Today's deal net contains news from Boston Metal, Evologic Therapeutics, Lilz, GaitQ, Hemerion Therapeutics and Rebrain.
Boston Metal, a US-based molten metal production technology spinout from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), added metals and mining company Vale and investment firm Energy Impact Partners to the backers of its series B round yesterday. Boston Metal did not reveal an updated round size, though it was targeting a $60m close as of the $50m initial tranche last month. That first close featured The Engine, the incubator and venture fund aligned with MIT, and was co-led by BHP Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mining company BHP, together with Devonshire Investors, the private investment firm affiliated with FMR, and Piva Capital. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures and OGCI Climate Investments also participated in the January tranche.
Evologic Technologies, an Austria-based agtech spinout of TU Wien, closed a €2.5m ($3m) funding round yesterday led by investment firm Askur Invest, with participation from agricultural products wholesaler RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria, agricultural services provider Mauthner, diversified holding group BayWa, investment firm Vivida, federal development bank Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) and EU-owned European Investment Fund. Founded in 2016, Evologic has developed a standardised bioreactor process to generate products such as fertilisers and pesticides. RWA and BayWa previously injected an undisclosed amount in 2017, following pre-seed and seed financing from AWS at an earlier, unspecified date. Evologic also named Mauthner and Vivida as returning shareholders for the latest round without offering further details.
Lilz, a Japan-based remote infrastructure inspection service led by researchers from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University and University of Ryukyu, has closed a ¥250m ($2.4m) series A round including electronics manufacturer Sony’s Startup Acceleration Program, investment and consulting services firm Dogan subsidiary Dogan Beta, as well as Energy & Environment Investment and Okinawa Development Finance Corporation. UmuSun Lab was identified as an existing shareholder, but further details were not disclosed.
GaitQ, a UK-based wearable medical device developer spun out of University of Oxford, has obtained £625,000 ($865,000) in pre-seed funding since its launch in March 2020, it revealed yesterday. The money was provided by University of Oxford Innovation Fund V, managed by Parkwalk Advisors, and private investor Simon Godwin who was recently named chairman of the company. The money will enable GaitQ to move ahead with early testing and development of its smart device, which aims to help Parkinson’s patients to overcome episodes of gait freezing – a debilitating symptom characterised by a brief inability or reduction of feet moving forward despite the patient’s intention to walk.
Hemerion Therapeutics, a France-based developer of a treatment for glioblastoma, has been spun out of and secured an exclusive licence from University of Lille-affiliated hospital CHU Lille thanks to regional tech transfer office Satt Nord. Hemerion will commercialise a photosensitising agent combined with a laser that means brain cancer cells can be precisely targeted while leaving healthy cells intact. It is based on research led by Prof Serge Mordon, who is also a research director in Inserm’s Oncothai lab.
Rebrain, a France-based developer of deep brain stimulation technology, was spun out last month by Satt Aquitaine Science Transfert to commercialise research conducted at University of Bordeaux and its hospital CHU Bordeaux together with research institute Inria. Rebrain hopes its neurostimulation device will be able to treat Parkinson’s disease.
– Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu
