Pear's third seed fund stands at more than twice the size of its precursor, having secured the continued backing of University of Chicago.

The firm has confirmed the closure of its Master Fund, which features NEC Capital Solutions, Marubeni, SMBC, ABeam and Aozora Bank among its LPs.

Volvo's corporate venturing unit has contributed an undisclosed sum to mobility-focused venture capital firm Autotech Ventures, whose exits include Lyft and Deepscale.

Epidarex Capital has launched a new drug discovery initiative providing seed funding and hands-on support to nurture fledgling projects.

SoftBank's second Vision Fund could close 30% lower than its $98.6bn first fund as potential LPs continue negotiations with the corporate.

Plexo Capital, a venture capital spinoff from Alphabet subsidiary GV, has raised $42.5m from LPs that include Alphabet, Intel Capital and Cisco Investments.

Caterpillar, J-Power and South32 joined several existing corporate backers, as the venture firm's RoboValley Fund moves towards a $120m target.

Tufts Health Plan, Henry Ford Health System and Highmark Health all chipped in as care provider Kaiser Permanente's corporate VC unit closed its latest fund.

Mac Ventures will receive support from Yeshiva University business school students, making early-stage investments in a number of tech-oriented sectors.

Japanese investors including Marubeni, SMBC and ABeam Consulting have collectively provided $180m for Vertex Master Fund II, which has a $770m target.