Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.

US-based plant-based protein manufacturer Emergy Foods has received $4.8m in a round led by University of California-backed venture fund Congruent Ventures. Prelude Ventures, Better Ventures, Fifty Years, New Crop Capital, The March Fund I, Trust Ventures, Bluestein and Associates, and undisclosed additional investors also took part. Founded in 2016, Emergy creates plant-based proteins that can be eaten as an alternative to meat and which are intended to be nutritious. The capital will help Emergy open new headquarters, extend its production plant, refine its underlying technology and build up a consumer-friendly brand.
Australia-based food supply provenance tracking technology developer Lumachain has attracted A$3.5m ($2.4m) from investors including Main Sequence Ventures, the venture firm established by research institute Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australian Financial Review reported today. Lumachain has devised a blockchain-powered system that tracks food through the supply chain to help prevent unethical practices such as slavery. Lumachain was founded by chief executive Jamila Gordon, an advisory council member at Australian government-run science and technology centre Questacon. Lumachain does not appear to have raised equity previously.
Drawbridge Health, a US-based medical diagnostics spinout of industrial conglomerate General Electric, has obtained an undisclosed sum from investors including Kyoto University Innovation Capital (KU-iCap), the university’s venturing arm. The deal included General Electric’s GE Ventures unit along with drug maker Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, health supplements producer Thorne Research and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, the VC arm of financial services group Mitsubishi UFJ. Drawbridge hopes to commercialise a blood draw device for medical diagnostics that improves patient comfort and enables blood samples to be quickly transported for analysis. Drawbridge is conducting research in partnership with Kyoto University and also has a strategic alliance with Thorne Research, while Sumitomo Dainippon hopes to use the technology to establish a new healthcare business. KU-iCap vehicle Innovation Kyoto 2016 equipped Drawbridge with an undisclosed sum in October 2018, following a connection made at the GUV: Fusion conference in May that year.