GeoSpock seeks out new series A life
Cambridge Innovation Capital has led a $12m series A close for GeoSpock, which had already secured an initial $5.4m tranche in 2015.

Tyrata gets behind $4.5m series A wheel
Dealer Tire has led a series A round for Tyrata, a tire sensor developer based on research at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering and Nicholas School of the Environment.

KitSplit markets $2.1m seed round
NYU Innovation Venture Fund has put its weight behind KitSplit, an online marketplace to rent equipment such as cameras, drones and virtual reality headsets.

Campbell to chair Autm
Alison Campbell, director at Knowledge Transfer Ireland, has become the first representative from outside North America to chair Association of University Technology Managers.

Hamburg calls for transfer
Hamburg Innovation and the municipal government have launched a range of initiatives to bolster the local ecosystem, with a total of $3.7m being made available.

Irresistible Materials inches towards final testing
The Birmingham spinout is entering the final stages of testing for its semiconductor technology.

UA gains medtech accelerator
The city of Phoenix has approved funding for a medical technology accelerator, dubbed Innovention, which will be operated in collaboration with University of Arizona.

Liquidia restarts funding flow
UNC Chapel Hill spinout Liquidia has secured an initial $25.5m and is aiming for a $53.3m close.

Re:infer deciphers $3.5m Touchstone-led round
The UCL spinout’s cognitive AI-based systems automatically sift through communications data to uncover valuable feedback for enterprises.

LigaTrap takes on $1.5m in funding
The US-based protein purification technology developer shifted its manufacturing base to North Carolina two years ago and has now secured three licences from NC State.

Rogue entices OSU for $30m fund
Oregon State University has backed Rogue Venture Partners’ third fund, having previously also provided cash for the firm’s second vehicle in 2016.

Tricog Health clocks $4m investment
University of Tokyo Edge Capital has taken part in a funding round for Tricog Health, which uses artificial intelligence technology to determine a patient’s risk of heart disease.

Arcus Biosciences hardens IPO plans
Stanford University is set to exit the cancer immunotherapy developer, which has filed for a $100m initial public offering.

Kidaptive adapts to $19.1m series C
Adaptive learning system developer Kidaptive has closed a $19.1m round, bringing the Stanford University spinout’s total funding to more than $30m.

Morphisec marks series B round with $12m
Orange Digital Ventures, General Electric and Deutsche Telekom all took part as the Ben-Gurion University spinout added to its $7m series A.

Shoreline Biome profiles $1.1m
The microbiome profiling business is the result of collaboration between two former Roche employees and researchers from UConn and Yale New Haven Hospital.

Cove harbours $12m fund
The firm’s second fund has achieved an initial close of $12m and is due to begin investing in the coming months.

Cincera digests $5.5m investment
Monash University has spun out Cincera Therapeutics, which will work on treatments for metabolic syndrome and type-2 diabetes-related conditions.

Molendotech paddles to $700,000 round
Molendotech was spun out from Plymouth half a year ago and has now secured a three-tranche commitment of $700,000 from investors.

TUM and Google process AI partnership
The internet company will pour $1.2m into the Technical University of Munich Foundation and another $310,000 into TUM’s AppliedAI initiative.

Harvard traces route to Nebula Genomics
Nebula Genomics aims to launch a genomics platform that will let users securely monetise their personal data and gain medical insights.

Research commercialisation – why do it?
Alison Campbell looks at the reasons that drive technology transfer, considering views from the US, the UK and Ireland.

Corporate venturing deal net: 19-23 February 2018

Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.

Fundraising

Lonza finds Prolog for corporate venturing story

Lonza Group has appointed venture firm Prolog Ventures to manage a fund that will invest in consumer health technology developers.

Mumtalakat confirms Vision Fund discussions

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund is in talks to contribute to the $97.7bn SoftBank-managed fund, according to its chief executive.

Tyson Foods forms regional incubator partnerships

The meat supplier will partner Plug and Play in Silicon Valley and 1871 in Chicago to secure access to local startups.

People

Schüller shelves Google job for Capnamic return

Sebastian Schüller has moved back to Capnamic Ventures after almost 18 months working with startups at Google.

Exits

Tantan shareholders take $760m in Momo acquisition

Momo has agreed to pay $601m in cash and approximately $160m in stock, allowing YY and Bertelsmann to exit dating and meeting app Tantan.

Arcus Biosciences hardens IPO plans

GV is the largest shareholder in the cancer immunotherapy developer, which has filed for a $100m initial public offering.

Zscaler zips to $110m IPO filing

The cloud security platform has raised $148m in funding from investors including Dell and Alphabet, and was reportedly valued at $1bn+ in 2015.

99designs pictures Australian IPO

Recruit-backed graphic design services marketplace 99designs has relocated back to Melbourne to prepare for an initial public offering.

Big Deal: GV exits Flatiron Health

Roche has agreed to acquire oncology research platform Flatiron in a deal that valued it at $2.15bn, giving GV what would be its fifth latest life sciences exit since the start of November.

Oracle reaches for Zenedge

The cloud cybersecurity software producer has agreed to an acquisition by Oracle that will allow Telus and Zoho to exit.

IT

Vectra tracks investors for $36m

Nissho Electronics and Wipro were among a consortium that provided series C funding for cybersecurity software provider Vectra.

