A round up of all the latest news on www.globalcorporateventuring.com for our subscribers.
Weekly corporate venturing deal net 16 – 20 May 2016
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
E.Ventures goes shopping for $60m
The Otto Group-backed venture firm has raised $60m for a fund it aims to increase to $175m before its final close.
E.Ventures closes $150m early-stage fund
The venture capital firm, in which Otto Group is a major investor, will operate the fund together with a $290m growth-stage fund.
Invitalia boosts fund to $74.5m
Cisco and Metec have helped add capital to the latest fund formed by Italian government-owned VC fund manager Invitalia Ventures.
Johnson & Johnson expands JLabs to Canada
The healthcare group’s Toronto incubator is its sixth JLabs site, and is being launched in partnership with University of Toronto and several hospital partners.
United Media commits to $305m Meridian Capital China fund
TMT-focused venture capital firm Meridian Capital China plans has secured Shanghai United Media Group as an anchor investor for its fifth fund.
Intesa Sanpaolo partners Quadrivio for $135m fund
The Italy-based bank will own 40% of the fund, which has reached its first close, and which will invest in medtech, cleantech and advanced electronics.
Mitsubishi follows Geodesic for $335m fund
VC firm Geodesic Capital, co-founded by Mitsubishi Corporation, has closed its first fund at $335m with commitments from several Mitsubishi companies and other corporates.
NRF to match $29m of corporate venturing investment
Singapore’s National Research Foundation has allocated $7.3m in match funding to each of CapitaLand, DeClout, YCH and Wilmar, to invest in local technology startups.
Corporates experiment with AbbaLab investment
Internet-of-things incubator AbbaLab has closed $13.7m in capital from corporates Foxconn, Sojitz and Sakura Internet for a dedicated fund.
Emerald holds prospect of riches for Caterpillar
Caterpillar’s corporate venturing unit has committed capital to the latest fund to be raised by Emerald Technology Ventures, with due diligence being carried out on other potential investors.
Kaspersky Labs seeks good result from corporate venturing
The Russia-based cybersecurity software producer, which launched an accelerator last year, will invest up to $1m in strategically relevant startups.
IDG Ventures India forms e-commerce initiative
The corporate-backed venture firm plans to invest in up to 25 startups through Digital Consumer Innovators Program this year, providing up to $5m at a time.
Liberty Mutual forms $150m fund with August investment
The insurance firm’s Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures unit will target technologies compatible to its industry, and its first portfolio company is smart lock developer August Home.
People
Bernhard Gold has joined corporate-backed VC firm Iris Capital from T-Venture to manage its North American office in San Francisco.
Spinell picks up Slack CVC role
Jason Spinell has been hired as an investor for messaging platform Slack’s $80m corporate venturing fund, which it announced in late 2015.
Kinzon Capital lets go of three managers
Fosun-backed venture capital firm Kinzon Capital has lost three members of its upper management team as it prepares to launch a fund aimed at Southeast Asia.
Dairanieh becomes Global CO2 Initiative CEO
Issam Dairanieh has taken the chief executive position Global CO2 Initiative, shortly after leaving BP Ventures after five years as managing director.
Exits
ShopWings to employ Grocery Butler through merger
The two Australia-based, Rocket Internet-backed grocery e-commerce businesses have merged into a single company that will operate as ShopWings.
Auctionata and Paddle8 bid to merge
Hearst-backed vintage goods auctioneer Auctionata has agreed to merge with contemporary art auction platform Paddle8 to target the sub-$500,000 market.
Oncobiologics diagnoses $35m IPO
The biosimilar developer, backed by Strides Arcolab, floated at around half the price of its range having first filed for a $115m initial public offering in January 2016.
China Online Education heads to US for $100m IPO
The company, the operator of language tutoring platform 51Talk, has raised $58m from backers including strategic partner Duowan Entertainment.
The sports marketing platform is planning to float in China, providing an exit to shareholders including sporting apparel producer Guirenniao.
