Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
GenEdit, a US-based genetic medicine developer based on research at University of California (UC), Berkeley, has completed a $26m series A round featuring the UC-aligned venture capital fund Bow Capital. The round also included pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, conglomerate SK, KTB Network, Company K Partners, Korea Investment Partners, Dayli Partners, KB Investment, IMM Investment, TimeFolio Asset Management, DCVC Bio and Sequoia Capital. The spinout had raised $8.5m in a 2018 seed round co-led by SK and DCVC Bio that included Bow Capital and Sequoia Capital – both billed as existing backers.
EarthOptics, a US-based soil sensor developer exploiting research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has raised $10.3m in a series A round led by pharmaceutical and chemical producer Bayer’s investment arm Leaps by Bayer. The round also attracted S2G Ventures, Middleland Capital’s VTC Ventures fund, FHB Ventures and Route 66 Ventures, all of which were identified as existing backers. EarthOptics raised $2m in 2018 when it was spun out of the AgTech Accelerator, building on technology developed through a sponsored research agreement out of MIT. The company was originally known as GroundTruth Ag.
Cheesecake Energy, a UK-based energy storage technology developer spun out of University of Nottingham and Imperial College London, has secured £1m ($1.4m) in a funding round led by Imperial College Innovation Fund, with participation from Perivoli Innovations and angel investors including John Egan. Cheesecake Energy previously obtained an undisclosed sum from University of Nottingham’s commercialisation arm Nottingham Technology Ventures in December 2019 although the round was only reported by the university in May 2020. Cheesecake Energy said on its website Imperial College London and Innovate UK provided funding at some point in 2020, but further details could not be ascertained.
– Additional reporting by Robert Lavine