Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Cardlay, a Denmark-based corporate credit card and expenses management platform, has raised €8m ($9.7m) from venture capital firm Global PayTech Ventures. Cardlay secured $10m in funding from Seed Capital, a strategic affiliate of Technical University of Denmark-owned PreSeed Ventures, financial services firm SEB Bank’s SEB Venture Capital and unnamed backers in November 2019. Seed Capital and SEB Venture Capital injected $5m in January 2018, after Seed Capital had invested in August 2016. Cardlay identified both PreSeed Ventures and Seed Capital as shareholders in its latest announcement.
Thrilling, a US-based second-hand marketplace, has raised $8.5m in a series A round backed by Congruent Ventures, the venture capital firm aligned with University of California. The round was led by Prelude Ventures and also included DLA Piper Venture, a vehicle for law firm DLA Piper, Defy, Urban Us, Closed Loop and Phoenix Rising.
Backer, a US-based social savings platform, has procured $8.4m in funding led by Crosslink Capital with participation from Princeton University, Dartmouth College and University of Southern California. The round also attracted Rally Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Expansion Ventures, Reach Capital, Ulu Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital and assorted private investors. Jim Feuille has joined the board of directors of Backer, which rebranded from CollegeBacker in conjunction with the round.
OnLume Surgical, a US-based medical device spinout of University of Wisconsin–Madison working on imaging systems for use during surgery, closed a $7m series A round today backed by Warf Ventures, a vehicle for the institution’s tech transfer organisation Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. The round was led by Cambridge Investment Group and also included Wisconsin Investment Partners. OnLume received $749,000 from an unnamed investor in 2019.
Dispelix, a Finland-based augmented reality technology spinout of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, has raised €5m ($6m) in equity funding from unnamed investors, according to Tech.eu. Flashpoint Venture Debt Fund provided an additional $6m in venture debt at the same time. Dispelix will use the money accelerate the development of its full-colour laser beam scanning projection technology, which enables augmented reality glasses. The cash will also go towards customer acquisition and support. VTT Ventures, the investment arm of VTT, backed a $13.7m series A round in 2018, when manufacturing group 3M’s corporate venturing arm 3M Ventures, Finnish Industry Investment, Lifeline Ventures and an unnamed investor also took part. Dispelix had already received $1.9m in seed funding from VTT Ventures and Lifeline Ventures in 2016.
Mablink Bioscience, a France-based developer of antibody-drug conjugates, has obtained €4m ($4.8m) from Elaia Partners, Sofimac Innovation-managed Pertinence Invest 2 fund, Sham Innovation Santé, Fournier-Majoie Foundation, Simba Santé and Agricultural Credit Creation. Mablink was created by Satt Pulsalys to commercialise research at Institute for Molecular and Supramolecular Chemistry and Biochemistry, affiliated with Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, École Supérieure de Chimie Physique Électronique de Lyon and CNRS.
AccuKnox, a US-based cybersecurity software developer formed in partnership with Stanford Research Institute (SRI), has collected $4.6m in a round led by energy utility National Grid through its National Grid Partners (NGP) subsidiary. NGP director Raghu Madabushi will join AccuKnox’s board of directors in connection with the round, which also featured SRI, Z5Capital and Outliers VC.
PEP-Therapy, a France-based cancer treatment developer based on research at Sorbonne University and Institut Curie, has raised €2.8m ($3.4m) in a series A round led by Italian Angels for Growth, with participation from Doorway, Magna Capital Partner, Business Angels des Grandes Ecoles, Seventure Partners-managed Quadrivium 1 Seed Fund and private investor Bernard Majoie. The company raised $1.4m in funding from Quadrivium 1 Seed Fund and Majoie in April 2015.
ResBiotic, a US-based developer of probiotics for lung health spun out of University of Alabama at Birmingham, has attracted $3m in seed funding led by investment firm Timberline Holdings, the Birmingham Business Journal reported yesterday. Founded in 2020, ResBiotic’s first product is a probiotic blend that reduces inflammation in people living with chronic respiratory conditions.
