lead); Playfair Capital (co-lead), Sandrine Deveaux, Mandeep Singh, Renee Parker |
| Gomecano | Car mechanic and customer matching platform | Transport | France | A | 2.1 | 01/03/2023 | Via ID |
| Inbalance Grid | Smart vehicle charging network | Transport | Lithuania | N/A | 1.4 | 02/03/2023 | Civinity; Iisutib Kūb Business Angels Fund II, EIT, Orion Securities |
| Qaptis | Developer of heavy transport decarbonisation technology | Energy and Natural Resources | Switzerland | Pre-Seed | 1.3 | 01/03/2023 | Cargill; BlackWood, YB Startup, Plug and Play |
| Procural | B2B services tendering platform | Services | Bahrain | Seed | 1.2 | 01/03/2023 | BenchMatrix; Flagship Holding |
| Provectus Algae | Microalgae-based chemical developer | Industrial | Australia | N/A | N/A | 01/03/2023 | CJ CheilJedang (CJ Bio) |
| MasPanadas | Frozen empanada food brand | Consumer | US | N/A | N/A | 01/03/2023 | Union Kitchen (Union Kitchen Ventures) (co-lead); Angeles Investors (co-lead) |
| Neural Propulsion Systems | Developer of digital imaging radar technology | Industrial | US | B | N/A | 03/03/2023 | Raytheon Technologies (RTX Ventures) |
| Nippon Fiber Corporation | Ash and slag-derived filament producer | Industrial | Japan | N/A | N/A | 03/03/2023 | J-Power |
