Exor-backed card issuing technology provider Lithic raised $43m while Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance is providing $36m to lead Upstream Security's series C round.
Funding
Lithic, the US-based card issuing platform developer formerly known as Privacy.com, has secured $43m in a series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners that included Walkabout Ventures, Index Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, Rainfall Ventures and Teamworthy Ventures. The last four had joined Exor Seeds, a corporate venturing vehicle for diversified holding company Exor, and Quiet Capital in a $10.2m series A round in July 2020 that increased Lithic’s overall funding to $14.4m.
Insurance provider Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance has provided $36m for Israel-based cybersecurity and data analytics software provider Upstream Security as part of a larger series C round it will be leading. Another insurer, IDI Insurance, is also taking part in the round, which followed a $30m series B in late 2019 featuring automotive manufacturers Renault, Volvo and Hyundai (through Renault Venture Capital, Volvo Group Venture Capital and Hyundai AutoEver), Nationwide (through Nationwide Ventures and existing investors Glilot Capital Partners, CRV and Maniv Mobility that took Upstream’s total funding to $41m.
Mexico-based business finance provider a55 has raised $35m in equity and debt financing from investors including Mouro Capital, the venture capital firm funded by financial services firm Santander, Finextra has reported. Accial Capital and E3 Negócios also participated in the round, which boosted a55’s overall financing to $45m. Mouro Capital predecessor Santander InnoVentures had invested $5m in the company in May 2020 before it raised $2m from E3 Negócios five months later.
Brazil-headquartered crypto asset manager Hashdex has received $26m in funding from investors including telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, Coinbase Ventures, the VC arm of cryptocurrency exchange operator Coinbase, and Globo Ventures, on behalf of telecoms firm Grupo Globo, Bloomberg has reported. VC firm Valor Capital Group led the round, which included Igah Ventures, Alexia Ventures, Fuse Capital, Endeavor Scale Up Ventures, Canary and Norte Ventures.
Santander-backed VC firm Mouro Capital has co-led a $10m second tranche that increased Ireland-based payroll automation software developer Payslip’s series A round to $13m. The tranche was co-led by MiddleGame Ventures and also featured Frontline Ventures, Tribal.vc and angel investors David Clarke, Brian Williams and Phil Chambers. It came after Frontline Ventures led the March 2020 first close, which in turn followed $1.3m in seed capital from financial services firm AIB, Frontline Ventures, Tribal.vc, Hban Bloom Equity and Enterprise Ireland in 2018.
Senorics, a Germany-based developer of sensors for material analysis, has completed a €8m ($9.8m) pre-series A round featuring Zeiss Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of optoelectronics manufacturer Zeiss. The round was led by Fidura Private Equity and included Ventura Investment, Technologie Gründerfonds Sachsen and TU DresdenAktiengesellschaft. The last three had previously combined to supply $2.6m in seed funding for Senorics in 2018.
US-headquartered decentralised exchange operator Cryptocurrencies.AI has secured $8m from investors including quantitative crypto trading firm Alameda Research, CoinDesk has reported. Alphabit, DFG, AU21, Master Ventures, Fomocraft Ventures, Protocol Ventures, A195, GBIC and Rarestone Capital also contributed to the round.
Media company Concentra has taken part in a €4m ($4.9m) series A round for Belgium-based learning software provider MobieTrain, EU-Startups has reported. Force Over Mass Capital led the round, which also featured Limburgse Reconversie Maatschappij (LRM). Both Concentra and LRM had already backed a $2m round for the company in March 2020 that followed $1.1m from LRM, financial services firm ING and undisclosed individuals in early 2019.
HG Ventures, the VC arm of diversified holding company Heritage Group, has led a $3m seed round for Pretred, a US-based producer of industrial barriers made from recycled materials. Pretred graduated from The Heritage Group Accelerator Powered by Techstars in 2020, and HG Ventures senior director Ginger Rothrock has joined its board of directors.
Germany-based actuator developer MetisMotion has raised €1.5m ($1.8m) from industrial equipment and appliance manufacturer Siemens’ Technology Accelerator, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and ZFHN Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn’s Born2Grow subsidiary. The same three investors had provided $1.1m for the company in 2018 after it was spun off by Siemens.
OpenUnit, the Canada-based creator of a commerce software platform for self-storage facilities, has completed a $1m seed round that included self-storage service provide Insite Property Group. The round also featured Garage Capital, Advisors Fund and angel investors including Chris Killi, Dave Demchuk, Jeremiah Jacks, Peter Obradovich, Kipp Bodnar, Kieran Flanagan, James Gilbert and Jonathan Wasserstrum. It came after OpenUnit graduated from the Y Combinator accelerator.