LongRiver Investments has led the Series A+ round for Rona Therapeutics while embodied artificial intelligence (AI) startup Galbot has inked a deal with the Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC).
LongRiver Investments leads Rona Therapeutics’ Series A+ round
Rona Therapeutics, which is engaged in nucleic acid drug research and development, has raised $35 million in a Series A+ financing round led by healthcare-focused venture capital firm LongRiver Investments.
Zhaode Investment, BioTrack Capital, Zhongqi Capital, and Lilly Asia Ventures joined the round, according to a release on Friday. LongRiver Investments will join the board of Rona, following the round.
Founded in August 2021, Rona specialises in the treatment of metabolic diseases and central nervous system (CNS) degenerative diseases. The Shanghai-headquartered firm previously completed its $33-million Series A round in April 2022, participated by several institutional investors such as CMB and Lilly Asia Ventures.
Embodied AI startup Galbot strikes deal with HKIC
Galbot, an embodied artificial intelligence (AI) startup in China, has struck a deal with the Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC), an investment firm wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR government, to develop the city’s AI sector.
Galbot is the third company that HKIC has partnered with since the fund was established in October 2022. The first partnership was with the city’s home-grown AI unicorn SmartMore in June, followed by bio-computing startup BioMap in the same month.
Galbot will establish a local entity – HK-Galbot Embodied AI Lab – and explore use cases for humanoid robots in the city across industries like retail and tourism as part of the partnership, South China Morning Post reported on Friday.
The partnership comes shortly after Galbot, also known as GalaxyBot, sealed its angel round worth 700 million yuan ($96.4 million) in June – just 12 months after its inception.
