Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Heartbeat Health, a US-based digital cardiovascular telemedicine platform that exploits Columbia University research, on Thursday secured $8.2m of series A capital co-led by Optum Ventures, a corporate venturing arm of health services provider Optum, and venture firm .406 Ventures. The round was filled out by Kindred Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Designer Fund and Max Ventures. Heartbeat Health was founded by its CEO Jeff Wessler, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Columbia’s Irving Medical Center. The spinout offers an artificial intelligence-driven app to healthcare providers and employers that guides the user toward healthier habits for their heart such as exercise, medication and giving up smoking. Heartbeat plans to use the funding for R&D and to expand its platform into more US geographies. Payal Divakaran, partner at .406 Ventures, has joined the board of directors.
NanoGriptech, a US-based dry adhesive and surface material maker spun out of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), obtained $6m on Thursday from investors including Industrial Technology Investment Corp (ITIC), the venture arm of Taiwan-based Industrial Technology Research Institute. Also participating was industrial conglomerate Koç Holding and its investment partnership with trading group Mitsui & Co – Inventram – as well as family office Grouse Ridge Capital, economic development board Idea Foundry and state-backed investors Innovation Works and Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh. NanoGriptech supplies adhesive materials to improve the grip of surfaces in consumer wearables, electronic devices and upholstery. Metin Sitti, a former professor in CMU’s Robotics Institute and Department of Mechanical Engineering, is the founder of NanoGriptech, which will invest the latest funding in its manufacturing and commercialisation programs. Cem Soysal, chief executive of Inventram, has joined the board of directors. NanoGriptech received $1.7m from ITIC in 2018, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times, and also counts Breakout Labs as an early-stage investor. The company was supported at an undisclosed date by non-profit research incubator Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center and unnamed private investors.
Synthesized, a UK-based dataset generation and development technology developer founded on University of Cambridge research, has raised $2.8m in a round co-led by IQ Capital and Mundi Ventures. The round also included Seedcamp, Pretiosum Ventures and unnamed UK-based finance and technology executives. Synthesized provides artificial intelligence-driven software that enables enterprise clients to structure data for the needs of various use-cases. The funding will go to doubling its headcount with a focus on sales and product. Synthesized was formed in 2018 by its chief executive Nicolai Baldin, then at University of Cambridge as a PhD candidate.
EmbeDL, a Sweden-based machine learning algorithm optimisation tool developer spun out of Chalmers University of Technology, has raised SEK7m ($700,000) from investors including Chalmers Ventures, the university’s incubation and venture arm. VC firms Almi Invest and Butterfly Ventures also took part, as did angel investors including affiliates of syndicate STOAF – Stockholm Business Angels. The spinout focuses on software development tools that make it easier to deploy deep learning algorithms for applications such as image recognition, natural language processing and contextual awareness. The funding is intended to progress product development with a view to targeting the automotive, internet-of-things and cloud computing spaces. EmbeDL’s founders include Devdatt Dubhashi, professor at data science and artificial intelligence at Chalmers University of Technology.
