Big deal: Ambys arrives at $140m investment
Ambys Medicines has raised $60m in a series A round backed by Takeda and signed a strategic partnership agreement with the corporate worth $80m.

Washington hails $500,000 grant scheme
Washington University in St Louis is to launch grant scheme called Holekamp Seed Fund to back student entrepreneurs with a $500,000 donation from the Holekamp family.

Quethera stars in Astellas acquisition
Glaucoma therapy spinout Quethera will become a unit of drug manufacturer Astellas Pharma, providing exits to investors Cambridge Enterprise, UCEF III and UK2IS.

Millendo overtakes OvaScience in merger deal
Endocrine disease therapy developer Millendo, spun out of University of Michigan, will merge with publicly-listed OvaScience, raising a further $30m in the process.

Paragen Bio parachutes into $4.4m
James Cook University has formed its first spinout, Paragen Bio, which will commercialise autoimmune disease therapies derived from a blood-sucking tropical parasite.

Sarepta carries Lacerta through $30m round
Gene therapy developer Lacerta Therapeutics, based at University of Florida’s Sid Martin Biotech incubator, has secured funding from Sarepta Therapeutics.

Bugworks catches $9m series A
Antibiotics developer Bugworks Research has been backed by Utec in its bid to commercialise a treatment for hospital superbugs.

Magnolia colours in $31m series A
Based on research at MD Anderson, Magnolia Neurosciences has launched with funding from corporates AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and WuXi AppTec.

Corporates help plant $150m in Orchard
Orchard Therapeutics’ overall funding has been taken past $290m, three months after the UCL spinout was awarded GUV Deal of the Year for its $110m series B round.

Care Revolution attends to $150,000 round
IU spinout Care Revolution has been backed by the university’s Philanthropic Venture Fund after previously raising funds in 2016.

McQuade researches new CMU position
Michael McQuade will become vice-president for research at Carnegie Mellon in January 2019 after six years as a trustee for the university.

BioBeats sways to $3m rhythm
OSI has backed digital wellness technology company BioBeats, which was founded by University of Surrey faculty and counts multiple corporates among its shareholders.

NDSU unveils Oncothira
Oncothira will develop an oncological asset based on research by Steven Qian in North Dakota State University’s School of Pharmacy.

Sensyne Health senses $76m IPO
Sensyne Health has completed a $76m initial public offering and will begin trading on Aim tomorrow, offering an exit to University of Oxford.

Paterson signs up to Colorado State
David Paterson, once the director of tech transfer at Pennsylvania State University, has rejoined the academic world by accepting a position as assistant vice-president at CSU.

HawkEye 360 preys on $9.6m
Allied Minds has returned to back satellite intelligence gathering technology company HawkEye 360 after having taken part in an $11m round in 2016.

City National pays out for Exactuals acquisition
Financial services firm City National Bank has bought Stanford StartX-backed royalties payment platform Exactuals having led its series B round last year.

Aberdeen helps elevate 14 companies
University of Aberdeen and entrepreneurial training firm Elevator have concluded the latest edition of their Accelerator Aberdeen program.

Pfizer coughs up funding for Biontech
Biontech, an immunotherapy spinout of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, has received an undisclosed amount of equity funding as part of a collaboration deal that could reach $425m.

Healthera administers $3.8m series A dose
Digital prescription platform Healthera has been backed by Cambridge Enterprise, its Seed Funds vehicle and UCEF.

Corporate venturing deal net: 13-17 August 2018

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

Fundraising

Line lays down $10m for token fund

The messaging platform developer, which has become increasingly involved in cryptocurrency activities, will invest in token offerings through Unblock Ventures.

JD.com joins efforts to raise $5.8bn fund

The e-commerce firm has joined Sequoia Capital China and the state-owned China Reform Holdings for a late-stage fund with a $5.8bn target.

Nabtesco puts $85m fund in motion

The motion control technology producer has set up an $85m corporate venturing unit, Nabtesco Technology Ventures, with Emerald Technology Ventures.

New Oriental enrols corporates in $220m fund

New Oriental Education and Technology will invest in education-focused startups through a fund backed by fellow corporates 51Job and Sunlands Education.

