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The Big Ones
Germany-based digital insurance provider Wefox completed a $650m series C round that included online lending platform developer Creditease and Salesforce Ventures. The round was led by Target Global and included Omers Ventures, Gsquared, Merian and its Jupiter subsidiary, Horizons Ventures, Eurazeo, Mubadala, Speedinvest, LGT, Alma Mundi Ventures, Victory Park Capital, GR Capital, Mountain Partners, Seedcamp, Sound Ventures, Partners Group and FinTLV. Wefox previously closed a $235m series B round in 2019 that included CreditEase and electronics producer Samsung’s Catalyst Fund.
Toyota has committed another $300m in capital to its corporate venturing unit, also rebranding it from Toyota AI Ventures to Toyota Ventures. Toyota AI Ventures had been launched under the auspices of the company’s Toyota Research Institute in 2017 with $100m in capital. Toyota subsequently provided a further $100m for its Fund II in late 2019. The capital will be divided evenly between two funds: Toyota Ventures Climate Fund will concentrate on developers of innovative technologies to promote carbon neutrality, such as renewable energy and hydrogen production. Meanwhile, Toyota Ventures Frontier Fund will invest in developers of technology in areas like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, autonomy, mobility, robotics, smart cities, digital health, advanced materials, energy and fintech.
E-commerce marketplace Etsy agreed to acquire Depop, the UK-based social commerce platform developer backed by consultancy group Lumar, for over $1.62bn. Depop operates a mobile platform with 30 million registered users – 90% of whom are under 26 – who can buy and sell second-hand and new fashion items in addition to offering styling services. It generated $70m in revenue in 2020. The deal comes after roughly $100m in funding for Depop since it was founded in 2011, $62m coming from General Atlantic, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Balderton Capital, Creandum, Octopus Ventures, TempoCap and Sebastian Siemiatkowski in a 2019 series C round.
Crossover
FlixMobility, the Germany-headquartered public transport provider that counts UVC Partners – the VC firm linked to TU Munich’s tech transfer office UnternehmerTUM – and automotive manufacturer Daimler as investors, raised over $650m in debt and series G equity yesterday at a $3bn valuation. Investment firm Canyon Partners joined existing investors including General Atlantic, Permira, TCV, HV Capital, Blackrock, Baillie Gifford and Silver Lake in the round. FlixMobility runs an inter-city bus service called FlixBus which spans most of Europe and parts of the United States, and which promises efficient onboard wifi and an easy-to-use online ticketing system.
Deals
US-based blockchain payment platform developer Circle has closed a $440m round that included cryptocurrency exchange FTX, reportedly the largest round so far for a crypto-focused company. Financial services and investment groups Fidelity and Digital Currency Group also took part in the round, as did Atlas Merchant Capital, Breyer Capital, Intersection Fintech Ventures, Marshall Wace, Pillar VC, Valor Capital Group, Willett Advisors and Michael J Price and Friends.
UK-based pet insurance provider Bought By Many has secured $350m in series D funding from investors including Munich Re Ventures. The round was led by investment firm EQT through its EQT Growth subsidiary, and it also featured venture capital firm Octopus Ventures. The capital was raised at a $2bn valuation pre-money.
Delhivery, an India-based, corporate-backed shipping service, has raised Rs20.1bn ($277m) in a series H round led by financial services and investment group Fidelity. Gamnat, Chimera Investments and Pacific Horizon Trust filled out the round, and the cash was secured ahead of an initial public offering slated to take place in 2022. Two people familiar with the matter told the Times of India in March this year it is expected to value the company at $3bn. The round took the company’s overall funding to $1.1bn.
Urban Company, the India-based developer of a professional services ordering platform, has closed a $255m series F round co-led by Prosus Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group and Wellington Management. It was filled out by Steadview Capital, Tiger Global and Vy Capital, and valued Urban Company at $2.1bn. The round consisted of a $188m primary transaction revealed last month and a secondary sale of roughly $67m of shares by unnamed individuals and early backers.
US-based sales analysis software provider Gong received $250m in a series E round featuring Salesforce Ventures at a $7.25bn valuation. Franklin Templeton led the round, which included Coatue Management, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital and Tiger Global Management. The company has raised $584m since it was founded in 2015.
Prosus co-led a $240m series A round for Germany-based grocery delivery service Flink. The round was co-led with venture capital firm Bond and Abu Dhabi state-owned investment vehicle Mubadala Capital. A source told TechCrunch it valued the startup below $1bn.
Exabeam, a US-based cybersecurity software developer which counts networking technology provider Cisco as an investor, collected $200m in series F funding at a $2.4bn valuation. Alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital led the round through its Owl Rock subsidiary and was joined by Acrew Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Norwest Venture Partners. Exabeam has raised at least $390m of funding to date.
US-based sales technology developer Outreach closed a $200m series G round featuring Salesforce Ventures at a $4.4bn valuation. Premji Invest and Steadfast Capital Ventures co-led the round, which included DFJ Growth, Lone Pine Capital, Mayfield Fund, Sands Capital, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, Tiger Global Management, Trinity Ventures and Vista Public Strategies. Outreach said it has now raised $489m since it was founded in 2014.
Funds
V-Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of China-based cigarette packaging materials producer Huaxi Holding, reached a RMB1.5bn ($235m) first close for its latest fund. Local government-backed funds and corporations have committed capital as limited partners, as have new and returning other investors. The vehicle will target developers of healthcare, telecommunications, cultural services, semiconductors, IT, smart manufacturing and new energy technologies across China. V-Capital now has about $3bn under management.
Exits
Centessa Pharmaceutical, a UK-based pharmaceutical conglomerate formed through a ten-way merger involving spinouts from various universities, has gone public in a $330m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Founded in October 2020 as a holding group, Centessa subsequently acquired multiple biotech developers in January 2021 – including spinouts from University of Cambridge, University of Toronto Mississauga, the universities of Dortmund and Cologne, and one spinoff from biopharmaceutical group Sosei Heptares. Vida Ventures and Janus Henderson Investors co-led a $250m series A round at the time of the official launch in February.
“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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