Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Sweden-based accounting app developer Bokio, a portfolio company of Chalmers University of Technology’s venture arm Chalmers Ventures, has procured approximately €4m ($4.4m) from investors including financial services group Svea Ekonomi, venture capital firm Creandum and angel investor Chris Adelsbach, according to Digital. Founded in 2012, Bokio runs an app-based accounting service with automated features tailored to small and medium-sized enterprises. Bokio generates revenue through contracts with larger enterprise clients, while offering the core app free-of-charge to around 80,000 accounts in Sweden and the UK. Chalmers Ventures participated in Bokio’s $3.5m seed round led by Creandum in mid-2017, investing alongside Svea Ekonomi, Inbox Ventures and business angels Sophia Bendz and Mattias Miksche. Bokio had already raised $60,000 in pre-seed funding from Chalmers Ventures and Swedish state innovation agency Vinnova in 2015.
Cyan Forensics, a UK-based law enforcement evidence-gathering software spinout of Edinburgh Napier University, raised £1.3m ($1.7m) yesterday from investors including the government-owned Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) and impact investment fund SIS Ventures. The round was filled out by Mercia Asset Management, Triple Point Investment Management and unspecified private investors, and will go toward a business expansion centred around entering northern European markets. Founded in 2016, Cyan Forensics has built an analytics-driven software tool used to probe digital devices for leads on serious crimes such as terrorism and child exploitation. Cyan has now raised $3.7m of funding altogether, it said. The spinout initially raised $290,000 in 2016 from SIB and Mercia’s Fund Management unit, later closing a $1.2m Mercia-led round in November last year with backing from SIB and private investor Don Macleod.
Australia-based energy infrastructure monitoring platform developer Aurtra has secured A$2m ($1.4m) in seed funding from multi-university venture fund Uniseed, angel investment group Sydney Angels and other unnamed syndicates and international investors, according to the Australian. The company has built internet-of-things technology that gives energy operators real-time oversight of grid transformers which reduce the voltage of electricity from power plants so that it does not trip localised substations.
Chalmers Ventures, the investment and incubator arm of Chalmers University of Technology, has spun out Sweden-based Omen Technologies to pursue cybersecurity technologies for critical systems such as self-driving cars and connected industrial infrastructure. Omen Technologies claims its cybersecurity algorithms are both energy efficient and accountable, addressing two pain points associated with artificial intelligence and machine learning. The technology was invented by Magnus Almgren, an associate professor for networks and systems in the department of computer science and engineering. Omen Technologies has already raised an undisclosed sum from Chalmers Ventures and is a graduate of the latter’s accelerator for pre-spinout tech transfer projects.
