Services

It is an irony that as the world moves to cleaner sources of energy it is increasingly reliant on one of the most challenging industries for the commodities.

Academic research towards quantum computing and other quantum technologies is beginning to pay dividends, but continued progress will rely on strong cooperation between academic, industry and government partners.

Sector report: Fintech

We Company will divest from The Wing, for which it had led a $32m series B round in 2017 and backed a $75m series C, and will also look to sell Meetup.

Alibaba has increased its shareholding to 63%, having already acquired a majority stake in the logistics platform, also backed by Fosun and Intime Retail Group, two years ago.

Ant Financial and Nikkei-backed 36Kr has raised just a fifth of its original IPO target and shares took another 10% hit on the first day of trading.

Citi and Alphabet-backed real estate portal HomeLight raised $63m in a series C round and an additional $46m in debt financing. The deal is part of the burgeoning real estate tech space, which has seen much corporate attention in recent years.

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

Wrench operates a mobile vehicle repair service and has added $20m to its coffers thanks to commitment from the likes of Marubeni.

Freee has submitted paperwork for approval to list on the TSE Mothers Market next month, potentially offering exits to more than half a dozen corporates such as Line and Sharp.

Indian Angel Network has achieved a final close of $53m for its inaugural fund thanks to limited partners including Hyundai, Max Group, India Infoline and Yes Bank.