Ambient Intelligence Technology dives into $1.7m

The underwater drone developer, a spinout of University of Tsukuba, raised the funding in a Beyond Next Ventures-led round that included several corporates.

IndoorAtlas spins another $4.3m in funding

Yahoo Japan has led a series B round for the University of Oulu spinout, which uses geomagnetic activity to detect a object’s location in a room.

Cisco to get on Springpath with $320m acquisition

Stanford University, one of the investors in hyperconvergence software provider Springpath when it came out of stealth, is set to exit the company.

Apic Bio appears from UMMS

University of Massachusetts Medical School spinoff Apic Bio has raised seed capital from The Alpha-1 Project as it looks to develop a treatment for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency.

Monash BDI joins MRCF

Monash University’s medical research institute has joined the $278m Medical Research Commercialisation Fund, which funds research from its partner institutions.

Cambricon clambers to $100m

The Chinese Academy Of Sciences spinout, which is developing deep learning chipsets, has secured $100m in a series A round featuring CAS Investment.

Corporate venturing deal net: 21-25 August 2017

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

Fundraising

China Life and Baidu combine for $1bn fund

China Life will invest as much as $800m and Baidu $200m, in a fund formed by the China-based corporates to make mid and late-stage investments in internet-focused companies.

SparkLabs sets up $50m Seah-anchored fund

The Korean accelerator operator has formed a $50m early-stage fund with steel pipe maker Seah and Korea Development Bank as anchor investors.

Kuppam’s Epsilon anticipates $350m close

Epsilon Venture Partners, the fund formed by Sudheer Kuppam when he left Intel Capital in 2015, has reached a first close and is targeting a $350m final close in 2018.

Alibaba and InnoSpring jump to Jiading

Alibaba has teamed up with venture capital and innovation company InnoSpring for an innovation centre in the Shanghai district of Jiading that will focus on foreign startups.

Exits

Accenture leaves Applause to Vista

Vista Equity Partners has agreed to buy Applause, a brand services provider that had raised $115m from investors including corporate venturing unit Accenture Ventures.

Cisco gets on Springpath with $320m acquisition

The corporate has agreed to acquire hyperconvergence software provider Springpath, two years after its Cisco Investments unit invested in the company.

Krystal Biotech to touch public markets

The skin disease therapy developer has filed for a $34.5m initial public offering, days after raising $11.3m in a Sun Pharmaceutical Industries-led round.

Osram to switch on Digital Lumens acquisition

Smart commercial lighting developer Digital Lumens, which has raised about $60m from investors including Nokia, is reportedly set to be bought for a mid-sized eight-digit sum.

Avnet captures Dragon Innovation

Amazon Alexa Fund has exited Dragon Innovation through an acquisition of undisclosed size by design and supply chain services firm Avnet.

Smarsh captures Cognia in acquisition deal

The phone-based audio archiving software provider has been acquired for an undisclosed amount, allowing Swisscom Ventures and Vodafone Ventures to exit.

IT

Wipro verifies Emailage potential in $10m round

Email-based verification platform Emailage has secured $10m in a Wipro Ventures-backed round that will support international growth and product development.

Visa helps provide Bridg funding in $11m round

Point-of-sale marketing data provider Bridg has raised $11m in a Morpheus Ventures-led series B round that included Visa.

Cubic Telecom connects to corporates to raise $47m

Valid Soluciones Tecnologicas and existing investors Qualcomm and Audi Electronics Venture took part in a round that boosted Cubic’s total funding to $88m since 2006.

Versive veers to new funding

Bloomberg and New York Life-backed cybersecurity software provider Versive has raised $12.7m, increasing its overall funding to almost $55m.

IndoorAtlas pinpoints Yahoo Japan for series B

Yahoo Japan has led a $4.3m round for geomagnetic positioning technology developer IndoorAtlas, three years after Baidu invested $10m in the company.

Dell gets Redis in $44m series D

Database software producer Redis Labs took its overall funding to $86m in a Goldman Sachs-led series D round that included Dell Technologies Capital.

Sight Plus goes Autohome to raise $15m

Automotive information portal Autohome has led the augmented reality startup’s series A round and plans to begin using its technology to help users test cars.

Hyper Anna accelerates to series A round

Hyper Anna, the developer of a natural language business analysis platform, has secured $12.7m in a round featuring investment vehicles for customers IAG and Westpac.

Druva uncovers $80m

Riverwood Capital led the NTT-backed data management and protection platform’s latest round, which increased its total funding to almost $200m since 2008.

Monstar scares up more funding

YJ Capital, San-In Chuo Television Broadcasting and Tanabe Corporation were among the investors in a round that almost doubled the app developer’s total funding.

