Tag: WeLab
16 December 2019 – Petronas Launches Piva with $250m in Capital
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Petronas has officially launched Piva, a growth-stage vehicle that will target developers of energy, industrial and materials applications in North America and Europe. The fund is equipped with $250m of capital and will be overseen by Petronas Corporate Venture Capital, the larger, more generalised unit that was launched by the corporate in October.
Telkom Indonesia and KB kick off $150m fund
Plexo flexes corporate connections to close first fund
Vertex closes Master Fund at $730m
UChicago helps shape $160m Pear fund
Epidarex dials up drug discovery scheme
Fundraising for SoftBank Vision Fund's second vehicle is ongoing, but insiders have told The Telegraph it could end up closing at a size up to 30% lower than its first fund. Vision Fund is in talks with Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which contributed a joint $60bn to its first vehicle, but some public missteps, particularly in the case of WeWork, may end up giving them pause.
SoftBank Vision Fund elected to pump $9.5bn into WeWork in order to rescue the company but it's shifting another problematic asset out completely. The fund invested $300m in petsitting platform Wag at a $650m valuation but has now agreed to sell its stake back to the company, reportedly at a loss. Wag has had some high-profile issues in the past year and the move comes after a recent resignation from its CEO and before a series of job cuts.
Rock Content draws up Scribble acquisition
Business finance automation platform Bill.com went public in a $216m initial public offering that allowed Fleetcor, Mastercard, American Express, Bank of America, Fifth Third Bank, JP Morgan Chase and the Citi-owned Financial Partners Fund to exit. It's been a successful offering too, Bill having lifted the range at the start of the week and then floating at a higher price. It had raised more than $275m in VC funding and the IPO values it at about $1.55bn.
UCommune has proven itself to be WeWork's largest competitor in East Asia but it's selected the US for its initial public offering. The co-working space operator, whose investors include Ant Financial, Aikang Group, Star Group and several property developers, has set a placeholder target of $100m but the final fate of the IPO may be anyone's guess, with reports that Citigroup and Credit Suisse walked away from underwriter positions due to disagreements over valuation.
Molbase assays $70m IPO
Digital bank operator Chime has closed a $500m series E round led by tech investment firm DST Global, upping its valuation from $1.5bn to $5.8bn in just nine months. The company has raised more than $800m to date, from investors that include Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures. It will put the latest funding toward product development and staff expansion as it prepares to open an office in Chicago.
Online automotive e-commerce platform Vroom took its overall funding to $721m in a $254m series H round led by investment adviser Durable Capital Partners. The round valued Vroom, whose existing backers include car dealership owner AutoNation, at $1.5bn and the funding will support recruitment, product development and the establishment of a newly opened engineering hub.
Elsewhere in fintech, online lending platform WeLab has raised its first funding in over two years, securing $156m in a series C round featuring Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund and China Construction Bank, two of five existing investors that joined undisclosed new participants in the round. WeLab filed for an IPO itself in mid-2018 but pulled it before the end of the year. It's now preparing to launch a digital bank and is eyeing Southeast Asia for expansion.
Perfect Day is one of a number of companies exploring the plant-based food substitute space, having created a protein it claims is as tasty and nutritional as cow's milk. It has also received $140m in series C funding at a $440m valuation, with Sinagpore's Temasek leading the round. The company has now raised more than $200m since being founded five years ago, its earlier investors including agribusiness Continental Grain.
Genome engineering platform Inscripta has received $125m in a Paladin Capital-backed series D round that took its total funding up to about $260m. Mérieux Développement contributed to Inscripta's last round, a $106m series C that closed in April, and the series D proceeds will go to commercialising and enhancing its Onyx Digital Genome Engineering system.
Online insurance platform Wefox Group has added $110m from investors including Samsung Catalyst Fund to a series B round that now stands at $235m. The round already included CreditEase and the latest influx of capital was secured at a $1.65bn valuation according to TechCrunch, a substantial jump from the reported $1.1bn valuation for the first tranche in March.
HomeTap is only about two years old but operates a model where users can access finance using equity in their homes. It has also just raised $100m from investors including American Family Ventures. The series B funding will support its expansion in the US, in addition to increasing headcount and work on further development of the platform.
Small molecule cancer drug developer Zentalis Pharmaceuticals has come out of stealth with $147m in funding, $85m of which was just secured in a series C round. No corporate investors were mentioned in that transaction but its investors do include Pharmaron and Alexandria Venture Investments, while Pfizer, which is collaborating with it on a phase 1/2 clinical trial that combines two drug treatments, may have gained a stake through the partnership deal.
