Ugentec processes $9.3m series A
KU Leuven returned for the automated DNA diagnostic spinout’s series A round, which follows a $2.3m round in 2016 and $1.5m raised in 2015.

IP Group pockets $72m profit
The commercialisation firm recovered from an $18.2m loss in 2016 by acquiring Touchstone Innovations, and opening a division focused on Australia and New Zealand.

SiFive receives $50.6m series C instructions
Osage University Partners returned for customised chip maker SiFive’s series C, which also featured a trio of corporates.

Northern Accelerator wins $6.9m funding pot
Newcastle and Durham universities have been joined by regional peers Northumbria and Sunderland in a commercialisation drive backed by government funding.

Porous Liquid streams out of Queen’s
Porous Liquid Technologies will commercialise substances with enough microscopic cavities to filter industrial products such as natural gas.

RoundTrip reaches $1.9m seed destination
Johns Hopkins University linked up with two of its partners in the M-1 Ventures accelerator, Abell Foundation and Brown Advisory, to back RoundTrip’s seed round.

6D.ai compiles seed round
Oxford’s 6D.ai is developing technology to enable multi-user augmented reality simultaneously by using 3D crowd-sourced maps collected from standard phone cameras.

Reflexion contemplates $100m series C
Reflexion Medical, partially based on research at UChicago, secured the Rise Fund as lead investor, with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson returning.

Oxford Flow starts gushing with $8.4m
The round takes the pressure valve manufacturer’s total to $9.6m with the return of Oxford Science Innovations from a 2015 deal.

UCB defines Element Genomics acquisition
Duke spinout Element could generate as much as $30m from the sale, which will enable UCB to boost its research capabilities.

OUI appears in Brainomix’s $9.8m round
Brainomix welcomed Boehringer Ingelheim to the table as OUI, Parkwalk Advisors and Chimera Partners returned for the round.

Bayer and UC Davis seed agtech incubator
The Crop Science CoLaborator will bring pharmaceutical firm Bayer into UC Davis’s ecosystem of incubators.

DTN finds fertile ground for Spensa acquisition
Purdue-born Spensa recently detailed how its live insect phenology model could help farmers predict how insect populations develop.

Macrolide slides into $20m series B
Novartis, Roche and GlaxoSmithKline all returned for the series B round, having already supported a $22m series A round for the Harvard spinout in 2015.

Red Balloon Security takes off with series A
The $21.9m in funding will enable Red Balloon Security, based on research at Columbia University, to increase its business operations.

Clifton tilts over to Drayson
David Clifton will deploy his healthcare expertise in big data and machine learning as Drayson solidifies its Oxford digital health connections.

Nawec jets to $1.5m
The UMCP jet propulsion spinout has become the third company to secure the backing of University System of Maryland’s Momentum Fund.

Richards rises through UW Madison’s ranks
The University of Wisconsin System stalwart has become director of UW-Madison’s Discovery to Product unit.

Fundraising

Bayer and UC Davis seed agtech incubator

The Crop Science CoLaborator will bring pharmaceutical firm Bayer into UC Davis’s ecosystem of incubators.

Sofinnova launches $340m fund

The Crossover I vehicle has been backed by CNP Assurances and an unnamed Chinese biopharmaceutical firm, and will target both late-stage private and public companies.

Coinbase launches investment unit

Coinbase Ventures will invest in early-stage digital currency companies, initially without the requirement of formalising strategic partnerships and potentially backing competitors.

People

Joaug joins Aster as principal

Serial entrepreneur Jérome Joaug has joined Aster Capital, the venture capital firm that emerged out of Schneider Electric Ventures.

Rothe switches from Capnamic to Iris

Rothe had spent five years at Capnamic, which includes Axa, Cewe, Cisco, Defacto, Euroweb, Gauselmann Die Spielemacher, Hahn Air, Helaba, MGO Digital Ventures, Muellermedien, NWZ Digital, Rheinische Post, Universal Music Group and DuMont Digital as its corporate limited partners in its funds.

Granath calls up Sisscanto from Telia

Granath had been responsible for the growth investment portfolio of Division X at Telia for three years.

