Tag: “Oxford Nanopore”

04 October 2021 – Oyo Eyes $1.16bn Initial Public Offering

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The Big Ones

Oyo, an India-based accommodation platform backed by corporates Airbnb, Didi Chuxing, Hero Enterprise, Huazhu Hotels Group, Microsoft and SoftBank, filed for a $1.16bn initial public offering. The company will issue up to $942m in new shares while the rest will come from secondary transactions involving existing investors. Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank plans to divest more than $175m of its stake. Founded in 2013, Oyo has built an online platform that helps users book short-term accommodation in locations including India, the US, the UK, Japan and other countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

Warby Parker, a US-headquartered eyewear retailer backed by payment services firm American Express, went public in a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The company set a reference price of $40.00 for its shares, which opened at $54.05 and closed at $54.49, equating to a market capitalisation just over $6.1bn. No new shares were issued and none of its largest shareholders have disclosed sales. Founded in 2010, Warby Parker sells eyewear both through its online platform and a network of brick-and-mortar outlets. The company increased revenue 53% year on year to just over $270m for the first six months of 2021 and cut its net loss from $10m to $7.3m in the process.

India-based online reselling platform Meesho amassed $570m in funding at a $4.9bn valuation from investors including social network operator Facebook, internet and telecommunications group SoftBank and internet group Prosus. Investment and financial services group Fidelity and investment firm B Capital Group co-led the round, which also featured Footpath Ventures and Trifecta Capital. SoftBank tapped its Vision Fund 2 to participate in the round while Prosus, which was formed by media and e-commerce group Naspers, was represented by its corporate venturing unit, Prosus Ventures. Founded in 2015, Meesho runs an online platform that lets small businesses and entrepreneurs sell products to consumers through social media.

Online food ordering service Delivery Hero led a $950m series C round for Germany-based grocery delivery service Gorillas. The round included internet group Tencent, investment management firm Coatue Management, investment firm DST Global and venture capital firm A-Star Partners, and reportedly valued the startup at $3bn. Founded in 2020, Gorillas offers groceries to customers in 57 cities across eight European countries for delivery within 10 minutes of an order, selling items at retail price.

Fanatics Trading Cards, a subsidiary of US-based digital sports memorabilia retailer Fanatics, closed a $350m series A round featuring talent agency Endeavor. Private equity firm Silver Lake and growth equity firm Insight Partners also participated in the round, which valued the company at $10.4bn, according to the Wall Street Journal. Fanatics Trading Cards provides a direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketplace that helps rightsholders and fans sell, resell or buy cards affiliated with professional sports leagues including Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and the National Football League.

Crossover

Oxford Nanopore, the UK-based DNA sequencing technology developer backed by corporate investors Nikon, Tencent, Amgen and Illumina, went public in a $478m initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. The company issued 82.4 million shares priced at £4.25 ($5.81) each, securing a valuation of $4.7bn, while shareholders including commercialisation firm IP Group offloaded $238m worth of stock. Software producer Oracle had already committed to being a cornerstone investor for the IPO, putting aside $205m. Oxford Nanopore’s shares soared 45% on the first day of trading. Founded in 2005, Oxford Nanopore provides DNA and RNA sequencing technology that has been applied to a wide range of products ranging from handheld devices to population-scale platforms.

Funds

Energize Ventures, a US-based venture capital offshoot of power producer Invenergy, closed a $330m second fund featuring a host of corporate investors as limited partners (LPs). Invenergy anchored the fund and was joined by backers including energy management technology producer Schneider Electric’s SE Ventures vehicle and industrial and power equipment maker General Electric’s GE Renewable Energy subsidiary. Energy utilities American Electric Power, Equinor (through its Equinor Ventures subsidiary) and Xcel Energy also committed capital, as did financial services firm Credit Suisse, pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and property investment trust Hannon Armstrong. Formed in 2016, Energize Ventures has over $700m under management and targets energy technology developers focusing on process automation, decentralisation, risk mitigation, electrification and asset optimisation.

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

10 May 2021 – Oxford Nanopore Pockets $280m in Equity Financing

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The Big Ones

Canada-based digital investment platform developer Wealthsimple received C$750m ($610m) in funding from investors including Allianz X, a subsidiary of Allianz, at a valuation of almost $4.1bn. Meritech Capital and Greylock Partners co-led the round, which also featured DST Global, Sagard, Iconiq Capital, Dragoneer, TCV, iNovia Capital, Base 10 Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Steadfast Capital, Alkeon Capital Management, TSV, Plus Capital and multiple individuals. The valuation represents a large jump from the $1.07bn valuation at which the company raised $86.8m in an October 2020 round led by TCV that included Allianz X, Greylock, Meritech Capital and Two Sigma Ventures.

