The Art of Corporate Venture

Two corporate players backed gene therapeutics firm Orchard Therapeutics in a round that may indicate an uptick in investments in genetics-related tech for this year

Last week, Global Corporate Venturing reported several interesting and sizeable transactions in the e-commerce space from around the globe.

Large rounds tend to be raised by companies based in the US and China, more so than other parts of the world. China-based businesses also tend to raise much larger rounds.

Last-mile delivery company Glovo raised $134m in a round backed by online retailer Rakuten and restaurant operator AmRest. The latter contributed $29m of the total funding.

Booking provided ride services company Didi Chuxing with additional funding as part of a strategic partnership

Booking Holdings has provided more funding for Didi as part of a strategic partnership, as the latter looks to spin off its vehicle services arm in an IPO sized at up to $1.5bn.

Companies developing energy storage technologies, a strategic target of oil and gas producer as well as carmakers, have been mentioned over the news in the past weeks, indicating expected growth of commitments in this space.