Six startups have entered the Launchpad Digital Health accelerator and secured funding supplied from investors including Stanford University and the institution's StartX.

Launched in December with $80m, Slack Fund has now invested a total of nearly $2m in 14 early-stage companies which have raised a total of $30m between them.

UK government-created and EU-backed institutions support Ablatus Therapeutics in its $648,000 round to commercialise a potential treatment for solid cancer tumours.

Three car manufacturers fund the development of new battery anode technology through a $4m grant to Northwestern University spinout Sinode Systems.