Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
SurePulse, a UK-based baby heartbeat monitor developer leveraging University of Nottingham research, has obtained £1m ($1.3m) from undisclosed new and existing investors. Founded in 2014 in collaboration with electronics manufacturer Tioga, SurePulse has devised a small hat containing a wearable optical sensor that can track the heartrate of a newly-born infant after being affixed to their head. The device, SurePulse VS, is approved for use in the EU and has been piloted on more than 300 babies with the UK’s National Health Service. SurePulse intends to spend the money on exploring foreign markets and building out its portfolio. The company’s academic co-founders are Barrie Hayes-Gill, professor of electronic systems and medical devices at the Faculty of Engineering, and Don Sharkey, clinical associate professor of neonatal medicine.
University of Birmingham and University of Warwick have joined forces to spin out UK-based 4D Medicine in a bid to deliver liquid resin materials for engineering 3D-printed biomedical scaffolds. 4D Medicine starts out having raised £281,000 ($350,000) of pre-seed funding from SFC Capital in addition to grant money from Innovate UK. The company’s liquid resins would help heal biological tissues by retaining their shape and allowing engineers to alter their mechanical and chemical properties. 4D Medicine will direct the funding toward technology development. Andrew Dove, professor of chemistry at University of Birmingham, and Andrew Weems, a postdoctoral researcher at University of Warwick, patented the approach following 12 years of research into tissue engineering and biomaterials driven by Dove’s team.
