Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Epsilogen, a UK-based spinout of King’s College London working on cancer treatments that exploit immunoglobulin E antibodies, pocketed £30.75m ($41.2m) in a series B round backed by commercialisation firm Epidarex Capital yesterday. The round was led by Novartis Venture Fund on behalf of pharmaceutical firm Novartis, and also included Alsa Ventures, 3B Future Health Fund, British Patient Capital, Schroders Capital and Caribou Property. Epsilogen, then known as Item Therapeutics, previously closed a $6.4m series A round in 2018 backed by UCL Technology Fund, the venture fund of University College London, Epidarex, Alsa Ventures.
Alimetry, a New Zealand-based medical devices developer spun out of University of Auckland and focused on gastrointestinal diseases, completed a NZ$16.3m ($10.9m) round yesterday backed by tech transfer office Auckland UniServices and commercialisation firm IP Group. The round was led by Movac and also attracted Matū Karihi and K1W1. Alimetry emerged from stealth in April 2021, having been founded in 2019.
NuCicer, a US-based crop genetics company working on high protein varieties of chickpea, closed a $4.5m seed round yesterday featuring The House Fund, a venture capital firm linked to University of California, Berkeley. The round was led by Lever VC and also included Trellis Road and Lifely VC.
BKwai, a UK-based construction data provider based on research at University of Cambridge, secured £2.2m ($3m) in a seed round yesterday backed by tech transfer office Cambridge Enterprise and incubator Deeptech Labs, with a lead investment from Octopus Ventures. BKwai has developed a software platform that collates data from on-site sensors, environmental data and satellite intelligence to assess the condition of infrastructure and the short and long-term impact of environmental conditions on projects.
Quiver Quantitative, a US-based provider of research tools for retail investors, completed a $2m funding round yesterday backed by Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the commercialisation affiliate of University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW Madison). The round was led by Allos Ventures and also included Bascom Ventures, a vehicle focused on companies linked to UW Madison, as well as M25, Lancaster Investments, Connetic Ventures and Idea Fund of La Crosse. The latter investor had already led a $525,000 seed round in January 2021. Quiver was co-founded by James and Christopher Kardatzke in January 2020, when both completed degrees at UW Madison.
Mocean Energy, a UK-based wave energy technology developer, has secured £730,000 ($992,000) in a funding round featuring Old College Capital, the investment fund of University of Edinburgh, and led by Equity Gap, BBC News reported yesterday. The round also included Scottish Enterprise. Mocean is working on technology to deliver renewable energy to subsea equipment and autonomous underwater vehicles. Mocean picked up $812,000 in a seed round also backed by Old College Capital, Scottish Enterprise and Equity Gap in 2020.
Heavy.ai, a US-based data analytics software producer based on research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has rebranded from its original name of OmniSci and appointed Jon Kondo as its new chief executive. The spinout last raised money in 2018, when it received $55m in a series C round.