China-based roasted seed and nut provider Qiaqia Food and domestic snack food producer Juewei Food have formed a RMB1.1bn ($170m) industry investment fund. Sichuan Chengdu Xinjin Siyiwu Investment will be equipped with almost $100m from Juewei Food’s Wangju Capital vehicle, which will take a 58.6% share, while Qiaqia Food is set to provide $9m in return for a 5.45% stake. The vehicle will invest in companies operating in areas like restaurant chains, snack and condiment brands, pet food producers and developers of technology which can enhance the supply chain.

Roivant Sciences, the US-based biopharmaceutical company backed by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank and pharmaceutical firms Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and Dexxon, agreed a reverse merger at a combined $7.3bn valuation. The deal will take place with a SPAC called Montes Archimedes Acquisition Corp which floated on the Nasdaq Capital Market in a $400m initial public offering in October 2020. Sumitomo Dainippon, SoftBank subsidiary SB Management and data analytics service provider Palantir Technologies all contributed to a $200m private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing supporting the transaction.

Crossover

Oxford Nanopore, the UK-based DNA sequencing technology spinout of University of Oxford, pocketed £195m ($270m) in equity financing from investors including commercialisation firm IP Group. Nikon, Temasek, Wellington Management and M&G Investment took part in the round, providing $174m, while unnamed, existing backers also contributed capital. IP Group committed £26m, its full pre-emptive allocation, and now owns a 14.5% undiluted stake in Oxford Nanopore. The spinout is now valued at $3.4bn. Founded in 2005, Oxford Nanopore has developed a DNA and RNA sequencing technology that provides real-time analytics. The technology is fully scalable from hand-held devices for use in the field through to benchtop products and population-scale platforms. The spinout is seeking an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in the second half of the year and reportedly hired book-running managers last month.

Deals

US-based freelancer business software provider HoneyBook secured $155m in series D funding from investors including Citi Ventures. Durable Capital Partners led the round, which also featured 01 Advisors, Battery Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, OurCrowd, Tiger Global Management and Zeev Ventures. It valued the company above $1bn, according to TechCrunch.

Bitso, a Mexico-based cryptocurrency exchange operator backed by corporates Coinbase, Monex and Ripple, has received $250m in series C funding at a $2.2bn valuation. Hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management and investment manager Coatue Management co-led the round, which included Paradigm, Bond, Valor Capital Group, QED Investors, Pantera Capital and Kaszek Ventures.

China-based heart disease therapy developer Valgen Medtech has secured a nine-digit dollar amount in series B funding from investors including corporates Venus Medtech and China Life. The round was co-led by DCP and Sequoia Capital China and included China Life’s Healthcare Fund Venus Medtech, Ascendum Capital, Lake Bleu Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.

Funds

New York-listed pharmacy chain CVS Health has set up a $100m fund which will targeting digital health technology. CVS Health Ventures formalises a corporate venturing strategy that has resulted in investments in more than 20 startups through the CVS and Aetna businesses, CVS having acquired life insurance provider Aetna in 2018 for $69bn. Current CVS Health investments include Unite Us, the developer a technology platform that connects healthcare and social services providers, and LumiraDx, which has created a point-of-care diagnostic platform.

The universities of Birmingham, Dundee, Edinburgh and Nottingham have joined forces with drug discovery firm Evotec and pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb to launch BeLab1407 Equipped with $20m, BeLab1407 is the latest addition to Evotec’s international network of early-stage academic collaborations called Bridge – an acronym for Biomedical Research, Innovation and Development Generation Efficiency. It will focus on drug discovery. Listeners of our Talking Tech Transfer podcast will already know that Adam Stoten, chief operating officer at tech transfer office Oxford University Innovation, spearheaded the initiative and last month revealed exclusively to me on that podcast that he was joining Evotec to expand the roster of partnerships further. You can find the Talking Tech Transfer podcast on GlobalUniversityVenturing.com – our latest guest is Jason Whitney of IU Ventures – or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you download your podcasts from.

