Asia Digest: Korea’s Urbanbase bags $11.1m; Australia’s Relectrify raises funds …

Korea’s Urbanbase, which develops VR and AR tools used in interior planning and design, has raised $11.1 million of fresh funds, while Australia’s Relectrify has raised a growth investment round.

Urbanbase bags Series B+ funding

Seoul-based Urbanbase, which develops 3D spatial tools, has landed $11.1 million in a Series B+ funding round led by new investor Hanwha Hotel & Resort, a subsidiary of the South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Corporation.

This round brings Urbanbase’s total funding to $20 million.

The fresh funds will be used to enhance its B2B SaaS platform, as well as invest in R&D for advanced virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and 3D tools, which are core technologies of “metaverse” — a new business segment that Urbanbase plans to enter into, said founder and CEO Jinu Ha.

The metaverse is said to be the next mega-phase of the internet, a merging of the physical world with XR (Extended Reality), AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality).

Urbanbase’s clients are mostly large conglomerates in South Korea and Japan, such as LG Electronics, Mitsubishi Real Estate Service, Nitori Holdings, Dentsu Group, and SoftBank.

Existing investors include Woomi Construction, CKD Venture Capital, Shinhan Financial Group, Shinsegae Information & Communication, SL Investment, KDB Capital, Enlight Ventures, and Breeze Investment.

Relectrify raises undisclosed funding

Melboure-based Relectrify, a developer of battery control solutions, has secured undisclosed funds in a growth investment round from a consortium of global energy investors and leading energy companies.

The round was led by US energy tech venture firm Energy Innovation Capital (EIC), and was participated by Japanese VC Energy & Environment Investment (EEI), European utility and renewables leader Energias de Portugal (EDP), and South Korean energy and industrial conglomerate GS Group.

Relectrify will use the funds to expand its commercialisation team and form partnerships with other battery energy storage system (BESS) manufacturers and system integrators. It will continue to invest in its R&D and extend its cell-based control technology.  

Founded in 2015, Relectrify’s technologies are based on a cell-level control architecture and demonstrably increases the lifetime and decreases the cost of battery storage systems in homes, industry, the power grid, and beyond.

EIC senior managing director Rajan Gupta will join the Relectrify Board. 

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