Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Picus Security, a US-based cybersecurity technology producer co-founded by faculty from Middle East Technical University, has closed a $24m series B round led by Turkven, with participation from Earlybird Venture Capital and private investors Nathan Dornbrook. Picus has now raised $33m altogether, it said. Earlybird led a $5m series A round in October 2019, following an earlier $1.7m round led by ACT-VC, the company revealed at the time of the series A announcement. ScaleX Ventures led a round of undisclosed size in June 2018, when Social Capital, ACT-VC and angel investors also contributed.
Leucid Bio, a US-based developer of cell therapies for hard-to-treat cancers based on research at King’s College London, picked up £11.5m ($15.7m) today in a series A round led by Epidarex. The round also included Vulpes Investment Management, 2Invest, the British Business Bank’s Future Fund and Sofinnova Partners. The latter was identified as a returning investor, and regulatory documents show Sofinnova appointed a representative to Leucid Bio’s board in June 2017. Leucid Bio had raised $4.2m as of June 2020, according to its company accounts.
Zoba, a US-based fleet optimisation software developer spun out of Harvard University, completed a $12m series A round yesterday that was led by NTTVC, a corporate venturing subsidiary of telecommunications group NTT. VC firm CRV also participated in the round having led a $3m seed round for Zoba in February 2019 that included Founder Collective and angel investor Mark Cuban. Fay Hazaveh Costa, a partner at NTTVC, is taking a seat on Zoba’s board of directors in connection with the latest round.
SMBX, a US-based financial marketplace helping small businesses raise capital, completed an $11.5m seed round yesterday backed by University of California (UC), Berkeley’s incubator Berkeley SkyDeck. The round was led by Group 11 and included Better Ventures, Impact America Fund (IAF), Unpopular Ventures, Paul Heller and Jim Norris. The latter five, together with Berkeley SkyDeck, were identified as returning shareholders and the company has now raised $15m altogether. It previously disclosed $2.5m in seed financing in August 2020 led by Better Ventures, with participation from IAF, Unpopular Ventures and unnamed others.
Crossing Minds, a US-based business recommendation service spun out of Stanford University, has secured $10m in a series A round led by Radical Ventures that included Index Ventures, Partech and Lerer Hippeau. The spinout has not revealed details of earlier funding but named Index Ventures as an existing backer and lists Stanford-StartX, marketing technology group You & Mr Jones You & Mr Jones, Plug and Play, Sound Ventures, Kima Ventures and Cassius as investors on its website.
GoCheck, a US-based digital vision screening platform developer, has raised $10m in a funding round backed by CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, a vehicle affiliated with University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus. The round was co-led by Hatteras Venture Partners and Pisgah Fund, and also attracted health system WakeMed Hospitals’ Innovation Venture Fund, Interwest Partners, FCA Venture Partners, Sovereign’s Capital, Mucker Capital and private investor Marc Benioff. FCA led a $6m series B round in April 2019, with participation from Mucker Capital, Sovereign’s Capital, Interwest Partners and Benioff. Interwest had provided $6m in August 2016 in what was described at the time as a first close of the series B round, following a commitment of undisclosed size from Interwest and Benioff in June 2015. Interwest had already injected $750,000 in August 2013.
Stabl Energy, a Germany-based energy storage technology developer, has raised €4.5m ($5.2m) in a seed round backed by UVC Partners, the venture capital firm affiliated with TU Munich’s commercialisation arm UnternehmerTUM. Renewable energy company Energie 360° led the round through its Smart Energy Innovation Fund, while the Initiative for Industrial Innovators and assorted angel investors also took part. Stabl is based on research at TU Munich and Bundeswehr University Munich. The spinout identified the Initiative for Industrial Innovators as a returning investor and said some individual backers also returned, but further details could not be ascertained.
