Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Maggrow, an Ireland-based crop spray technology developer spun out of University College, Dublin, has obtained €6m ($7.1m) in a series A round led by Astanor Ventures that featured WakeUp Capital and undisclosed additional investors, the Irish Independent reported on Thursday. Founded in 2013, Maggrow applies rare earth magnets to pesticide fluids as part of a crop cultivation technology suited for applications such as irrigation and sanitisation with less environmental impact than conventional approaches. The funding will go to expanding its 32-strong headcount with 10 additional employees. Maggrow previously closed a $3.5m round in late-2018 backed by undisclosed investors.
MiRecule, a US-based discovery platform for RNA therapeutics, has raised $3.5m in seed funding including a $250,000 commitment from the University System of Maryland’s Momentum Fund. The round was led by Alexandria Venture Investments, on behalf of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, and also featured Pathway Bioventures, Alumni Ventures Group and assorted angel investors. The company focuses on cancer and muscular dystrophy.
H2Pro, an Israel-based hydrogen fuel production technology developer spun out of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from In Venture, a corporate venturing vehicle for diversified trading group Sumitomo Corporation and its UK-based Sumitomo Corporation Europe subsidiary. H2Pro has developed a water electrolysis hydrogen production technology that enables oxygen and hydrogen to be generated separately, whereas current methods generate both gases simultaneously. The spinout previously raised $3.5m in seed financing in October 2019 from Contrarian Ventures, carmaker Hyundai and unnamed corporate backers.
– Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles
