Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Xampla, a UK-based producer of plant protein-derived materials spun out of University of Cambridge, has closed a £6.2m ($8.4m) seed round led by Horizons Ventures that featured Cambridge Enterprise, the institution’s tech transfer office, in addition to Amadeus Capital Partners and Sky Ocean Ventures, the impact-focused investment arm of media and broadcasting group Sky. Founded in 2018, Xampla is looking to produce alternatives to microplastics and single-use plastics in a bid to reduce ocean water pollution and injuries to aquatic creatures. The funding will accelerate the go-to-market pathway for its plant protein materials, which it says performs like synthetic polymers.
Elute Intelligence Holdings, a UK-based advanced document search tool provider, has secured £250,000 ($338,000) from private investors in exchange for a 10% equity stake. Existing backer Frontier IP said Elute was valued at $3.4m following the deal, and the commercialisation firm now holds a 41% stake. The funding will help to support Elute’s existing enterprise document search product, which exploits forensic linguistic analysis, as well as development of a patent reader exploiting the same fundamental technology. Elute was formed in 2019 from an existing UK business called CFL Software with certain assets developed by Frontier IP.
ArsenalBio, a US-based immunotherapy developer leveraging research originating from Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI), has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from pharmaceutical firm Bristol Myers Squibb as part of a collaboration deal focusing on T cell therapies to treat solid tumours. The partnership agreement includes a $70m upfront payment and it comes after ArsenalBio launched in 2019 with $85m in series A funding from investors including Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, University of California, San Francisco Foundation’s Investment Company, Osage University Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Westlake Village BioPartners, San Francisco Foundation Investment Company and Euclidean Capital.
Moxe, a US-based health data exchange technology, has added an undisclosed amount of funding from 3M Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of manufacturing conglomerate 3M, following earlier commitments from UPMC Enterprises, the investment arm of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, life sciences and medical technology company Safeguard Scientifics, investment firm Summit Action and unnamed affiliates of Apollo Global Management. Moxe intends to use the capital to bankroll a recruitment drive focused on product development and operational growth. The round’s size has not been confirmed.