Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Sonas, a Japan-based developer of an internet-of-things wireless communication tool dubbed Unisonet spun out of University of Tokyo, has raised ¥450m ($4.1m) from the institution’s Innovation Platform and JR East Start Up, a vehicle for rail operator JR East. The round also included Anri, which had joined Global Brain for a $3.2m series A round in October 2018.
BioCaptiva, a UK-based medical device developer spun out of University of Edinburgh, has received more than £1m ($1.4m) in seed funding from Scottish Enterprise and Archangels, Insider.co.uk reported today. The money has been allocated to in-license technology and conduct an initial safety trial. BioCaptiva’s device is able to capture circulating free DNA in blood in greater quantities than current methods. It is aimed at liquid biopsies for cancer.
Baseimmune, a UK-based biotechnology company using machine learning to predict how viruses will change, has attracted £685,000 ($950,000) in funding led by Creator Fund, with participation from private investor Mike Watson. Baseimmune’s co-founders were previously postdocs at University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute, where they developed a potential vaccine against HPV subsequently licensed to Vaccitech, the spinout best known for creating the technology that underpins the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for covid-19.
MyMind, an Austria-based neurofeedback training device developer, has collected an undisclosed amount of seed funding led by IST Cube, the venture fund of Institute of Science and Technology Austria. MyMind is working on a medical device to help children living with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder improve their learning and concentration capabilities. The money will allow MyMind to expand access to its device and gear up for additional clinical trials.
S4 Medical, a US-based medical device developer co-founded by Ohio State University faculty, has completed a series A round of undisclosed size backed by Jobs Ohio, Angel Physician Fund and an unnamed strategic backer, as well as unidentified existing shareholders. Founded in 2017, S4 Medical is working on a device that protects the oesophagus from thermal injury during catheter ablation procedures for atrial fibrillation. The money will accelerate the company’s commercialisation activities, primarily through funding an investigational device exemption study set to begin this summer.
– Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu
