Technology Private Placement and M&A Transactions Review Week Ending August 6, 2023

GoStudent: The company raised $95 million of venture funding in a combination of debt and equity from Tencent Holdings, Prosus Ventures and SoftBank Investment Advisers on August 4, 2023. Coatue Management, DST Global, Left Lane Capital, DN Capital and Deutsche Bank also participated in the round. The company is a developer of an online learning application designed to connect students with teachers worldwide for individual or group tutoring sessions.

Inworld AI: The company raised $50 million of Series A1 venture funding in a deal led by Lightspeed Venture Partners on August 2, 2023, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $460 million. M12, LG Technology Ventures, First Spark Ventures, Stanford University Venture Fund, and Samsung NEXT Ventures also participated in the round. The company is a developer of an AI-based platform designed to populate immersive realities such as the metaverse, VR/AR, games, and virtual worlds.

Neon: The company raised $46 million of Series B venture funding in a deal led by Menlo Ventures on August 1, 2023. Snowflake Ventures, Databricks, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, GGV Capital, and Elad Gil also participated in the round. The company is a developer of open-source cloud-native Postgres designed to create a cloud-native database service for developers.

Haus: The company raised $17 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Insight Partners on August 3, 2023. Upside Partnership, Baseline Ventures, Fathom Capital, BoxGroup, Haystack Ventures, Octave Ventures and Mantis VC also participated in the round. The company is an operator of a causal inference analytics company intended to make data-driven decisions in a dynamic privacy environment.

HOLOGATE: The company raised EUR 8.3 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Bolero Holdings and Vester Partners on August 3, 2023. Cherry Ventures and other undisclosed investors participated in the round. The company is an operator of a virtual reality-based media company intended to facilitate immersive virtual reality for entertainment and enterprise use.

Amaze Software: The company raised $6.8 million of Series A3 venture funding from undisclosed investors on August 1, 2023. The company is a developer of a no-code design software tool for creators, influencers, makers, and others to monetize their brands.

Epoxy.ai: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding in a deal led by SeventySix Capital on July 31, 2023. Andover Ventures also participated in the round. The company is a developer of an AI-based tool to help media and gaming companies deliver contextually relevant data to users.

Kneron: The company raised an undisclosed amount of Series B venture funding in a deal led by Hon Hai Precision on August 4, 2023. Qualcomm Ventures, Kneron, Alibaba Group, and Horizons Ventures also participated in the round. The company is a developer of an application-specific integrated circuit to offer artificial intelligence-based tools in order to utilize computing power from cloud to edge devices.

Lindy: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Yes VC in August 2023. The company is a developer of a virtual office platform intended to help distributed teams collaborate and communicate.

Qortex: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Silicon Road in August 2023. The company is a developer of on-stream software designed to help brands distribute premium video content.

Sekai: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from TV Tokyo on August 4, 2023. The company is a developer of entertainment software designed for anime fans.

Yoton Yo Studios: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Arcanum Ventures in, August 2023. The company is an operator of a media production and technology development company intended to focus on the real world, augmented reality, virtual reality, and Web3 deliverables.

Entertainment One / LionsGate Entertainment: The company, a subsidiary of Hasbro, reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by LionsGate Entertainment for $500 million on August 3, 2023. The company is an operator of a television and movie content company based in Toronto, Ontario.

Blancco Technology Group / Francisco Partners: The company entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Francisco Partners for GBP 175 million in an LBO on August 2, 2023 through a public-to-private transaction. Blancco Technology Group PLC provides mobile device diagnostics and secure data erasure solutions.

Tagger / Sprout Social: The company was acquired by Sprout Social for $140 million on August 2, 2023. The company is a developer of an influencer marketing platform designed to help brands through the planning, discovery, activation, and reporting phases.

Scibids Technology / DoubleVerify: The company reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by DoubleVerify for $125 million on July 31, 2023. The company is a developer of a SaaS platform designed to provide algorithmic trading capabilities on behalf of media buyers.

LifeSize / Enghouse Systems: The company was acquired by Enghouse Systems for an estimated $20.7 million on August 1, 2023. The company is a developer of cloud-based video collaboration and meeting productivity solutions.

Foxxum / zeasn: The company was acquired by zeasn for an undisclosed amount on July 31, 2023. The company is a developer of a platform as a service (PaaS) smart TV technology catering to major TV brands, set-top-box (STB) manufacturers, device manufacturers (OEM), component suppliers, and content providers.

KRMA / North Sixth Group: The company was acquired by North Sixth Group through an LBO on August 3, 2023 for an undisclosed amount. The company is a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) powered digital marketing services for global brands.

Lipstick & Vinyl / Realm: The company was acquired by Realm for an undisclosed amount on August 2, 2023. The company is an operator of a podcast show intended to amplify underrepresented voices.

Run The World / EventMobi: The company was acquired by EventMobi for an undisclosed amount on August 2, 2023. The company is a developer of a virtual event interactive platform designed to host online events.

Seervision / QSC: The company was acquired by QSC for an undisclosed amount on August 3, 2023. The company is a developer of audio-visual camera automation software designed to enhance the hybrid meeting experience.

Shopping Minds / Spotler: The company was acquired by Spotler, via its financial sponsors CNBB Equity Partners, Rotrip Europe and Mill Reef Capital, through an LBO on August 1, 2023 for an undisclosed amount. The company is a developer of a cloud-based platform intended for travel, retail, and media industries to create personalized experiences for their customers.

Tilt Media / Lulu: The company was acquired by Lulu (Publishing) for an undisclosed amount on August 1, 2023. The company is a provider of media information services catering to entrepreneurs.

TLM Partners / Endava: The company was acquired by Endava, a subsidiary of Concise, for an undisclosed amount on August 4, 2023. The company is a developer of a cloud-based games and development service intended to focus on middleware for esports, video games and extended reality games.