DecaWave positions itself for $30m

Atlantic Bridge Ventures led the indoor positioning chip producer’s latest round, its past investors including LG and ST Electronics.

Prophesee brings forth $19m

The artificial vision technology developer has closed the first tranche of a series B round backed by Intel, Renault and Robert Bosch.

MGM Resorts gets Tunity in $12m round

The hotel operator will begin installing Tunity’s computer vision-based live audio technology at its outlets following the series A round.

Morphisec marks series B round with $12m

Orange Digital Ventures, General Electric and Deutsche Telekom all took part as the endpoint security software developer added to its $7m series A.

SparkCognition snags corporates for series B close

Invenergy Future Fund and CME Ventures are among the backers that boosted the data analytics platform’s latest round to $56.5m.

Woongjin ThinkBig helps Kidaptive adapt to series C round

Adaptive learning system developer Kidaptive has closed a $19.1m round co-led by Woongjin ThinkBig, taking its total funding to more than $30m.

OrCam snaps up more cash

Clal Insurance has contributed to a $30.4m round that valued smart camera developer OrCam at $1bn ahead of a planned initial public offering.

Health

Oric orders up $50m for series D

Taiho Ventures has come on board as an investor, in a round that increased the cancer drug developer’s total funding to almost $120m.

Cota categorises investors for $40m series C

Iqvia led a round backed by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Hackensack Meridian Health and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Kallyope aligns itself with Illumina to raise $66m

Existing investor Illumina Ventures is among the participants that have contributed to the gut-brain axis drug developer’s series B round.

Procept shoots to $118m

Viking Global Investors led the Novo-backed company’s latest round, which will be used to commercialise its ablation-based BPH treatment.

Liquidia restarts funding flow

PPD and Siemens-backed pain management drug particle developer Liquidia has secured an initial $25.5m and is aiming for a $53.3m close.

Media

Alibaba approaches Dailyhunt for investment

Alibaba is reportedly considering the purchase of a 10% to 12% stake in the news aggregation and publishing app at a $500m valuation.

OST gets in the investment picture for Unsplash

The online photo library has received cash and crypto tokens from blockchain technology developer OST as part of its $7.3m series A round.

Adaptive Studio releases series B details

Adaptive has raised $16.5m from AMC Networks and Atwater Capital to enable it to develop new entertainment projects for traditional and digital media.

Toutiao augments holdings with $300m Faceu purchase

Image editing platform Meitu has exited AR selfie and video app Faceu through an acquisition by Toutiao, its third in less than four months.

LiveLike takes the field for series B round

Dentsu Ventures and Evolution Media both returned for a $9.6m round for the immersive sports viewing platform having previously backed its series A.

Consumer

Investors apply $52m to Glossier series C round

IVP and Index Ventures have co-led a round for WME-backed skincare brand Glossier, increasing its overall funding to $86m.

Capillary carries in $20m

The Qualcomm and American Express-backed consumer engagement platform has raised cash from existing investors including Warburg Pincus and Sequoia Capital.

Alibaba goes EasyHome in $2bn round

Alibaba invested $857m for a 15% share of the furniture retailer as part of the round, which included Taikang Insurance.

Harry’s handles $112m in funding

The Grace Beauty-backed razor blade subscription service has received new funding in a round featuring Temasek and Alliance Consumer Growth.

Analysis: Instacart gets $200m delivered in series E round

US-based grocery delivery service Instacart, which has been backed by multiple corporates previously, raised $200m in a series E round.

Financial

Greenlight Financial charges to $16m series A

Amazon Alexa Fund and several financial services providers have invested $16m in Greenlight, the creator of a smart debit card for kids.

Wealthsimple manages $51m Power Financial investment

Power Financial has injected another $51m into Wealthsimple, bringing its total commitment to the company to $165m.

CNP and Oddo ladle out funding for Lydia

The mobile wallet developer received $16.1m in a CNP Assurances-led round that also featured Oddo BHF to expand in Europe.

Industrial

Relayr generates $30m in funding

Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners joined B37 and Purple Arch Ventures to invest $30m in the industrial IoT data software provider.

Miso Robotics cooks up $10m in funding

Acacia Research led the restaurant kitchen robot developer’s series B round, which also featured Levy and founding investor Cali Group.

Transport

Intel takes a series D trip to Moovit

The urban transit app developer has secured $50m in an Intel Capital-led round featuring Hanaco, BMW iVentures and Nokia Growth Partners.

Zoomcar picks up $40m in series C

Mahindra and Mahindra led the round with a $27.3m commitment that gave it a 16% stake in the car sharing platform, valuing it at about $170m.

Uber arranges Grab stake in divestment deal

Uber is said to be in talks to sell its Southeast Asian business to local player Grab in a deal that will give it a sizeable stake in the latter.

Services

Lyric accepts Axa investment in series A

Axa Strategic Ventures has contributed to a $15.5m round for the short-term executive accommodation provider, which was formerly known as Parallel.

Corporates follow Dynamic Signal to funding close

Cisco Investments, Microsoft Ventures and Time Warner Investments were part of a consortium that supplied $36.5m for the HR engagement platform.

Hearst targets DroneBase in $12m series B

Hearst Ventures and the DJI-backed SkyFund contributed to a round that lifted the drone services provider’s total funding to $17m.

Boeing enrols in Singularity University’s series B

The aerospace company has co-led a $32m round that included TAL Education as technology education provider Singularity prepares to expand its courses.