Alicia Irurzun-Lafitte has departed from a principal position at M Ventures for a partner role at another pharmaceutical firm's corporate venturing fund, UCB Ventures.

University of Tokyo’s Utec has extended its foray into Indian VC investments by starting an accelerator in partnership with local venture fund Blume Ventures.

The Salesforce-backed online insurance platform is reportedly valued at nearly $1bn having raised funding from investors including CreditEase.

Cemex Ventures founding member and adviser Pedro Irujo left the unit in December 2018 after two years, and 13 years at its parent company.

Northwestern Mutual-backed digital bank Chime is now valued at $1.5bn following a series D round led by DST Global.

Engie New Ventures alumnus Giovanni Ravina, became chief innovation officer for another Engie subsidiary, Engie EPS, in January this year.

Sina Corp has led a $30m series B round for media information and consumer credit provider Shuhe Technology and will collaborate with it on financial products.

Jenny Wu, a managing partner who helped set up Baidu Capital for internet group Baidu in 2016, departed at the end of 2018 to take up a chief investment officer role at New Hope Group.

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

RSP Blockchain Fund will make investments in startups raising financing through token issues rather than equity rounds, its first portfolio company being Beam Development.