Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.

Spot AI, a US-based surveillance video analytics software platform, has emerged out of stealth with $22m in total funding, including a $2m seed round backed by Stanford University-aligned Stanford-StartX Fund, Village Global and assorted angel investors, according to TechCrunch. The company’s $20m series A round was led by Redpoint Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners. Hashed Health, a US-based healthcare-focused venture studio, has picked up nearly $3.8m in a funding round backed by UPMC Enterprises, the commercialisation arm of University of Pittsburgh-affiliated health system UPMC. The round also included CMT Digital, the crypto arm of asset manager CMT Group, and Whistler Capital Partners. Hashed Health previously raised $1.8m in a February 2017 round led by Martin Ventures, and the company also identified First Trust Capital Partners as an existing shareholder as part of its latest announcement. Flatt Security, a Japan-based cybersecurity technology developer spun out of University of Tokyo and backed by internet company CyberAgent and mail order retailer Dinos Cecile, has secured ¥200m ($1.8m) in debt and equity funding from three investors including structured finance-focused investment bank FinTech Global and venture capital firm B Dash Ventures. Flatt previously raised $2m from internet company CyberAgent’s Fujita Fund, retailer Dinos Cecile and e-commerce company Mercari’s chief technology officer Suguru Namura. The spinout had raised $250,000 from seven angel investors in April 2018. Qingchen Xinnengyuan, a China-based fuel cell technology spinout of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has closed a series A-plus round of undisclosed size featuring state-owned energy provider Beijing Jingneng. The round also featured IDG Capital, Lingang Zhizhao and FTZ Fund, and the company said this week it had raised an undisclosed amount in a February 2020 series A round led by Shenergy Ventures, a vehicle for power producer Shenergy. Vertoro, a Netherlands-based spinout of technical validation institute Chemelot InSciTe developing sustainable marine fuel, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including Maersk Growth, a subsidiary of shipping firm AP Moller – Maersk. The round was led by Shift Invest and also featured Brightlands Venture Partners and Liof – both billed as existing backers. – Additional reporting by Robert Lavine and Liwen-Edison Fu

Subscribe to go deeper

GCV subscribers get access to all our proprietary data and deep-dive articles, as well as the global directory of CVC investors.



Not sure if you have a subscription?
Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).