Nissay Capital and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, both existing investors, returned for Optical Comb's $11.8m series B round.

The optical frequency spinout from Tokyo Institute of Technology has secured series B funding from investors including the institution's Innovations and Future Creation fund.

Podcast platform Castbox took its total funding to almost $30m with a $13.5m round that included returning investor SIG China.

Corvidia's series B round has been backed by Fresenius Medial Care and AstraZeneca as its kidney disease treatment nears the end of a phase 2 trial.

Osage University Partners was among the backers in Numat, which is developing molecularly engineered products based on research at Northwestern University.

The automotive sensor developer secured funding in an Aviva Ventures-led round that included SAIC Capital and Flex.

The insurance management platform, backed by ProSiebenSat.1 and Axel Springer at series A stage, has now raised $45m altogether.

ICI Ishii Sports led a $10.9m round for the mountaineering community app developer that also featured Morinaga and Company, Japan Asia Group, SRL and several banks.

The Intel-backed autonomous driving chip developer is raising hundreds of millions of dollars, while smart EV developer Nio will shortly close a $500m fund.

Optum Ventures co-led a $13.8m round for the online health consultancy portal that included Centene and Heritage Medical Systems.