LiftIgniter lights up series A

NTT Docomo Ventures participated in a $6.4m Storm Ventures-led round that followed the app personalisation technology developer’s previously undisclosed seed round.

ZingBox springs a $22m series B

The internet-of-things security technology developer has raised $22m in a round led by Dell Technologies Capital that will support an increase in its headcount.

Cambricon clambers to $100m

Alibaba, Lenovo and Tuling Century all contributed to the deep learning chip developer’s series A round, which reportedly valued it at more than $1bn.

CEFC fattens up Thinxtra’s series B

The Rakon-backed internet-of-things deployment company has received a $7.9m commitment from Clean Energy Finance Corporation for its latest round.

Samsung reaches new LVL

LVL Technologies, the developer of a sensor that can track hydration as part of a wearable device, has raised $6.75m in a Samsung-led round that included Maxim Ventures.

Health

AbleTo absorbs new funding

Strategic investors Aetna and Horizon Healthcare Services were among the investors in a $36.6m round that took AbleTo’s total funding to more than $57m.

Channel Medsystems funnels in series C-1 capital

Boston Scientific was among the investors that provided $14.1m in series C-1 funding for the medical device developer, taking its total funding to about $46m.

Aethon to delivers exits for corporate investors

Mitsui and corporate venturing units Robert Bosch Venture Capital and Ascension Health Ventures had helped provide $60m to the Aethon, which is set to be acquired by VTLS.

BioTime runs out AgeX with $10m

BioTime has contributed to a $10m round for AgeX, an age-related disease treatment developer it has spun out that is now valued at $68m.

Media

Art19 draws up $7.5m series A

Podcast hosting platform Art19 has raised $7.5m in a round co-led by corporate venturing unit Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments and venture firm DCM.

Sliver.TV seals series A funding

Sony and Samsung were among the investors in a $9.8m round that took the eSports streaming startup’s overall funding to $17.5.

Corporates dive into Immersv series A

HTC Vive, MCJ, I-mobile, Gree and Metaps all contributed to a $10.5m round for Immersv, the creator of an advertising platform for virtual reality and 360-degree media.

Consumer

Investors feed Vida more seed funding

The GV and Universal Music-backed fashion e-commerce platform has expanded its seed round to $5.5m and is one of Y Combinator’s latest batch.

Ollie chows down $10m

The William Morris Endeavor-backed bepoke pet food delivery service has secured just over $10m in funding according to a securities filing.

Financial

Money Forward charges to public markets

The personal finance app developer has received approval for a Tokyo IPO that will give exits to corporates including Credit Saison, GMO and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance.

Ezetap fills up coffers with $16m

Mobile payment platform Ezetap, which counts American Express as an investor, has now raised $51m in total, after securing funds in a JS Capital-led round.

PayTabs slots in $20m

The Saudi Aramco-backed online payment processor has raised $20m from unnamed investors that will fund a geographical expansion drive.

Breadwallet stores $7m

Credit Saison and OKWave are among the investors that contributed to a round announced as the bitcoin wallet developer opened its Swiss head office.

Energy and Natural Resources

Zhaoyouwang refuels in Huochebang-backed series B

Petroleum trading platform Zhaoyouwang has secured $31.8m in a series B round that included Huochebang and SIG Asia Investments.

Shell helps power up Innowatts in $6m round

Energy analytics platform developer Innowatts has raised $6m in a series A round led by Shell Technology Ventures that included Iberdrola’s corporate venturing unit.

Utilities help Kingo crown $8m series B

Energy providers Engie and EPM have participated in the off-grid solar energy platform’s latest round, taking the company’s overall funding to $19m.

Transport

JD.com gets $100m to Go-Jek

On-demand ride service Go-Jek has followed a reported seven-figure investment from Tencent with $100m from JD.com as part of a round set to be sized at about $1bn.

Ford helps deal $10m to AutoFi

The point-of-sale car finance platform has raised $10m from strategic partner Ford Motor Credit Company as well as Crosslink Capital and Lerer Hippeau Ventures.

Services

SoftBank ploughs $4.4bn into WeWork

The corporate and the Vision Fund it manages have combined to buy $3bn of new and secondary shares and invest another $1.4bn in three regional WeWork subsidiaries.

Roost runs the rule on series B round

The smart home device maker secured $10.4m in an Aviva Ventures-led round that included fellow corporate investors Desjardins Insurance and Fosun RZ Capital.

VIPKid grows up with $200m

Tencent has participated in a round that valued the online education platform at more than $1.5bn, taking its total funding past the $325m mark.

New York Shipping Exchange boxes up series A

Shipping firms Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM joined GE Ventures and Goldman Sachs to add $4.5m to the freight contract platform’s series A round, which now stands at $13m.