Vikram Gupta said on his LinkedIn page that IvyCap Ventures would be launch an innovation and technology VC fund with an approach to focus on the entrepreneurs with high-quality professional educational backgrounds, such as from the India Institutes of Technology.

Wellcome rates venture investing now as 7.5 out of 10, similar to Brooks Zug, senior managing director of funds of funds manager HarbourVest Partners, who rates venture investing now a "nine" out of 10.

Tactics II Stem Cell Ventures, a venture capital firm set up by Robert and Thomas Palay after they sold NimbleGen Systems to Switzerland-based drugs company Roche in August 2007 for $272.5m, led the round for Cellular Dynamics International .

Alongside Safeguard in the PixelOptics round was venture capital firms Delphi Ventures, Carlyle Group, Longitude Capital and Stark Investments.

David Phillips, a partner at SR One, said: "Christoph [Westphal] will transition out over next several quarters. He will assist in finding a long-term replacement and will continue to be supported by myself running Europe and Brian Gallagher running the US. Overall message is 'business as usual'."

Intelect Medical is developing technologies for deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy and Boston Scientific (BoSci) values the target at $78m.

Siemens Venture Capital partner named on CoreLab Partners' board.

Cephalon, a Nasdaq-listed drugs company, has agreed to buy Gemin X Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company for cancer therapeutics, for $225m.

Anergis, a Switzerland-based firm to inhibit birch pollen allergies, has raised SFr18m ($20m) in its series A round co-led by Vinci Capital-Renaissance PME, a local venture capital firm.