Vantage | December 2021

Here are the latest updates on the portfolio companies across the Vertex network. Get connected with us today – sign up for our monthly newsletter here.

Investments

• Blings.io (IL) raised a USD 4M seed round
• Cymbio (IL) completed a USD 20M in Series B
• Desktop Metal (US) completed the acquisition of ExOne and Meta Additive
• EasySend (IL) closed a USD 55.5M in Series B
• Edge Medical Robotics (CN) closed an over RMB 200M Series C (Article in CN)
• Elotl (US) raised USD 5M in seed round
• Guangli (CN) closed an over RMB 100M Series A+
• Ivantis (HC) was acquired by Alcon for USD 475M
• Lechebang (CN) joined hands with Changjiu Group (Article in CN)
• Pace (SEAI) raised USD 40M in Series A
• Verbit (IL & Growth) raised USD 250M in Series E
• Zenity (IL) completed a USD 5M seed round

Partnerships

• Binance (SEAI & CN) partnered with CV Labs’ global incubation program to drive blockchain adoption in Africa and partnered with France FinTech to launch the EUR 100M (USD 115.4M) initiative
• Cylus (IL & Growth) partnered with Elgis to launch a Center of Excellence for rail-focused cybersecurity services
• Desktop Metal (US) partnered with The University of Toledo Institute of Applied Engineering Research to develop Nitinol, Rene and non-weldable nickel-based alloys, and partnered with Shapeways Holdings to increase access to its world-class additive manufacturing services
• Geek+ (CN & Growth) partnered with OSARO to bring the future of automation to DHL’s Asia Pacific Innovation Centre in Singapore and teamed up with GEODIS to optimize warehouse logistics with Autonomous Mobile Robots in Hong Kong
• NIUM (SEAI & Growth) partnered with Japan’s Queen Bee Capital to drive international transfer service for QBC’s corporate and individual customers in Japan, partnered with Roxe to launch remittances and payout services, partnered with Al Fardan Exchange to offer enhanced pay-out services in key global markets, and partnered with Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya PCL) to enhance their international transfer offerings for Krungsri customers
• Zencity (IL) partnered with San Diego police department to help increase the community trust for the residents of San Diego

Growth

• Binance (SEAI & CN) Lab made a strategic investment of USD 8M in DoraHacks to build a more open-source Blockchain world
• Desktop Metal (US) announced the qualification of D2 Tool Steel for Additive Manufacturing with the Production System and announced the opening of a new in-house manufacturing facility
• ElevateBio (HC) announced the issuance of U.S. patent providing protection for RNA-guided nucleases
• Geek+ (CN & Growth) established ASEAN headquarters in Singapore
• LeaseLock (US) announced that Scott Cook has been added to its Advisory Board
• Licious (SEAI & Growth) started 'everyday vesting, anytime liquidation' ESOP for their employees
• NIUM (SEAI & Growth) expanded into Hong Kong
• Obsidian Therapeutics (HC) appointed Heidi Hagen to the Board of Directors
• Palleon Pharmaceuticals (HC) appointed David Johnson to its Board of Directors
• PerimeterX (US & Growth) introduced Credential Intelligence
• Ruike Biotechnology (CN) new vaccine has achieved positive phased results in their first human trial (Article in CN)
• SolidEnergy (CN) unveiled a new hybrid lithium metal battery cell
• Valtix (US) announced to deliver free cloud security for departmental, development, test applications

Recognition

• Adaptive Shield (IL) CEO shared how the company is helping security teams gain control over their SaaS security landscape
• Geek+ (CN & Growth) won Supply Chain Excellence Innovation Award 2021 
• LaunchDarkly (US) released the State of Feature Management Report
• NEIWAI (CN & Growth) founder shared their company’s success, commitments, and future plans
• NIUM (SEAI & Growth) won the FinTech Employer of the Year announced by MAS and SFA
• Speedoc (SEAI) and Janio (SEAI) founders were recognized as EDGE - Youth Wing of ACE's 35 under 35 2021
• Validus (SEAI & Growth) won Top 10 Fintech Leaders and Fintech Leaders Under 30 Awards, was recognised as Best Lending Solution at the recent AMTD DigFin Innovation Awards 2021, and was nominated as one of the finalists of The Startup Leader of the Year
• 17LIVE (SEAI & Growth) was awarded the 9 NEXT BIG Taiwanese companies