Exits

Financial management software producer Bill.com agreed to purchase payment management platform developer Divvy in a $2.5bn transaction enabling digital payment processor PayPal and electronics wholesaler Hanaco to exit. Divvy’s software platform allows businesses to efficiently track spending on expenses and corporate cards in real time while setting flexible limits. The deal will allow Bill.com to offer business customers accounts payable, accounts receivable and corporate card spend management options from a single place. The deal will consist of $625m of cash and the rest in Bill.com shares. It comes four months after Divvy secured $165m in series D funding from investors including PayPal subsidiary PayPal Ventures and Hanaco at a $1.6bn valuation.

Digital currency-focused financial services provider Galaxy Digital Holdings agreed to purchase BitGo, a US-based cryptocurrency wallet developer backed by bitcoin mining technology producer BitFury, for about $1.2bn in cash and stock. The deal will consist of $265m in cash and 38.8 million Galaxy Digital shares, which closed at $28.47 each on Wednesday – the day of the announcement. BitGo’s shareholders will own about 10% Galaxy Digital on a pro forma basis.

AEye, a US-based lidar system developer that counts several corporates among its investors, has amended its reverse transaction agreement with a SPAC called CF Finance Acquisition Corp III. The deal will now value AEye at $1.52bn pre-money, down from the $1.9bn valuation set when the deal was agreed in February this year. The merged business will take CF Finance Acquisition Corp III’s listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

Action Network, a US-based sports betting news provider backed by over-the-top media company The Chernin Group, has agreed to a $240m acquisition by sports betting media group Better Collective. Founded in 2017, Action Network provides news and analysis on betting across multiple sports. Its offering also includes podcasts, data, educational resources and betting tools. The company will continue to operate under the Action Network brand as a separate business unit under Better Collective following the close of the deal.

Day One Biopharmaceuticals, a US-based cancer drug developer which counts conglomerate Access Industries and pharmaceutical firm Takeda as investors, has filed to raise $100m in an initial public offering. Founded in 2018, Day One was incubated by venture capital firm Canaan and is developing drug treatments for cancer patients of all ages, with an initial focus on children. The company’s lead product candidate is being developed to treat progressive low-grade glioma, a common type of brain tumour diagnosed in children.

China-based audio streaming platform developer Ximalaya has filed for an initial public offering in the United States that would give internet and gaming group Tencent the chance to exit. Ximalaya operates an online podcasting platform with some 250 million monthly active users. The company has set a placeholder target of $100m and is set to float on the New York Stock Exchange.

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

19 October 2020 – SoftBank Backs Kahoot with $215m Investment

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The Big Ones

Kahoot has been one of the biggest recent success stories in the startup space. The company, the developer of a gamified online learning platform, has secured $215m from SoftBank through a private placement that valued it above $2.2bn, a huge jump from the $100m valuation at which it raised money just over two and a half years ago. Its earlier backers include Microsoft’s M12 unit, which first invested even before the early 2018 round, and Walt Disney, which provided $15m later the same year at a $376m valuation.

Sella Venture Partners, Italy-headquartered financial services group Sella’s venture capital arm, has reached the €30m ($35.3m) first close for a fund of funds backed by multiple corporate limited partners. The group’s banking subsidiaries, Banca Sella and Banca Patrimoni Sella & C, contributed to the fund along with peers Banco BPM and Fenera Holding, insurance firms Aviva and HDI Assicurazioni, and unnamed individuals. Sella Venture Partners Fund of Funds I is seeking additional investors for a second close on its way to a €100m target. It is expected to conduct deals for four years in Europe and the United States.

Twilio has agreed to acquire Segment, developer of a customer data management platform, in a $3.2bn all-share transaction that will allow GV, an early-stage investment subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet, to exit. Segment had raised $284m in funding prior to the deal, its last round being a $175m series D that reportedly valued it at $1.5bn, 18 months ago.

Crossover: Oxford Nanopore, a UK-based genetic sequencing technology spinout of University of Oxford, obtained £84.4m ($108m) in funding from a consortium including pension fund manager RPMI Railpen. The company’s offering includes a rapid test for detecting Sars-Cov-2, the coronavirus that leads to covid-19. The capital brought Oxford Nanopore’s total funding to some $800m. Its existing backers also include IP Group, Illumina and Amgen, the latter of which injected $66m in early 2018.

