Daily deal net: June 20, 2019

Symetrica, a UK-based radiation detection and identification spinout of University of Southampton, has collected £3m ($3.9m) in a funding round co-led by Parkwalk Advisors, the fund management arm of commercialisation firm IP Group, and innovation foundation Nesta, BQLive reported on Tuesday. The round also included return investors Albion Investments, Technology Venture Partners and Tennants Ventures. Symetrica has now raised £10m in funding altogether since it was spun out of Southampton’s Department of Physics and Astronomy in 2002. It will use the capital injection to drive expansion plans across the US, including the opening of a larger manufacturing site in Massachusetts this summer.
ArtiQ, a Belgium-based spinout of KU Leuven that has developed technology to help pulmonologists diagnose, treat and monitor respiratory conditions, has closed a €1m ($1.17m) seed round backed by the university’s Gemma Frisius Fund, as well as University Hospitals Leuve, private investor Bart Swaelenes and KBC Focus Fund, an investment vehicle of financial services firm KBC. The funding will enable ArtiQ to launch its ArtiQ|PFT tool, which enables physicians to evaluate a patient’s lung functions. The spinout hopes to deploy the technology across multiple hospitals in Belgium, before pursuing an international expansion.
Direct Spinal Therapeutics, a US-based medical device maker based on research at University of Virginia (UVA) and University of Iowa, obtained an undisclosed amount of funding on Tuesday from the UVA LVG Seed Fund. The money will allow Direct Spinal Therapeutics to advance its spinal cord stimulation technology, aimed at treating chronic back pain and spinal cord injuries. Founded in 2013, Direct Spinal Therapeutics is the seventh spinout to join UVA LVG Seed Fund’s portfolio. The spinout previously obtained $1m in a 2013 funding round, according to a regulatory filing.