Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Neural Magic, a US-based developer of deep learning inference software spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, raised $30m on Wednesday in a series A round featuring communications software producer Amdocs and, Comcast Ventures, the investment arm of mass media group Comcast. Venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates led the round, which included Andreessen Horowitz, Pillar VC and Ridgeline Ventures. All the investors apart from Ridgeline had taken part in a $15m seed round in late 2019 that boosted the company’s overall funding to $20m.
Entia, a UK-based at-home cancer diagnostics technology developer spun out of Imperial College London, has raised $12m in a funding round led by BGF. The round included existing shareholders Parkwalk Advisors, the fund management arm of commercialisation firm IP Group, and Sussex Place Ventures. The money will allow Entia to launch a product that allows patients to perform blood tests at home so oncologists can remotely monitor and manage a potential decrease in bone marrow and blood cells during cancer treatment. Entia has now raised more than $13m to date, although this includes grant funding.
Energetic Insurance, a US-based renewable energy insurance underwriters, has raised $7m in a series A round featuring Congruent Ventures, the venture capital firm backed by University of California. The round was led by Schneider Electric Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of energy management company Schneider Electric, with additional participation from insurer MS&AD Insurance’s investment arm MS&AD Ventures, insurance brokerage Atlantic Global Risk, reinsurance firm Scor’s P&C Ventures unit, MCJ Collective, MUUS Asset Management, Powerhouse Ventures and Clean Energy Venture Group. Congruent Ventures previously led a $2.5m seed round in April 2019 that also included Clocktower Technology Ventures and Powerhouse Ventures. SCOR P&C Ventures, MUUS Asset Management and Clean Energy Venture Group were also identified as returning backers for the series A round.
Praesidium, a US-based creator of non-contact monitoring technology for vital signs, completed a $6m series A round on Tuesday led by entities controlled by real estate developer Wasatch Group. The company has not publicly disclosed any other funding since it was founded in 2016. Its co-founders include chief technology officer Gian Franco Sacco, a data scientist at space agency Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the team also features Constantinos Daskalakis, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. However, it is unclear whether Praesidium has licensed any research from either organisation.
Futora, an Israel-based fintech developer, has secured $6m in a funding round featuring TAU Ventures, an investment fund for Tel Aviv University, as well as North First Ventures, J-Ventures and private investor Sergio Fogel, according to FinSMEs. Futora’s technology enables financial institutions to create personalised investment products for their clients.
Kepler, a Japan-based optical texture technology developer, has revealed it closed a ¥150m ($1.4m at contemporary rates) seed round in July 2021 backed by University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) and Tokyo University of Science Innovation Capital, respective vehicles for University of Tokyo and Tokyo University of Science. The round also included Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and SMBC Venture Capital, on behalf of financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, as well as VC firm Astart and angel investor Takahiro Tada. This deal represents UTEC’s first investment in a company included in its Founders Program.
Dyne Group, a South Korea-based reusable endoscopic devices developer, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from TUS Holdings, the asset management arm of Tsinghua University, according to SE Daily. The investment forms part of a strategic partnership agreement.
Poladerme, a France-based developer of spectropolarimetry technology to detect skin cancer, has been spun out of ICube Laboratory, a joint research institute for University of Strasbourg, CNRS, National School for Water and Environmental Engineering and INSA Strasbourg. The project was incubated by regional tech transfer office Satt Conectus and formed by Medical Device Ventures, a commercialisation subsidiary of electronics company Archos.
– Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu and Robert Lavine
