A round up of all the latest news on www.globalcorporateventuring.com for our subscribers.
Corporate venturing deal net: 8-12 October 2018
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
The Association accelerator prepares second brief
Trade body Association of International Certified Professional Accountants provides participants in its accelerator with up to $25,000 in funding to target either financial information or occupational competency applications.
Tencent Investment tenses itself for $650m fund
Tencent’s corporate venturing department is reportedly in talks with prospective limited partners for a $650m fund that would focus on follow-on investments.
Chrysalix takes corporates to RoboValley for new fund
Chrysalix Venture Capital’s RoboValley fund has secured Mitsubishi Corporation, Severstal, Teck Resources and Petronas as LPs as it aims for a $120m final close.
Kraft Heinz commits $100m to Evolv
Evolv Ventures will be headed by ex-Lightbank partner Bill Pescatello and will fund startups developing technology for the food industry.
LiveSafe gives details of $11m in new funding
Evergy joined existing investors Hearst and IAC in a series B-1 extension that took the risk intelligence software provider’s total funding to about $27m.
Venturra Capital centres $15m early-stage fund
Venturra Discovery will invest in seed and pre-series A startups on behalf of its Lippo-backed parent firm.
SoftBank to secure PIF for next Vision Fund
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund plans to replicate its $45bn contribution to the first fund when SoftBank puts together its second $100bn Vision Fund.
Foxconn manufactures $545m fund
Foxconn has joined forces with the Jinan’s municipal government to establish a fund that will aim to boost the local semiconductor ecosystem.
Edison Partners welcomes American Family to $365m fund
American Family Insurance was among a string of limited partners for the growth equity firm’s ninth fund, which was oversubscribed from its $300m target.
Aave unchains corporate venturing unit
Aave’s newly formed corporate venturing unit will fund digital asset technologies and other blockchain-related ideas ranging from payment services to games.
ArcTern reaches $46m first close
Equinor is among the limited partners for ArcTern Ventures’ second cleantech fund, which has reached a first close on the way to a target of about $115m.
People
Lymbersky leaves Cisco to go Global
Christoph Lymbersky, a partner at corporate venturing unit M2P Venture & Capital Partners, has co-founded investment bank Global Ventures.
Jens Schulte, who oversaw corporate venturing at PostFinance, has been promoted to head of M&A for its parent company, Swiss Post.
Bartlett to head Verizon Ventures
Christopher Bartlett, formerly managing director at Morgan Stanley, has become head of Verizon’s corporate venturing arm.
Cisco’s Subramanian moves to Evolution Equity Partners
Karthik Subramanian, Cisco Investments’ former head of cybersecurity investments and acquisitions, has joined the growth equity firm as a partner.
Matthew Carbonara, has left a senior director role at Cisco Investments to join Citi Ventures as a managing director.
Swarup promoted to partner at Rakuten Ventures
Aditya Swarup, a former principal at Rakuten Ventures, has been promoted to partner.
Chakravarthy checks into NGP Capital
NGP Capital has hired Rohini Chakravarthy from New Enterprise Associates as a partner.
Marin Cauvas has joined Anthemis as an investment associate from Santander InnoVentures.
Romanski runs to Siris Capital
Hilton Romanski, who was featured twice on GCV’s Powerlist in 2012 and 2014, has become a partner and senior managing director at Siris Capital.
Rowles swims into Sky Ocean Ventures
Jamie Rowles has left a venture capital position at Jetstone Asset Management to head Sky’s impact venturing fund.
Telkomsel invites Ariffin to head of investments position
Nazier Ariffin, formerly Angel-eQ’s head of investments and business development, will head investments for Telkomsel’s new strategic unit.
Bell chimes with Nuveen’s offer
William Bell, a director at TIAA’s corporate development department, has joined Nuveen as a managing director.
Exits
The synthetic DNA technology developer, which counts Illumina, WuXi PharmaTech, Kangmei and Institut Mérieux, has filed to raise up to $86.3m.
Orchard to orchestrate $173m IPO
GSK is the second largest shareholder of gene therapy developer Orchard Therapeutics, which has raised more than $290m in equity funding.
Redlock heads to Palo Alto in $173m acquisition
Dell Technologies Capital will exit Redlock in an acquisition by Palo Alto Networks, five months after it bought another cloud security software developer.
GV exits as Anju inhales Zephyr
Anju Software has paid an undisclosed sum to acquire healthcare data provider Zephyr Health, which had raised $33.5m from investors including GV.
The Pfizer and Gilead-backed immuno-oncology therapy developer, which had raised $300m in an April series A round, floated at the top of its range.
IT
SK Hynix and existing investor Infosys both contributed to a series B round for software-defined server technology provider TidalScale.
Netlify tastes the high life with $30m
The Bloomberg-backed web content delivery network provider boosted its overall funding to more than $44m in a Kleiner Perkins-led round.
Capital One Growth Ventures returned to invest in the data warehousing software provider as part of a round that more than doubled its post-money valuation.
Goldman Sachs Private Capital Investing added series E funding to some $58m from earlier investors including Alphabet, Seagate and CenturyLink.
Deutsche Telekom takes PipeDrive to $60m
Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners has invested $10m in CRM software provider PipeDrive, enabling the company to close its series C round.
Yunshan connects to Lenovo for $11m round
Lenovo joined a trio of VC firms for Yunshan Networks’ series B-plus round, bringing the total raised by the IT networking services provider to $26m.
