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Big Ones
Byton is one of several smart electric vehicle developers emerging from China, and it is in the process of adding investors to a round already featuring automotive manufacturer FAW as it seeks a $500m close. The company is focusing on electric SUVs, the first of which is slated to go on commercial sale next year.
Shanghai Henlius Biotech has set terms for an initial public offering in Hong Kong that will net $477m if the company floats at the top of its range. Autoimmune disease and cancer drug developer Henlius has raised at least $345m from investors including Fosun Pharma and has lined up four cornerstone investors for the offering including Qatar Investment Authority, which will buy $90m of shares.
SoftBank has been busy in Latin America since closing a $5bn fund in March that’s reserved for the region. But what do you do when your pockets are so deep that few VCs can co-invest with you? Why, you support them of course. SoftBank is reportedly planning to commit some $500m to between five and 10 Latin American venture capital firms having already backed funds being raised by Kaszek Ventures and Valor Capital.
In interesting crossover news this week, China-based medical supplies distributor GKHT Medical Technology raised more than RMB1.1bn ($154m) in a series C round backed by Cash Capital, which invests on behalf of Chinese Academy of Science. Insurance firm Taikang Life led the round, which also featured 6 Dimensions Capital, the investment firm co-founded by pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec, and Legend Capital, the venture capital firm launched by conglomerate Legend Holdings.
Deals
Rivian hasn’t got a product on the market yet, but that hasn’t stopped the electric truck and SUV developer raising money. It has now secured $1.8bn in capital this year having received $350m from Cox Automotive at a reported $3.5bn valuation.
Second-hand goods-focused e-commerce platform Zhuan Zhuan spun off from parent company 58.com in 2017 with $200m from Tencent. Now, two years on, the corporates have agreed to provide a further $300m for the company.
There seem to be a variety of new models for real estate-related services, with workspace providers on one hand and short-term accommodation companies on the other side. ChengHome Apartment is the latest prominent name in the latter area, the company having just closed a $300m series A round.
Brazil-based Quintoandar is ploughing a slightly different furrow, overseeing an online property marketplace that concentrates on the rental sector. It is also the latest Latin American company to get a big cash infusion from SoftBank, in a $250m series D round led by the corporate that valued Quintoandar above $1bn.
Elsewhere in China, Huimin caters more to the supplier side of the e-commerce sector. It provides a range of services spanning areas like business management, stock ordering and convenience retail, and has raised $225m in a round featuring corporate venture capital unit Fosun Capital.
Data wrangling software provider Trifacta has raised $100m from investors including Google, Infosys, Telstra Ventures, NTT Docomo Ventures, BMW i Ventures and ABN Amro. The round reportedly valued it at under $1bn but that’s still pretty good going.
One of those fascinatingly futuristic sounding companies, Volocopter is developing what will be an airborne urban taxi service maintained by unmanned vertical-take off aerial vehicles. The vision is also attracting investors.
Funds
Tnuva and Tempo Beverages are among the co-founders of Fresh Start FoodTech Incubator, an Israel-based food technology incubator that is aiming to raise more than $280m in capital.
University endowments, academic health systems and foundations are among the limited partners for a $225m venture fund closed by Vensana Capital targeting the medtech space.
Exits
6 River Systems, the developer of a warehouse fulfilment system that combines robots and cloud software while still being based around human workers, has agreed to a $450m acquisition by Shopify that will enable iRobot to exit.
10x Genomics has had one of the year’s better IPOs, floating above its range to raise $390m and then seeing its shares shoot up in their first day of trading to give it a market cap more than three times its valuation in its last funding round seven months ago.
Singapore-based online real estate portal PropertyGuru is reportedly preparing for an IPO in Australia in which it will look to raise up to $274m. The company’s investors include local media group Emtek, and the prospective offering would be the largest on the Australian Securities Exchange so far this year.
Biontech, a Germany-based cancer immunotherapy developer spun out of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, has filed for a $100m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market that will also provide exits to Sanofi, Pfizer and Salvia.
Aprea Therapeutics, a (now) US-based oncological drug developer spun out of Karolinska Institute in Sweden, has filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq that it hopes will bring in nearly $68.3m in proceeds. A price range or timeline have not yet been set.
“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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