News round up 1 October 2018

NuNano magnifies investment
Bristol microscopy technology spinout NuNano has secured cash from the university’s Enterprise Fund for a second time.
Broecker comes good for PRF
David Broecker has become PRF’s chief innovation and collaboration officer, bringing with him expertise from the biosciences and philanthropic funding agency IBRI.
Lettus lets in funding
Lettus Grow, an irrigation system provider from University of Bristol and SetSquared’s ecosystem, has been backed by the university’s Enterprise Fund.
Asarina diagnoses listing
Karolinska Development has celebrated an exit as Umeå spinout Asarina Pharma went public in Sweden after raising $16.3m in its initial public offering.
Duke marshals 16 spinouts in 2018
Duke University’s OLV managed a near-50% increase on 2017’s spinout tally in a year where its businesses generated $526m in capital.
Institut Curie curates Honing Biosciences
Institut Curie has supplied an undisclosed sum to its second immuno-oncology spinout, Honing Biosciences, which will focus on improved drug delivery mechanisms.
Harare opens Zimbabwe’s first TTO
Harare Institute of Technology’s new tech transfer office is currently preparing documents to secure its policy base after assisting president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “100-day” drive earlier this year.
MIT’s Engine hits $205m close
The MIT-affiliated Engine Fund has achieved a final close of more than $205m, above its initial target of $150m.
Investors go with gut in $83m UBiome round
Stanford-StartX Fund-backed microbial diagnostics and wellness product developer UBiome has raised $83m in series C funding.
BrewBike cools down with $800,000
Founded by a Northwestern student, cold-brew coffee vendor BrewBike has added the university’s NUSeeds fund and angel investors to its seed consortium.
UMI3 finds place in Amprologix
University of Manchester’s UMI3 has joined Frontier IP and Ingenza as a shareholder in newly-founded Plymouth antibiotics spinout Amprologix.
Lunewave takes $5m for a spin
BMW and Baidu are among the investors in sensor technology developer Lunewave’s seed round, which will go towards building autonomous vehicle sensors based on the Luneburg principle.
Concirrus covers $6.6m
Insurance tech developer Concirrus was previously backed by Touchstone Innovations in 2015 and 2017.
CoinAlpha accumulates $3.5m
Stanford University’s StartX Fund has joined Bain Capital Ventures, Ironfire Ventures and SharesPost for blockchain technology developer CoinAlpha’s opening round.
HyperLight accelerates out of Harvard
HyperLight has been spun out from Harvard University’s OTD to manufacture superior modulators for fibre-optic telecommunications networks.
Allied Minds links with QuayChain
QuayChain has been formed by Allied Minds to commercialise an IoT hub for industrial sites such as airports, warehouses and transport hubs.
OUI targets social enterprises
Oxford University Innovation expects to form 10 spinouts each year from an initiative for impact-led businesses.
Mtrac hubs stay course for $2.6m
State-wide innovation hubs under the banner of Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization will receive money from the Michigan Strategic Fund.
IDx eyes $33m
University of Iowa’s medical diagnostics spinout IDx has collected $33m from investors including Optum, bringing the company’s total to $48m.
UMCP adds Porter and Smith
Ken Porter and Stan Smith have joined UMCP’s office of technology commercialisation as director and venture investment manager respectively.
MouSensor finds comfort in $3.3m seed round
CUNY-born digital olfaction technology developer MouSensor will receive funding and expertise from nanoelectronics institute Imec’s investment fund.
Code Intelligence cracks $810,000
Software bug checking developer Code Intelligence spun out of University of Bonn in 2017 and has now been backed by HTGF and Digital Hub Bonn.
Morphic shapes $80m series B
Novo has co-led a series B round together with Omega Funds for Morphic Therapeutic, based on research by Harvard professor Timothy Springer.