Consumer

NTT Docomo Ventures and Novel TMT invested in the inventory management technology provider as it gears up to commercially launch its first product.

Alibaba-backed luxury goods marketplace 1stdibs has gained Groupe Artémis as an investor in a round it said took its primary funding to $170m.

Sonae IM joined Octopus Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Pereg Ventures to lift retail management platform CB4's overall funding to approximately $23m.

Alibaba is investing $50m in the grocery e-commerce platform at a $1.2bn valuation to retain its position as the company's largest shareholder.

The SoftBank´s Vision Fund participated in a $300m round of robotics tech provider CloudMinds. This is a deal in the wider robotics and drones space, which has seen much growth in recent years

The fresh food retail chain plans to use the proceeds from the Tencent-led series B round, which included Meituan Dianping's Longzhu Capital unit, to expand to 1,000 stores this year.

The mattress provider, which is reportedly preparing to go public, has secured $100m in funding from investors including existing backer Target.

QUT Bluebox has joined corporates Holland Insurance and Seven West Media in the second funding round for over-60s package holiday portal Starts at 60.

Online mattress retailer Casper Sleep is looking to hire underwriters for an initial public offering that would allow Target to exit two years after leading its $170m series C round.

Flipkart has established a corporate venture capital fund with a reported $80m to $100m in capital that will be overseen by CFO Emily McNeal.

The two rivalling US-based ride hailing platforms Uber and Lyft, both counting many corporates among their backers, are preparing to float on public markets in the coming weeks, with the valuations of the two combined likely to stand well above $100bn