Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Cyclopure, a US-based water purification system developer spun out of Cornell University, has obtained more than $4m of series B funding led by private investor Irwin Jacobs, with the proceeds going to development of adsorbent substances branded Dexsorb that would expel micropollutants from tap water to prevent contamination linked to a number of health conditions. The spinout has now raised more than $10m of equity and grant funding, including $3.5m supplied by undisclosed investors in its February 2019 series A round.
Qnami, a Switzerland-based quantum diagnostics sensor developer based on research from University of Basel, closed a CHF2.6m ($2.6m) seed round yesterday led by VC fund Quantonation. ZKB Start-up Finance, a subdivision of state-owned bank Zürcher Kantonalbank, also took part in the round alongside public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds, Investiere and unnamed private investors. Founded in late 2017, Qnami has devised a quantum microscope-led approach for investigating magnetic materials at nanoscale, with an initial focus on semiconductor applications. The funding will help commercialise the microscope as well as other quantum metrology products for purposes such as science and healthcare.
Retorio, a Germany-based video recruitment conferencing platform developer leveraging Technical University of Munich (TUM) research, has obtained a seven-figure euro (€1m = $1.1m) sum from unspecified investors, Deutsche-Startups reported yesterday. Founded in 2018 by three alumni of TUM’s strategy organisation research group, Retorio markets an artificial intelligence-driven recommendation platform that helps human resources departments select the best candidate for available positions.