Based on research at KU Leuven, Ghent University and VIB, Aphea.Bio is working on a product that can increase crop yield while protecting against fungal diseases.

The research institute has launched an early-stage fund that has a target size of up to $136m.

The universities of Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels have contributed to a $45m fund that will back spinouts from these institutions.

Metro Group led the mobile payment and loyalty app developer's $15.3m series B round, increasing its overall funding to more than $30m.

German-focused VC firm Capnamic Ventures has reached the final close of a fund backed by Cisco, Axa, Rheinische Post Media Group and Sparkassen Group.

ING Group and PSN have provided $28.2m of series B funding for personal finance management app developer Fintonic, which will use it to expand in Spain and Latin America.

University of Oxford has participated in a funding round for Zegami, a big data spinout from the institution also backed by Oxford Sciences Innovation.

Touchstone Innovations has provided $5.1m to the series B round, having previously led a $10m series A for the company in 2015.