"International Finance Corporation" Archives

15 May 2017 – SoftBank Leads Improbable $502m Investment and Much More

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Deals

The $5.5bn round on-demand ride provider Didi Chuxing just confirmed was closed at a $50bn valuation that means it is closing ground with rival Uber in terms of size, and the company has indicated it will use the cash to finally expand globally.

Yixin Group, the online automotive marketplace spinout of motoring e-commerce firm Bitauto, has secured $580m in funding commitments in a round that includes both its parent company and internet group Tencent.

Indonesia-based online media, e-commerce and financial services platform Garena has rebranded itself as Sea and revealed $550m in funding from conglomerates JG Summit Holdings and Uni-President Enterprises.

SoftBank is continuing its investment spree, leading a $502m series B round for Improbable, a UK company developing software that will make the creation of large-scale virtual worlds possible.

SoftBank has also led a $360m round for Guardant Health, the developer of a liquid biopsy test for cancer diagnosis, and will help commercialise Guardant’s technology in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Modernizing Medicine had raised a total of $87m in funding as of the $38m series E round it closed in 2015, but the electronic health record system developer has taken a big jump with a $231m investment by private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Online payment services provider PayU has invested $120m in digital lending platform lending platform Kreditech as part of a strategic partnership agreement.

There’s been more action in the on-demand transport sector, with Spain-based Cabify having raised $100m from an undisclosed single investor as part of a series D round it aims to close at $500m.

India-based mobile wallet operator MobiKwik is working on its own nine-figure round and is reportedly in talks with BlackRock, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank over a round that will value it at about $1bn.

Music royalties platform Kobalt has raised $75m in a Hearst Entertainment-led series D round that valued the company at $775m post-money.

Signifyd has secured $56m in an American Express Ventures-backed series C round that increased its overall funding to almost $100m.

Social music app developer Smule has raised $54m in a round led by Tencent that reportedly values it at just over $600m.

Customer data software provider Gainsight has closed a $52m series E round featuring Salesforce Ventures and Cisco Investments that took its overall funding to more than $150m.

We’ve already talked about the biggest government venturing deal with Guardant Health just now, but what about the university venturing world? We haven’t had any mind-blowingly large rounds there this week, but still a few interesting ones – among these is SiFive, a US-based fabless provider of customised semiconductors based on UC Berkeley research, which raised $8.5m in a series B round that included spinout-focused investment firm Osage University Partners.

Funds

Dell has brought its corporate venturing unit, Dell Technologies Capital, out of stealth, revealing a 50-strong portfolio and 27 exits in the past five years.

China has launched a RMB17.8bn ($2.6bn) venture capital fund aimed at startups in industries of strategic importance, such as IT, energy conservation and environmental protection, advanced materials and equipment manufacturing.

International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector-focused investment arm of multilateral financial institution World Bank, has agreed to put $10m into the Stellaris Venture Partners India I fund.

BDC Capital, the investment arm of the government-owned Business Development Bank of Canada, injected C$5m ($3.6m) into the StandUp Ventures Fund I.

Exits

Ovid Therapeutics has gone public in a $75m IPO that provided exits for Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures and Takeda, the latter its largest external investor.

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

20 March 2017 – Netflix’s Regional Rival iFlix Secures $90m and Much More

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Although Netflix is the global market leader when it comes to online video streaming subscription services, regional rivals are beginning to raise substantial sums, particularly in Asia where iFlix has just secured $90m at a valuation of more than $500m.

Deals

DraftKings, which counts Fox Sports and sports leagues MLB, NHL and MLS as investors, has raised $100m in a series E1 round led by investment firm Eldridge Industries, taking its overall funding to some $630m.

Tencent and Baidu have co-led an $87m round for Nio, the Chinese smart electric vehicle developer formerly known as NextEV.

Public-private partnership Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) meanwhile partnered healthcare companies Takeda Pharmaceutical and Medipal Holdings to launch Japan-based biotech firm Scohia Pharma.

