Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
ToposWare, a Japan-based blockchain network platform developer spun out of Digital Hollywood University (DHU), has raised ¥750m ($7.2m) in funding from business management software supplier Miroku Jyoho. The deal came after ToposWare raised $1.85m from DHU, D Rockets and individuals including Ōki Matsumoto and Kenji Kasahara in May 2020.
RxRevu, a US-based medical prescription decision-making tool developer, has closed a $7m series B round led by Jazz Venture Partners, with participation from unnamed, existing health system partners. The company has now raised a total of $28m, it said, and its shareholders also include University of Virginia’s Licensing and Ventures Group (UVA LVG) Seed Fund following a $15.9m series A round in 2019.
Parse Biosciences, a US-based single-cell RNA sequencing technology spinout of University of Washington, has raised $7m in funding led by Bioeconomy Capital, with participation from assorted angel investors. The spinout rebranded from its original name of Split Biosciences in conjunction with the financing, and its total equity now stands at $2m.
Lunewave, a US-based developer of a two-sensor radar system for autonomous vehicles that was spun out of University of Arizona, has secured $7m in a series A round led by FM Capital, according to the Phoenix Business Journal. Proeza Ventures, Blue 9 Capital, Tsingyuan Ventures and Intact Ventures also took part in the round. The money will drive an engineering and sales staff recruitment drive.
H2Sys, a France-based developer of a hydrogen generator, has received €5m ($6m) in funding from the Maugis fund, a $60m vehicle established with a fine levied on industrial conglomerate General Electric after it failed to uphold the terms of a local acquisition, and from the government through its energy transition recovery plan. H2Sys is the first company to benefit from the Maugis fund. Founded in 2016, H2Sys is a spinout of University of Franche-Comté, CNRS, École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques and University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard.
Microcaps, a Switzerland-based developer of formulation, processes and equipment to generate precision microcapsules, has closed a CHF5m ($5.6m) seed round co-led by Helvetica Capital and Zürcher Kantonalbank. The ETH Zurich spinout also attracted cash from ETH Zurich Foundation, Lichtsteiner Foundation and assorted angel investors. It will use the cash to launch its first product and expand its headcount.
XP Health, a US-based artificial intelligence-powered benefits platform for eye care, has raised $5m in seed funding led by Valor Captial Group, with contributions from Stanford-StartX Fund, Semper Virens, Village Global, J-Angels and private investors. The money will support continued technology development and allow XP Health to hire more R&D and engineering staff.
Cellvie, a US-based therapeutic mitochondria transfer technology spinout of Harvard University, has closed a $5m funding round led by Kizoo Technology Capital. Cellvie will now advance its product pipeline, including a first application in rejuvenation. Its technology has applications in a broad range of conditions, from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s to strokes and heart attacks.
Agara, a US-based virtual voice agents platform, has collected $4.3m in pre-series A funding led by University of Tokyo’s venture capital affiliate University of Tokyo Edge Capital, with commitments from Blume Ventures and RTP Global. Agara has now raised $7.5m altogether from investors also including Kleiner Perkins, it said.
LatticeFlow, a Switzerland-based artificial intelligence technology spinout of ETH Zurich, has picked up $2.8m in seed financing co-led by Btov and Global Founders Capital, according to TechCrunch. LatticeFlow’s technology delivers tools to build and deploy AI models that are reliable in real-world settings.
Sano Genetics, a UK-based personalised medicine platform, has collected £2.5m ($3.3m) in seed funding from investors including Cambridge Enterprise, the tech transfer office of University of Cambridge, according to TechCrunch. The round was led by Episode1 Ventures, and also featured Seedcamp, January Ventures and angel investors. Part of the money will fund free at-home DNA testing kits for people suffering from long covid.
CoviCept Therapeutics, a US-based company working on a small molecule that inhibits the replication of RNA viruses such as covid, has been spun out of University of California, San Diego with $2.3m in seed capital from Forbion.
Parakey, a Sweden-based developer of a digital lock for commercial properties, has secured SEK20m ($2.3m) in funding, according to MyNewsDesk. The company did not specify who provided the capital, but its shareholders include Chalmers Ventures, the incubation arm of Chalmers University of Technology.
DeepTrace Technologies, an Italy-based spinout of Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori working on predictive models for diagnostic imaging, has collected $2m in funding from Progress Tech Transfer, a fund launched by commercialisation form Mito Technology, according to Born2Invest. The spinout will now seek regulatory approval in the EU for its medical devices and expand the range of diseases.
Slingshot Simulations, a UK-based spinout of University of Leeds that generates virtual models of real-world locations such as warehouses, has received £1.5m ($2m) in funding from Mercia-managed Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund – Mercia Equity Finance and the UK government’s Future Fund, Prolific North reported today. The spinout previously obtained $980,000 in funding from University of Leeds and Mercia in 2019.
