FlyOro secures USD 1.6 million in pre-Series A round
The Singapore-based sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) startup has secured USD 1.6 million following the completion of its pre-Series A funding round. The round was led by Audacy Ventures and saw participation from Investible’s Climate Tech Fund and other unnamed investors.
FlyOro said in a statement that it will utilize the newly raised funds to accelerate ongoing projects and support its international expansion efforts, with its initial focus on strategic initiatives in Australia and the US.
“SAFs play an essential role in our global efforts to decarbonize the aviation industry. Audacy is excited to back the FlyOro team [in becoming] an innovative enabler to the SAF supply chain and assist in scaling [its] modular on-demand blending solution internationally,” said Toby Chan, co-founder and partner of Audacy Ventures.
“While producers and refiners continue their great work toward reducing the cost of SAFs, we firmly believe in FlyOro’s ability to enable airlines and airports to adopt SAFs sooner and work toward their emission reduction goals through FlyORO’s AlphaLite blending technology,” said Ben Lindsay, investment manager at Investible.
OKX Ventures invests in Polyhedra Network
Polyhedra Network, a developer of zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) protocols, has secured an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from OKX Ventures, the investment arm of crypto exchange and Web3 technology company OKX.
Polyhedra is well-known for its “zkBridge” protocol, which facilitates trustless and efficient cross-chain infrastructure for Layer 1 and Layer 2 interoperability, enabling secure and cost-effective on-chain verification of transactions.
“Polyhedra Network’s team has demonstrated creativity with [its] ZKP mechanisms, developing advanced […] systems that strike a balance between zero-knowledge interoperability and scalability. OKX Ventures is committed to supporting Polyhedra Network’s vision of seamlessly connecting the Web2 and Web3 worlds, and attracting a larger user base to the industry,” said Dora Yue, founder of OKX Ventures.
Recent deals completed in China:
- Zhicheng Automation Equipment, a Kunshan-based company specializing in the development of semiconductor wet processing equipment, has raised a nine-figure RMB sum in a strategic round of financing. The investors include Jinding Capital, Fengyuan Capital, Inno-chip, Hefei Industry Investment, Kunpeng Capital, and China International Capital Corporation (CICC), among others. Existing investors China Fortune-Tech Capital, Bridge Capital, and SZCG also contributed to this round. Zhicheng will use the funds to expand its production capacity and conduct R&D. —36Kr
- H-Rise New Energy Technology, a Shanghai-based producer of fuel cell stacks, has bagged RMB 150 million (USD 21.1 million) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Gaorong Capital with the support of Boyu Capital and the company’s existing investors. —36Kr
- Winshare Thermal, a Hefei-based supplier of energy storage components, has secured an undisclosed amount of investment from Winzac Capital. The company did not disclose what the newly raised capital would be used for. —36Kr
- AISpeech, an artificial intelligence-powered speech recognition and analytics company, has banked RMB 200 million (USD 28.1 million) from various funds. The company said the capital will be used to finance its R&D of large language models (LLMs) and other AI technology, and to expedite the development of hardware and software products. —36Kr
- Leascend Photovoltaic Technology, a Meishan-based enterprise specializing in the development and application of heterojunction (HJT) solar cell technology, has secured RMB 420 million (USD 59.1 million) in strategic financing from Tianjin Sanwu and Ever State Capital. —36Kr
- Wanpeng Times Technology, a battery materials supplier, has raised RMB 100 million (USD 14 million) in a strategic round of financing from Guizhou Chanhen Chemical, Sichuan Lanjian Investment Management, Shenzhen Yunzhuo, and individual investors. The funds will be used to explore collaborations and meet the capital needs of the company’s operations. —36Kr
- Novel Cosmos Advanced Material, a Chuzhou-based manufacturer of electrolytes and additives for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries, has received close to RMB 100 million following the completion of its Series B1 funding round. The round was led by 5Y Capital and saw participation from Casstar and Hefei Innovation Investment. The capital will be utilized for production capacity construction, product R&D, and market development. —36Kr
- JD Energy, a Xi’an-based energy storage solutions provider, has secured RMB 300 million (USD 42.2 million) in a Series C funding round jointly led by Bocom Investment and CCB Investment. CIMC Capital and the Guangzhou Industrial Investment and Capital Operation Holding Group also took part in this round. —36Kr
Latest deals in India:
- Fintech company Paytm has invested INR 1 billion (USD 12 million) in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a smart city project in Gujarat, India. One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, will make the investment over a period of time and will concurrently seek requisite approvals. As part of this deal, Paytm will also set up a development center in GIFT City to build new technology solutions for users looking to invest in India.
- GetVantage, a Mumbai-based alternative financing platform, has launched a INR 2.5 billion (USD 30 million) accelerator fund to help B2B software-as-a-service companies to scale without diluting their equity. This fund is an extension of GetVantage’s earlier fund launched in 2022 of about INR 650 million (USD 7.8 million), having fully deployed the original corpus. —The Economic Times
- Akshayakalpa Organic, a Bengaluru-based organic dairy brand, has raised INR 1 billion in a Series C funding round led by A91 Partners with the support of existing investors Rainmatter Capital and British International Investment. According to Entrackr, this tranche could be part of a larger round, with Akshayakalpa aiming to raise USD 25 million in total.
- Glamplus, a Bengaluru-based B2B beauty and wellness marketplace, has raised USD 1.9 million in a pre-Series A funding round. The investors include Upsparks Capital, Eagle10 Ventures, the ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, Inflection Point Ventures, Kube VC, Gopal Krishna Varshney, and IR Capital Partners. Glamplus will utilize the capital primarily for domestic and international market expansion. —VCCircle
- Mindeed Technologies and Services, the operator of fintech startup Mylapay, has raised USD 550,000 in a seed funding round led by CDM Capital. The round also saw participation from Saison Capital and 77 Capital. —VCCircle
- Ambitio, an AI-driven edtech startup, has raised INR 15.5 million in a pre-seed funding round jointly led by First Cheque and angel investors from the US and India. —VCCircle
- BiofuelCircle, a Pune-based cleantech startup that provides a platform for biomass and biofuel supply chains, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Mumbai Angels. —VCCircle
Be Group, Zendesk, Atlinks, and more led yesterday’s headlines:
- Be Group, the Vietnamese company behind local ride-hailing app Be, secured VND 739.5 billion (USD 30.3 million) in funding from VPBank Securities, a unit of the Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank).
- Zendesk, a customer service software provider, signed a definitive agreement to acquire Klaus, an artificial intelligence-powered quality management platform.
- Atlinks Group, a Hong Kong-listed organization specializing in telecommunications products, acquired 100% issued share capital of 5GenCare, a software development company offering end-to-end internet-of-video-things (IoVT) solutions, and Chillax, a parenting-focused technology company.
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