Weekend Edition. Hitachi to acquire JR Automation Technologies, LLC ("JR") for $1.425B

VC Deals

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Sherlock Biosciences said Tuesday that it had raised $31 million in a Series A round, led by Northpond Ventures and Baidu Ventures, with additional contributions from the Open Philanthropy Project and other investors. The company was launched last month with $35 million in initial financing, which included a $17.5 million non-dilutive grant and another investment by the Open Philanthropy Project.  More

San Diego-based Poseida Therapeutics said Monday that it had closed a $142 million Series C funding round led by drugmaker Novartis, with Aisling Capital Management, Pentwater Capital Management and Perceptive Advisors participating. Malin Corp., Longitude Capital, Vivo Capital, Boxer Capital and other undisclosed institutional investors also contributed. Novartis markets the CAR-T therapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.  More

Less than a month after rebranding as Canoo, the startup electric vehicle company formerly known as Evelozcity is on the hunt for $200 million in new capital. The startup, which is backed by a clutch of private individuals and family offices hailing from China, Germany and Taiwan, is hoping to line up the new capital from some more recognizable names as it finalizes supply deals with vendors, according to a person with knowledge of the company’s plans.  More

Selina has raised $100 million in fresh financing, the Tel Aviv-based blended hospitality startup said Wednesday. Access Industries led the Series C round. Grupo Wiese and existing investors Colony Latam Partners also participated. Selina runs a network of 46 properties in a dozen Latin American countries and Portugal. It offers private and shared accommodation with coworking facilities, cafes, wellness, and local experiences.  More

Soma, a Helsinki, Finland-based blockchain-based social marketplace startup, closed a €1.1M bridge funding round. The round included a substantial investment from the Finnish Government as well as private angel investors. The company intends to use the funds to perform market research, acquire users, and iterate on its product.  More

Sponsor

This post was brought to you by Woewoda Communications, your partner in the Canadian private equity and startup markets; offering strategic communications, public relations & investor relation services to Canadian VCs, PEs, Angels, Endowments/Trusts, Family Offices, and Canadian startups involved in ICT, IoT, blockchain, life sciences, healthcare, agribusiness, clean energy, fintech, AI and robotics.

Are you a Canadian startup that needs to grow or scale? Give us a call! One of our representatives would love to explain how we vertically design, and then systematically layer each of our communication platforms to effectively reach niche target audiences for our clients. WC offers a unique synergistic approach to effectively communicate our client's message to their target audience.

Serving Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Waterloo, Ottawa, and Halifax.

Acquisitions

Crestview Partners ("Crestview") and Hitachi, Ltd. ("Hitachi") today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Hitachi to acquire JR Automation Technologies, LLC ("JR") for $1.425 billion. JR is a leading provider of intelligent automated manufacturing and distribution technology solutions headquartered in Holland, Michigan.  More

Partnerships 

The American Medical Association has launched a new project with Sling Health, a national biotechnology incubator, in an effort to integrate physician perspectives into new technology development as early as possible. The two groups debuted the project, called the Clinical Problem Database, on the AMA's Physician Innovation Network, an online forum that connects physicians with digital health companies seeking clinician feedback.  More

IPOs

DouYu International Holdings Ltd., a Chinese video-game live-streaming platform, filed for an U.S. IPO as it seeks to win market share among the country’s younger generation who love to splurge on virtual gifts for their favorite streamers. The initial filing came almost a year after its biggest competitor, Huya Inc., listed in the U.S. last May. The duo, which operate like Twitch, are China’s top two video-game live-streaming platforms. Both companies are backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd., which plowed more than $1 billion into DouYu and Huya in the past year.  More

Beyond Meat, the meat replacement company whose packages of Beyond Burgers line grocery store aisles across America, has priced its initial public offering. The company is looking to raise roughly $200 million in the stock sale for its portfolio of burger, chicken and sausage replacements, selling 8.75 million shares of common stock at an upper limit of $21 per share that would value Beyond Meat at more than $1 billion.  More

Joint Ventures

Sony last year announced it would enter Japan’s taxi-hailing space and, good to its word, the electronics giant has kicked off its S.Ride service in Tokyo. The service — which was first noted by CNET — is a joint venture between Sony, its payment services subsidiary and five licensed taxi companies. Because ride-hailing with civilian cars is illegal in Japan, the service will focus on connecting licensed taxis with passengers. More

Hostile Takeovers

A bidding war in the petroleum space broke out Wednesday after Occidental Petroleum made a $38 billion offer for Anadarko Petroleum, topping the $33 billion offer Chevron made earlier this month. Shares of Anadarko, the oil and natural gas exploration and production company, soared 12%.  More

Healthcare Tech News

We’re barely into the second quarter of the year but 2019 is already shaping up to be different than the previous year for health tech. At least two companies, Livongo and Dignity Health, have registered for IPOs. Investment in health tech dipped in the first quarter of the year, bucking a trend that has seen more and more capital pumped into the sector. Are these signs that this will be the year of multiple health tech IPOs?  More