Intel sells half its stake in Intrasoft
Intrasoft Technologies received funding from Intel Capital in 2007, and the corporate venturing unit has now sold a 5.1% stake in the listed company.
Possible buyers emerge for Intel Capital’s $1bn asset sale
Coller Capital, HarbourVest Partners and Lexington Partners have reportedly requested information on a planned sale of stakes collectively worth up to $1bn.
IT
MassMutual climbs aboard Pwnie Express
Cybersecurity software developer Pwnie Express has secured $12.9m in an Ascent Venture Partners-led series B round that included MassMutual Ventures.
AtScale tips to Comcast for $11m series B
Business intelligence platform creator AtScale has added Comcast Ventures to an investor base already containing UMC, taking its overall funding to $20m in the process.
Foxconn enters CloudMinds through $30m seed round
CloudMinds, a startup developing intelligent, connected robots, has raised $30m in an early-stage round backed by the contract electronics manufacturer.
Tantan accepts $32m funding proposal
The Bertelsmann-backed dating app developer aims to reach 10 million users by the end of the year, having completed a series C round that boosted its overall funding to $50m.
Connecterra, Sentryo and Kokoon have joined Breed Reply’s portfolio as the incubator boosts its IoT presence in the agritech, cybersecurity and wellness sectors.
Corporates connect to Afero’s series A
Samsung has led a $20.3m first funding round for Afero that also included SoftBank, Sumitomo, Sanshin Electronics and Infocom-backed Fenox.
Health
Mitralign finds series E heartbeat
Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson-backed Mitralign has so far secured $39.8m in series E funding but has not named the round’s investors.
Caribou engineers $30m series B
Novartis returned to invest in Caribou Biosciences, which is developing genome engineering technology for therapeutics, agriculture and industrial biotechnology.
Purigen samples series A funding
Roche Venture Fund and 5AM Ventures have joined existing investors including Stanford’s StartX Fund for the oncology diagnostics company’s $18.2m series A round.
Celgene helps Agenovir catch $10.6m
Agenovir is commercialising technology developed at Stanford University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute that could eliminate currently untreatable viruses.
Consumer
HealthifyMe fits in $6m series A
The diet and fitness tracking app has added $6m from investors including IDG Ventures India to earlier funding from backers such as Micromax.
Taobao Movie sets the scene for $260m series A
Alibaba Pictures has attracted capital from a consortium featuring Ant Financial and Sina Corp for its Taobao Movie ticketing service, valuing the subsidiary at $2.1bn.
Keep flexes fundraising muscles with $32m
The fitness app has attracted investors including Bertelsmann Asia Investment to a series C round that will support the introduction of new features.
VNG carves out Tiki investment
Internet company VNG has purchased a 38% stake in e-commerce company Tiki, already backed by CyberAgent and Sumitomo, in return for a $16.7m cash injection.
Financial
Orderbird swoops for series C funding
The POS technology developer has closed a $22.5m round featuring retail firm Metro Group that boosted its overall funding to about $40m since 2011.
Personal Capital seals $75m in funding
IGM Financial has invested $50m in the BBVA and USAA-backed digital wealth manager at a $50m valuation and will provide another $25m next year.
Energy and Natural Resources
Viridity re-energises with $8.5m
The energy storage and management technology provider, which counts Intel and Mitsui as investors, has secured another $8.5m.
Industrial
Kateeva successfully screens investors for $88m series D
BOE and TCL joined existing investors including Samsung and Veeco Instruments for a round that boosted OLED display technology provider Kateeva’s total funding to $200m.
Transport
Jugnoo revs up for $100m series C
The on-demand auto rickshaw service, which has already raised $16m from investors including Paytm, plans to raise between $50m and $100m in its next round.
Services
Q4 publishes $22m funding results
OpenText’s Enterprise Apps Fund has co-led a series B round for Q4, taking the investor relations software company’s total funding to $30m.
EduPristine cleans up with $10m
US-based DeVry joined Kaizen Management for the education provider’s latest round, allowing earlier investor Accel to exit.