Microsoft Ventures is keeping up the pace of its investment so far in 2017, contributing to a $52.5m growth round for Livongo Health, the developer of a digital diabetes management system.

The ad-for-equity space continues to grow, with news that recruitment platform Job Today has closed a $35m deal with Astremedia, RTL Germany and German Media Pool.

Innovium, the silicon data centre equipment developer that emerged from stealth last June, has secured $38.3m in a series C round that included returning investor Qualcomm Ventures.

SolarisBank has created what it claims is the first financial services-as-a-platform offering, an online marketplace through which external partners can offer their own digital banking services.

UK-based cellular immunotherapy developer Cell Medica closed a £60m ($73m) series C round today from a consortium that included Touchstone Innovations, the investment firm spun out of Imperial College London.

Oxford University has joined forces with private equity and VC firm Kingsley Capital Partners for a research program into the use of cannabinoids to treat a range of acute and chronic conditions.

Funds

Pivotal BioVenture Partners has closed its first fund with $300m of capital from Chinese property developer Nan Fung Group, and plans to target transformative therapeutics, with infectious diseases, immunology, oncology, ophthalmology and orphan disease treatments all on the table.

Spectrum Health is the latest US healthcare system to form a corporate venturing subsidiary, committing up to $100m for Spectrum Health Ventures over the next decade.

VC firm 500 Startups has announced a $10m fund aimed at startups based in Latin America, attracting the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the multilateral financial institution World Bank, as a limited partner.

The government of Indian state Karnataka has launched a Rs100m ($1.5m) proof of concept fund aimed at women entrepreneurs.

Bpifrance, the public investment bank of France, has committed €75m ($80m) to an investment fund currently being raised by private equity firm Bridgepoint, Les Echos has reported.

US-based fintech-focused venture capital firm TTV Capital has closed a $93m fund backed by Invest Georgia, a long-term investment program backed by the US state of Georgia, FinSMEs reported yesterday.

Exits

MuleSoft, Alteryx and ForeScout all have offerings on the way, and now it looks like they’ll be joined by big data management software provider Cloudera, which has reportedly filed paperwork for its IPO confidentially.

Speaking Alteryx, the data analytics software provider has set the terms for an IPO that will give Thomson Reuters an exit, and it could raise $126m if it floats at the top of its range.

Chinese instalment buying platform Fenqile is said to be preparing for its own US flotation, in which it aims to raise $600m.

TechStyle, the fashion e-commerce company formerly known by the name of its JustFab brand, has reportedly hired JPMorgan Chase to seek out a buyer in a prospective deal that would value it at $1.5bn.

Renewable chemicals technology developer Avantium has raised $109m in an initial public offering in Europe that allowed investors including Coca-Cola and Swire Pacific to exit.

Germany-based gesture tracking software developer Gestigon, backed by public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), was acquired by automotive supplier Valeo for an undisclosed sum.

US-based pharmaceutical company GE Healthcare has acquired Monica Healthcare, a medical device spinout of Nottingham University, for an undisclosed sum.

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

13 March 2017 – Airbnb Closes Series F, IPO for Snap and Much More

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Deals

Airbnb has closed its series F round at just over $1bn, bringing its overall equity funding to $3.4bn.

Instacart, the company touted as ‘the Uber of grocery shopping’, has raised $400m at a $3.4bn valuation, with VC firm Sequoia leading the round with a reported $100m investment. Interestingly, none of Instacart’s corporate investors – Comcast Ventures, American Express Ventures and Whole Foods – were named as participants in the series D round.

Alibaba has spent around $250m in a secondary transaction to boost its stake in One97 Communications by an extra 4.3%, giving exits to Reliance Capital, Sapphire Ventures and Saama Capital in the process.

BBVA has led a $102m funding round for mobile banking app Atom Bank, investing just over $36m at a $320m valuation to maintain its 29.5% stake.

Baidu is said to be lining up a $100m investment in NextEV, the smart electric vehicle developer that unveiled what it claims is the world’s fastest electric supercar in November.