Jasper springs to life with $35m
Paragraf amplifies series A to reach $21.3m
Author Global Venturing ReviewPosted on December 16, 2019 Tags "Bill.com", "Perfect Day", "SoftBank Vision Fund", "Telkom Indonesia", "Wefox Group", "Zentalis Pharmaceuticals", Chime, corporate venturing, Epidarex, funding, government venturing, HomeTap, Inscripta, investment, IPO, Jasper, Molbase, Paragraf, Petronas, Plexo, Scribble, UChicago, Ucommune, university venturing, venture capital, Vertex, Vroom, WeLab, WeWorkLeave a comment on 16 December 2019 – Petronas Launches Piva with $250m in Capital
16 July 2018 – Swisscom Venture to Set Up $200m Digital Transformation Fund
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Telecommunications company Swisscom has run its corporate venturing unit, Swisscom Ventures, since 2005 but has constantly looked to fine-tune its approach. Its latest move is to access external investment, for a fund sized at about $200m. Swisscom is putting in about 25% of the capital for Digital Transformation Fund, which will invest in Europe, the US and Israel as well as its home country of Switzerland.
Longzhu Capital logs $300m close
SoftBank's Misra makes plans for $250m fund
Health Enterprise Partners hits up corporates
New Voices makes noise with $100m close
Cayuga Venture Fund targets $100m
Last week's Big Deal focuses on Lime, the operator of an electric bicycle and e-scooter rental service, which has just raised $335m in a GV-led round backed by GV owner Alphabet and Uber, valuing it at $1.1bn.
The $14bn round closed by Ant Financial last month was the largest venture capital round of all time, but Alibaba's financial services spinoff isn't the only player in that space pulling in big money.
Xiaopeng Motors raised $348m in January but is in talks with Alibaba, which co-led that round, over $600m to $700m more at a valuation of almost $4bn, as it gets ready to launch its first car, a smart electric SUV.
Consumer goods delivery service Dianwoda has secured $290m in funding from Alibaba-owned logistics provider Cainiao Networks, which will take a controlling stake in the company through the deal.
Healthcare technology provider Cerner has invested $266m in Essence Group Holdings, the owner of care services provider Lumeris, in connection with a 10-year partnership meant to enhance efficiencies in healthcare.
GoGoVan merged with another China-based delivery services platform, 58 Suyun, to form a billion-dollar company last year, and it has just raised its first funding since that deal, capturing $250m from investors including Cainiao and 58 Suyun's ex parent company, 58 Daojia.
Convene may be up against a hugely-funded rival in the form of WeWork, but it's justraised $152m in a series D round backed by property developers QuadReal, Brookfield, The Durst Organization and RXR Realty to expand its workspace provision services.
Electronics recycling service Aihuishou has secured $150m from backers including existing investor JD.com at a $1.5bn valuation.
Lionbridge links with corporates for $150m
Compass Therapeutics has been around since 2014 but has finally closed its series A round, at $132m, having secured contributions from life sciences property developers Biomed Realty and Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Keep offers online fitness programs through an app, and has just raised $127m in a series D round featuring existing investors Tencent and Bertelsmann Asia Investments.
Movile mobilises Naspers to raise $124m
Investors pay $115m tribute to Toast
Pony.ai picks up pace with $102m
ASR accesses $100m in series B round
High-speed internet provider Starry has secured $100m in new funding according to a regulatory filing, taking its overall funding to $163m.
Antiva adds $15m series C1
AT&T agreed to pay a reported $1.6bn to acquire online advertising exchange AppNexus last month, and now it's fixed a deal to buy cybersecurity software provider AlienVault for a price reportedly around the $600m mark.
Thoma Bravo takes majority stake in Centrify
Autodesk builds with Assemble Systems acquisition
Visterra accepts $430m invitation from Otsuka
Elsewhere in China, Bytedance, the owner of a digital media portfolio headed up by aggregated news app Toutiao, is lining up its own IPO, according to the Wall Street Journal, and seeking a $45bn valuation.
Peer-to-peer lending marketplace WeLab had a good 2017, moving into profit while increasing its revenue fivefold, and it intends to cash in on that by going public in Hong Kong.
Qeeka Home floats in $137m IPO
51credit lines up $129m IPO
Akasol plugs into public markets
Author Global Venturing ReviewPosted on July 16, 2018 July 15, 2018 Tags "Cayuga Venture Fund", "Compass Therapeutics", "Health Enterprise Partners", "Longzhu Capital", "New Voices", "Pony.ai", "Qeeka Home", "Xiaopeng Motors", 51credit, Aihuishou, Akasol, Ant Financial, Antiva, AT&T, Autodesk, Centrify, Cerner, Convene, corporate venturing, Dianwoda, funding, GoGoVan, government venturing, GV, investment, IPO, Lionbridge, Misra, Movile, Naspers, Starry, Swisscom, Tencent, Toast, university venturing, venture capital, Visterra, WeLabLeave a comment on 16 July 2018 – Swisscom Venture to Set Up $200m Digital Transformation Fund