Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Ampeers Energy, a Germany-based energy grid management software spinout of applied research network Fraunhofer-Society, publicly emerged on Wednesday with a seven-figure euro seed sum (€1m = $1.1m) from Fraunhofer and assorted energy-sector angels. Founded in May 2019, the spinout’s software will cater to decentralised energy networks which operate independently of the local grid, with features such as district-level energy management and the ability to control electric vehicle charging. The seed capital has been earmarked for product development and market entry.
Novosteo, a US-based bone fracture injection developer spun out of Purdue University, yesterday received a $500,000 seed sum from nonprofit commercialisation firm Research Bridge Partners. Novosteo is working on an injectable therapeutic that could accelerate and enhance the healing of bone injuries including fractures. The company plans to use the funding to begin laying out its business infrastructure with a view to securing further capital and talent from global markets. Isaac Barchas, CEO of Research Bridge Partners, will join the board of directors.
University of Maryland’s School of Pharmacy has formed a US-based spinout Pumas-AI to market a newly-launched drug modelling software platform dubbed Pharmaceutical Modeling and Simulation (Pumas). Pumas is marketed on a modular basis, providing clients with big data-driven capabilities which support drug and biotech development as well as therapeutic decision-making. The software exploits the Julia programming language to fuse traditional mechanistic modelling with artificial intelligence-powered insights. Pumas-AI was set up by two members of the School of Pharmacy’s department of pharmacy practice and science: Vijay Ivaturi, an assistant professor, and Joga Gobburu, a professor and executive director of the school’s Center for Translational Medicine.
University of Utah has licensed a new US-based subsidiary of pharmaceuticals company builder Nexeption to carry forward diagnostic research into eosinophil-related gastrointestinal diseases. The subsidiary, named Nexeos, plans to deliver a diagnostic imaging agent that would enter the patient’s bloodstream to detect inflammation caused by abnormal or organ-threatening accumulations of the white blood cell eosinophil, which is thought to release toxic substances that damage biological tissues. Nexeos’s business, which also includes a potentially therapeutic compound for eosinophil-related inflammation, stems from research undertaken by Utah’s Gerald Gleich, professor of internal medicine and dermatology, Kristin Leiferman, co-director of the university’s immunodermatology lab, and Kathryn Peterson, associate professor of gastroenterology.