Liberty Global and Zain have joined existing backers including Sky and the CAA-backed Evolution Media Capital to invest $90m in iFlix, which has brought the Netflix template to Southeast Asia.

Ping An Overseas Holdings has led a series C round for livestreaming platform and communication services operator Bigo that valued it at $400m.

Spero Therapeutics, a biopharma working on treatments for superbugs, has completed an oversubscribed series C round, raising $51.7m.

Viva Republica, the Korean developer of mobile payment platform Toss, has picked up $48m in a series C round featuring PayPal which Forbes estimates values the company at roughly $250m.

Biohaven Pharmaceutical, a biopharmaceutical spinout of Yale University, yesterday closed an $80m series A round from investors that included spinout-focused investment firm Osage University Partners.

Funds

Joyme Capital, the CVC arm of online gaming community operator Joyme Group, has teamed with gaming services provider Kee Ever Bright Technology to launch a strategic investment fund that will back game developers, eSports companies and gaming ancillary service startups among others.

US-based microfinance non-profit organisation Accion has launched a $141m financial technology and services investment fund with contributions from limited partners including the World Bank’s private sector investment arm International Finance Corporation.

The Cradle Fund, an investment vehicle owned by the government of Malaysia, has announced DEQ800, an initiative that will offer early-stage equity to startups, Tech in Asia wrote on Monday.

Uniseed, the venture fund backed by four Australian universities and research institute CSIRO, has announced a A$20m ($15m) fund that will make follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies.

Exits

Snapchat owner Snap has formally closed an IPO that featured a $500m investment by NBCUniversal at $3.91bn, after its underwriters took up the option to buy an additional $410m in shares following a heady first two days of trading last week, with the company’s stock at one point up more than $12 from its flotation price.

Now that the dust is starting to clear from Snap’s flotation last week, onlookers are getting ready for the next big tech IPO, with MuleSoft setting terms for an offering that will net it $182m in proceeds and a $2bn+ valuation if it floats at the top of its range.

CA Technologies has agreed to buy cloud security platform Veracode in a $614m cash deal that will provide exits for backers including Telus, Tivo and Symantec, which spun the company out in 2006.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical has agreed to acquire ADHD treatment developer Neurovance in a deal that will give an exit to Novartis Venture Fund.

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

9 January 2017 – Welcome to 2017 with Bike Sharing Deals, Fund backing from Apple and Much More

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Deals

Easy Life Financial Services, a tourism-focused financial services spinout of aviation and travel conglomerate HNA Group, has raised approximately $273m in series B+ funding from a string of Chinese investors.

Bike sharing looks likely to be a big area for VC funding in 2017, and China’s Mobike, which raised more than $100m in autumn last year, has followed it up with a $215m series D round co-led by existing backers Tencent and Warburg Pincus.

China-based iCarbonX is looking to build a what it calls an online ecosystem of digital life, and has raised about $200m of funding from investors including Tencent. It has also provided almost $400m of funding from its ecosystem for seven members of its Digital Life Alliance.

Electric bus producer Proterra has raised $140m from investors including Edison Energy and the corporate venturing subsidiaries of General Motors and Exelon.

Cancer test developer Grail spun out of genomics producer Illumina a year ago with $100m in funding that was quickly upped to $125m.

Tasly Pharmaceuticals took part in the $55m series A round closed by liver disease treatment developer Ascletis at the end of 2015, and has come back for its $100m series B.

Online investment manager Nutmeg took its series D round over the $50m mark with a £12m investment by Fubon Financial Holdings.

There have been a few big deals on GlobalUniversityVenturing.com and GlobalGovernmentVenturing.com as well. An intriguing crossover is a $40m series A round for Therachon, a Switzerland-based biotech developer focused on rare genetic diseases such as short-limbed dwarfism, thanks to a $5m extension that featured Bpifrance, the public investment bank of France.

Funds

News emerged last month that Apple could chip in up to $1bn for SoftBank’s $100bn Vision Fund, and that news has now been confirmed along with reports that fellow corporates Qualcomm and Foxconn are also set to invest.

