06 December 2021 — Essentium Shines with $974m Reverse Merger

Essentium shines with $974m reverse merger

Essentium, a US-based additive manufacturing technology developer backed by chemicals producer BASF and 3D printing software provider Materialise, agreed to list through a reverse takeover.

Selina seals reverse merger deal

Selina, a US-based operator of short-term accommodation and co-working spaces, agreed a reverse takeover with a SPAC called BOA Acquisition Corp, which went public on the New York stock exchange in a $200m IPO in February this year.

Jobandtalent recruits SoftBank for $500m series E

Spain-based temporary job portal operator Jobandtalent has raised $500m in series E equity funding from investors including telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems sparks $1.8bn series B

US-based fusion energy technology developer Commonwealth Fusion Systems raised more than $1.8bn in a its series B round featuring internet technology conglomerate Alphabet and petroleum suppliers Eni and Equinor.

Panther Labs roars to $120m series B

Security analytics platform developer Panther Labs received $120m in a series B round featuring Snowflake Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of data management software provider Snowflake, at a $1.4bn valuation.

CyCognito hacks $100m funding round

Cybersecurity software provider CyCognito received $100m in funding from investors including diversified conglomerate The Heritage Group at a valuation of $800m.

WM Motor refuels with $457m

China-based electric vehicle manufacturer WM Motor secured $152m in a series D2 round led by property developer Agile Group.

Via drives to $130m series G round

US-based mobility technology provider Via secured $130m in a series G round featuring conglomerate Koch Industries’ corporate venturing subsidiary, Koch Disruptive Technologies, at a $3.3bn valuation.

CloudTrucks floats to $115m series B

Freight forwarder Flexport took part in a $115m series B round for US-based trucking efficiency software provider CloudTrucks, valuing it at $850m.

Zepeto secures $190m in series B

South Korea-based metaverse platform Zepeto has raised approximately $190m in a series B round led by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund II.

Drone Fund 3 flies to final close

Japan-based, drone-focused investment firm Drone Fund has received the equivalent of $44.2m from multiple investors to close its third and latest fund at its $95m target.

Allegion Ventures allocates $100m to second fund

Allegion Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Ireland-headquartered security equipment producer Allegion, announced a $100m second fund, which will invest in developers of technology capable of making buildings safer.

Legend Capital lets in $177m for healthcare fund

Legend Capital, the China-headquartered venture capital firm formed by conglomerate Legend Holdings, reached a $177m first close of its third US dollar-denominated healthcare fund.


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

11 September 2017 – Judging Purchase Versus Investment

Exits

Johnson & Johnson is celebrating an exit with the acquisition of its portfolio company NeoTract by Teleflex for a total consideration of $1.1bn.

Intel Capital also celebrated an exit as its portfolio company StarCash, a digital gift card service, was acquired by fintech company Blackhawk Network for $175m in cash.

Madsack hails CleverShuttle

Paytm to make Little acquisition

Juicero breaks down

It seems as though Roku is serious about an initial public offering this time. The company was rumoured to be seeking a flotation all the way back in 2014 but those plans never materialised. Fast forward to last July and reports emerged that Roku was hoping to go public this year. On Friday then, the media streaming software and device maker finally made its regulatory filing that revealed it is aiming for $100m in its IPO.

Matrimony.com, a matchmaking service aimed at the Indian market backed by Yahoo, is gearing up for an initial public offering that will launch next week and is expected to bring in $78m in proceeds (though part of that will be existing stockholders selling some of their shares).

Government

RedOwl reaches Forcepoint

Compositence puts acquisition deal together

Investments

Via, the operator of a shuttle-based carpooling service, has collected a reported $250m in funding from a consortium led by Daimler.

LeddarTech, which was spun out of Canada’s National Optics Institute in 2007, has raised $101m in fresh funding.

Innoviz appears on corporates’ radar

23andMe is seeking to top up its capital resources with another $200m – which would nearly double the amount of equity and debt it has raised so far to approximately $445m.

Gritstone Oncology, which is working on personalised cancer immunotherapies, has collected $92.7m in a series B round led by Lilly Asia Ventures with participation from investors including GV.

Entasis restructures $81.9m series B

If you are one of those people who dream about owning a flying car, you may be excited to hear that Lilium Aviation, a company that is working on precisely such technology, today secured $90m in series B funding from a consortium of investors that included Tencent.

Lendingkart shops around for $80m series C

MapR outlines $56m funding round

University

Amal develops $9.6m series B

Minnesota embraces CoreBiome

Prowler.io sneaks into $13m series A

Funds

Investors have long taken note and Fidelity International, which already has dozens of portfolio companies in the area, hopes that a $250m fund set up by its investment arm Eight Roads Ventures will help it grab a bigger piece of the pie.

Qingsong attracts $130m for third fund

Government

Corporate venturing news from Poland are a rarity, but that could be about to change withthe government’s launch of a $225m fund of funds that is expected to back both domestic and international companies hoping to establish investment subsidiaries that support Polish startups.

Ireland sows $24m agtech fund

University

Melbourne gains $64m incubator


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