Lina Energy, a UK-based battery technology developer spun out of Lancaster University, has completed a £3.5m ($4.8m) seed round featuring undisclosed new and existing investors. The company is working on a cobalt and lithium free solid-state sodium battery. It had raised £2.2m in total funding as of March 2020, according to company accounts.
Seervision, a Switzerland-based producer of artificial intelligence technology to automate video production, has closed a CHF3.7m ($4m) funding round led by Verve Ventures, with contributions from Metavallon, EIC Fund, Zürcher Kantonalbank and unnamed existing backers. The ETH Zurich spinout secured the funding “earlier this year” it said, without offering further details. Founded in 2016, Seervision previously secured $3m in a seed round in June 2019 featuring Investiere, Wyss Zurich Center and assorted angel investors.
Immuto Scientific, a US-based analytical research services provider that aims to accelerate drug discovery processes based on research at University of Wisconsin–Madison, has secured $2.3m in a seed round backed by Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the university’s commercialisation affiliate. The round was led by Wisconsin Investment Partners and also included Tundra Angels, BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation, Golden Angels Investors, Milwaukee Venture Partners and Great Oaks Venture Capital.
Midori, an Italy-based smart metering company, has closed a €1.7m ($2m) funding round backed by connected insurance services provider FairConnect, angel syndicate Club degli Investitori and Club Acceleratori, which connects private investors to the portfolios of accelerators across Italy. Midori was founded by chief executive Christian Camarda in 2014, shortly after he completed his PhD studies at Politecnico di Torino. The company was initially based in the polytechnic’s I3P incubator, although it is unclear whether the university owns any shares in the business.
Kovina Therapeutics, a US-based developer of a non-surgical treatment for human papillomavirus infections and cancers based on research at Indiana University, has completed a $2m seed round featuring the university’s fund management arm IU Ventures. The round was led by Elevate Ventures and additionally included BioCrossroads and individual investors.
Quantum Dice, a UK-based developer of a self-certifying quantum random number generator based on research at University of Oxford, has closed a £1m ($1.4m) pre-seed round led by Elaia Partners, with participation from commercialisation firm IP Group and the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund, managed by investment firm Future Planet Capital’s Midven subsidiary. The spinout additionally obtained a $1.4m grant through the Quantum Investment Accelerator operated by IP Group and public body Innovate UK.
Carbon Re, a UK-based climate technology developer based on research at University of Cambridge and University College London (UCL), pocketed £1m ($1.4m) in a funding round yesterday co-led by UCL Technology Fund, Portico Ventures, a venture firm established by UCL’s tech transfer subsidiary UCL Business, Clean Growth Fund and Blue Impact Ventures. The round was also backed by University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund, managed by Parkwalk Advisors. Carbon Re relies on artificial intelligence technology to reduce CO2 emissions in hard-to-abate sectors such as the cement industry.
ProFuse Technology, an Israel-based developer of technology to accelerate the muscle fibre growth in cultured meat manufacturing, has raised nearly $1.3m in funding from Fresh Start FoodTech Incubator, an initiative of public body Israeli Innovation Authority. ProFuse Technology is a spinout of Weizmann Institute of Technology and was launched in June 2021.
Jetra Therapeutics, an Australia-based treatment developer for obesity-related liver disease spun out of University of Queensland, has picked up A$1.3m ($960,000) in seed financing from commercialisation firm IP Group. IP Group had injected an undisclosed amount in October 2019 to help establish Jetra.
Axoft, a US-based implantable brain electronics developer spun out of Harvard University, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from The Engine, the venture fund and incubator established by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Axoft was founded in June 2021 and officially launched last month, but it is unclear when exactly the investment was made.
Net AI, a UK-based telecoms network monitoring technology company, has been spun out of University of Edinburgh with “significant” seed funding from unnamed venture funds. The spinout relies on artificial intelligence and cloud computing technology to enable real-time insights into where and how much a mobile network is being used. Net AI hopes its software-based product will replace expensive hardware that operators need to rely on currently.
– Additional reporting by Robert Lavine