Cosmian has secured backing from the PSL Innovation Fund to advance products based on inventions from multiple French research institutes including PSL-hosted Inria.

The firm posted its half-year results for the period ending December 2018, registering an 83% year-on-year rise in turnover and a 43% gain in the fair value of its portfolio.

Hearst Ventures was among the participants in a round that will fund the roll-out of Plum Guide's high-end holiday accommodation rental platform to 12 more cities.

Twelve teams will be given the opportunity to participate in the ten-week accelerator, which is also backed by corporates Vodafone Ireland and Ericsson.

The firm’s portfolio fell to a $61.8m net loss during 2018 amid difficult market conditions for listed small-cap businesses and the consolidation of its former peer Touchstone Innovations.

Existing investor Tencent has returned for a $100m series C round that valued the cross-border financial remittance service at more than $1bn.

TU Berlin spinout IPlytics has collected several million dollars from investors including High-Tech Gründerfonds to expand into the US, South Korea and Japan.

Severstal has launched an accelerator to develop metallurgical technology startups as part of a $25m open innovation investment drive.

Bouygues Construction and Suez Group have both contributed to an $11.3m round that will fund the construction waste removal service's European expansion.

Meyer Burger picked up an 18% share in solar film manufacturing spinout Oxford PV, following a recent $41m first series D close for the spinout.