Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Estate, Koei Tecmo and several banks joined Sony for the fund's first close on its way to a $217m target.

Softbank Vision Fund 2 co-led academic support software producer Paper's $270m series D round and a $144m round for online lender Funding Societies.

Lockscreen content provider Glance is raising $200m from Jio Platforms at a unicorn valuation while Sobot, Smart Logic and Akulaku each secured $100m.

DMG Ventures contributed to a $50m round for online stationery brand Papier while Hannover Digital Investments helped cross-border payment service Vitesse secure $26m.

Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.

Cybersecurity technology producer Salt Security nabbed $140m in a CapitalG-led round while healthcare unicorn Thirty Madison merged with Comcast-backed Nurx.

Digital bank operator Tonik Financial raised $131m in a Mizuho Bank-led round while e-commerce software provider Shopware secured $100m from PayPal and Carlyle.

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led a $300m round for business-to-business marketplace ElasticRun and co-led blockchain creation platform developer Aleo's $200m series B.

Financial services provider Tribal raised $60m in a SoftBank-led series B round while Credit Saison invested $30m in a round for peer-to-peer lender Julo sized at up to $60m.

Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.