The Art of Corporate Venture

Innovative region: South Africa

Sector report: Healthcare

BAT is vying to become a leader in the on-the-go wellbeing and stimulation space through a new corporate venturing unit that has been quietly investing in the space since last summer.

Berkshire Hathaway led a second tranche of a series G round, raised by Nubank, a Tencent-backed virtual bank based in Brazil, at a $30bn valuation.

Etsy is acquiring the Gen Z-focused social commerce platform Depop, giving an exit to Lumar. The transaction and its large size may be indicative of a potential momentum for exits from emerging enterprises in this space.

AI-based online tutor developer Riiid raised a sizeable $175m round from SoftBank. Riiid is part of the broader edtech space, which has been given much attention by corporate investors in recent years.

The gamification of life continues, just updated for the modern world it seems.

Crop monitoring technology developer Prospera is to be acquired by Valmont Industries in a $300m deal, giving exits to Tekfen Ventures, Cisco Investments and Qualcomm Ventures.

Monthly analysis: April 2021

Spinouts always operate, by their very nature, on the cutting edge of science, but every once in a while, one comes along that could prove truly transformational by inventing an entirely new field.

Innovative region: Israel