Deals

E-commerce logistics may not be the flashiest part of the venture capital space but it has given rise to some sizeable players. Flash Express is Thailand’s biggest pure-play participant in the sector and has secured $200m in a series D round led by PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Company. The round included at least two more corporate investors – Durbell and Krungsri Finnovate – and its earlier backers reportedly include Alibaba’s eWTP fund.

Electric bus producer Proterra has been around for nearly 17 years, but is still successfully raising money. It’s brought in $200m through a round led by $150m from investment bank Cowen’s Sustainable Advisors subsidiary, adding to at least $565m in earlier financing from an investor pool that includes Daimler, GM Ventures, Mitsui, Edison Energy, Constellation Technology Ventures, BMW i Ventures and the Panasonic-sponsored Conductive Ventures.

Car sharing has long since fallen behind ride hailing when it comes to funding numbers, but Getaround has nevertheless pulled in $140m in a series E round that included SoftBank Vision Fund. SoftBank led the company’s last round, a $300m series D in 2018, and it has now secured almost $600m altogether. Its earlier backers include Cox Automotive, SAIC Capital and Toyota.

Although it isn’t one of the flashier parts of the startup space, agritech is still plugging along. Farmer’s Business Network and Infarm have both closed nine-figure rounds in recent months and now indoor farming unicorn Plenty has done the same. It secured $140m in a series D round led by SoftBank Vision Fund that included Driscoll’s, the berry provider that formed a commercial agreement with Plenty earlier this year. The round boosted its overall funding to roughly $540m, Vision Fund having come onboard in its 2017 series B round.

Livekindly Collective is the newest big player in the plant-based food space, having raised $135m from investors including food ingredient developer Griffith Foods. The company had received $200m just over six months ago when it was launched as a group including vegan media brand Livekindly and plant-based food brands Fry Family, Oumph and Like Meat.

Electric bus and van developer Arrival has received $118m in funding from funds managed by BlackRock, following on from $112m provided by carmaker Hyundai and subsidiary Kia in January. UPS invested in Arrival the same month alongside an agreement to purchase 100,000 vans from the company. The latest capital influx will support the establishment of scalable microfactories designed to produce its vehicles rapidly and efficiently.

Funds

Industrial and fruit acid product manufacturer Fuso Chemical has made a limited partner commitment to Future Food Fund, a corporate venture capital (CVC) vehicle for Japan-based online supermarket Oisix Ra Daichi. Formed in October 2019, Future Food Fund is managed by the CVC unit of the same name set up two months earlier. The vehicle will target startups focusing on food, agriculture and healthcare innovation. The fund’s LPs already include corporates such as fast food restaurant chain Mos Burger, broadcaster TV Tokyo Direct and Toyota Tsusho, the trading subsidiary of carmaker Toyota.

Exits

Affordable lifestyle goods retailer Miniso is headquartered in China and takes its inspiration from Japanese retail, but it’s chosen the US for its IPO, floating above its range to secure $608m. The company is only seven years old but oversees a network of some 4,200 stores worldwide run through a franchise model. Its investors include Tencent, which took part in a $146m round two years ago before providing an additional $50m in February this year.

GV is on a tear right now and has also scored an exit from MIT spinout Kronos Bio, which floated above its range in an upsized initial public offering that raised $250m. The oncology therapeutics developer’s investors include GV, which took part in its $105m series A round last year, and its shares have soared to $32.90 as of Friday evening.

Roblox has confirmed it has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, days after media reports suggested it was prepping an IPO expected to double its valuation to $8bn. The online gaming platform has some 120 million monthly active users and is looking to expand its offering into virtual concerts, suddenly an attractive option due to the real thing being prevented by coronavirus-related social distancing measures.

Dida Chuxing (not to be confused with fellow Chinese ride hailing service Didi Chuxing) has filed for its own IPO, in Hong Kong. Recent reports predicted it would target $500m in its flotation, and the offering would chalk up exits for Nio Capital, the venture firm backed by carmaker Nio, in addition to corporates BitAuto, JD.com and Ctrip which cumulatively hold 12% of Dida’s shares.

Digital payment technology provider Stripe led Nigeria-based counterpart Paystack’s $8m series A round two years ago and it obviously liked what it saw, having returned to agree an acquisition deal reportedly valuing Paystack at over $200m. The company had disclosed less than $10m in funding prior to the deal, and two other corporate investors – Comcast Ventures and Tencent – are set to record big multiple returns too.