Samsung’s mooted $1.1bn Next47 fund is yet to announce any investments but the same can’t be said for Samsung Next Fund, a $150m initiative announced by the corporate this week.

The cleantech-focused $52m Icos Capital Fund III meanwhile has received commitments from the city of Rotterdam as well as corporates Wuppermann, Bühler and AkzoNobel to achieve a first close.

International Finance Corporation is one of 65 limited partners that have backed SOSV’s third fund, doubling the firm’s total assets under management to $300m.

The European Investment Fund (EIF), the investment arm of EU agency European Investment Bank, and Cassa depositi e prestiti (CDP), the state-owned national promotional institution of Italy, have joined forces to launch Itatech with €200m ($208m).

Greece’s Ministry of Economy and Development has signed an agreement with the European Investment Fund (EIF), the investment arm of EU agency European Investment Bank, to establish a €260m ($270m) fund of funds.

And EU agency European Investment Bank (EIB) has achieved a final close of its third Lebanon-based Euromena private equity fund, managed by Capital Trust Group, at $150m.

Exits

Jounce meanwhile is developing antibody-based immunotherapy treatments for cancer, and has filed for a $75m IPO.

Sogou, operator of China’s third most popular search engine, is looking to float in the US at some point later in the year at a valuation of up to $5bn, CEO Wang Xiaochuan has told Bloomberg.

A sadder exit came for Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of economic development agency Scottish Enterprise, which saw portfolio company TeamRock collapse just three months after making a £2m investment.

People

Neil McGregor, senior managing director at Temasek, the investment arm of the government of Singapore, will depart on March 31 to join Sembcorp Industries as chief executive and group president. McGregor has been Temasek’s head of energy and resources, head of Australia and New Zealand since he joined in June 2014.

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

10 October 2016 – Possible Snap IPO, Exit for Time Warner Investments, Investment News and Much More

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Feature

GV’s new leader’s steady hand

People

Microsoft continues rapid hiring and investment pace

Leeney leaves Telefonica

Funds

Spanish VC firm Kibo Ventures has raised $79m for the first close of its second fund, which it aims to expand to roughly $110m for its final close.

Ideo designs investment firm

University Corner

KU Leuven researches $67.5m fund

Government Department

Europe sets up venture markets

Exits

Time Warner Investments had made a decent-sized exit from marketing data management software company Krux, which has been acquired for about $700m by Salesforce.

Continental picks up Daimler-backed Zonar

Snap, which rebranded from Snapchat a few weeks ago, is said to be preparing for an IPO that could take place as soon as March 2017, and which could value it at $25bn, a steep jump from the $18bn post-money valuation at which it last raised funding, in May.

Obalon Therapeutics, developer of a gastric balloon to aid weight loss, has meanwhile raised $75m in an IPO that could potentially rise to more than $86m.

Investments

Payoneer to break new ground in $180m round

Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company adds investment to Stripe

Connected device network developer Sigfox is also looking to boost its coffers and is looking to raise $100m to $200m in a round that will feature an as yet unnamed Chinese strategic backer, and which will value it at $600m, a 50% jump from its last round in early 2015.

NTT drives Druva’s $51m series E

Rover, the dogsitting marketplace backed by Petco, was rumoured last month to be raising $40m in series E capital from Foundry Group, Menlo Ventures and Madrona Venture Group. Today, the company confirmed the deal, though it didn’t say whether the estimated valuation of $300m was also correct.

Remitly, a mobile remittance services provider that focuses primarily on foreign workers in the US hoping to send money back to family, has added a combined $38m in equity and debt from Silicon Valley Bank and International Finance Corporation to its coffers.

Welltok knocks out $33.7m round

Clearpath reaches corporates for $30m

Online video publishing platform Tout has secured $26m in a series C round backed by sports entertainment provider and partner WWE, after closing a $13.4m round in 2012 that featured a $5m investment from WWE.

