Global University Venturing

SmartNews, co-founded by University of Tokyo researcher Ken Suzuki, is valued at $1.1bn following a $28m series E round led by Japan Post Capital.

Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.

Maria Vanegas and George Coulston have been promoted to senior licensing manager for life sciences and physical sciences respectively at University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute.

UMI3's innovation optimiser team has moved across to the Masood Enterprise Centre alongside new recruits Fatemeh Salehi and Jacob Salder.

Rodney Priestley will become Princeton University’s first vice-dean for innovation next February, lending greater emphasis to its innovation and entrepreneurship strategy.

Gerald Goodfellow, a 30-year veteran of the US Air Force, has joined Louisiana Tech as director of technology innovation and executive director of Louisiana Tech Research Institute.

Quantum Signal has been bought by Ford after two decades of quietly producing technologies for robotic applications including autonomous driving.

Novo, Partners Healthcare and Sham all contributed to a $74.6m round for Alizé Pharma 3, which is exploiting research from three US institutions.

Biopesticide developer AgroSavfe, a VIB spinout, has raised more than $38m in series C funding from investors including Qbic.

Stanford University has backed a $12m series A for identity management technology developer Truework, which has been expanding its business in the employment and loan referencing space.

University System of Maryland's Momentum Fund has appointed Claire Johnson as its managing director, with David Wise leaving the position after two years.