Spruce Biosciences has closed its initial public offering after the underwriters took up the over-allotment option and bought nearly $14m of shares to add to the $90m it raised when it floated at the end of last week. Novo is the largest shareholder in Spruce Bio, which is developing treatments for endocrine disorders.

Codiak BioSciences has also floated, raising $82.5m in its initial public offering after floating in the middle of its range. The exosome drug developer– based on research at Gothenburg and MD Anderson Cancer Center – had received $168m in funding pre-IPO from investors including Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ Alexandria Venture Investments, and the IPO price values it just short of $280m.

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

19 December 2016 – $225m for BlueRock Therapeutics, Microsoft Ventures Invests from its AI Fund and Much More

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Deals

Bayer and investment firm Versant Ventures have jointly provided $225m in series A funding for a regenerative medicine startup called BlueRock Therapeutics.

Symphony emerged two years ago with $66m from 14 banks and followed that funding up with a $100m Google-backed round last year. Now the company, which offers a secure messaging platform for use in the financial services industry, is in the process of raising between $125m and $200m at a pre-money valuation north of $1bn.

SenseTime, which provides deep learning technology to Chinese corporates, has secured $120m in a round that included Dalian Wanda Group and existing backer IDG Capital.

Podotree, the Kakao affiliate that deals with the social media company’s online publishing offerings, has raised $107m in funding from investors including Anchor Equity Partners and GIC at a reported valuation of about $428m.

JetSmarter has big ambitions to become the Uber of private jet travel, and has just raised $105m in series C funding at a $1.5bn pre-money valuation.

Virtual reality gaming company Survios has raised $50m across two rounds, the latter of which was led by MGM.

Sonendo, the developer of a teeth cleaning system for use in root canals, has secured $35m from investors including Henry Crown and Company affiliate CVF, bringing its overall funding to near $110m.

BillFront, a provider of finance for media companies that may face delays in recouping advertising revenue, has raised $35m in a series A round consisting of debt and equity.

Holiday accommodation rental aggregator Tripping.com has received $35m in series C funding, with investment firm Princeville Global leading the round.

Oxford Nanopore has raised additional funding after announcing earlier this month that it had become the first company to sequence multiple human genomes using portable technology.

Edotco, a Malaysia-based telecoms infrastructure services provider, has amassed $600m from investors including Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional. Khazanah Nasional made the investment via a secondary equity private placement offering of $200m, while public-private partnership Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) contributed through a $400m primary offering.

Funds

Microsoft Ventures only resumed making direct investments in May but has already racked up 19 deals since, including contributions to rounds for Tact, Dynamic Signals (see below for both) and Element AI, the last of which is the first investment to be made from a dedicated artificial intelligence fund which the unit has just formed.

Not long after it confirmed that its $100bn Vision Fund would be headquartered in London, news emerged that SoftBank is in talks with Apple over a $1bn investment in the vehicle.

Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI), the university venturing fund of Oxford University, on Friday raised an additional £230m ($290m) from investors including the institution’s endowment fund to bring its total to £580m.

IP Group takes Parkwalk for $12m. The intellectual property investor could pay an extra $12m to buy Parkwalk if the spinout-focused fund manager meets certain key targets.

Sigmar Gabriel, minister of economy for Germany, and his French peer Michel Sapin yesterday revealed a €1bn ($1.1bn) fund aimed at startups in the two countries.

Exits

2016 has been a bad year for a lot of people but in the venture capital space it’s been a worse year than most for Rocket Internet, which is continuing to consolidate its holdings.

Meitu, the Chinese creator of a photo modification app for social media, has raised just over $600m in one of the year’s biggest tech IPOs, giving exits to Sina Weibo, Foxconn and IDG Capital Partners.

Garena, the most highly valued startup in Southeast Asia as of a $170m round in April that valued it at $3.75bn, has reportedly begun talks with banks over a prospective IPO in the US in 2018 that could raise around $1bn.

Germany-based medical device manufacturer Gilupi was acquired yesterday by its investor and strategic partner Viroad, a China-based biotechnology company, for an undisclosed sum.

People

Maryland University at College Park (UMD) has appointed Julie Lenzer, former senior advisor to US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, to two key roles as part of its efforts to bolster innovation.

State-owned investment firm Finnish Industry Investment (FII) announced the promotion of Jan Sasse, head of FII’s Growth Investments team since June 2015, to president and CEO yesterday.

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