Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Digital Alloys, a US-based hard metal parts printing technology spun out of additive manufacturing business NVBots, itself a spinout of Massachusetts of Institute of Technology, has raised $1.1m of a targeted $1.2m series B round, according to a regulatory filing. Founded in 2017, Digital Alloys supplies a 3D printing system called Joule Printing for manufacturing hard metal parts. The technology is a closed-loop control system, meaning it automatically regulates certain processes, and is billed as low-cost and swift to complete. Welding product maker Lincoln Electric and Boeing HorizonX Ventures, the corporate venturing unit for aerospace firm Boeing, both backed Digital Alloys’ earlier $12.9m series B round in mid-2018 that was led by G20 Ventures with further funding from venture firm Khosla Ventures, after Khosla had led a $5m series A the previous year backed by unnamed investors.
G.ST Antivirals, an Austria-based antiviral drug spinout of Medical University of Vienna, has received a mid six-figure euro sum (€100,000 = $108,000) from investors led by seed fund IST Cube. Founded in 2019, G.ST Antivirals is working on antiviral drugs to arrest the multiplication of pathogens by blocking off their access to sugar nutrients in host cells. The spinout specialises in respiratory viruses linked to the common cold but has recently commenced a program targeting Covid-19 in partnership with pharmaceutical firm Takeda. The capital will go to expanding its pipeline and preparing a phase 1 trial for its lead candidate: 2-deoxyglucose. G.ST Antivirals builds on research conducted by Guido Gualdoni and Johannes Stöckl, researchers at Medical University of Vienna’s Department of Medicine III and Institute of Immunology respectively.
Cheesecake Energy, a UK-based developer of battery storage that relies on compressed air and thermal energy, has secured an undisclosed sum from University of Nottingham and the latter’s spinout portfolio management arm Nottingham Technology Ventures. Founded in 2016, Cheesecake Energy aims to deliver an alternative to lithium-ion batteries to achieve greater efficiency, longer lifecycles and lower environmental impact. The funding will go to setting up pilot testing of Cheesecake’s product and building on the company’s existing partnership with University of Nottingham.
