Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Membrion, a US-based water filter membrane developer spun out of University of Washington, has raised $6m in series A funding from investors including WRF Capital, the university venturing arm of tech transfer organisation Washington Research Foundation, GeekWire reported yesterday. The round was led by Bellingham Angel Investors with additional contributions from SeaChange Fund and unnamed existing investors. Membrion supplies silica gel-based sheets that filter salty water from sources such as aquifers and estuaries to create freshwater. The silica gel, a solid form of silicon dioxide, is marketed toward enabling more cost-effective water desalination in industries expecting freshwater shortages. Membrion’s founder, CEO and chief technology officer is Greg Newbloom, a former University of Washington lecturer, research engineer and commercialisation fellow. The spinout closed its seed round at $1.5m in December 2018, attracting Sierra Angels and Sand Hill Angels three months after the $1m initial close featuring Bellingham Angel Investors, E8 and the E8 Fund, and multiple individual backers.
Ayar Labs, a US-based high-performance computing technology spinout of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has received an undisclosed sum from Lockheed Martin Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin. Founded in 2015, Ayar Labs builds fibre optic transceivers for high-performance tasks such as artificial intelligence. The capital, which will go to Ayar’s commercialisation roadmap, follows $29.5m of equity funding and debt from prior rounds, including $3m in loans from Silicon Valley Bank in April 2019. Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of chipset maker Intel, invested in the company’s $24m series A round in 2018 together with Playground Global, Global Foundries and Founders Fund,. The latter’s FF Science unit led Ayar’s $2.5m seed round in 2016, with commitments from TechU Angels and undisclosed additional investors.
Zapata Computing, a US-based quantum computing software spinout of Harvard University, raised an undisclosed sum on Tuesday from Honeywell Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of industrial product and software producer Honeywell. Founded in 2017, Zapata has developed a quantum computing software platform called Orquestra that offers enhanced computational power for applications including machine learning, chemistry and optimisation. Honeywell Ventures’ investment came on the day its parent said it would launch a trapped ion-based quantum computer within the next three months, following technical collaboration with Zapata. Zapata had assembled $31.4m in equity and debt financing before the latest round, most recently attracting $21m in an April 2019 series A co-led by Comcast Ventures, part of mass media group Comcast, and Prelude Ventures. BASF Venture Capital and Robert Bosch Venture Capital – respective subsidiaries of chemicals supplier BASF and industrial equipment maker Robert Bosch – also supplied series A capital together with Pitango Ventures, MIT deep tech-focused fund The Engine and Pillar VC, the latter two as existing investors.