People

Frazier extracts Saxton for EIR role

Tracy Saxton, formerly of Roche Venture Fund and Pivotal BioVenture Partners, has joined Frazier Healthcare Partners as an entrepreneur-in-residence.

Suzuki switches back to MUFG

Nobutake Suzuki, former partner at Global Brain, has returned to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group as a managing director.

Quintana-Plaza departs Next47

Susana Quintana-Plaza, formerly a partner at Siemens’ Next47 vehicle after seven years at Eon, has left the unit.

Telefónica twists corporate venturing personnel

Ana Segurado’s departure and Miguel Arias’ arrival earlier this year were  followed by the promotion of Guenia Gawendo.

Munich Re/HSB Ventures captures Kaplan

Oshri Kaplan, formerly venture partner at Silicon Foundry until June , has taken an investment director position at Munich Re/HSB Ventures.

Exits

Babytree bets on $1bn IPO target

The social parenting community operator counts Alibaba, Fosun, Tal Education and Jumei as shareholders and is seeking a $5bn valuation.

Nio starts engine on $1.8bn IPO

The smart electric vehicle producer, whose largest investor is Tencent, was valued at $5bn as of late last year and has filed to go public in the US.

Millendo overtakes OvaScience in merger deal

Roche and AstraZeneca-backed endocrine disease therapy developer Millendo will merge with publicly-listed OvaScience, raising a further $30m in the process.

Boston Scientific spikes Veniti in $108m acquisition

Boston Scientific, which paid $25m for a 25% stake in the venous stent developer two years ago, has agreed to buy the company in full.

IT

Twistlock secures $33m in series C funding

Dell Technologies Capital contributed to a round that more than doubled the container security software provider’s overall funding to $63m.

UL makes RiskSense in $12m series B

Cyber threat analysis software provider RiskSense took its funding to $26m in total after closing a UL Ventures-backed round.

Exabeam extracts $50m in series D round

Cybersecurity software provider Exabeam has welcomed back the same consortium that backed its series C round last year, including Cisco Investments.

Dynamic Yield brings in $32m

Union Tech Ventures took part in the series D round, which increased the personalised marketing software provider’s total funding to $77m.

Phoenix Contact helps iS5 secure funding

Industrial cybersecurity software provider iS5 Communications has received $18.8m in a round backed by Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures.

SenseTime scouts Li for investment role

Jennifer Xuan Li has moved from an investment position at Baidu to a similar post at SenseTime, which is becoming increasingly active in corporate venturing.

Domino dots the i’s on $40m round

Domino Data Lab has now raised more than $81m altogether, having received $40m in a round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Coatue Management.

Yesware sells corporates on $15m round

Shea Ventures and existing investor GV contributed to a round that boosted the email technology developer’s overall funding to $48m.

Health

Pfizer coughs up funding for Biontech

Immunotherapy developer Biontech has received an undisclosed amount of equity funding as part of a collaboration deal that could reach $425m.

CMS gets a taste of Blueberry’s series B round

Blueberry Therapeutics will use the proceeds from the $12.8m China Medical System-backed round to advance its skin and nail infection treatments.

Corporates help plant $150m in Orchard

Sphera Global Health Care and Medison were among the participants in a round that took Orchard Therapeutics’ overall funding past $290m.

Corporates help provide $45m for Profusa

Maxim Integrated and Tasly Pharmaceutical contributed to Profusa’s series C round, which will fund commercialisation of its biosensor technology.

EdiGene approaches series B with $15m

The genomic drug developer has secured $15m in a pre-series B round led by Lilly Asia Ventures that included Huagai Capital, IDG Capital and WI Harper.

Capsule delivers $50m series B

Online pharmacist Capsule has taken new funding, just over a year after its Virgin-backed series A round.

Magnolia colours in $31m series A

Eli Lilly, AbbVie, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and WuXi AppTec have all backed neurological disorder drug developer Magnolia Neurosciences at launch.

Sarepta intercepts Lacerta for $30m investment

Gene therapy developer Lacerta Therapeutics has secured funding from Sarepta Therapeutics as part of a licensing agreement.

Ambys shows ambition with $60m series A

Takeda invested $20m in the round and is providing $80m in development financing through a strategic partnership deal.

