The Engine has already made seven investments in a bid to commercialise technologies that require a longer-term view than most.

The commercialisation firm has secured support for a takeover from shareholders who hold 96.5% between them in its peer Touchstone Innovations.

Uqar spinout Ovensa has obtained $1.38m of additional funding from investors including commercialisation firm Aligo Innovation.

Intel and New Enterprise Associates have co-led a series A round for computer vision startup Matroid, based on research by Stanford professor Reza Zadeh.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest up to $40m in the biological drug developer, which raised $320m in an Eli Lilly-backed round two years ago.

WuXi Healthcare Ventures has led a first funding round for LifeMine Therapeutics, based on research by Harvard University profressor Gregory Verdine.

The surgery robotics developer has added $26m from investors including Cambridge Innovation Capital to complete its series A round, 14 months after closing the first tranche.

Imstem Biotechnology, a spinout from Connecticut, has won a patent for its stem cell-based treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.