Private Equity
Skymind said March 22 that it raised $11.5 million in Series A finding led by TransLink Capital. Participating in the round were ServiceNow, Sumitomo’s Presidio Ventures, UpHonest Capital, and DCode with GovTech Fund. Early investors Y Combinator, Tencent, Mandra Capital, Hemi Ventures, and GMO Ventures, also joined the round. Skymind is an open-core data science company.
4 min read · 25 March 2019
Lydia Jett has been named a partner at the SoftBank Vision Fund, according to an article on Bloomberg.
1 min read · 22 March 2019
Evox Therapeutics Ltd said March 22 that it secured 1.5 million pounds ($1.98 million) in funding from Innovate UK through the Biomedical Catalyst Early Stage Award. Evox, of the U.K., is an exosome therapeutics company.
4 min read · 22 March 2019
San Francisco-based Cleo, which helps provide a family support system for working parents, announced it raised a $27.5 million Series B round from New Enterprise Associates and angel investors that include former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh, Box CEO Aaron Levie and former GE CEO Jeff Immelt.
1 min read · 22 March 2019
Kitchener, Ontario-based robotics company Avidbots has secured $23.6 million in a Series B financing. True Ventures, a U.S. venture capital firm, led the round, which brings Avidbots' total funding to $36 million. Joining the deal were existing investors, including GGV Capital, SOSV, Real Ventures and 500 Startups Canada, as well as new investors, including Next47, BDC Capital and KCPL. Founded in 2014 by CEO Faizan Sheikh and CTO Pablo Molina, Avidbots designs and makes autonomous connected robots. Its first product, Neo, is a robotic floor scrubber deployed in commercial locations worldwide. The funds raised will be used for global growth and to invest in talent acquisition, engineering, marketing and sales.
4 min read · 21 March 2019
Moonrise Capital has raised $105.7 million toward a China-focused venture-capital fund, according to a filing with the SEC.
1 min read · 21 March 2019
Employee stock options have traditionally been used in companies to attract, reward and retain employees. In a PE Hub Canada feature article, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Partners Dov Begun, Lynne Lacoursière, Hemant Tilak and Colena Der provide a deep-dive analysis and discussion of Budget 2019's proposed imposition of an annual cap on stock options granted to an employee that will be eligible for the stock option deduction. One key takeaway: employees of Canadian startups and other rapidly growing businesses are expressly excluded from the $200,000 annual cap.
4 min read · 21 March 2019
San Francisco-based HoneyBook, provider of a financial and business management platform for freelancers, announced it has raised $28 million in a Series C round of funding. Citi Ventures led the round with participation from all existing investors, including Norwest Venture Partners and Aleph.
1 min read · 21 March 2019
Kaarta said May 21 that it raised $6.5 million led by GreenSoil Building Innovation Fund. Riverfront Ventures, Zamagias Properties, Quaker Capital Investments, and Startbot participated in the round. Kaarta, of Pittsburgh, provides 3D reality capture for robotics professionals to map and model indoor and outdoor spaces.
3 min read · 21 March 2019
Amify said March 22 that it raised $5.8 million in Series A funding led by Mercury Fund. Other investors included Dundee Venture Capital, CincyTech, SaaS Venture Capital and Capital One Co-Founder Nigel Morris. Amify, of Alexandria, Virginia, provides solutions that aims to help brands maximize their potential on the Amazon marketplace.
4 min read · 21 March 2019
