The UK regional tech transfer alliance's Seed Investment Fund expects to close its first investments in coming months, targeting sectors including healthcare and data.

Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.

The SoftBank-backed automotive e-commerce company secured convertible note financing in a round co-led by Farallon Capital Management and Baupost Group.

Telecom Italia is putting up about $70m for a growth-stage fund with a $175m targeted close that will be managed by VC firm United Ventures.

UCL Technology Fund 2 has achieved a first close on the way to its $131m target, with a cornerstone investment from UCL itself.

Fortimo led a $17.8m round for the retail management technology provider, which will channel the funding into product development.

Stephen Cook, previously chief commercial officer of group technology for BP, has moved to senior vice-president of its Launchpad and Ventures subsidiary.

The football club will match up to $5.3m in FundBox investment for startups in the form of expertise and resources.

Springer, Nikkei and The New York Times have exited curated news provider Blendle, which has been purchased by peer Cafeyn.

Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.