A round up of all the latest news on www.globalcorporateventuring.com for our subscribers.
Weekly corporate venturing deal net: 30 March – 3 April 2015
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Isacke, SVB: Optimism drives growth of innovation economy
After a white-hot 2014, most leaders predict that the trend will continue in 2015. What is interesting is that while business optimism is high, it is also very measured. Some 75% of executives say they met or exceeded their revenue targets in 2014, (and two of three who did were within 20 percent of the target.) In 2010, by comparison, half of companies fell below their revenue targets.
Fundraising
JJDC backs Vivo Capital’s fund
Johnson & Johnson has provided the first healthcare venture group investment in the Vivo Capital Fund VIII that aims to help US and Chinese businesses work cross-border.
Partech Ventures has followed its $32m Partech Entrepreneur I fund with a corporate-backed $65m second fund, the largest dedicated seed fund in Europe.
Comcast establishes $4bn investment arm
The new corporate venturing division will be led by chief financial officer Michael Angelakis and focus on late-stage investments.
Aliyun launches IDG-backed fund
Alibaba subsidiary Aliyun is set to establish its Founder+ programme with the backing of 70 other actors, including International Data Group subsidiary IDG Capital Partners.
People
Telus and BBVA-backed Taulia has named Cedric Bru as its new chief executive.
Exits
Hubert Burda-backed homemade and vintage goods marketplace Etsy has announced its IPO pricing at $14 to $16 a share.
Citigroup-backed ReadyForZero has been acquired by big data platform Avant for an undisclosed amount.
Corporate-backed ActionX is acquired by Xaxis
SoftBank, AOL and Verizon supported a $5m series A round for ActionX in 2013.
Fosun-backed Focus Media goes public
Digital media and advertising company Focus Media is set to list via a reverse merger with Jiangsu Hongda New Material.
Backed by the Carlyle Group and Ping An, Meinian will float on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange via a reverse merger with Jiangsu Sanyou Group.
Buildings material company Holcim has sold its stake in cement company Siam City for $681m.
IT
French electricity supply company GDF Suez has invested in Redbird, a company that analyses data captured by civilian drones.
No results for Google-backed internet search company
Google Ventures-backed paid search advertising company Trada has ceased trading and advised its customers on other companies to use.
Corporates put HyTrust in series D
Corporate backers have invested in HyTrust to help it secure virtualised and cloud-based systems and expand its sales and marketing into an international market.
Qualcomm and Ru-Net back AppsDaily
Existing investors Qualcomm Ventures and Ru-Net have returned for the mobile app developer and distributor’s $16m series C round.
Bloomberg decides ProsperWorks
ProsperWorks has closed a $7.5m series A round to advance development of its customer relationship management platform built on top of Google Apps.
Intel serves up series B for CafeX
First reported last week as an undisclosed round, CafeX has revealed it closed a $21m series B round.
Corporates bid on Auctionata’s series C
Hearst Ventures, Holtzbrinck Ventures and other corporate-backed firms are among the investors in the live auction broadcasts provider $45m round.
Health
Health app Noom drives investment
Qualcomm Ventures has reinvested in Noom, a health app developer that is using human and artificial intelligence interaction to drive behaviour change in people with chronic illnesses or those wanting to lose weight.
Google prescribes series A to Spruce
Google Ventures is among the backers of a $15m series A round for the telemedicine company.
Sphera helps ensure ATyr’s series E
Healthcare services provider Sphera Global Healthcare has contributed to a $76m series E round to support ATyr’s clinical development programme.
Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline’s investment arm SR One has backed a series D round that will fund a Phase 2 clinical trial for an acute kidney injury prevention treatment.
Malin helps administer $50m for Novan
Malin Corporation has backed a $50m funding round for the biotechnology company with a focus on dermatology.
Novartis treats Aduro to funding and partnership
Aduro Biotech and Novartis have entered a collaboration agreement to develop a range of immuno-oncology products based on Aduro’s technology, with Novartis also providing equity funding.
Media
Intel helps shower Sprinklr with $46m
Sprinklr has increased its total funding to $123.5m as existing investors including Intel Capital return to lead its series E round.
Trending news app SmartNews has raised a bridge round as it gears up for a larger series C round.
Innovid records series D round
Cisco has joined returning investor T-Venture to back the video advertising company’s $10m series D round.
Consumer
Corporates pack for holiday with CanadaStays
Media company Torstar and vacation website HomeAway have invested in CanadaStays to allow its users to reach a larger potential rental market through the HomeAway website.
Tapingo taps into Qualcomm for series C
Qualcomm has invested in app-based shopping platform Tapingo to help it move out of the college campus market and into local commerce.
Media group Hearst Corporation has invested in premium on-demand travel company Via as it looks to expand its business into new areas and grow its team.
Flipkart wants another $600m in its basket
The Naspers-backed e-commerce company closed a $700m series H round in December 2014 when it increased its total funding to $2.4bn.
Financial
UBS levels with fintech startups
Investment bank UBS and accelerator Level39 have partnered to set up a programme aimed at developing innovative financial technology.
Santander’s $100m InnoVentures fund has provided a $5m series B round for MyCheck.
Energy and Natural Resources
Corporates energise Enbala’s series C
General Electric and Edison Energy have backed an $11m series C round for the smart grid developer.
The company is reportedly raising another round from as yet unnamed investors.
Nordic Capital acquires Statoil-backed Resman
Oil and gas company Resman has been acquired by private equity firm Nordic Capital for an undisclosed amount.
Industrial
Algal has developed a range of technologies to create algae-based chemicals, foods and beverages.
Transport
Didi Dache-Kuaidi Dache collects $600m
The newly merged ride-sharing company backed by Softbank, Alibaba and Tencent has secured a $600m round.
Services
New Oriental learns about Juesheng’s series B
Online education platform Juesheng has closed a series B round backed by private education services provider New Oriental Education and Technology.
17Zuoye calculates $100m series D
The online education platform with a focus on mathematics and English language skills has received funding from backers including DST Global.
IDG Capital has returned a third time to invest in the mobile app’s $60m round.