Grana targets $10m in Alibaba-backed round

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

26 September 2016 – Deals for LeEco and Airbnb, Finance Wales Launches Wales Business Fund plus much more

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Deals

LeEco, has announced a $1.08bn funding round backed by Lenovo and Macrolink, and will use the funding to further develop LeSee, an autonomous electric car it is working on with Aston Martin and Faraday Future among others.

Airbnb has reportedly closed an $850m round.

Grab has picked up $750m in a SoftBank-led series F round.

U51.com, China-based credit card management platform backed by e-commerce company JD.com, has closed a $310m series C round that values it at $1bn.

Pay-per-mile auto insurance provider Metromile has been relatively quiet on the funding front, but all that changed yesterday when it disclosed $191m in equity financing it has received in the past two years.

Solar film producer Heliatek has secured some $89m in financing, including about $47m in series D equity funding that will be used to scale up its manufacturing capacity.

Funds

A total of 51 companies and institutional investors have collectively provided R1.5bn ($112m) of funding for a South Africa-based fund that will invest in small and medium-sized (SME) businesses.

Thailand-based financial services firm Kasikorn Bank will establish a strategic investment fund of undisclosed size during the fourth quarter of 2016 to invest in fintech services and products.

South Korean entertainment company Huayi Brothers, a subsidiary of China-based Huayi Brothers Media, is set to launch a $45m CVC arm to invest from as early as the end of the month.

Trumpf, a German industrial product manufacturer, launched a corporate venturing unit called Trumpf Venture which aims to build up a $45m portfolio over the next five years.

Baidu, China’s answer to Google, is reportedly putting together a $150m fund to invest in businesses developing content that could be distributed on its media offerings.

GE Healthcare has put together an accelerator called Five.Eight in order to back startups developing technology that can benefit patients in developing regions.

Australia’s industry minster Greg Hunt has hinted at a $380m fund, which would be the third VC fund launched through the country’s National Innovation and Science Agenda, following the $150m Csiro Innovation Fund and $380m Biomedical Translation Fund.

Finance Wales meanwhile officially launched its Wales Business Fund, a $177m investment vehicle that will provide equity and debt to businesses already located in Wales or willing to move there.

Vietnam also popped up on our radar last week with news that it is set to establish a government venturing fund to co-invest in local startups and help create more of an ecosystem.

International Finance Corporation is looking to invest $25m in Maison Capital’s inaugural US dollar-denominated fund, which is targeting a $200m close.

Exits

Corporates Itochu, Yahoo Japan, FISL and Kodansha are set to exit Uzabase, developer of an online business database and curated news app, in a flotation on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Market next month.

Dermatology product developer Novan has become the latest healthcare company to go public, raising $45m in a Nasdaq IPO.

People

Hearst Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the eponymous US-based media group, which has restructured after the departure of its president, putting Kenneth Bronfin and Scott English in charge and building out its international network.

Andreas von Richter has left Ecomobility Ventures, the VC firm set up by Total, Orange, Peugeot and SNCF, to join another firm backed by a range of corporates, Aster Capital.

Jim Lussier, managing director and head of corporate venturing unit Dell Ventures, has left to run his own advisory and venture capital firm ahead of computer maker Dell’s merger with EMC.

Simon Johnson, previously senior investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, has joined Rivers Capital Partners as head of strategic debt funds.

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

29 August 2016 – University and Government Venturing Summer Catchup and more

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Investments

One97 Communications, which has reportedly raised almost $1bn to date, most of which came after it formed mobile payment subsidiary Paytm in 2010. It’s now set to formally split from Paytm and has set up a separate entity for its e-commerce activities.

Snapdeal, which raised $500m in a round led by the Chinese firm last September. Snapdeal has just received $21m in funding from Luxembourg-registered Clouse SA.

Quanergy Systems, a developer of the LiDAR technology that will allow driverless vehicles to navigate obstacles in real time, raising $90m at a reported valuation of over $1bn.

