Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Forecast, a Denmark-based enterprise project management software developer backed by Technical University of Denmark-owned venture firm PreSeed Ventures, has received $5.5m in a round led by Crane Venture Partners with participation from Seed Capital and Heartcore. The company has created an artificial intelligence-driven software platform that lets enterprise clients automate tasks, visualise workflows and predict outcomes. PreSeed Ventures joined Seed Capital in 2016 for an initial round sized at more than €750,000 ($830,000), before Seed Capital joined Heartcore – then called Sunstone Capital – to co-lead a $2.7m transaction for Forecast in November last year.
Artmyn, a Switzerland-based fine art display technology spinout of EPFL, has collected CHF4m ($4.1m) in a round co-led by online auction house Invaluable, in what was reported by Tech.eu to be convertible notes. The company offers digital scanning technology to extract digital facsimiles of artwork to be displayed to the viewer in an immersive, high-resolution format. The cash injection will support further technological development, as Artmyn looks to produce scanners for auction houses under strategic partnerships with both Invaluable and fine art warehouse complex Geneva Freeport. Artmyn’s early investors include Polytech Ventures and Alpana Ventures, and the spinout is a graduate of the MassChallenge accelerator.
Lensabl, a US-based corrective glasses lens replacement supplier, has received $4m in a round led by Oregon State University-backed venture firm Rogue Venture Partners, according to Los Angeles Business Journal. Lensabl’s initial focus was on replacement lenses for eyeglasses however the company is shifting into the adjacent contact lens and frame replacement spaces, using the funding to support the expansion in both areas. Its products are intended as an off-label alternative to other brands. Lensable previously received $3.7m in October 2018 round led by Rogue and backed by Birchmere, Aspect Ventures, Cherry Tree Investments, Amplify, Luma Launch, Watertower Ventures and Crowdsmart.
Cykinso, a Japan-based intestinal microbiota analysis technology developer allied with Osaka University’s Institute for Microbial Diseases, has obtained ¥190m ($1.7m) from the university’s Venture Capital unit, and expects to obtain additional capital from business partners and venture capital entities before the end of 2019. The company develops and provides self-testing services enabling customers to examine health and lifestyle parameters by inspecting intestinal bacteria using its DNA sequencing technologies. Cykinso previously attracted $2.3m in a January 2017 round involving investment vehicle Regional Health Care Industry Support Fund and other undisclosed investors, after an angel round backed by undisclosed angels at an unspecified date, according to Reuters.
Turing Intelligence (TurinTech.ai), a UK-based software optimisation spinout of University College London, has obtained more than £1m ($1.3m) of seed capital led by venture capital firm IQ Capital. Founded in 2017 by four researchers from UCL’s Department of Computer Science, TurinTech.ai has created a platform that allows software developers to automate parts of the update process for AI-driven products across a number of business sectors in order to enhance performance and reduce costs. TurinTech.ai is a resident business of the Microsoft Reactor incubator complex in London, however it does not appear to have disclosed equity funding.
CorrosionRadar, a UK-based pipeline maintenance technology spinout of Cranfield University, has procured £1m ($1.3m) in a round involving MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, a subdivision of the government-backed Midlands Engine Investment Fund managed by Mercia Asset Management, according to Insider Media. The company has developed sensors which rely on artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to consistently track potential corrosion in pipelines, serving industrial sectors such as oil, gas and petrochemical production. The funding will help CorrosionRadar enhance its software, hardware and predictive analytics capabilities, while also funding the recruitment of 10 additional sales and marketing professionals. CorrosionRadar also secured government grant money through research agencies Innovate UK and the Oil and Gas Technology Centre together with the latest round, which follows a reported £354,000 ($474,000) transaction in late 2017 comprising $335,000 from Mercia and $140,000 in Innovate UK grant money.
Zenerchi, a US-based simulator software company, has emerged from stealth with $1.2m of seed capital from unnamed investors to deliver products on the back of research from Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Indiana University, Harvard Medical School and the US Department of Defense. Zenerchi’s SimViz AI platform will facilitate the creation of simulators that incorporate human physiological movements for applications such as biomedical research, fitness, education and exhibitions. The company is currently seeking an additional $5m funding round with unspecified institutional investors.
Rosa Biotech, a UK-based University of Bristol spinout commercialising chronic disease diagnostic applications, has obtained £760,000 ($980,000) in a round backed by assorted angel investors including Harry Destecroix, founder of Bristol’s glucose sensor spinout Ziylo. Rosa Biotech hopes to devise sensor technologies that apply artificial intelligence to detect faint chemicals for medical diagnostics and industry applications – in effect an attempt to mimic the mammalian sense of smell. The funding will enable it to extend its headcount and underlying platform while demonstrating its applicability in additional sectors.
Nu Quantum, a UK-based quantum photonics spinout of University of Cambridge, has closed a £650,000 ($840,000) pre-seed round involving the university’s tech transfer office Cambridge Enterprise, according to NewElectronics. The round was led by Amadeus Capital Partners with participation from IQ Capital, Ahren Capital and Martlet Capital. The spinout is progressing single-photon quantum components that would operate at room temperature for applications such as quantum security and low-light sensors. Nu Quantum is led by chief executive Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, a postdoctoral associate in the university’s Cavendish lab specialised in the quantum optics of two-dimensional materials.
Prowler.io, a UK-based artificial intelligence forecasting platform developer backed by University of Cambridge patient capital fund Cambridge Innovation Capital, has received a funding contribution of undisclosed size from Reefknot Investments, a VC partnership between transport and logistics firm Kuehne + Nagel and Singaporean government-owned investment company Temasek. Founded in 2016, Prowler.io has built a software platform called Vuku that applies mathematics, engineering and economic game theory as the basis for artificial intelligence-based forecasts in a number of industries. The business last obtained $24m in a May 2019 series B round involving CIC, publisher Pearson, internet firm Tencent, growth equity firm Atlantic Bridge, Singaporean state-owned deep tech commercialisation firm SG Innovate and Mandatum Life, an insurance-focused arm of financial services group Sampo.
Castor Technologies, an Israel-based 3D printing job previewing software developer, has secured a round of undisclosed size backed by TAU Ventures – Tel-Aviv University’s venture fund – in addition to others including Chartered Group and Evonik Venture Capital, the corporate venturing unit of chemical producer Evonik. Castor is working on software that helps manufacturers determine whether 3D printing is viable by forecasting a given part’s likely printability, material, cost and lead time.
Cellular Analytics, a Canada-based microfluidic cancer diagnostics platform developer, has been spun out of University of Toronto and Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust (Facit), the seed-stage commercialisation unit allied to Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, with an undisclosed seed sum from the latter’s Compass Rose Oncology Fund. Cellular Analytics hopes to commercialise on-chip technology capable of gauging the sensitivity of single circulating tumour cells to a range of immunoncological agents at lower cost than existing approaches.