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Deals
Big-box retailer Walmart has entered discussions to invest roughly $7bn in India-based e-commerce company Flipkart at a valuation of about $20bn, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
JD.com’s financial services spinout, JD Finance, has entered talks with China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation to lead a $2bn funding round that would reportedly value it at between $26bn and $30bn.
Alibaba has also been active this past week, leading an $866m debt and equity round for bicycle rental service Ofo.
Automotive systems producer Magna International has agreed to invest $200m in US-based ride hailing service Lyft as part of a multi-year strategic collaboration deal.
A subsidiary of internet group Baidu has agreed to invest $160m in China-based smart television producer Coocaa, according to a stock exchange filing.
Space launch services provider Spaceflight Industries has raised $150m in funding from investors including Mitsui and Space Alliance, a partnership between satellite companies Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio.
News aggregation app developer Qu Toutiao is aiming to provide a more light-hearted alternative to China’s market leader, Toutiao, and has raised more than $100m in a round led by Tencent to fund its growth.
Prevail Therapeutics is working on gene therapies for neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, and has raised $75m in a series A round that included Alexandria Venture Investments, the VC arm of life sciences real estate firm Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Humacyte, an Access Industries-backed developer of tissue-based medical technology for regenerative medicine and vascular surgery, has closed a $75m series C round backed by a range of new and existing investors, most of them unnamed.
Although its investors are yet to exit, Warby Parker has been one of the success stories in the consumer goods space, taking the deluxe own-brand products + online retail + brick-and-mortar showrooms model into the eyewear industry.
On GUV, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a new US-based fusion power technology developer emerging from MIT’s The Engine, has raised $50m in funding from energy supplier Eni.
Funds
Mars Petcare, pet food and health subsidiary of packaged food producer Mars, has launched a $100m corporate venturing vehicle called Companion Fund that will be managed by venture firm Digitalis Ventures.
Fast food retailer Zhou Heiya International has formed a $475m retail and consumer-focused investment fund in partnership with Tiantu Capital, the VC and private equity firm that was also one of its pre-IPO investors.
Exits
Arcus Biosciences, the immuno-oncology company that had raised more than $225m from investors including GV, Taiho Ventures, Novartis, Celgene and Stanford University, secured $120m when it floated on the NYSE last week.
Dropbox has set the terms for an initial public offering that would raise almost $650m if the company prices its stock at the top end.
Cybersecurity software producer Palo Alto Networks agreed on Wednesday to acquire US-based cloud security technology developer Evident.io for $300m in cash, allowing internet and technology group Alphabet to exit.
“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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