Biotech firm VectorBuilder has bagged 410 million yuan ($57.1 million) in a Series C round, while autonomous driving firm Autowise.ai has notched up almost $14 million in a Series B3 round.
VectorBuilder notches $57m in a Series C round
VectorBuilder, which designs, develops, and optimises gene delivery solutions for research institutes and pharma companies, has snapped up 410 million yuan ($57.1 million) in a Series C round.
The round was co-led by Legend Capital, the fund management arm of Chinese conglomerate Legend Holdings; Suikai Investment, which is 55% owned by state-owned firm Guangzhou Development District Investment Group; and private equity fund manager Yuexiu Industrial Fund.
Guangzhou Industrial Investment and Capital Operation Holding Group, industrial investment firm Xiamen C&D, and Wanlian Securities also participated in the round.
The net proceeds will be used to speed up and support the Chicago-based firm’s gene delivery platform, vector production capacity, as well as global expansion plans. Gene delivery is an important step in gene therapy, which is a medical approach that holds the promise of curing diseases by modifying genes.
Founded in 2014 by molecular biologist Bruce Lahn, VectorBuilder enables researchers to design and order custom vectors online. Vectors are vehicles designed to deliver therapeutic genetic material, such as a working gene, directly into a cell.
The firm also provides a broad range of vector systems for both viral and non-viral gene delivery, as well as a wide range of contract research organisation (CRO) services covering gene delivery applications in basic research and drug discovery.
With offices in China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, the UK, Australia and Israel, the biotech firm has so far worked with over 4,000 research institutes and pharma companies across the globe.
In April, VectorBuilder announced plans to invest $500 million to construct a new R&D and manufacturing centre in the city of Guangzhou in China.
Autowise.ai secures $14m in Series B3
Autowise.ai, a Chinese developer of autonomous road sweepers, has bagged 100 million yuan ($13.9 million) in a Series B3 round participated by institutional investors including SenseCapital, the subsidiary of Chinese artificial intelligence firm SenseTime Group, according to a company announcement.
The fundraising comes after the Shanghai-based firm snapped 200 million yuan ($30 million) in a Series B2 round of financing in July to invest in the R&D and commercialisation of self-driving technology as the startup continues to expand overseas. The startup had raised the capital from Opple Capital and Shanshan Venture Capital. Existing shareholder SkyChee Ventures re-upped in the deal, alongside investment from the startup’s founder and CEO Huang Chao. The Series B2 round came over one year after the startup raised 120 million yuan ($17.9 million) in its Series B1 round led by SkyChee Ventures.
Founded in 2017 by Huang Chao, who previously led the self-driving department at Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global after his tenure at search engine firm Baidu’s deep-learning platform, Autowise.ai booked a 10-fold year-on-year growth in its Q1 and Q2 revenues this year compared with the same period last year.