1. Uber intends to introduce external investors to its subsidiary Careem in the Middle East
According to Reuters, Uber is negotiating with its subsidiary Careem, hoping to introduce external investors.
Careem's ownership structure after the investment is still unclear. However, Uber will still be a shareholder and give Careem management greater strategic decision-making power. The investment would help provide funding for the launch of Careem's so-called "super App" strategy.
2. Amazon brand acquisition company Nebula Brands receives over US$50 million in Series B financing
On December 7th, Amazon brand acquisition company Nebula Brands announced that it had received more than US$50 million in Series B financing.
This investment round was led by L Catterton, a fund of the LVMH Group, and the old shareholders Jingwei Ventures and Alpha Commune followed up with additional investment. This round of financing funds will be mainly used to continue to acquire Chinese brands on the Amazon platform.
Nebula Brands was established in 2019. Its initial business was providing financial services with cross-border e-commerce companies. Then it launched a third-party brand acquisition business in 2020. At present, Nebula Brands is committed to helping more Chinese consumer brands grow and build branding on the Amazon platform through the "capital acquisition + brand operation" model.
3. Umamicart receives $6 million in seed round financing
On December 7th, Umamicart, an online grocery store platform in the United States, announced that it had received $6 million in seed round financing. M13 and FJ Labs jointly led this financing round with Picus Capital, Starting Line, Golden Ventures, First Minute Capital, and Goldhouse Ventures.
Umamicart plans to use the new funds to expand the scope of business, recruit more employees, and add new product categories and services based on customer needs.
Public information shows that Umamicart was jointly launched by Andrea Xu and Will Nichols in March this year. Umamicart mainly provides users with a variety of Asian products and ingredients and door-to-door service and is committed to providing online grocery shopping experience services.
4. DoorDash hires full-time employees for the first time
On December 7th, starting from December 6th, American food delivery giant DoorDash will provide grocery delivery services in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York in 15 minutes or less.
DoorDash broke the original gig model but formed a new company called DashCorps, which hired couriers as employees to handle deliveries for the first time. They will get a starting salary of $15 an hour, plus customer tips.
5. Bizongo, a B2B material packaging startup in India, received US$109 million in Series D financing
According to Inc42, this funding round was led by Tiger Global, with investors such as AddVentures and Chiratae Ventures participating. After the financing, the company was valued at US$570 million.
Bizongo provides industrial packaging supplies for e-commerce, retail, catering, hospitality, logistics, food, and beverage industries and offers corporate customers digital supplier management, supply chain automation, and supply chain through its proprietary electronic platform Financing.
At present, this startup has already cooperated with Flipkart under Wal-Mart, the upcoming Ecom Express, Tata Cliq, and other brands.
6. Charge+Zone, a provider of energy solutions for electric vehicles in India, received US$10 million in bridge financing
According to YourStory report, this funding round was led by Venture Catalysts. The new funds will help the company add more than 1,000 charging points for electric buses and cars in existing markets (including 19 cities). Charge+Zone is committed to providing a variety of electric vehicles with charging solutions based on charging piles.
Individual users use its App to obtain services such as querying nearby charging stations, booking charging services, and paying charging fees. The company plans to launch an A round of fundraising in 2022, with a target financing scale of US$50 million.
7. Australian pet supplies provider Pet Circle completed $89 million in Series C financing
According to the Startup Daily report, Prysm Capital and TDM Growth Partners jointly led this round of funding. Existing investor AirTree Ventures and new investor Baillie Gifford participated in the investment.
The new funds will upgrade the platform to accelerate its market expansion. Promote the development of warehouse-scale, fleet size, and product range. Pet Circle is a subsidiary of Greencross and provides pet food, medicine, accessories, etc.
8. Parkable, a New Zealand parking space sharing platform, completed US$3.2 million in financing
According to TechCrunch, this financing round includes debt financing and equity financing, led by Pioneer Capital. The company plans to use new funds to help promote in the US, UK, and Australian markets. Parkable is a parking space-sharing platform that allows businesses and individual users to rent out their empty parking spaces through the platform.
9. TradeDepot, a B2B e-commerce platform for FMCG in Nigeria, completed US$110 million in Series B financing
According to Disrupt Africa, this funding round was led by IFC, with investors such as Novastar Ventures, Sahel Capital, and CDC Group. The new funds will help promote platform buy-now-pay-later services, strengthen brand penetration, and expand the market scale. TradeDepot's cooperation with international brands and a complete FMCG supply chain provides small merchants with convenient, high-quality, and low-cost purchasing options.
