Global University Venturing

Cosmian has secured backing from the PSL Innovation Fund to advance products based on inventions from multiple French research institutes including PSL-hosted Inria.

The firm posted its half-year results for the period ending December 2018, registering an 83% year-on-year rise in turnover and a 43% gain in the fair value of its portfolio.

Twelve teams will be given the opportunity to participate in the ten-week accelerator, which is also backed by corporates Vodafone Ireland and Ericsson.

The university will benefit from a hub to house its AI and biomedical research in addition to co-working space and a think-tank targeting the ethics of emerging technologies.

The vehicle has a target size of $3.7m to be fulfilled by donations from philanthropists, with the aim of providing support to early-stage university businesses and research.

NetScientific has exited its loss-making portfolio companies Vortex and Wanda after originally deciding to close the two medical diagnostics ventures last week.

GreenMark’s dental treatments will be developed in partnership with University of Michigan, which has backed the company’s two-tranche seed round through its Mints Fund.

The firm’s portfolio fell to a $61.8m net loss during 2018 amid difficult market conditions for listed small-cap businesses and the consolidation of its former peer Touchstone Innovations.

Perspectives on sustainability and wellbeing are changing in response to health and environmental challenges, offering an opportunity to university-linked businesses.

Anne Dobrée, head of Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds, talks to editor Thierry Heles about the unit’s work and the evolution of university venturing over the past two decades.

Innovative Region: Israel