Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Universal Quantum, a UK-based quantum computing spinout of University of Sussex, has raised £3.6m ($4.6m) of seed funding from investors including Village Global, Hoxton Ventures, Propagator VC, Luminous VC, 7Percent and unnamed angel investors. The company has invented an approach for developing a quantum computing system where trapped ions transmitting microwaves perform calculations, as opposed to the laser beams prevalent with other technologies. The aim is to execute quantum computers at easier-to-obtain temperatures in order to make them more practical and capable. Universal Quantum was co-founded by Winfried Hensinger, professor of quantum technologies at University of Sussex, and his postdoctoral research assistant Sebastian Weidt.
PreView Medical, a US-based developer of optical cancer biopsy technology spun out of University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, has launched with $250,000 of seed funding from the university’s Office of the Chancellor. It was formed in partnership with entrepreneurs Jonathan Gasson and Sharon Lake and expects to now secure series A funding to progress its approach, which exploits an optical needle and software algorithms to compile high-definition 3D pictures of prostate tumours. The company’s technology was invented by CU Anschutz-based Priya Werahera, a research associate professor of pathology, and David Crawford, a cancer screening-focused investigator, together with John Daily, a professor of air quality and thermo fluid sciences at CU Boulder.