Deals in brief: Agros and Phnxx raise funding, GlobalData acquires Ai Palette, Malaysia’s Khazanah backs chargEV, and more
Summary
Silverstrand Capital and PropertyGuru founder Steve Melhuish also invested.Agros provides smallholder farmers with solar-powered irrigation systems, aiming to eliminate fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions. It will also help scale operations to meet growing demand for accessible EV charging infrastructure.Chitose Bio Evolution, a Singapore-headquartered company focused on algae-based biofuel production, has reportedly secured JPY 7.3 billion (USD 49.4 million) from a consortium of Japanese investors, according to Nikkei Asia. The consortium includes Shiseido, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., and Jafco Asia.The company operates a 50,000-square-meter microalgae production facility in Sarawak, Malaysia, generating biomass for applications in sustainable aviation fuel, cosmetics, and industrial materials.Chitose plans to use the new capital to expand production capacity, with plans to launch a 1-square-kilometer plant within two years and scale to 20 square kilometers by 2030.Sogni AI, a decentralized image generation platform, has reportedly received USD 2 million in a funding round co-led by Comma3 Ventures and Republic Ventures, according to Investing.com. Sogni AI claims Supernet offers rendering speeds significantly faster than traditional cloud services by distributing AI workloads across a decentralized network.The company is valued at USD 25 million following the latest round and aims to democratize AI-driven content creation by reducing reliance on centralized AI models, potentially lowering costs and improving accessibility for creative professionals.Choco Up and Wonder Capital partner launch private credit fund for APAC SMEsChoco Up, a Hong Kong-based growth financing platform, has partnered with Wonder Capital Group, an independent investment management firm, to launch a USD 50 million private credit fund targeting asset-light small and medium enterprises in the Asia Pacific region.The initiative has completed its first close at USD 10 million, backed by the CMAG Private Credit Fund led by Wonder Capital. StarFive Technology, a Chinese chip design company backed by Baidu, raised an undisclosed sum from Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (HKIC).If there are any news or updates youd like us to feature, get in touch with us at: [email protected].