CloudWalk reaches series B-plus destination
Facial recognition system developer CloudWalk Technology has secured an undisclosed sum in a round that included leasing services firm Bohai Capital.
Siemens sees Varjo in $31m series B
Industrial VR headset developer Varjo has raised funding from investors including Siemens’ Next47 unit as it prepares to launch its lead product.
ClimaCell blows to $45m series B
Existing backer JetBlue Technology Ventures and new strategic partner Ford Smart Mobility have both invested in the microweather detection technology developer.
LiveSafe gives details of $11m in new funding
Evergy joined existing investors Hearst and IAC in a series B-1 extension that took the risk intelligence software provider’s total funding to about $27m.
OmniSci maps out $55m series C
OmniSci, formerly known as MapD, has added $55m to its coffers thanks to investors including Nvidia and Verizon, bringing its total funding to $92m.
Dell Technologies Capital invested as part of a series D round that valued the software release platform at more than $1bn.
Health
Proetus Digital ingests $88m from Otsuka
Proteus Digital Health has received $88m in equity funding and upfront payments as it extended its collaboration partnership with Otsuka Pharmaceutical.
Rgenix reaches series C to raise $40m
Novo, WuXi AppTec and Alexandria Venture Investments all invested in a Lepu Medical-led round that will support clinical trials for two cancer drug candidates.
Glympse Bio engineers $22m series A
Glympse Bio, a medical diagnostic sensor spinout from MIT, has secured $22m in a series A round backed by Gilead Sciences and Heritage Provider Network.
Gotham goes to $54m in series A
SR One co-led a round that included Celgene and Alexandria Venture Investments, as Gotham Therapeutics came out of stealth.
CSA seizes $23m in Ascension-backed round
Ascension Ventures was among the existing investors in a round in which Horizon Technology Finance put up $6m of equity financing and $15m of debt.
PGDx intersects with Innovatus in $42m deal
Innovatus agreed to invest up to $42m in Personal Genome Diagnostics, whose existing backers include Bristol Myers-Squibb, Helsinn and Inova Health System.
Cerecin sells Wilmar on $50m round
Brain health product developer Accera has rebranded to Cerecin with a $50m round led by Wilmar International.
Sitryx hits up GSK in $30m series A
Immunometabolic drug developer Sitryx has closed a series A round featuring GlaxoSmithKline, after taking part in the latter’s Immunology Network initiative.
Genomatica generates $90m funding round
Ginkgo Bioworks participated in the round in addition to expanding an existing strategic partnership with bioprocessing technology developer Genomatica.
Proetus Digital ingests $88m from Otsuka
Proteus Digital Health has received $88m in equity funding and upfront payments as it extended its collaboration partnership with Otsuka Pharmaceutical.
Media
Open8 gets creative in $13m series A
Marketing distribution product supplier Open8 has now raised $36m in funding after winning the backing of the corporate-backed Mirai Creation Fund.
The Tengelmann-backed classical music streaming platform has doubled its overall funding by raising $11.8m as it expands to North America.
Financial
Simplesurance clocks up $11.5m
Tokio Marine Insurance and Oddo BHF invested in Simplesurance as part of a round that took the total raised by the Allianz and Rakuten-backed insurance provider to $60m.
H&M wins Klarna’s loyalty with $20m
Payment technology provider Klarna will power fashion retailer H&M’s new loyalty scheme in a deal that involves the latter investing $20m.
Tencent deposits $180m in Nubank
Digital banking service Nubank has raised $180m from Tencent at a $4bn valuation, increasing its overall equity funding to about $505m.
Corporates help cut $20m for Slice Labs
The insurance software provider has added funding from investors including Sompo, XL Catlin, Munich Re, Grupo Sura and JetBlue to close its series A round at $31.6m.
Industrial
The Autodesk-backed lunar spacecraft developer has now raised $47.5m in funding altogether, securing $2.5m in a bridge round and $10m of a $20m series B.
Shenzhen Huanuo Innovation was among the investors in a series B-plus round that will help the electronic components trading platform expand warehouse capacity.
Guardhat gets cracking with $20m series A
Subsidiaries of 3M and Caterpillar have both backed smart industrial hardhat developer Guardhat, boosting its overall funding to $24m.
Transport
Corporates see RoboSense in $45m round
SAIC, BAIC and Cainiao all invested in the lidar technology developer, whose previous backers include Fosun and its Kinzon Capital vehicle.
The Toyota Tsusho and Digital Garage-backed online car trading platform has added series E funding to the $30m series D round it closed in May.
Dentsu and Times Internet have reportedly both invested in a $75m round for the automotive e-commerce marketplace that could eventually reach $170m.
Services
Blackbuck collects $27m funding delivery
Flipkart-backed freight shipping marketplace Blackbuck has received $27.2m in funding, with existing backer Sequoia Capital leading the round.
SoftBank considers $20bn WeWork deal
The corporate’s Vision Fund is reportedly thinking of buying a majority stake in WeWork for $15bn to $2bn, though the FT places the deal size at up to $10bn.
Xiaozhu moves toward $300m in latest round
The Bertelsmann-backed short-term accommodation marketplace has raised nearly $300m in a round led by Yunfeng Capital.
Landray beams up DingTalk funding
Alibaba has backed smart enterprise tools provider Landray through its DingTalk communication app office, building on earlier collaborations between Landray and the corporate’s AliCloud unit.
LinkedIn-backed business software marketplace G2 Crowd has now raised more than $100m since it was founded and is valued at nearly $500m.