Ant Financial is considering a commitment to a forthcoming round for instalment buying and lending platform Akulaku as a strategic investor.

Appliance manufacturer Midea is targeting between $147m to $293m for the fund and has contributed $44m through its own investment arm.

Vorwerk Ventures returned to reinvest in the smart luggage developer as part of an $11.4m round that also featured Project A and Milano Investment Partners.

Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.

A subsidiary of Suning has backed the community e-commerce platform's series A round, with the proceeds to fund geographic expansion and enhancement of its supply chain.

L’Oréal’s Muriel Atias has been promoted to chief investment officer of its newly created venturing unit, Bold.

Ant Financial is set to lead a round that could value online restaurant listings and ordering platform Zomato at $3bn, while SoftBank looks to rival Swiggy.

The Novel TMT Ventures-backed online boutique has raised $10.7m of a round slated to close at $15m according to a securities filing.

The beverage producer and retailer was valued at a reported $60m in a seed round backed by Coca-Cola’s Venturing & Emerging Brands vehicle.

Ogawa and Generali contributed to a series B round for Temi, a consumer robotics spinoff from defence equipment maker Roboteam.