Capio Biosciences, a spinout commercialising technology that captures tumour cells in the blood, has raised $2.9m in funding led by pharmaceutical firm Betta Pharma, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal. The technology is based on research by Seungpyo Hong, professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Andrew Wang, researcher at University of North Carolina. Hong conducted his work while working as an associate professor at Illinois University’s Chicago College of Pharmacy. Capio hopes to close the round at $4.5m.
Braveheart Investment Group has secured a 47% stake in Gyrometric Systems, a spinout of Nottingham Trent University developing software to monitor vibrations in rotating shafts, Insider Media has reported. Founded in 2007, the company will further build out its sales network, which already spans Germany and Asia.
MOF Technologies, a metal organic framework developer originating at Queen’s University Belfast, has raised an undisclosed sum in a round led by Excelsa Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of industrial conglomerate Sturrock and Robson Group. The round also included Qubis, the tech transfer office of Queen’s University, which spun out the company in 2012. MOF Technologies is based on research conducted at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Metal organic frameworks are highly porous materials that are able to store specific gases; the technology has applications in sectors such as transport, heat transformation and carbon capture. The company previously obtained €1.2m ($1.3m) from EU initiative Horizon 2020.
Cytora, an artificial intelligence spinout of Cambridge University, has obtained £2.4m in a series A round that was led by investment firm Parkwalk Advisors, Tech City News reported yesterday. Parkwalk invested through its Parkwalk Opportunities Fund and University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV. The round also included Cambridge Enterprise, the institution’s commercialisation arm, and iLexir, a natural language processing technology company exploiting research developed in conjunction with Cambridge and Sussex universities. Angel investors Alan Morgan, Paul Forster and Matthew Grant also took part. Cytora is using machine learning to generate datasets used by insurers. Cytora previously obtained $22,700 when it participated in the Judge Business School accelerator, Accelerate Cambridge, in 2013, and an undisclosed sum in 2015 from Cambridge Enterprise, Parkwalk, and angel investors.
