The Global University Venturing deal net rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem.
The Routing Company, a US-based public transit routing technology developer based on research out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology that is focused on reducing greenhouse emissions, has raised $15m in its series A round led by Galvanise Climate Solutions. Veery Maxwell, co-head of Galvanize Innovation + Expansion Strategy at Galvanize Climate Solutions, has joined The Routing Company’s board of directors.
Neural Concept, a Switzerland-based deep learning-powered industrial engineering platform developer spun out of EPFL, has procured $9.1m in a series A round led by Alien, with participation from Aster Capital, CNB Capital and High-Tech Gründerfonds. The latter had previously backed a seven-figure round in 2019.
Tacto, a Germany-based industrial procurement software developer, has pocketed €5.3m ($5.9m) in a round featuring UVC Partners, the venture capital fund aligned with TU Munich’s tech transfer arm UnternehmerTUM. Cherry Ventures led the round, which also attracted Visionaries Club as well as angel investors Hanno Renner, Johannes Reck, Michael Wax and Torsten Reil.
Samsara Eco, an Australia-based carbon-neutral recycling process developer, has secured A$6m ($4.4m) in funding from investors including Main Sequence Ventures, the deep tech venture fund founded by CSIRO, the Australian Financial Review reported on Wednesday. The round included retailer Woolworths Group’s corporate venturing arm W23 and government-owned green bank Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Samsara Eco was founded by chief executive Paul Riley, following a stint as entrepreneur-in-residence with Main Sequence Ventures.
Machines with Vision, a UK-based geospatial mapping technology developer, has pocketed £2.9m ($3.8m) in a funding round featuring University of Edinburgh’s investment fund Old College Capital, Insider.co.uk reported yesterday. The round was led by Par Equity and also attracted private investors Gareth Williams and Olaf Hesse. Old College Capital and Williams were previously also among the backers of Machines with Vision’s $1.7m pre-seed round in April 2019, when other angel investors also took part.
Cascador Health, a Belgium-based healthcare data analytics platform, has raised €3.4m ($3.8m) in a funding round featuring multi-university venture fund Qbic and Theodorus, the venture capital fund aligned with Université libre de Bruxelles, L’Echo reported yesterday. The round also included Volta Ventures and private hospital operator Hirslanden.
Iink Payments, a US-based digital payments network specialised in multi-party property insurance claims, has secured $2.8m in a seed round featuring IU Ventures, the fund management arm of Indiana University. Motivate Venture Capital led the round, while Green Egg Ventures, Carolina Fintech Ventures and individual investors also contributed.
Pilot Photonics, an Ireland-based developer of technology to generate multiple laser beams from a single source, has €1.8m ($2m) in a round led by Bank of Ireland’s Kernel Capital Growth Fund II, according to the Irish Times. The Dublin City University spinout had previously picked up $1.2m from Kernel Capital and Dublin Business Innovation Centre in February 2018.
FingerVision, a Japan-based robots’ visual and tactile technology developer spun out of Carnegie Mellon University, has launched with ¥100m ($827,000) in seed funding from Keio Innovation Initiative, a vehicle for Keio University.
Aster Diagnostics, a US-based medical device spinout of University of Maryland, Baltimore, has obtained $100,000 from public-private partnership Tedco’s Builders Fund, according to MarylandInno. Astek’s platform helps doctors prescribe the right antibiotics to patients suffering from bacterial sepsis.
May Mobility, a US-based autonomous vehicle technology developer exploiting University of Michigan research, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from automotive component manufacturer Bridgestone. Insurer Tokio Marine and automotive manufacturers BMW and Toyota contributed to May’s $83m series C round in January this year, doubling its total funding to $167m.
Cambridge Future Tech, a UK-based deep tech venture builder, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed financing from Vest Coast Capital and unnamed backers. Cambridge Future Tech partners UK universities to commercialise advanced materials, robotics and artificial intelligence technologies. It has helped create four startups to date, including self-healing concrete technology developer Mimicrete that exploits University of Cambridge research.
Oniria Therapeutics, a Spain-based precision oncology company, has been spun out of University of Barcelona, Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology and Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA). The spinout is focused on treatments for persistent cancer cells that have proven resistant to other therapies and both cause patients to relapse and suffer from more advanced stages of cancer.
– Additional reporting by Edison Fu and Robert Lavine
