Consumer

GUV editor Thierry Heles reports from Autm’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas

Tobacco maker JTI and Plug and Play have launched an accelerator to back 20 startups each year that are developing vaping technology.

Amazon led the latest round of electric truck developer Rivian Automotive sized at $700 – the first large corporate-backed round in this space for 2019.

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

SoftBank Vision Fund invested $1.46bn to take Grab's series H round, already backed by Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Booking Holdings, Central Group, Yamaha, Ping An, Microsoft, Tokyo Century and KBank, to $4.5bn.

The online marketplace for handmade goods, which reportedly counts KapanLagi Networks as an investor, has shut its business.

Delivery Hero has confirmed a $50m investment in the food listings and ordering platform as part of a $105m second tranche of a round that now totals $315m.

The funding was led by SoftBank Vision Fund, valuing Grofers at $425m, and provided as part of a larger round expected to close at between $120m and $140m.

The venture capital firm has sourced commitments from investors including Arlon Group and Rabobank for a $100m food and beverage-focused fund known as BFG Fund II.

Last-mile consumer goods delivery service provider DoorDash raised $400m, from SoftBank´s Vision Fund at a valuation of $7.1bn