Global Venturing Review

On this week’s Leadership Series we talk to Lesley Millar-Nicholson, director of MIT’s Technology Licensing Office and Catalysts, about a bumper year despite the pandemic. “Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 The post Leadership Series: Lesley Millar-Nicholson (MIT Technology Licensing Office) appeared first on Global Venturing Review.

The Big Ones Online education has been one of the big growth sectors during the coronavirus pandemic. That’s particularly true in China, and as one of the biggest players Yuanfudao has likely seen a decent chunk of that growth. The company raised $1bn at a $7.8bn valuation less than six months ago but is now … Continue reading "07 September 2020 – QuantumScape in Reverse Merger with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp"

On this week’s Leadership Podcast we turn back the clock to our summer digital form held in June for a talk by DLA Piper’s Mark Radcliffe who is joined by Eric Goldberg to talk about the duties of board directors in the context of a financially distressed company. “Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under … Continue reading "Leadership Series: Mark Radcliffe (DLA Piper)"

The Big Ones Cancer test developer Freenome has closed a $270m series C round that included Novartis and existing backers GV, Kaiser Permanente Ventures and Roche Venture Fund to hike its overall funding to $507m. The capital will be allocated to a clinical study for a blood test Freenome is developing for colorectal cancer screening, … Continue reading "31 August 2020 – Ant Group Files for Dual Listing to Potentially Raise $30bn"

Our Leadership Series interview where we talk to Peter Devine about Uniseed, Australia’s longest running venture fund that operates at the Universities of Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney & New South Wales, and the CSIRO. “Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 The post Leadership Series: Peter Devine (Uniseed) appeared first on Global Venturing Review.

The Big Ones SpaceX has been one of the most fervent fundraisers among private companies in recent years and it shows no signs of stopping. A securities filing indicates the spacecraft manufacturer and launch services provider has secured $1.9bn from undisclosed investors, with recent media reports putting the valuation of the round at $46bn. Its … Continue reading "24 August 2020 – SpaceX Raises $1.9bn"

Something a little different this week: We have teamed up with Mark Radcliffe from DLA Piper to bring you an audio recording of their webinar on Corporate venture capital investment strategies in the COVID-19 pandemic. If you prefer video here is a link to the webinar: https://www.dlapiper.com/en/uk/insights/events/2020/07/corporate-venture-capital-investment-strategies-in-the-covid19-pandemic/7-july-2020/ The panel included Paul Holland of Mach49, Nicolas … Continue reading "Leadership Series: Mark Radcliffe (DLA Piper Webinar)"

The Big Ones A lot of brick-and-mortar retailers have suffered during coronavirus lockdowns in recent months but certain parts of the e-commerce sector have done very well. That includes online sports apparel retailer Fanatics, whose business is reportedly 30% up year on year and which has raised $350m in a series E round that hiked … Continue reading "17 August 2020 – Impossible Foods Closes $200m Series G"

Our Leadership Series interview where we talk to Jim Wilkinson of Oxford Sciences Innovation about the company and how they invest. “Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 The post Leadership Series: Jim Wilkinson (Oxford Sciences Innovation) appeared first on Global Venturing Review.

Big ones Epic Games has confirmed a $1.78bn funding round that included the $250m investment announced by Sony last month. The game developer had substantial success with the Unreal Tournament and Gears of War games, but it’s the immense popularity of Fortnite that has lifted it to the $17.3bn valuation it currently holds – it … Continue reading "10 August 2020 – Epic Games Confirms $1.78bn Funding Round"

Our Leadership Series interview where we talk to Girish Nadkarni & Demi Edosomwan of TCNV about their investment strategies and the impact of COVID-19 and climate change. “Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

There are occasional silver linings even for the blackest clouds. One was as the Covid-19 disease broke out this year competition for deals became a little lighter. TDK Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the Japan-based materials group, stepped toward this light. Nicolas Sauvage, head of TDK Ventures, said it had four deals in its … Continue reading "03 August 2020 – Wu Snaps Up her Former Assets"

Our Leadership Series interview where we talk to Gen Tsuchikawa of Sony about their investment funds and COVID-19. “Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Deals CureVac has officially closed a $640m round, adding $126m to recent investments that included $171m from GlaxoSmithKline through a strategic partnership. That’s one of the biggest venture rounds ever in the life sciences sector, and the interest likely stems from the potential of its messenger RNA therapies to form the basis of a Covid-19 vaccine, … Continue reading "27 July 2020 – CureVac Officially Closes $640m Round"

Our Leadership Series interview where Jacqueline LeSage-Krause of Munich Re Ventures talks about how COVID-19 has affected her work. “Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

The Big Ones Jio Platforms was spun off by Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries late last year to build a mobile network tailored for 5G and the internet of things, and everyone seems to want a slice. The latest is Google, which is paying $4.5bn for a 7.7% stake in Jio, the deal coming in the … Continue reading "20 July 2020 – 5G & IoT Provider Jio Platforms Gains $4.5bn from Google"

Our Leadership Series interview where Tracy Isacke of Silicon Valley Bank talks to Tony Askew from REV Venture Partners. “Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

The Big Ones Now ride hailing has matured past the stage where it requires multi-billion dollar rounds, one of the biggest fundraisers in recent months has been Rivian, an electric truck and SUV developer that won’t even have a product out until next year. It has however struck a deal to sell 100,000 electric delivery … Continue reading "13 July 2020 – Rivian Strikes Deal with Amazon for 100,000 Electric Delivery Vans"

Our Leadership Series interview where we talk to Jon Lauckner also from GM Ventures. “Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

The Big Ones China’s online education sector is one of the areas where growth is currently moving fastest. Yuanfudao raised $1bn in a series G round in March, and now Zuoyebang, which was spun off by Baidu five years ago, has pulled in $750m in series E funding from investors including SoftBank Vision Fund. The … Continue reading "06 July 2020 – Zuoyebang Pulls In $750m in Series E Funding"