News round 24 December 2018

Otsuka takes up Veryan’s acquisition offer
ICL vascular implant spinout Veryan Medical has been bought by medical device firm Otsuka after raising $56m from investors including IP Group.
Xorlab gets the message in $1.9m round
ETH Zurich-founded cybersecurity business Xorlab focuses on thwarting email attacks through a combination of machine learning and advanced dynamic analysis.
MedaPhor clues on to Parkwalk investment
Parkwalk Advisors has invested an undisclosed sum in Cardiff ultrasound simulation technology developer MedaPhor through its Opportunities Fund.
Ikove kindles $10m Ohio tech fund
Ikove Venture Partners has launched a $10m venture capital vehicle to help spawn spinouts based on projects at Ohio universities.
Colorifix applies itself to $3m series A
Cambridge textile dyeing spinout Colorifix has been backed by Cambridge Enterprise and retailer H&M in its first disclosed equity round.
Wilkinson signs up to UMI3
Andrew Wilkinson will become CEO of Manchester’s tech transfer office in the new year, building on his experience at the university generating 2D material spinouts.
Import.io impresses in $15.5m series B
Commercialisation firm IP Group has invested in web data analytics business Import.io, continuing the involvement of its Imperial Innovations subsidiary, which had backed the company in 2016.
Lighthouse AI loses spark
StartX-backed Lighthouse AI failed to garner enough commercial interest in its interactive household camera despite raising $17m in funding.
Morphogen-IX clears path to series B round
Pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy business Morphogen-IX has been backed by Cambridge Enterprise and Cambridge Innovation Capital in a $23.3m round.
Tuspark identifies 4Paradigm in $145m series C
4Paradigm has now won backing from Tsinghua University Science Park for its technology, which helps clients build AI apps for purposes including financial services.
Synspective receives $2.7m boost
Synspective has been backed by a University of Tokyo VC vehicle in its bid to launch a constellation of 25 small Earth observation satellites powered by synthetic aperture radar.
Sevens lucky for Purdue’s Foundry Fund
Purdue University-backed Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund has picked seven university-linked businesses to share a total of $200,000 in funding.
Stanford’s Annexon annexes $75m
Immunotherapy spinout Annexon Biosciences collected funding from Novartis Venture Fund in a series C round that brought its total funding to $154m.