Daily deal net: June 12, 2020

Wibotic, a US-based wireless charging and power optimisation spinout of University of Washington, has received $5.7m of series A funding from investors including commercialisation firm Washington Research Foundation and its W Fund, GeekWire reported yesterday. The series A round was filled out by Junson Capital, SV Tech Ventures, Rolling Bay Ventures and Aves Capital. Wibotic’s wireless charging technology uses near-field antennas and battery optimisation software to power devices such as autonomous robots and drones without using wired plug points. The company was co-founded by Joshua Smith, a professor of computer science and electrical engineering, and his then PhD research assistant Ben Waters. Wibotic will spend series A proceeds on technology development and building out sales capacity to cope with projected customer enquiries.
Egle Therapeutics, a France-based developer of a therapeutic platform for oncological and autoimmune indications, has been spun out of Institut Curie and raised €4.6m ($5.2m) in convertible debt from Takeda Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Takeda Pharmaceutical. The spinout has joined Takeda in a strategic alliance under which a group of candidates will be validated and transferred to Takeda for development, manufacturing and commercialisation. Egle Therapeutics will also receive an upfront cash payment, research funding and potential milestone payments based on the exclusivity of Takeda-licensed targets.
SiriusXT, an Ireland-based soft X-ray microscope technology spinout of University College Dublin, has secured €4.5m ($5.1m) of blended equity and grant funding from the EU-run European Innovation Council’s Accelerator Pilot initiative. The funding is intended to explore SiriusXT’s application as a research tool for diseases including Covid-19. Founded in 2015, SiriusXT has created a miniaturised version of soft X-ray technology used to provide 3D imaging of the internal structure of cells. At present, illuminating these X-rays requires a electricity resources from a dedicated, football-sized venue known as a synchrotron. SiriusXT was co-founded from UCD’s School of Physics by then research fellow Kenneth Fahy alongside Fergal O’Reilly, a physics researcher and innovation officer, and Tony McEnroe, the chief executive of the spinout. EU-run research and innovation program Horizon 2020 supplied SiriusXT with $3.4m in 2016 according to media reports, however this likely included grant funding.
SuperAnnotate, a US-based artificial intelligence-powered annotation platform, raised $3m in a seed round yesterday featuring Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, the investment vehicle of University of California, Berkeley’s incubator SkyDeck, according to Crunchbase News. Point Nine Capital led the round, which also included Fathom Captial and Plug and Play Ventures. Berkeley SkyDeck Fund and Plug and Play Ventures were identified as returning backers and SuperAnnotate has now secured a total of $3.7m in funding, according to chief executive Tigran Petrosyan.
Kalsiom, a France-based autoimmune disease drug developer spun out of national research institute Inserm, has closed its inaugural €2m ($2.3m) round featuring regional tech transfer centre Satt Ouest Valorisation, Advent France Biotechnology and Go Capital. Kalsiom is working on antibodies to regulate calcium transmitted into cells, believed to be a critical driver in autoimmune disease. The company’s lead asset has completed proof-of-concept work for the autoimmune disease lupus, and has further programs underway for diseases such as myasthenia gravis. Kalsiom commercialises work conducted by its scientific co-founder Olivier Mignen, professor emeritus at University of Western Brittany’s medical school. Research hospital Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille is also supporting Kalsiom’s research.
– Additional reporting by editor Thierry Heles