A round up of all the latest news on www.globaluniversityventuring.com for our subscribers.
IIMA targets $25m for seed initiative
Bharat Inclusion Initiative has already raised $12.5m to back projects in sectors such as financial inclusion, livelihood, education and health.
Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund backs 11
Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund has invested a total of $500,000 in 11 Purdue-linked companies, taking the vehicle’s lifetime commitments to $2.5m.
MedWhat case mandated for mediation
A California court has ordered mediation on Stanford-StartX Fund’s lawsuit against virtual medical assistant developer MedWhat.
FogPharma advances to $66m series B
6 Dimensions Capital led a round for the miniprotein drug developer, founded by Harvard researcher Gregory Verdine.
GV helps send $65m to Celsius
Celsius Therapeutics, which has launched with series A capital, has become the latest Third Rock-launched company to be backed by GV.
Acousia tunes into $11.8m series B
Acousia, based on research at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, has raised $11.8m to advance therapies for inner-ear impairments into the clinic.
Tufts and BioLabs spring Launchpad
Tufts University has opened a 15,000 square-foot biotech incubator managed by BioLabs with enough room for 100 scientists and entrepreneurs.
Vesper vets investors for $23m series B
American Family Insurance led the Michigan spinout’s latest round, which included Shure, Synaptics, Baidu, Bose and Amazon Alexa Fund.
IP Group fills Lorem’s coffers
Lorem Therapeutics has become the first Johns Hopkins spinout to secure funding through the institution’s partnership with IP Group.
Viatem finds path to commercialisation
University of Birmingham has spun out Viatem to develop a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
Polyneuron concludes $3.1m round
Eva Basel and Zürcher Kantonalbank have contributed to the close of a $3.1m round for Polyneuron, which will use the money to advance its lead candidate into the clinic.
Renaissance proclaims $81m fund
Several universities have backed the third vehicle raised by Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, which puts Renaissance’s total assets under management to $205m.
Beam Therapeutics lasers in on $87m series A
Beam has emerged out of Harvard University with $87m in series A funding to commercialise gene editing technology, with additional research licensed from Broad Institute and Editas Medicine.
MediSix diagnoses $20m series A
NUS spinout MediSix has obtained $20m from investors including Osage University Partners to commercialise research into leukaemia and lymphoma treatments.
PhoreMost champions $15m series A
The Cambridge spinout has raised $15m in series A funding from investors including Cambridge Enterprise and Parkwalk Advisors.
Utah tunes up $1m seed fund
The capital will help turn early-stage university ideas into successful spinouts, having already backed a Car T-based immuno-oncological therapy for multiple myeloma.
