Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Oxford Ionics, a UK-based quantum computing spinout of University of Oxford, has raised £2.5m ($3m) in funding from university venutring fund Oxford Sciences Innovation and Atmos Ventures.
Regional Fish, a Japan-based high-speed breeding smart fish farming spinout of Kyoto University, has raised more than ¥199m ($1.9m) in a seed round led by VC firm Beyond Next Ventures, with participation from industrial machinery manufacturer Ebara Corporation. The funding will be used to improve marine product breeding system including expanding target products and adding new characteristics and to boost research and development efforts for smart aquaculture.
APB, a joint venture between Keio Innovation Initiative (KII) and Keio University professor Hideaki Horie that develops all-polymer batteries, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Toyota Tsusho, the trading arm of carmaker Toyota. KII previously contributed to a $74.4m funding round for APB in March 2020, and the spinout will use the latest funding to build mass production plants for its speciality batteries. It will also leverage Toyoda Tsuho’s network to expand its market share.
Botsync, a Singapore-based robotic manufacturing technology company incubated at Nanyang Technology University (NTU), has raised an undisclosed amount of seed capital from investors led by engineering services provider Wong Fong Industries, the Business Times reported today. Seeds Capital, the investment arm of government agency Enterprise Singapore, took part in the round alongside Angelhub and Artesian Venture Partners. Founded in 2017, Botsync provides mobile robots equipped with a 500 to 1,000-kilogram capacity for transporting materials within manufacturing and logistics plants. The funding is expected to help scale up Botsync’s business, adding staff to its presence in Singapore and India. Botsync was incubated at NTU’s Ecolabs Center of Innovation, which supplied funding at an undisclosed date. Venture capital and accelerator firm Brinc has also backed Botsync previously, according to the Business Times.
Sightbit, an Israel-based ocean bathing lifeguard system develope, yesterday secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s student-run venture fund Cactus Capital. Sightbit has built a computer vision-driven technology that helps ocean rescue teams identify potential risks of people drowning. The system is trained using convolutional neural networks to recognise beach hazards such as wayward swimmers and unattended children. Sightbit’s technology has been commissioned by Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority to initially monitor five miles of coastline at Palmachim National Park. The company now aims to expand internationally with additional pilots at beaches in the US and Europe.
Man-Machine Synergy Effectors, a Japan-based large bipedal robot developer spun out of Ritsumeikan University, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from VC firm Future Venture Capital’s Innovation C Investment and Biwako Future Activation Investment Enterprise (also known as Funazushi Fund).
– Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Thierry Heles
