Transport

The Great Wall Motor-founded battery and energy storage technology developer is among the latest EV-linked tech companies receiving corporate backing, as the CVC ecosystem builders increasingly incorporate ESG criteria into their investment mandates.

Innovative region: Kenya

Monthly analysis: November 2021

Kaloyan Andonov spoke with Tianyi (Tony) Sun, director of corporate venture capital at GC International, about the experience of the relatively young CVC arm of Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical Public Company (PTT GC or GC), its alignment with the strategy of its corporate parent and what it can offer to entrepreneurs it backs

The animal-free protein producer raised a series C round from investors including Prosus Ventures. This sizeable round is indicative of the upward pressure on valuations and increased deal making activity in the space.

SoftBank helped e-commerce brand aggregator Merama hike its series B round to $285m while Koch Industries took part in a round valuing supply chain finance provider Tradeshift at $2.7bn.

Cerebral, Robotic Research, ABclonal Technology, Ola and RainMed Medical all pulled in nine-figure rounds, the first two featuring SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

Flexport is among the latest investors in the trucking management platform developer, a week after it backed TrueNorth peer CloudTruck.

Since its passage, the Bayh-Dole Act has bolstered US economic output by up to $1.7 trillion, supported 5.9 million jobs and helped lead to more than 14,000 spinouts.

Professional education provider Platzi pulled in $60m through a Prosus-led round while e-commerce software producer Marketplacer took in $38m from investors including Salesforce Ventures.

Salesforce Ventures helped supply $62m for business intelligence software developer Klue while GS Retail invested $55m in mobility services provider Kakao Mobility.