News round up 17 December 2018

WaveOptics makes a splash with $26m
IP Group has backed AR technology developer WaveOptics, building on the position taken by Touchstone Innovations, which it now owns, in 2015 and 2017.
Corporates experience Telexistence’s series A
Tokyo’s experiential robot developer Telexistence has won funding from a investors including the university’s Innovation Platform and a host of corporates.
Lund launches Asgard Therapeutics
Asgard Therapeutics will develop cancer therapies which use reprogrammed human skin cells to improve the immune system’s capacity to identify cancerous particles.
Stanford helps EdCast curate fresh funding
The AI-based contextual insight service has closed a $33.6m round that included Stanford University, taking its total funding to almost $56m.
Parakey unlocks $1m
Chalmers Ventures has again supplied smart lock supplier Parakey with funding after investing alongside IoT and wireless tech firm Qamcom in 2016.
Robot++ reaches $2.9m summit
Baidu has provided Robot++ with pre-series A funding following an angel round backed by a Tsinghua incubator in April 2018.
10X Genomics picks up Spatial Transcriptomics
10X Genomics has purchased genomic analysis platform Spatial Transcriptomics, based on research at Karolinska Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Uniseed sends Cardihab $1.4m
Uniseed has returned to back Csiro digital health spinout Cardihab after an earlier round which also raised $1.4m in 2017.
Axelspace explores $23m series B round
UTokyo Innovation Platform has backed a $22.8m investment round for Axelspace that will fund the launch of the Tokyo spinout’s latest satellite.
Purdue entices Henderson
Scott Henderson has become Purdue Research Foundation’s chief entrepreneurial officer to guide through ecosystems at Purdue projects such as the Discovery Park research district.
Istesso stakes $7.6m
IP Group has poured more funding into Istesso, whose treatment for rheumatoid arthritis traces its roots to an Aberdeen spinout, to drive immuno-metabolism therapies for autoimmune diseases.
Purdue entices Henderson
Scott Henderson has become Purdue Research Foundation’s chief entrepreneurial officer to guide through ecosystems at Purdue projects such as the Discovery Park research district.
Robert Gordon primes accelerator
A total of 28 participants will receive up to $12,650 of capital to support business proposals in spaces including healthcare, fintech, fashion and retail.
Uniseed plants $485,000 in Wildlife Drones
ANU wildlife monitoring spinout Wildlife Drones previously turned to a Csiro-run accelerator to help get its drone-powered animal tracking system off the ground.
UCL eyes $126m second fund
University College London hopes to generate as much as $126m for its second Technology Fund, with British Business Bank thought to be among potential limited partners.
Kets Quantum secures $2.5m
Bristol quantum computer security spinout Kets Quantum Security has won investment from Kx Systems after joining the corporate-backed Teac communications accelerator last year.
Zest Tea brews $1m
The tea product supplier has become the fourth business backed by University of Maryland Momentum Fund.
Moderna loads up $604m in IPO
Investors including co-founder and Harvard professor Timothy Springer scored exits as mRNA therapy developer Moderna floated in the largest biotech IPO of all time.
Mission Bio identifies $30m series B
Agilent and Lam Research participated in a $30m series B for UCSF’s DNA analysis spinout Mission Bio, whose existing shareholders include Stanford-StartX Fund.
Threatray registers seed funding
Newly-launched Bern University of Applied Sciences spinout Threatray believes its automated malware detection design will improve upon existing approaches.
Fraunhofer energises Mondas
Industrial analytics spinout Mondas is targeting energy applications and has already started testing at a local solar energy network.
Sensorygen bites into $50,000
Vertical Venture Partners has joined university venture fund Highlander Venture Fund as an investor in UC Riverside-founded mosquito repellent developer Sensorygen.
DenovoMatrix binds funding
TU Dresden spinout DenovoMatrix hopes to commercialise a method for effectively cultivating stem cell production.