Lee emerges at Unblock after IDG Ventures Korea

Lee had left IDG Ventures Korea in early 2016 and has spent the past near-two years as managing partner of Cognitive Investment.

Sheffer replaces Prior at GM Ventures

Prior to joining GM Ventures, Sheffer was executive director of chassis purchasing at US-based car maker General Motors.

Von Richter banks on LBBW Ventures role

Andreas von Richter had previously been partner of Aster Capital among other venture roles over the past decade.

Schnell moves quickly to head private equity

As CEO of Siemens Venture Capital until the creation of its Next47 corporate venturing unit last March, Schnell had included advisory services to its in-house pension fund.

SoftBank’s Misra surrenders Snapdeal board seat

Kabir Misra, one of the corporate’s two representatives on Snapdeal’s board of directors since early 2017, is stepping down.

Exits

Unum clocks $69m IPO

Unum Therapeutics has listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, providing exits to Novo, Sanofi, EMS and Seattle Genetics.

NLight to shine in $86m IPO

Samsung-backed NLight Photonics has filed for an initial public offering, aiming to raise approximately $86.3m when it floats on the Nasdaq Global Market.

Alzheon shoots for $86m IPO

Aptus Therapeutics-backed Alzheon has set its pricing range at $13 to $15 and could raise almost $86.3m if underwriters take up their option to purchase additional shares.

Ola solves Ridlr acquisition

Ola has acquired Times Internet-backed public transportation app developer Ridlr in an all-stock deal reportedly worth almost $50m.

Advanced camera producer Lytro shutters business

Lytro, which had raised more than $200m from investors including Qualcomm, Foxconn and Huayi Brothers, has closed.

Homology homes in on $165m IPO

Novartis-backed Homology Medicines priced its shares at $16 and raised $165m when it floated on the Nasdaq Global Select Market

Strider reaches Syngenta

Qualcomm Ventures has exited agricultural management platform developer Strider in an acquisition of undisclosed size by Syngenta.

Meituan-Dianping to pick up Mobike

The corporate has agreed to acquire Mobike, backed by Tencent, for $2.7bn.

Alibaba gobbles up Ele.me at $9.5bn valuation

Following reports in February, Alibaba has confirmed it will acquire the remaining shares in Ele.me, currently owned by investors such as JD.com, Tencent and Baidu.

IT

WorkFusion buckles down with $50m

NGP Capital, formerly known as Nokia Growth Partners, has returned to invest in WorkFusion’s series E round, which brought the company’s total funding to $118m.

Corporates chip in for Nantero funding

Nantero has attracted $29.7m in funding from a consortium that included Dell, Cisco, Kingston and Schlumberger as well as three unnamed semiconductor companies.

Red Balloon Security takes off with series A

The $21.9m in funding, provided by backers including American Family Ventures, will enable Red Balloon Security to increase its business operations.

Remesh gets $10m answer to funding question

The market research platform developer, a graduate of Barclays Accelerator, has now raised almost $14m altogether after securing series A cash.

Kloudless clubs investors together for $6m

Alibaba Taiwan Entrepreneurs Fund was among the participants as the integration software developer secured series A funding.

SiFive receives $50.6m series C instructions

Osage University Partners returned to co-lead customised chip maker SiFive’s series C round, which also featured SK Telecom, Huami and Western Digital.

Health

Eidos Therapeutics forms $64m series B

BridgeBio Pharma participated in a series B round for its subsidiary Eidos Therapeutics, which is working on treatments for a family of rare genetic diseases known as ATTR.

Macrolide slides into $20m series B

Novartis, Roche and GlaxoSmithKline all returned for the series B round, having already supported a $22m series A round in 2015.

Reflexion contemplates $100m series C

Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson were among the returning backers to support a $100m series C round for Reflexion Medical, which secured the Rise Fund as lead investor.

Miaoshou Doctor diagnoses $79.3m series C

Tencent has led a series C round for the health e-commerce company, which will use the cash to bolster its business and technology development efforts.

Welltok benefits from $75m series E2

The investment, backed by Itochu, follows a $33.7m series E round featuring Qualcomm Life Fund and Hearst Health Ventures in 2016.