Brainbees Solutions, the Indian operator of maternal, baby and childcare e-commerce platform FirstCry, is in talks to raise between $50m and $75m in a round that could involve share sales by existing investors, which include IDG Ventures India.

ClearCare, the developer of a care and business management platform for home healthcare providers, has raised $60m in a round led by Battery Ventures that will support the enhancement of its product and the securing of more strategic partnerships.

Victoria University has opened up the licensing to its research to local businesses for free.

Denali Therapeutics raised a $130m series B round.

Exits

Novan Therapeutics, which is developing a pipeline of nitrous oxide skincare products, has filed for an IPO.

Meitu, developer of a photo editing and sharing platform that has reportedly been installed on some 900 million devices, is preparing to float in Hong Kong.

International Finance Corporation’s portfolio company Indecomm, an India-based outsourcing company, was acquired by Capital Square Partners, a private equity firm in Singapore.

Funds

Recruitment firm Kelly Services’ Indian subsidiary has formed a corporate venturing fund that will invest in local startups in partnership with Japan-based peer and partner Temp Holdings.

Venture capital Earlybird is raising a healthtech fund it aims to eventually close at up to $135m.

Connecticut University in partnership with state-backed Connecticut Innovations (CI) and Webster Bank is setting up a $1.5m innovation fund.

Chicago University is among the limited partners in the $75m second fund recently launched by US-based venture capital firm Pear.

Prudential Retirement has decided to shut down its seed-stage focused investment arm, Gibraltar Ventures.

India state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation launching a $15m fund aimed at projects in the energy sector.

International Finance Corporation meanwhile put $15m in the inaugural fund being raised by Long Hill Capital Management.

Wisconsin managed to push its Badger Fund of Funds to $35m after it attracted $10m from private investors, double the amount that the state had mandated in order for it to put up the $25m that it committed last year. .

Zubr, Belarus’ first private equity firm, meanwhile attracted $50m in commitments with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signing up as cornerstone investor.

People

David Ollila, founding director of Northern Michigan University’s tech transfer office decided to move on to join VC firm Skypoint Ventures as vice-president of innovation.

Susan Warburton has joined Business Growth Hub, a local initiative that helps businesses in Manchester grow (that’s Manchester in England, not one of the over 30 cities and towns called Manchester in the US).

Launch Tennessee, the public-private partnership focused on startups and fast-growing companies in the US state, has hired John Lanahan as director of capital formation.

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

18 July 2016 – The Power Behind Pokémon Go raises $181m plus more

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Investments

Unity, which is the game engine that helped build Pokémon Go, raised $181m in its series C round led by DFJ Growth and including China Investment Corporation – the sovereign wealth fund of the People’s Republic.

A $45m investment for iCarbonX whose shareholders include internet company Tencent, which led a $154m series A round in April 2015.

Naspers led a $30m series C round for online coding school CodeAcademy.

Sapience Therapeutics, a spinout of Columbia University, welcomed Celgene to a $22.5m series A round led by VC firm Eshelmann Ventures.

Funds

IDG Capital Partners, a VC affiliate of media company International Data Group, which closed its latest fund at $1bn.

Mavcap, the Malaysian government-owned venture firm, is looking to raise $250m for three technology funds and is hoping to attract the interest of both domestic and overseas corporates.

Verdane Capital IX, backed by private and public pension funds, university endowments, private foundations, insurance companies and family offices, hit its hard cap of $349m and will put that money into SMEs in Northern Europe.

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, which is reaching full deployment of its current fund Infuse Ventures, backed by International Finance Corporation, BP, the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and its Technology Development Board. To make sure it’ll still have resources available to invest, the institute is now preparing the launch of a $150m vehicle, dubbed Bharat Innovations Fund, which will focus on the areas of healthcare, agriculture and energy.

Exits

Line’s $1.14bn IPO.

Yatra, an India-based online travel booking platform that went public through a reverse merger with US-listed shell company Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corporation in a deal that values it at just $208m.

ZTO Express, a logistics service based in China, is aiming for a US flotation this autumn that could bring in between $1bn and $2bn.