HexagonFab, a UK-based drug discovery and production process monitoring platform spun out of University of Cambridge, has secured £1.9m ($2.6m) in seed funding led by tech transfer office Cambridge Enterprise, with participation from Parkwalk Advisors, New Grounds VC, Silicon Valley based R42 Group, Swiss Health Angels and several private investors.
iKVA, a UK-based artificial intelligence knowledge management software spinout of University of Cambridge, has now raised £1.5m ($2.1m) in its seed round backed by Cambridge Enterprise, Crowdcube and other institutional investors. The spinout had disclosed £1.4m for the round in January 2021, when it was still called Kvasir Analytics.
Melody International, a Japan-based mobile foetus monitor provider spun out of Kagawa University, has secured ¥150m ($1.4m) from Kyoto University Innovation Capital’s Kyoto-iCap2 fund. The spinout previously collected $1.6m in series D funding in February 2021.
Gaoma Therapeutics, a France-based developer of treatments for epilepsy and cognitive disorders, has raised €1.1m ($1.3m) in its inaugural funding round from commercialisation firm PPRS together with angel syndicates Simba Santé 3, Angels Santé and Health Angels Rhône-Alpes as well as other private investors. Gaomo Therapeutics was established by Satt Pulsalys to advance research conducted at Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, a research centre affiliated with Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne, Inserm and CNRS.
SK Fine, a Japan-based manufacturer of ceramic moulding parts and 3D ceramic printers, has obtained ¥100m ($918,000) in funding from Osaka University Venture Capital. The university venture fund had already provided $687,000 for the company in December 2018, two months after it was incubated by rotogravure printing services group Shashin Kagaku.
AddBike, a France-based developer of cargo bicycles established by Satt Pulsalys, has raised €650,000 ($785,000) from unnamed investors over the past six months. The company was founded in 2015 and does not appear to have disclosed prior funding.
TargetDocs, a US-based construction communication platform, has raised $850,000 from investors including Maryland Momentum Fund, set up by University System of Maryland, as well as Tedco’s Seed Fund, Hustle Fund, New Age Capital, Debut Capital, Dingman Center Angels and Gaingels.
ChromaTwist, a UK-based spinout of University of Birmingham, working on fluorescent materials for use in biosensing and bioimaging tests for diseases such as cancer and diabetes, has secured £300,000 ($417,000) in seed funding from the university and assorted angel investors. The company previously received £90,000 from its directors as match funding for a £347,000 Innovate UK grant in April 2019.
Qualytics, a US-based real-time data surveillance platform, has raised $250,000 in seed financing from Maryland Momentum Fund. The investment formed part of a larger round of undisclosed size that also attracted includes Inner Loop Capital, The LegalTech Fund, TCP Venture Capital, Saas Ventures, Gaingels and unnamed backers, including angel investors.
Ascella Biosystems, a US-based developer of digital medical diagnostics technology developer spun out of Stanford University, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from mobile blockchain game producer Axel Mark. Ascella is developing a quick test for covid-19 based on molecular diagnostics research by Eric Kool at Stanford University.
DrugViu, a US-based platform to help recruit autoimmune diseases patients for clinical trials, has raised an undisclosed amount from a consortium that included Virginia Venture Fund (VVF), a student-run venture vehicle at University of Virginia, according to RichmondInno. The round was co-led by Riverflow and Metrodora Ventures, with further participation from Avestria Ventures, Lightspeed Ventures’ Scout Fund, Techstars, Rise of the Rest Fund, Jumpstart Foundry, Cleveland Avenue and 757 Angels. VVF invested through its Impact Fund, which focuses on minority-owned businesses.
Twenty-One Semiconductors (21S), a Germany-based spinout of University of Stuttgart developing semiconductor-based laser crystals for biomedical applications, has collected an undisclosed amount from High-Tech Gründerfonds. 21S was launched out of Stuttgart’s Institute of Semiconductor Optics and Functional Interfaces in 2019.
Relief, an Italy-based developer of a device to combat urinary incontinence, has secured an undisclosed amount from medical devices and surgical dressing manufacturer Santex. Relief was spun out of the Biorobotics Institute at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. It will use the capital to commercialise its technology. Relief was founded in 2019 with initial capital from G-Factor, the investment arm of scientific research-focused philanthropic organisation Fondazione Golinelli. G-Factor sold its shares as part of the latest round.
– Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Robert Lavine
