MRCF has kickstarted a fifth fund to make early-stage investments in medical technologies from its network of member research institutions in Australia and New Zealand.

AgFunder plans to establish an accelerator in Southeast Asia in addition to two corporate venturing funds to invest in the participants.

Genentech, University of Cambridge and Babraham Bioscience Technologies have backed accelerator Start Codon, which plans to work with some 50 life sciences startups.

The conglomerate's $150m investment fund will seek out startups developing disruptive technologies relevant to its subsidiaries, which will provide the capital for the Kickstart Ventures-managed fund.

Sports Tech Tokyo, a joint sportstech accelerator initiative between Dentsu and Scrum Ventures, has chosen the first group of startups since its launch in October last year.

Hitachi will begin investing through the newly formed Hitachi Ventures in June, and the unit’s CEO will be ex-3M New Ventures president Stefan Gabriel.

BASF Ventures is among the LPs for the second fund to be formed by the agriculture-focused venture capital firm, whose first fund was anchored by Godrej Agrovet.

Yasuo Miyazawa, who had spent five years in the US as head of Nitto Denko's Nitto Innovations investment vehicle, is set to develop a similar initiative for Sekisui Chemical.

Corteva Agriscience, ADM, Elanco, Ecolab, Griffith Foods, RD Offutt, Growmark, Koch Ag & Energy, Smithfield Foods and Sumitomo Chemical America all backed the VC firm's latest fund.

Satt Ouest Valorisation has provisionally landed $22.4m of French government funding in conjunction with strategic objectives including a cost-rationalisation exercise and the expansion of its geographical remit.