Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Standard Energy, a South Korea-headquartered vanadium ion battery developer co-founded by researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, has obtained $8.9m in series C funding from internet group SoftBank through its Softbank Ventures Asia subsidiary, DealStreetAsia reported today, citing a company statement. Standard Energy has now raised $22.5m altogether, according to TechCrunch.
Futurae, the Switzerland-based developer of a cybersecurity software platform covering user authentication and transaction confirmation, has secured €5m ($5.9m) from Axa Venture Partners, a corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance group Axa, as well as financial services firm Zürcher Kantonalbank and VC firm EquityPitcher Ventures. The company was spun out by ETH Zurich’s Systems Security Group in 2016 and raised $2m in a 2018 round co-led by Axa Venture Partners and DIventures that included Zürcher Kantonalbank and Stefan Mühlemann.
SentiAR, a US-based spinout of Washington University in St Louis developing an augmented reality software to assist in cardiac procedures, has secured $5.1m in series A funding from TechWald Holding, BioSTL’s investment arm BioGenerator, Cultivation Capital,VCapital, Neue Fund, QRM Capital and Keiretsu Forum. The financing will accelerate technology development.
HEI Schools, a Finland-based early education services provider co-founded by University of Helsinki, has closed a €2m ($2.4m) series A round co-led by state-owned venture capital firm Tesi and Practica Capital, according to EU Startups. HEI Schools operates 14 learning centres across Finland, China, Australia, Indonesia, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Egypt, with plans to open another 16 in the US, Canada, Kuwait and Thailand this year.
GripAble, a UK-based medical device spinout of Imperial College London, has completed a £1.6m ($2.2m) pre-series A round led by Triple Point Ventures, with participation from the Parkwalk Advisors-managed Imperial College Innovation Fund and Oxford Technology Fund. Triple Point previously supplied $669,000 in 2019.
Ten Bio, a UK-based human skin culture system developer spun out of University of Dundee, has pocketed £911,000 ($1.3m) from Tricapital and Scottish Enterprise, according to Insider. Ten Bio has developed technology to generate human skin cultures that can replace animal testing. The spinout will seek to further develop its offering, support its expansion in the US and roll out its services business to additional clients.
Mentor Collective, a US-based platform connecting students to mentors, has collected $500,000 in bridge funding from IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, a vehicle managed by Indiana University’s IU Ventures. The company also attracted ECMC Group, Lumina Foundation, and EduLab Capital Partners for the round, although the overall size was not confirmed. IU Ventures had already taken part in a $3m round in 2019.
Albotherm, a UK-based developer of a temperature-responsive glass coating spun out of University of Bristol, has obtained £370,000 ($515,000) in seed funding from Sustainable Ventures. Albotherm’s glass coating helps to cool buildings by using a variable shading system that reflects sunlight as needed, automatically ensuring that the inside of buildings do not heat above a certain temperature.
Suitera, an Egypt-based semiconductor technology developer, has been spun out of American University in Cairo and secured $230,000 from investors including Walden Rhines. Suitera is the university’s second spinout and it was co-founded last year by Yehea Ismail, a professor of electronics and communication engineering and the director of the nanoelectronics and devices centre.
APriori Technologies, a US-based digital manufacturing software spinout of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from VC firm Gutbrain Ventures. Design software provider Autodesk led aPriori’s $26.8m series C round in September 2019, investing alongside Gutbrain Ventures, NewSpring Capital, PBJ Capital, Oyster Angel Fund, Sigma Partners and Sigma Prime Ventures. It had previously raised a total of about $53m, according to media reports and securities filings, including $11m from Bain Capital Ventures and Sigma Partners in 2007, $5m from Sigma Partners in 2012, $6m from Sigma Prime and Sigma Partners in 2013.
– Additional reporting by Robert Lavine
