Tag: Katerra

21 January 2019 – SenseTime Prepares for $2bn Round

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The big ones

Image recognition software provider SenseTime raised a total of $1.7bn in the year running up to May 2018, and news has emerged that it’s preparing a new round with a target of $2bn.

Slack has been mooted as one of 2019’s likeliest IPO candidates for months now, but it’s reportedly looking to emulate Spotify and choose a direct listing rather than issuing new shares.

On GUV, news of note was that Purdue University has now launched a total of 223 university-linked businesses since 2013, more than half which were based on intellectual property (IP) licensed through Purdue Research Foundation’s office of technology commercialisation (OTC).

Deals

End-to-end construction and renovation services platform Katerra last raised money in an $865m series D round led by SoftBank Vision Fund a year ago.

SoftBank is reportedly in talks to pay $400m for a 42% stake in baby and child product retailer FirstCry, representing a signficant jump in valuation from the $350m figure reported for the company’s last round.

Around a week after news that its biggest rival, Bird, was lining up $300m in funding, reports suggest scooter and bicycle rental platform Lime is set to raise about $400m in a round that will value it at $2bn pre-money.

English language tutoring platform Dada has concluded its latest round, securing $255m in series D funding from investors including TAL Education.

Logistics service provider Yimi Dida has meanwhile raised $266m in series D funding from investors including Prologis.

Niantic has confirmed it has raised $245m in a series C round featuring Samsung Ventures and Axiomatic at a post-money valuation near to $4bn.

Funds advised by Apax Partners have agreed to invest $200m in big data software and services provider Fractal Analytics through a transaction expected to close next month.

Beta Bionics has attracted $13m from investors including medical device producers Zealand Pharma and Dexom to close its series B round at $63m.

Outdoorsy, the operator of a rental platform for recreational vehicles, has closed a $50m series C round that involved the return of Aviva Ventures, the corporate venturing unit that also backed its series B early last year.

Exits

Online film ticketing platform Maoyan has set the terms for its initial public offering in Hong Kong and will raise approximately $344m if it floats at the top of its range.

Educational services provider Byju’s has acquired connected toy producer Osmo in a $120m all-share transaction that will add a range of coprorates to the former’s investor base.

Cirius Therapeutics, a developer of therapies for liver and metabolic diseases, has filed for an $86.3m IPO that will provide an exit for Novo, which owns almost 20% of its shares.

On GUV, consumer electronics producer Samsung is in advanced discussions over a $150m to $160m acquisition of Corephotonics, an Israel-based smartphone camera technology provider based on Tel Aviv University research.

Funds

Venture firm Magenta Venture Partners has launched in Israel with substantial backing from Mitsui, which is also providing two of its four founding general partners, one of the others being Motorola Solutions Venture Capital alumnus Ori Israely.

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

29 January 2018 – Ping An Insurance On a Roll

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Deals

Ping An Insurance is on a roll. At the end of November, the insurance provider was gearing up for a $1bn IPO of Ping An Good Doctor, and now it has raised nearly $1bn for its medical data collection and analysis subsidiary Ping An Healthcare Management at a $8.8bn valuation.

Tencent continues to go from strength to strength in its corporate venturing activities, and is set to lead a $1bn round for Kuaishou, a photo and video sharing app that’s now become one of the key players in China’s livestreaming sector.

Mobike, the bike-sharing company, has raised $1bn in its latest funding round, according to press reports.

Another company that’s growing at a rapid pace is Katerra, the creator of an end-to-end construction services business. It was only founded around three years ago but has just raised $865m in a series D round led by SoftBank Vision Fund that valued it at a little over $3bn.

Orix has provided $60m of a $70m extension to peer-to-peer lending platform Dianrong’s series D round, which has been increased to $290m.

Snowflake Computing, a cloud data storage technology developer, has raised $263m in series E funding at a pre-money valuation of $1.5bn. Capital One Growth Ventures, which previously backed a $105m series D round in September 2017, returned for the round co-led by Sequoia, Iconiq Capital and Altimeter Capital.

Maxi Mobility, the on-demand ride provider that oversees Cabify and EasyTaxi in Iberia and Latin America, has raised $160m in a Rakuten Ventures-backed round that values it at $1.4bn.

Ring, the maker of a smart doorbell video system, is raising $160m at a valuation of nearly $1bn, according to a securities filing. The company most recently closed a $109m debt and equity round a year ago, with backers including mobile semiconductor producer Qualcomm, insurance firm American Family and real estate firm JF Shea and other prominent investors, such as Richard Branson.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has paid $144m for a 6.3% stake in Indian renewable energy developer ReNew Power, valuing it at almost $2.3bn.

Immunotherapy developer Tmunity Therapeutics, a spinout from University of Pennsylvania, has closed a $100m series A round that added Gilead Sciences, Ping An, Ventures and Be The Match BioTherapies to existing backers including Lilly Asia Ventures as well as Penn itself.

Stem, a producer of scalable energy storage systems, has raised $80m from Activate Capital, Temasek and another Canadian pension investor, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, for the first close of its series D round.

Constellation Technology Ventures has also participated in a $75m round for PrecisionHawk, the developer of a drone control system for enterprises.

Funds

Cybersecurity software provider and internet company Qihoo 360 has formed a $156m venture fund in partnership with Beijing Cultural Center Fund that will invest in internet and media-focused companies.

ING, the Dutch financial services firm, has set its sights on sustainable businesses and launched a $123m fund specifically aimed at startups developing products and services with a positive environmental impact.

Orange, Edenred and JCDecaux meanwhile are recognising Africa as the next big market and have put their weight behind the $70m first close of a $123m fund that is being raised by Partech Ventures.

On GUV, University of Tokyo Edge Capital, a venture capital affiliate of University of Tokyo, has raised an initial ¥15.6bn ($143m) of a ¥25bn spinout-focused investment fund. The capital has been provided by unnamed, domestic financial services firms.

Exits

Figs, a US-based medical apparel producer backed by footwear brand Crocs, has raised $65m from diversified holding company Tulco and will use the capital to buy out existing investors, making Tulco the only external investor.

Digital media company Gree has exited Indonesia-based property listings portal UrbanIndo in an acquisition of undisclosed size by real estate portal 99.co. UrbanIndo received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from venture capital firm East Ventures in 2012 before adding an undisclosed sum in a 2013 series A round led by Gree’s corporate venturing unit, Gree Ventures.

Primary Data, a US-based data virtualisation software producer backed by computer technology provider Dell Technologies, is shutting down after failing to attract enough clients.

Home24, a Germany-based online home and living product retailer backed by e-commerce holding group Rocket Internet, is gearing up for an initial public offering.

Entertainment company Modern Times Group MTG (MTG) secured an exit from France-based media group Trace as TPG Growth, part of private equity group TPG, acquired a majority stake.

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