The Chinese electric vehicle startup Singulato Motors received an investment of almost $100 million from Japan's Itochu, sources said. Itochu could make additional investments if Singulato accelerates development of its first model and makes preparations for an initial public offering, the sources said.
Grammarly, a startup that develops software that checks text for spelling and grammar errors, raised $90 million in funding. The company will use the new money to broaden the capabilities of its software and expand its global workforce.
White Star Capital led a $26 million series B funding round for Parsley Health, a provider of personalized medicine. The company's funding will help it to hire more doctors and team members as well as launch new telemedical services, said CEO Robin Berzin.
A Series A funding round brought in $6 million for Nexkey, which offers mobile access control technology for businesses. The company is planning to expand its sales efforts to the rest of the US and use data to offer customers more value.
Meta Games, a startup working on mobile games with esports themes, raised $2 million in its seed round. With the new capital, it will finish work on a current project and start work on other new games.
Self-driving vehicle startup Einride, based in Sweden, has announced $25 million in funding. "The funding will allow us to start expanding in the US, deliver on our technology road map, and to meet rapidly increasing customer demand," said CEO Robert Falck.
Israel-based Future Meat Technologies has raised $14 million to support its work on lab-grown meat. The company is planning to build a cultured meat pilot production facility.
Automated retail startup Standard Cognition has bought DeepMagic, a startup that was an early developer of cashierless kiosks. Standard is hoping the acquisition will bolster its ability to compete with Amazon's efforts in the sector.
"Tourist investors" are playing a larger role in venture capital investment than they did in the past, according to a report from Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. "The extended period of low interest rates has forced these investors to hunt for returns in new territories," the report says.
Many investors and entrepreneurs are now more focused on making a profit rather than pursuing growth at all costs in a shift that is driven by the difficulties that some companies have encountered when they attempt to go public. "A lot of these highly valued companies have run into the buzz saw of Wall Street, where they're questioning or reminding us that profitability matters," said Trinity Ventures' Patricia Nakache.
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