Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Wassha, a Japan-based, Africa-focused e-commerce platform, has raised ¥1.01bn ($9.2m) in a series B round from backers including air conditioning equipment manufacturer Daikin Industries, motor vehicle manufacturer Yamaha Motor Company and trading group Marubeni. The round also featured Mizuho Capital, a VC vehicle for financial services firm Mizuho Bank, University of Tokyo Edge Capital (Utec), a VC firm affiliated with the institution, and Mistletoe Japan. Founded in 2013, Wassha has developed an off-grid solar service for rural areas in Africa. Its overall funding now stands at approximately ¥2.4bn ($21.9m).
Urania Therapeutics, a France-based biopharmaceutical spinout of Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGMBC), today collected €3.5m ($3.85m) in a seed round led by venture capital fund Advent France Biotechnology. The round also included contract research organisation NovAlix and venture capital firm Cap Innov’Est. Urania is working on treatments for rare monogenic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and for certain types of cancer. The spinout expects to conclude the proof of concept stage in vivo within 18 months for unspecified therapeutic areas. IGMBC is a joint research institute between University of Strasbourg, French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm).
