Investible leads USD 1.05 million investment in Australian startup Factory
The early-stage venture capital firm has announced its lead investment in Factory, an Australian startup offering a work management platform for small and medium manufacturing businesses.
The investment culminated in a USD 1.05 million seed funding round, which saw participation from 1in100 Ventures, Beachhead Venture Capital, Hugo-Hamman Investments, and Adrian Di Marco.
Parlon secures USD 400,000 in pre-seed round
The Philippine B2B2C beauty and wellness platform has secured USD 400,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by WIP Global Ventures. A2D Ventures and various angel investors also participated in the round.
Parlon will use the funds to scale up its business by acquiring more merchant partners and users, and by further developing its technology platform. —Inquirer.net
CBC Healthcare Infrastructure Platform announces second close of its life science real assets venture
CBC Healthcare Infrastructure Platform, a life science real assets platform in China, has announced the second close of its inaugural life science real assets venture, CLSRA Venture I, securing a total commitment of USD 875 million.
This investment comes from a group of prominent investors, with notable contributions from Mubadala Investment Company, in addition to continued support from existing backers APG Asset Management and CBC Group.
Faering Capital invests USD 30 million in Vastu Housing Finance
The Indian private equity firm has invested USD 30 million to acquire a stake in Vastu Housing Finance, a digital home loan provider, from Multiples Alternate Asset Management and other shareholders of the company.
Vastu Housing Finance last raised funds in October 2021, securing USD 200 million, which comprised USD 120 million from a primary fundraise and the remainder through a secondary sale of shares. —Livemint
Wadhwani AI to receive USD 3.3 million grant from Google.org
The independent nonprofit institute has announced that it will receive USD 3.3 million in grant funding under the AI for the Global Goals challenge initiated by Google.org.
Wadhwani AI specializes in creating artificial intelligence-based solutions tailored to underserved communities in developing nations. It has been chosen as one of 15 projects dedicated to advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals within this challenge.
Wadhwani AI will employ the grant to further develop its AI-powered agritech solution, which can be used by farmers to identify and manage crop pests. Initially, the focus of this endeavor will be on cotton and staple food crops.
Recent deals completed in China:
- Zhipu AI, a leading AI company, has secured over RMB 2.5 billion (USD 341.6 million) in a new round of financing. The funding round was led by a consortium of investors, featuring prominent names such as Sequoia Capital and Hillhouse Investment. Local tech giants including Alibaba Group, Meituan, TAL Education Group, Tencent, and Xiaomi, also joined the investment fray among others. Zhipu AI was one of eight entities approved by Chinese authorities for their large language model products. Notably, Baichuan AI, another firm with similar approval, has also recently secured funding. —36Kr
- Microview, a Shenzhen-based technology company specializing in semiconductor packaging, has secured close to RMB 100 million (USD 13.6 million) in a Series A+ funding round, with Haitong Capital leading the round. The round saw participation from Share Capital, while Profound Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor. The company will utilize the funds to conduct R&D and expand into new markets.
- Niuera, a Suzhou-based energy storage system company, has raised RMB 10 million (USD 1.36 million) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Taclink Optoelectronics. Haoshu Capital participated in the round. The company will use the funds for technology R&D, enhance its scale of mass production, and expand its business. —36Kr
Employment Hero, Darwinium, Cosmos Innovation, and more led last week’s headlines:
- Employment Hero, a Sydney-based employment management platform, has raised SGD 229 million (USD 166.7 million) in a Series F funding round led by TCV.
- Darwinium, an Australian digital security and fraud prevention platform, raised USD 18 million in a Series A funding round. US Venture Partners led the funding.
- Cosmos Innovation, a Singapore-based solar cell technology startup, secured USD 19.7 million in a Series A funding round led by Xora Innovation, a subsidiary of Temasek.
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