A round up of all the latest news on www.globalcorporateventuring.com for our subscribers.
Corporate venturing deal net: 9-13 April 2018
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Ripple transfers $25m to Blockchain Capital
Venture firm Blockchain Capital revealed last month it had raised $150m across two funds but did not reveal Ripple’s involvement at the time.
Conductive launches $100m Panasonic-sponsored fund
Conductive Ventures, which is solely funded by Panasonic, will focus on enterprise software and hardware companies, and has announced its first four investments.
NTT makes $188m corporate venturing call
NTT Group is preparing to launch a third corporate venturing fund in July this year aimed at technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Inspire Medical to make inroads on public markets
Medtronic spinout Inspire Medical Systems, the developer of a neurostimulation device for sleep apnea, has targeted $86.3m for its IPO.
People
Intel’s newest investment director, Chiara Sommer, came from High-Tech Gründerfonds and will join Abdul Guefor in Intel Capital’s European team.
Exits
Palo Alto snags Secdo in $100m deal
RDC will exit cyber threat detection platform Secdo through an acquisition by Palo Alto Networks reportedly sized at about $100m.
The Salesforce-backed file storage platform expanded the offering after the underwriters bought an additional $113m of shares.
Huya targets $200m as it joins IPO stream
The YY-founded live game streaming platform raised $462m from Tencent last month at a valuation of $1.16bn.
Pivotal pinpoints $530m target for IPO
The Dell EMC spinout has set the range for an offering in which General Electric will sell up to $62m of shares.
Unity Biotechnology gets to IPO age with $85m filing
The age-related disease drug developer, which counts Mayo Clinic and WuXi PharmaTech as investors, raised $55m as recently as last month.
IT
Corporates identify Element for $12m series A
BCA, BRI and Telkom Indonesia all invested in the biometric identification software, whose early backers include Recruit and Sinar Mas.
Axa’s CVC unit becomes Axa Venture Partners
The rebranding comes after Axa’s corporate venture capital arm launched a $175m fund-of-funds initiative and committed more resources to Asia.
Verkada secures $15m in Siemens-led round
The smart security system developer raised the money in a series A round led by Siemens’ Next47 subsidiary.
Workday helps Suplari procure series A cash
Suplari, the developer of a procurement management platform, has raised $10.3m in a Workday Ventures-backed round.
Barclays, BPIfrance, CLSA and unnamed existing investors have increased the communication software provider’s overall funding to more than $300m.
Alibaba makes SenseTime’s $600m series C
The artificial intelligence technology producer secured the money at a reported $4.5bn valuation, with Alibaba leading the round and Suning also investing.
Health
GlaxoSmithKline picks stake in Orchard
Orchard Therapeutics has licensed a range of gene therapies from GSK, which will get a 19.9% stake in the company as part of the deal.
Enterprise boldly goes to $41m series B
The respiratory disease specialist took its overall funding to $55m with a $41.4m round led by Novartis Venture Fund.
Livongo links to corporates to raise $105m
Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Microsoft Ventures, Zaffre Investments and Echo Health Ventures invested in a round that valued Livongo at $800m.
Amgen helps Aetion ace series B round
Medical analytics platform developer Aetion raised $36.4m in an Amgen Ventures-backed round that took its total funding to $50m.
Ayala finds pathway to $17m series A
Harel Insurance and Finance, which helped form cancer therapy developer Ayala Pharmaceuticals in November, is among the investors.
Nielsen Ventures was among the participants as the nutritional data platform completed a series A round to boost its overall funding to $10m.
Promethera prises bond financing from corporates
Shibuya Corporation and Shinsei Bank joined existing investors in the liver disease therapy developer to buy $11.5m in convertible bonds.
Inova Health and BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners contributed to a series B round that will fund the strengthening of the startup’s services and technology.
Pfizer helps allocate $300m to Allogene
Pfizer, which is providing 17 licensed drug assets to the immuno-oncology startup, will own a 25% stake once the series A round formally closes.
Constellation aligns with investors for $100m round
GlaxoSmithKline’s SR One unit, an existing Constellation backer, has returned to contribute to a $100m round that took its total equity funding to $229m.
