Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Surgical Innovation Associates (SIA), a US-based reconstructive and cosmetic surgical device spinout of Northwestern University, yesterday obtained $4m in a series A round involving syndicates Harvard Business School Angels and Gopher Angels. The round brought SIA’s total funding to $6.5m and will go towards its commercialisation roadmap, including product development and the confirmation of requisite regulatory approvals. One of SIA’s products – a bioabsorbable mesh used for soft tissue reconstruction – was used in a live operating theatre procedure for the first time in September 2019. The spinout attracted $325,000 of equity from unnamed investors in March 2018, according to a regulatory filing.
TrekIT Health, a US-based patient care management software spinout of University of Pennsylvania Health System (Penn Medicine), has procured $450,000 of pre-seed funding from commercialisation firm IP Group and VC firm DreamIt Ventures, according to Philadelphia Business Journal. TrekIT Health is working on real-time collaboration software for healthcare providers based on the ideas of its co-founder Subha Airan-Javia, an associate professor of clinical medicine and associate chief medical information officer at Penn Medicine recently appointed as TrekIT’s CEO. The spinout hopes to deploy its product during the first quarter of 2020.
A trio of US-baser laser optics spinouts from University of Arizona have received undisclosed sums from UAVenture Capital Fund, a third-party VC fund focused on the UA ecosystem, according to the Arizona Daily Star. The companies are deep-ultra-violet photonics developer Deuve Photonics, laser-powered display components manufacturer CThru Lasers and laser infrared penetration tool manufacturer Wavelength Unlimited Technologies, all of which extend research by Mahmoud Fallahi, professor of optical sciences, and Chris Hessenius, assistant research professor of optical sciences.
V2Food, an Australia-based meat-free food product developer co-founded by national research agency Csiro’s Innovation Fund, officially launched on Tuesday with an undisclosed seed sum from fast food chain owner Competitive Foods Australia. Csiro Innovation Fund and Competitive Foods jointly founded V2Food in 2018 to deliver legume-based foods which emulate the taste of meat to appeal to carnivores as well as vegetarians. The food products are due to roll out to Australia-based eateries over the remainder of 2019.
