Colombian Delivery Startup Rappi Secures USD 200 Mn, Vietnam Based VinaCapital Launches USD 100 Mn VC Fund And More
USA
Colombia’s on-demand delivery startup, Rappi, secured USD 200 M in funding at USD 1 B valuation in a round led by DST Global.
Puls Technologies, a San-Francisco based tech-support startup raised USD 50 M in a round led by Temasek.
Austin based startup New Knowledge, fighting online disinformation for corporate customers, pulled off USD 11 M in funding. The round was led by GGV Capital and saw participation from Lux Capital.
VMware, a subsidiary of Dell Technologies, acquired CloudHealth Technologies, a startup providing cloud computing services for an undisclosed amount. However, Reuters reported the deal size somewhere around USD 500 M.
Foodsby, a Minneapolis based lunch delivery startup landed USD 13.5 M Series B funding led by Piper Jaffray Merchant Banking.
California based Bellwether Coffee raised USD 10 M Series A. The round was led by Congruent Ventures and is next to its 2016’s seed funding round of USD 6 M.
ASIA
Founded in China, cryptocurrency exchange Houbi has acquired the majority stake in publically listed contract manufacturer Pantronics. The move could represent a “reverse merger,” inching Houbi a step closer to a possible back-door listing.
Beijing-based express delivery service Shansong Express raised USD 60 Mn and became a unicorn. The “series D1” round was led by N5 Capital, V Star Capital, and Shihaisong Capital.
Second passenger death in three months has prompted Didi to suspend carpooling service Hitch. The company also issued a public apology following the incident.
Vietnam’s VinaCapital has launched USD 100 Mn VC fund and has announced inaugural investments. It will invest between USD 2 Mn and USD 10 Mn in Vietnamese tech startups. For its maiden investments, it participated in logistics platform Logivan’s USD 1.75 Mn series A and has also backed local ride-hailing startup FastGo.
India’s Paytm has banked USD 356 Mn from Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire said that Warren Buffett was not personally involved in the deal, which is thought to be its first direct investment in a third-party Indian company.
Customer engagement platform Narvar has secured USD 30 Mn in a series C round led by Accel. Accel had also led Narvar’s series A round.
Japanese automaker Toyota has pumped USD 500 Mn into Uber in self-drive push and valued Uber at about USD 72 Bn. In June, Toyota invested USD 1 Bn in Singapore-based Grab, which acquired Uber’s Southeast Asia business earlier this year.
EUROPE
Denmark startup Simple Feast, delivering sustainable food in biodegradable boxes, has secured USD 12 Mn Series A funding led by Balderton Capital in London.
Germany based business apartment startup Homelike has secured USD 14 Mn in a round led by Spark Capital.
British legal startup Apperio has received USD 10 M Series A funds from Draper Esprit.
Munich based Blickfled raised USD 5.7 M from existing investors OSRAM Ventures, High-Tech Grunderfonds, and others. The total funding has now gone up to USD 10 Mn.