Magenta Therapeutics manages $52m in series C
Access Industries contributed to a round that lifted the bone marrow transplant drug developer’s overall funding to $150m.
Media
Chargifi channels $7m in series B round
Wireless charging terminal developer Chargifi, whose past investors include Intel Capital, raised the cash in a Hewlett Packard Enterprise-backed round.
SoftBank produces funding for Iyuno Media
Media localisation services provider Iyuno has raised $23.5m from SoftBank Ventures in what appears to be its first external funding round.
Tencent produces series B funding for L² Studio
Animation producer L² Studio has raised an undisclosed eight-figure renminbi sum in a Tencent-backed series B round.
Watcha wins $12m in series C funding
Doosan Group and AJU Capital invested in Kakao-backed streaming portal Watcha, taking the company’s total funding to $21m.
Consumer
Tencent buys into $3bn Pinduoduo round
Tencent has reportedly led a $3bn funding round for e-commerce company Pinduoduo at a $15bn valuation, having previously backed a $110m round in 2016.
Financial
Ant Financial anticipates $150bn valuation in latest round
Alibaba’s financial services affiliate has reportedly already raised $3bn from investors including Temasek and is targeting an $8bn to $9bn close.
CloudMargin clears $10m in funding
IHS Markit and Leucadia National both invested in collateral management platform developer CloudMargin, which will use the cash for sales, marketing and product development.
CNP helps Alan cover series A round
Returning investor CNP Assurances contributed to a $28.4m round led by Index Ventures that increased the health insurance startup’s total funding to $45m.
Youzu assesses IceKredit for $25m round
Game producer Youzu Interactive led a round that took the credit risk assessment platform’s overall funding to more than $50m.
Energy and Natural Resources
Corporates help distribute funding to Origami Energy
Aggreko and Fred.Olsen both invested in distributed energy management platform developer Origami as part of a $26.3m round.
Industrial
SpaceX explores $500m in new round
The GV-backed space exploration company is reportedly raising money at a valuation of almost $24bn, in a round that will be led by Fidelity.
Nongfenqi harvests series C cash
Bertelsmann Asia Investments was among the investors to return for farming e-commerce platform Nongfenqi’s series C round.
Bloomberg mines Cobalt in $13m series A
Bloomberg Beta had previously co-led a seed round of undisclosed size for security robot developer Cobalt Robotics two years ago.
Transport
Hellobike turns wheels toward $700m
Existing investors Fosun and Ant Financial contributed to the first tranche of the bicycle rental platform’s series E round, four months after a $500m series D.
Reaction rockets to new funding
Rolls-Royce, Boeing and existing investor BAE Systems all contributed to a $37.3m round for advanced engine developer Reaction Engines.
The Liberty Mutual, Sumitomo and Asgent-backed automotive cybersecurity technology developer’s overall funding stands at $27m.
Allianz climbs aboard Go-Jek with $35m investment
Go-Jek, which is in the process of raising $1.5bn in a round that will value it at $4bn, has pulled in $35m from Allianz X.
Xiaopeng Motors to recharge with $2.7bn
Electric vehicle developer Xiaopeng Motors intends to raise $2.7bn this year, having already secured $348m from investors including Alibaba and Foxconn in January.
DeepScale arrives at $15m series A
Siemens’ Next47 co-led the vehicle sensor developer’s latest round, which will drive recruitment and product development.
Services
Checkr fetches $100m in series C round
The background checks provider, which counts Alphabet as an investor, secured funding in a round led by funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price.
Workana gets funding commission from Seek
Existing investor Seek has invested $6.8m in Workana, a freelancer recruitment marketplace that will now expand from Latin America into Southeast Asia.
Directly powers through to $20m series B
Microsoft Ventures took part in a round that increased the customer services platform’s overall funding to $32m altogether.
Newmark Knight Frank and The Sapir Organization co-led a series B round that reportedly valued the workspace provider at about $500m.
Edovo locks down series A funding
Edovo, the Twilio-backed developer of an educational platform for incarcerated users, raised $9.8m from 30 investors.
The travel services marketplace secured the series C funding from Tempus Group, Ant Financial and CCB International.
