Tag: Beepi

20 February 2017 – Ford Invests in Argo AI, Enterprise Ireland backs 4 Funds and Much More

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Deals

SoftBank has agreed to pay $3.3bn to acquire Fortress Investment Group, an investment manager with some $70bn of assets under management.

Jera, the joint venture formed by Japanese energy utilities Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, has invested $200m in India-based solar and wind energy producer ReNew Power, taking a 10% stake.

Lytro, the developer of a light field camera and imaging platform it claims can film the highest quality and resolution VR content on the market, has raised $60m in a round that took its overall funding to $200m.

Vietnamese e-commerce platform Tiki, which like Amazon started out selling books before branching out into other consumer products, is reportedly in the process of raising between $50m and $60m in a series D round expected to close by the end of this year.

Rhythm, a biopharmaceutical company developing peptide therapeutics to treat rare genetic deficiencies, has raised $41m in a mezzanine round backed by Ipsen and Pfizer Venture Investments.

Baidu Ventures has made its first investment, contributing to a $27m series B round for 8i, the developer of an app that allows users to record and project photorealistic holograms.

Logsitics company DB Schenker has led a $25m series D round for freight shipping marketplace uShip, doubling the company’s total funding in the process.

General Motors has led a funding round for advanced metal products developer NanoSteel that, according to a regulatory filing, is sized at $15m.

Soundtrack Your Brand, a Sweden-based business-to-business music streaming platform, raised $22m today from a consortium co-led by Industrifonden, the investment arm of Sweden’s government.

Exactuals, the US-based developer of a software platform that organises entertainment payments, has secured $10m in a series A round that featured featured Stanford University’s StartX Fund.

Funds

Nasdaq is reportedly setting up a corporate venturing arm in order to fund startups with technology beneficial to its own offerings.

Tedco, the state-owned Technology Development Corporation of Maryland, has partnered financial services Harbor Bank to launch a fund aimed at black entrepreneurs.

Mubadala Development and International Petroleum Investment (IPIC), two sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi, are set to be merged into a single vehicle named Mubadala Investment Co.

The Netherlands’ ministries for Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation jointly announced a €2.5bn ($2.1bn) government venturing fund called Invest-NL.

The government of India has approved a Rs68.31bn ($1.02bn) fund of funds aimed at the electronics and IT sectors, with an initial capital commitment of Rs6.81bn.

The government of Romania has signed a memorandum of understanding to establish an investment arm called Sovereign Development and Investment Fund.

Exits

Snap has set the terms for an IPO that will give exits to Alibaba, Tencent and Yahoo, and which will raise $3.2bn if the company floats at the top of its range.

Visterra, which is developing antibody-based therapeutics for diseases such as influenza and dengue fever, has withdrawn its IPO, more than a year after initially filing.

Grab, the ride hailing platform that serves as Uber’s main competition in Southeast Asia, is reportedly set to make the first deal out of the $700m Indonesian investment drive it announced last week, acquiring mobile payment platform Kudo for more than $100m.

Supply chain management firm E2open has acquired Steelwedge, a business planning software producer that counts property developer JF Shea as an investor, in an all-share deal.

Beepi, the operator of an online marketplace for used cars, is winding down after raising almost $150m in funding, including $70m in a 2015 round led by automotive manufacturer SAIC that valued Beepi at $500m.

O-Flexx Technologies, a Germany-based thermoelectrics technology developer, has been acquired by automotive parts manufacturer Mahle for an undisclosed amount, providing an exit to NRW Bank, the state-owned economic development bank of North Rhine-Westphalia.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

12 December 2016 – Tinder creates Swipe Ventures, Australia launches $150m Csiro fund and Much More

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People

Mary Kay James, previously a managing director at DuPont Ventures, has joined Tyson Foods as the US-based meat processor unveils a $150m corporate venturing unit dubbed Tyson New Ventures.

Mike Dimelow, former vice-president of strategic business development at semiconductor technology developer Arm, has left to co-found a venture capital firm called Accelerated Digital Ventures (ADV).

University Corner

CIC names Williamson investment director.

Cambridge alumnus Williamson has joined the university venturing fund after 20 years in the US, most recently at True North Venture Partners.

Funds

Back in October, SoftBank partnered the government of Saudi Arabia’s investment arm Public Investment Fund for a $100bn fund. SoftBank has hit some troubles since then, booking a $555m loss from its Indian portfolio last month, but that doesn’t seem to have reduced interest in the SoftBank Vision Fund, which the internet group’s CEO Masayoshi Son has now said is set to be oversubscribed.

Ascension’s corporate venturing subsidiary has closed its fourth fund at $255m thanks to the support of 13 corporate peers.

Wistron, a Taiwan-based original design manufacturer, has joined the ranks of corporate venturers with a $20m fund that it set up in partnership with US-based VC firm Fenox Venture Capital.

Tinder, the dating app that connects users with each other once they’ve both swiped right on each other’s profile, is jumping into the corporate venturing world with Swipe Ventures, a unit that will be headed by Sean Rad, up until now the CEO of Tinder.

PSA enters Business Lab. The car manufacturer is set to conduct corporate venturing activities through the new unit.

Maris boldly goes to $230m fund. Bill Maris, co-founder of GV who left the unit earlier this summer, is raising a $230m fund that will focus on the healthcare sector.

Partech concludes $107m fundraising effort.

University Corner

The tech transfer office and Parkwalk Advisors launched the latest $3m Enterprise Fund just ten months after Fund IV was opened to investors.

Government Department

Australia launches $150m Csiro fund

Ben Franklin boosts startups in Philadelphia with $6m

Exits

Meitu, the developer of an app that lets users retouch their selfies, initially targeted up to $1bn in proceeds from an initial public offering in Hong Kong when it filed in August 2016. That target has dropped several times since, first to $800m last month and now to $629m. The company had obtained approximately $500m in total funding from investors including corporates Sina Weibo and International Data Group, but has struggled to monetise its offering and in the first half of the year posted a $40.5m loss.

SportsHero is taking a different approach to the stock exchange, as the company prepares a reverse takeover with its shareholder Nevada Iron, an Australia-listed mineral extraction company.

Trivago books IPO trip.

AbbVie is celebrating an exit thanks to Sienna Biopharmaceuticals which has acquired biotech company Creabilis for up to $150m.

Cinepapaya dances the Fandango.

Paktor picks up 17 Media.

Beepi, a peer-to-peer used car marketplace, appears to have collapsed after a strategic investor – reportedly Saic Motor – decided to pull out.

Government Department

Bpifrance loses $20m with Viadeo collapse.

Creo collects $25m ahead of Aim flotation.

University Corner

Citim materialises acquisition.

Investments

GE spins out Menlo Micro with $18.7m

VW mobilises spinout Moia

Face++ recognises $100m for series C

Juhe.cn computes $52m series C

Finicity aggregates $42m series B

SnapLogic has added a $40m series F round to its coffers just a year after Microsoft took part in a $37.5m series E.

KeyMe doesn’t look like it is having any trouble securing cash. The digital locksmith technology developer, which lets users scan their keys and upload them to the cloud to print copies at kiosks, has added $25m in funding.

3M’s portfolio company Impel Neuropharma has signed up investors for a $36m series C round, for which it has obtained an initial $21m and will receive the remainder upon reaching certain milestones.

University Corner

Spinouts: a marriage made in heaven – or hell?

Government Department

Lumos Global glows with record $90m fundraising.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0