Industrial

Uber has struck a strategic partnership on autonomous car research with Toyota, which featured a $500m investment from the auto manufacturer at a $72bn valuation.

Food chain monitoring technology developer TeleSense has secured University of California-backed Congruent Ventures as an investor.

Lidar technology developer Blickfeld has secured a $5.7m extension from investors including Unternehmertum Venture Capital Partners to bring its seed round to $10m.

Princeton and Spelman College are among the investors in 645 Ventures' $40m fund, targeting segments such as online marketplaces and digitally-native consumer brands.

Advocate Aurora Health, Foxconn, Johnson Controls and Northwestern Mutual have each put $25m into a $100m venture capital fund.

Two initiatives open to projects from Michigan institutions have secured continued support from Michigan Strategic Fund.

Legend Capital and Shell China backed a series C round for industrial e-commerce platform Zhenkunhang, which raised a total of $85m last year.

Siam Cement has taken a limited partner position in Capricorn Venture Partners' Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund, which is aiming for a $193m close.

Since the beginning of 2017, Global Corporate Venturing (GCV) Analytics has tracked and seen a number of companies backed by China-based internet company Tencent go public in Hong Kong and the US.

The Heritage Group will invest $120,000 in each of 10 materials science, environmental services and specialty chemicals startups through the scheme.