Asia Digest: Japan's Baseconnect raises $50m Series B round; NZ-based Fabrum bags $23m in Series A
Summary
Japan-based corporate database and search engine Baseconnect has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round, while New Zealand-based composite cryogenic vessel maker Fabrum has bagged $23 million in a Series A funding round.Baseconnect has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Z Venture Capital, as per a release.Japanese venture capital firms such as Japan Post Capital, JAFCO Group, Uzabase, Salesforce Ventures, NTT DoCoMo Ventures, en Japan, and Kyoto Shinkin Bank also participated in the funding round, raising around 5.4 billion yen.The company plans to use the funding to enhance products, expand to new markets, and recruit talent while expanding the scope to process management of deals and connecting trend data, including news and user behaviour data.Founded in 2017, Baseconnect develops a corporate sales support company information database and search engine and has raised around 8.2 billion yen as capital to date.New Zealand-based small- to medium-scale liquefaction systems and composite cryogenic vessel maker Fabrum has raised $23 million in a Series A funding round led by AP Ventures, according to a statement.AP Ventures, a London-based venture capital firm, led the funding round, with participation from Australia-based Fortescue Future Industries, Japan-based Obayashi Corporation, and New Zealand-based K1W1.The company plans to use the capital to expand into global markets and scale up its manufacturing capacity by building a manufacturing facility at its Christchurch headquarters to meet the growing demand for its end-to-end hydrogen systems and other technologies for aerospace, heavy transport, and heavy industries.The innovative applications being developed by Fabrum will contribute to the growth in supply and demand for green hydrogen globally and help deliver on Fortescues decarbonisation plan for its mining operations, said Mark Hutchinson, CEO of Fortescue Future Industries.