The Global University Venturing deal net rounds up all the latest smaller deals and tracks emerging companies accessing university funds.
Eko, a US-based cardiac monitoring technology developer backed by the Stanford-StartX Fund, raised $5m in a series A round on Wednesday led by Artis Ventures, with participation from Strategic Partners, Dreamlt Ventures, 1812 Ventures, and Founder.org. The company has developed a device that attaches to a stethoscope and tracks and logs a patient’s heartbeat. In 2015, private investors supplied $2m to the company after Hub Ventures had injected $20,000 in seed funding in 2013. Eko, which emerged out of University of California Berkeley’s SkyDeck accelerator, also named the Stanford-StartX Fund as an investor in its latest press release, but did not offer further details. The money will go towards recruitment and allow Eko to expand its clinical studies.
MediaGamma, a UK-based predictive analytics software developer spun out from University College London (UCL), has received £2m ($2.8m) in funding from university venture fund UCL Technology Fund, investment firm Parkwalk Advisors and London Co-Investment Fund (LCIF), backed by the Mayor of London’s Growing Places Fund. Founded in 2014, MediaGamma has created a machine learning platform for programmatic advertising that delivers insights within five milliseconds. The technology is based on research by Jun Wang, professor of information systems and data science. MediaGamma will use the money to build a software-as-a-service platform and drive recruitment.
Planys Technologies, an India-based original equipment manufacturer of underwater remotely operated vehicles, has closed a Rs14m ($2.1m) series A round led by oil and gas company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, through its Startup Fund, and MEMG Family Office, according to the Economic Times. Assorted private investors also backed the round. Planys was incubated at Indian Institute of Technology Madras’ Incubation Cell. The company is developing robots that perform inspections of underwater infrastructure. The capital will allow Planys to grow its fleet, further develop its products and scale operations.
Pilot Photonics, an Ireland-based laser technology producer spun out from Dublin City University, has raised €1m ($1.2m) in funding from Kernel Capital, through its The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Funds, in syndication with Dublin Business Innovation Centre, according to news publication the Engineer. The spinout has developed an optical comb source, a type of laser system for satellites to communicate other at high speeds. Pilot Photonics claims its approach boasts lower costs and only consumes approximately one-third of the electricity of rival solutions.
Agricx Lab, an India-based agritech developer, has raised $500,000 in seed funding from investors including Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship, according to Inc42. The round was led by venture capital fund Ankur Capital. Agricx has developed a mobile app that offers farmers an insight into their produce by integrating computer vision and artificial intelligence. The money will support technology development and drive expansion efforts.
LegUp Computing, a Canada-based cloud platform for the development of field-programmable gate array devices that is based on research at University of Toronto’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from investors led by semiconductor technology producer Intel’s corporate venturing unit, Intel Capital. The investment is part of a concerted effort by Intel Capital and another division, Intel Labs, to target technology developed through university collaborations. [a version of this news first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing]
Peak Nano Optics, a US-based manufacturer of nano-layered graded-index optics technology, has raised an undisclosed amount in series B capital from defence company L3 Technologies. Peak Nano Optics is a joint venture between PolymerPlus, an optics technology spinout from Case Western Reserve University, and nanotechnology developer Peak Nano. The round was closed on February 6, but only revealed this week, and consists of equity and an unspecified “development package”. Peak Nano Optics obtained $5.8m in series A funding a year ago in a previously undisclosed round, according to its latest press release.