Talend, backed by France’s public investment bank BPIfrance, setting the range for its IPO at $15 to $17 per American Depositary Share.

People

Catherine Dupéré, previously of BDC Capital, joining Isomer Capital.

Richard Holliday meanwhile has joined Oxford spinout Bodle Technologies.

University Ventures with its announcement that it would be hiring Troy Williams and Prateek Aneja while promoting Aanand Radia. Williams will join Radia as MD, joining from publishing house Macmillan Publishers. Aneja will take on the role of vice-president, joining from Wells Fargo Securities.

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

11 April 2016 – Ant Financial, Alibaba, Human Longevity, Slack, Africa Internet Group, the IFC and more

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Deals

Global Corporate Venturing

By far the biggest deal of the past week comes from China, where Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is set to raise more than $3.1bn at a valuation of $60bn.

Alibaba meanwhile also injected an undisclosed sum in China-based food delivery service Ele.me. The investment was first reported in December 2015 and pegged at $1.25bn at a $4.5bn valuation, though details haven’t been confirmed yet.

Another company that’s collected a lot of cash is real estate services provider Lianjia, which has hit a $6.2bn valuation following a $927m round backed by Tencent and Baidu.

Meanwhile, genomics research company Human Longevity, which launched two years ago with $70m from a consortium featuring Illumina, has added a $220m series B round that saw Illumina return and Celgene and GE join.

Slack, the work communications platform, received $200m in fresh funding from investors such as GV and Comcast Ventures, boosting its total to $540m. GCV news editor Robert Lavine took a closer look at the deal in a Big Deal feature article, which I do recommend checking out on globalcorporateventuring.com.

Africa Internet Group, the e-commerce holding group formed by Rocket Internet in 2012 to oversee a variety of platforms in Africa and the Middle East, has added Orange to its investors, securing $85m as part of a strategic partnership agreement.

Global University Venturing

The week’s biggest deal was a $46m series D round for diagnostics platform developer Quanterix. I wrote a Big Deal feature article about the round, which you can find on GlobalUniversityVenturing.com

Global Government Venturing

International Finance Corporation joins Kreditech’s series C round with an $11m commitment, boosting the round to $105m.

Exits

Global Corporate Venturing

Onefinestay, which closed a $40m series D backed by Intel and Hyatt Hotels in June 2015, also received a $73m investment from AccorHotels as part of the deal.

Mars Petcare acquired Smart dog collar developer Whistle for a reported $117m.

Aeglea Biotherapeutics raised $50m in an offering on Nasdaq providing investors Novartis and Eli Lilly with exits.

Global Government Venturing

Oneview Healthcare, an Ireland-based healthcare software developer backed by Enterprise Ireland, has listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), raising A$62.4m ($48m). The company priced its shares at A$3.58, resulting in a market cap of A$208.5m.

Wikihow, a US-based online learning community, has acquired Enterprise Ireland-backed Guidecentral, a US-based company that provides how-to guides and tutorials for DIY projects. Financial terms of the transaction have not been revealed. Guidecentral will continue to operate as a stand-alone brand.

Funds

Singapore-based venture capital firm Monk’s Hill Ventures has closed its first fund at $85m, securing networking equipment manufacturer Cisco, telecommunications firm Telstra and internet company Yahoo Japan as limited partners.

Teralys Capital, a Canada-based fund manager, has held the final close of its Teralys Capital Innovation Fund at C$375m ($288m) that was established under Canada’s Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP) in collaboration with the government of Quebec.

People

Basil Darwish has left Citi Ventures, after five years in senior vice-president roles, for Wells Fargo where he will act as director of strategic investments.

Jack Young, formerly of Qualcomm Ventures and number two in the 2016 Rising Stars List of Global Corporate Venturing, is joining Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners. If you want to know more about Young’s decision to join DTCP, check out our interview with him on globalcorporateventuring.com

Kiara Bechta-Metti, who previously led commercialisation efforts at Australian government-owned scientific research organisation Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), will join Adelaide University this month.

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