Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
NeoProgen, a US-based biotech spinout of University of Maryland, Baltimore, completed a $1.5m seed round on Wednesday backed by the institution’s Maryland Momentum Fund and tech transfer office UM Ventures, as well as University of Maryland, Baltimore and Tedco. NeoProgen is working on a stem cell-based therapy for patients suffering from a heart attack or advanced heart failure. The cells used by the spinout have shown, in preclinical studies, to be significantly more effective in regenerating muscle tissue than comparable methods. The spinout will use the money to continue its scientific development efforts for good manufacturing practice and to work towards regulatory approval for a phase 1 trial to be conducted in Krakow, Poland. NeoProgen expects to raise $8m to $10m in series A capital to fund that phase 1 trial.
Aqemia, a France-based molecule matching technology developer based on research at Université PSL, has picked up €1m ($1.1m) in a pre-seed round led by university venture fund PSL Innovation Fund, managed by Elaia Partners. Aqemia commercialises a software developed at Université PSL’s École normale supérieure to predict the effectiveness of drugs by determining the affinity between a pharmaceutical target and molecule within minutes, rather than the up-to a week it takes currently. The spinout will now look to hire staff.
Nu Quantum, a UK-based quantum technology spinout of University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, closed a £650,000 ($840,000) pre-seed round yesterday led by Amadeus Capital Partners, with participation from tech transfer office Cambridge Enterprise, patient capital fund Ahren Innovation Capital and Martlet Capital, the corporate angel investment arm of diversified group Marshall of Cambridge. Nu Quantum is working on high-performance single-photon sources and detectors that work at room temperature, enabling applications such as end-to-end encrypted communications that cannot be intercepted by an eavesdropper inconspicuously. The spinout is set to start working with an unnamed UK-based telecoms provider.
Weru Investment, the university venture fund of Waseda University, has invested in CoreTissue BioEngineering, a Japan-based company producing artificial ligaments using living tissue for knee joint surgery, and Zuva, a Japan-based spinout of University of Kyoto and Waseda University that has built a database of overseas startups and helps connect them to domestic businesses. Zuva secured ¥80m ($740,000) in funding, but financial terms for CoreTissue’s round could not be ascertained.
Growave, an Australia-based agtech developer spun out of University of Melbourne, has raised A$900,000 ($615,000) in seed funding led by commercialisation firm IP Group, with participation from Grain Innovate and Artesian, according to Business News Australia. Growave is working on microwave technology to kill weeds. The spinout is currently gearing up for trials across three farms and is considering how it can ensure its technology will be certified for organic food production.
Mime Technologies, a UK-based medtech spinout of University of Aberdeen, secured £255,000 ($330,000) on Wednesday co-led by angel investor group Equity Gap and government-owned Scottish Investment Bank. Mime has developed a first aid kit to assist cabin crew during medical emergencies on board by providing monitoring through clinical-grade sensors, securely record on-scene observations and data, and share the data and communicate in real-time with ground-based medical providers anywhere. The funding will accelerate Mime’s recruitment drive.
UsePat, an Austria-based spinout of Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) working on technology to analyse cells within industrial liquids, secured a six-figure euro sum (€100,000 = $110,000) on Wednesday from state-owned development bank Austria Wirtschaftsservice and private investors Hermann Futter and Bernd Egger, according to Der Brutkasten. UsePat has developed two devices to date, Soniccatch and Sonicwipe. The first enables applications such as real-time monitoring of cells in liquids, while the second uses ultra-sound to continuously clean probe heads without removing them from the liquid.
CFL Software, a UK-based text analytics company, has been restructured into Elute Intelligence Holdings and sold a 43% stake to commercialisation firm Frontier IP in exchange for commercialisation services. Founded in 1994, Elute has developed software to analyse complex documents, including contracts and patents, and surface evidence of plagiarism, collusion or copyright infringement. It provides a version of the software to the UK’s Universities and Colleges Admissions Service to detect plagiarism in student’s personal statements. In addition to providing commercialisation services, Frontier IP will also license complementary intellectual property to Elute, though it did not specify the university from which this IP originates. Matthew White, chief commercialisation officer of Frontier IP, will join Elute’s board, along with CFL’s business development director Peter Fischer. CFL founder David Woolls will continue to work for Elute.
Contextflow, an Austria-based radiology image indexing platform spun out of Medical University of Vienna, has received an unspecified amount of capital led by Apex Ventures, with participation from Crista Galli Ventures and Nina Capital, according to EU-Startups. The money will enable Contextflow to seek CE certification and accelerate its international proof-of-concepts, of which it currently has several underway in Germany, Austria, Croatia and the Netherlands. The spinout previously raised an undisclosed amount of seed financing led by IST Cube, with participation from Apex, in March 2018.
Structo, a Singapore-based dental 3D printing technology spinout of National University of Singapore, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from state-owned EDBI, according to 3DPrint. Founded in 2014, Structo produces devices to create personalised see-through teeth aligners within dental practices. It will use the money to drive further expansion efforts. The spinout is already present in the US, Canada and the UK and its shareholders also include GGV Capital and Wavemaker Partners.