Media

Gamepind gets $16m reward

Founding investors One97 Communications and AGTech Holdings have put $16m into mobile game developer Gamepind as it appoints a new COO.

Ubiquity6 captures $27m

The augmented reality technology developer, which closed an A+E and Google-backed round five months ago, has raised series B funding.

Mykoon mines SoftBank for $17m series B

SoftBank Ventures Korea invested in Mykoon, the owner of social radio platform Spoon, alongside KB Investment and Goodwater Capital.

Ximalaya tunes into $580m

Tencent invested in the audio streaming platform as part of a round that valued it at about $3.5bn post-money.

Consumer

Electrolux helps feed Karma with $12m

Anti-food waste platform developer Karma has secured Electrolux as a strategic partner as well as an investor in a Kinnevik-led round.

Investors dispatch $51m to Sendo

FPT, SoftBank, EContext Asia and Beenos were part of a consortium that committed $51m in funding to online marketplace operator Sendo.

Thunder Stone rocks $29m series B

Beijing Yue Meters Technology, which produces keyboards for the karaoke system provider, has also invested in its series B round.

ShopClues reveals $16m in funding

The BCC-backed online marketplace raised the cash over the course of this year, and is preparing to expand internationally.

Financial

MoneyLion hunts down new funding

The personal finance app developer, which is backed by Grupo Sura, has secured $28.8m of a $40m round, according to a securities filing.

City National pays out for Exactuals acquisition

Financial services firm City National Bank has bought royalties payment platform having led a series B round that included Entertainment Partners.

Axoni accepts $32m in series B round

Series A investors NEX Group, Citi and Wells Fargo all returned for a round that boosted blockchain technology developer Axoni’s total funding to $55m.

Alphabet wins $375m Oscar role

Oscar Health has received funding from existing backer Alphabet, which acquired a 10% stake in the health insurer through the deal.

TZero zips to $270m

GSR Capital will inject up to $270m in Overstock’s blockchain technology developer, TZero, and invest almost $105m in Overstock itself.

Even Financial beats the odds in series A

American Express Ventures participated in the round’s first tranche earlier this year, and Even Financial has now raised a total of $25m.

NFL helps dish up $50m for Appetize

Appetize now has more than $50m in its coffers after the National Football League’s 32 Equity made an investment of undisclosed size.

Weidai weighs up $100m IPO

Hakim Unique is the largest external shareholder for the Chinese vehicle-backed loan provider, which is set to float in the US.

Energy and Natural Resources

MineSense finds $18m capital deposit

Mitsubishi, ABB and existing investor Caterpillar have helped MineSense close a round that will support the launch of its mining data technology.

Sila Nano charges up with $70m

Amperex and Siemens’ Next47 unit both chipped in as the battery technology developer secured series D cash, lifting its funding to $125m in total.

Inari fuels growth with $40m series B

Strategic vehicles Acre Venture Partners and Alexandria Venture Investments have joined agronomy technology developer Inari’s backers.

Industrial

Digital Alloys forges series B round

The metal printing technology provider has secured $12.9m in a round backed by Lincoln Electric and Boeing HorizonX Ventures.

Transport

Cargomatic carries off $35m

Volvo-backed trucking services marketplace Cargomatic has completed a series B round featuring strategic partner Genesee and Wyoming.

ZipGo buses in Essel for series B round

Essel Group has invested $43.7m in ZipGo through its Essel Green Mobility subsidiary that will fund the expansion of its bus service.

Services

DoorDash accelerates with $250m round

The food delivery platform has almost tripled its valuation to $4bn in the five months since SoftBank led its $535m series D round.

Ucommune gets Prosperity in series D round

Prosperity Holdings led a $43.5m round for the co-working space provider, which already had several corporate backers, at a $1.8bn valuation.

MyDreamPlus wakes up to $120m series C

Giant Network Group has returned for the co-working space provider’s latest round, having backed its series B in March.

SGE finds PerkSpot with $50m investment

12-year old employee benefits platform PerkSpot raised its first external funding, securing $50m from Susquehanna Growth Equity.

GLP sends series A funding to Wangjiahuan

Fresh produce distributor Wangjiahuan has raised $58.5m from Global Logistic Properties subsidiary Hidden Hill Modern Logistics Private Equity Fund.