Kvasir, a UK-based artificial intelligence knowledge management software spinout of University of Cambridge, has secured nearly £1.4m ($1.9m) in funding on equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube and tech transfer office Cambridge Enterprise also contributed £500,000 to the round. The spinout had previously obtained £175,000 from unnamed backers in 2018, it revealed as part of its crowdfunding campaign pitch.
Rin Institute, a Japan-based antibody and in-vitro drug research and development company spun out of University of Tokyo, has received ¥200m ($1.9m) from the institution’s Innovation Platform and venture capital firm Fast Track Initiative. The latter had already supplied an undisclosed amount of capital in 2018.
Slate Bio, a US-based biotechnology spinout of University of Virginia (UVA) working on treatments for autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, has completed a $1.8m round led by Epidarex Capital, with participation from UVA LVG Seed Fund, VTC Seed Fund, Center for Innovative Technology’s Gap BioLife Fund, consultancy PharmaDirections, management and unnamed investors.
Opticyte, a US-based developer of a medical device to detect low oxygen levels and prevent organ failure, has revealed it closed a $1.7m seed round in November 2020 co-led by Swan Venture Fund II and outsourced medical device developer StarFish Medical. Opticyte was founded out of University of Washington in 2016.
Manus Neurodynamica, a UK-based developer of a digital pen that detects early-stage neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, has completed a £1.2m ($1.6m) round featured Old College Capital (OCC), the venture fund of University of Edinburgh. The round was led by Northstar Ventures-managed North East Innovation Fund and also included SIS Ventures. OCC had already participated in a $944,000 round for Manus in May 2020.
Deltaray, a Belgium-based industrial quality control tool developer spun out of University of Anvers and Imec, has raised €1.3m ($1.5m) in funding from both institutions as well as Limburg-focused investment company LRM and private investors, DataNews reported today. Deltaray’s technology uses artificial intelligence that analyses x-rays and 3D scans to ensure quality control without interrupting the manufacturing process.
Hulix, a Japan-based indoor positioning technology developer spun out of Osaka University, has received ¥130m ($1.2m) in funding from the institution’s investment subsidiary Osaka University Venture Capital (OUVC). It marks OUVC Fund II’s first deal since it was formed on January 1, 2021.
Oveo.io, a Denmark-based platform to help companies manage their various software-as-a-service subscriptions, has picked up €1m ($1.2m) in pre-seed capital from PreSeed Ventures, the venture firm owned by Technical University of Denmark, the Danish government’s growth fund Vækstfonden and private investor Ole Andersen, according to EU-Startups.
CotobaDesign, a Japan-based automated dialogue platform developer spun out of Osaka University, has raised ¥100m ($956,000) in capital from OUVC Fund I.
ToothPic, an Italy-based mobile authentication platform spun out of Politecnico di Torino, has received €810,000 ($950,000) in funding from Vertis Venture 3 Tech Transfer Fund and angel consortium Club degli Investitori, according to SiliconCanals. ToothPic’s enables online authentication by generating cryptographic keys using manufacturing imperfections in a smartphone’s photographic sensor – imperfections that are unique to each device.
Dialogtrail, a Sweden-based marketing technology developer, has raised SEK6m ($710,000) in funding from Chalmers Ventures, the venture arm of Chalmers University of Technology, Brightly Ventures and assorted angel investors. Dialogtrail is working on a chatbot for e-commerce that can be deployed on third-party platforms such as Facebook Messenger. The capital will allow Dialogtrail to expand across the Nordic and other European countries. Chalmers Ventures was identified as a returning backer, but further details could not be ascertained.
HarvestX, a Japan-based fruit and vegetable plant automation technology developer, has secured ¥50m ($482,000) from University of Tokyo’s Innovation Platform’s AOI I fund, venture capital firm Anri and individuals Sōichirō Kawai, Keisuke Sogawa and Kunihiro Tanaka.
Moxin, a China-based artificial intelligence chip developer co-founded by Carnegie Mellon University researchers, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from cloud computing and big data services provider Inspur Group. Moxin plans to release its first product later this year.
Mission Secure, a US-based cybersecurity technology developer, has attracted an undisclosed amount of series B capital from backers including UVA LVG Seed Fund. The round was co-led by Ireon Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of petroleum company Motor Oil Hellas, Energy Innovation Capital and Blue Bear Capital Partners. The transaction also featured Chevron Technology Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of oil and gas company Chevron. Mission Secure has now raised $22.5m in funding altogether, it said.
Climeworks, a Switzerland-based carbon capture technology spinout of ETH Zurich, has secured a commitment of undisclosed size from software producer Microsoft, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Microsoft will provide the money through its climate fund, set up to help the corporate reach net zero by 2030 and to remove all of its historic emissions by 2050. The money will allow Climeworks to scale its Iceland facility. Climeworks closed a $110m round in September 2020.
– Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Robert Lavine