Axonics modulates $40.1m investment

Legend Capital-backed Axonics Modulation Technologies has secured of $40.1m, with $20.1m raised as equity and $20m in a credit facility supplied by Silicon Valley Bank.

LetsGetChecked investigates $12m series A

Optum has led a series A round for LetsGetChecked, which enables users to take medical tests at home.

Twist wraps up $50m investment

Twist Bioscience, a synthetic DNA producer backed by Kangmei, Illumina, WuXi PharmaTech and Institut Mérieux, has now raised a total of $259m.

Investors approve $50m Accolade funding

Accolade has raised $50m from a consortium of investors that included McKesson Ventures, which previously injected $22.5m in 2015.

Unchained Labs tools up to secure $17m

Novo Ventures, an investor in the biological research tool producer since its series A round, returned for a series D that took its total funding to $86m.

Tempest storms to $70m series B

Proceeds from the round, which included Lilly Asia Ventures, will be used to advance Tempest Therapeutics’ lead enzyme inhibitor into the clinic.

Abbott spots Bigfoot for $55m series B

Abbott has contributed to the $18m second tranche of diabetes management technology developer Bigfoot Biomedical’s latest round.

Media

Investors jump into Ubiquity6’s picture

A+E Networks and Gradient Ventures both backed AR developer Ubiquity’s first disclosed round, which raised $10.5m.

Alisports scores $190m series A

China Taiping Insurance has backed a series A round for Alisports, the sports affiliate of Alibaba that revealed the deal at the same time as its acquisition of wearables maker Ledongli.

SalesLoft moves into $50m series C

SalesLoft has raised a total of $76m in funding after securing $50m in a series C round that included LinkedIn.

AAF kicks off with media backing

New media companies Chernin Group and Macro Ventures have invested in the fledgling Alliance of American Football, which has raised a sub-$10m sum.

NBCUniversal helps scare up funding for Crypt TV

Crypt TV has raised $6.2m in funding from backers including NBCUniversal, which first invested in the horror video platform a year ago.

Consumer

Instacart grows series E to $350m

Following an initial $200m close two months ago, the Amazon, Amex and Comcast-backed grocery delivery company has added $150m to its series E round. 

IfOnly makes series D a reality

Mastercard, Hyatt Hotels and Sotheby’s have backed a series D round for IfOnly that was reportedly sized at $20m.

Zilingo fashions $54m series C

The fashion marketplace has raised a total of $82m in funding after closing a series C round that featured all existing investors, including SIG and Hubert Burda.

OrderMyGear bulks up with $35m

Susquehanna Growth Equity has invested $35m in OrderMyGear, which said it processed almost $200m worth of commerce last year.

Investors pour $30.5m into Poseida

Malin has returned to support an oversubscribed series B round, led by Longitude Capital.

Financial

DriveWealth treasures $21m series B

DriveWealth has closed a series B round co-led by SBI, three years after attracting series A capital from Route 66 Ventures.

Canopy accounts for Wells Fargo to raise $30m

Wells Fargo Strategic Capital has contributed to a $30m round for the tax and accountancy software platform, doubling its total funding.

Branch International banks $70m

The emerging markets-focused online lender has raised debt and equity financing in a series B round featuring CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund.

Industrial

Anellotech melds remainder of $15m round

Suntory has released a $6m tranche to take its overall investment in chemical processing technology developer Anellotech to $30m.

Corporates help put together funding for Qmerit

Qmerit’s first round secured $11.8m from corporates Innogy and Schneider Electric as well as private equity firm Strandview Capital.

6RS picks up $25m series B

6 River Systems is working on robotics technology to handle warehouse fulfilment and has attracted additional capital from investors including iRobot.

FoodLogiq traces $19.5m investment

Testo and Tyson Foods were among the backers to join Renewal Funds, which had already supplied cash in September 2017, in bringing FoodLogiq’s round to a $19.5m close.

Services

See observes series C+ round

Bertelsmann Asia Investments has backed a series C+ round that followed an initial series C backed by Tencent.

Mixpace steps into $63m series B1

Zhongnan has contributed to the series B1 round, having previously backed a series A, as co-working spaces provider Mixpace prepares to expand into additional cities.

Paytm Mall pockets $445m

SoftBank is putting $400m into Paytm Mall, while Alibaba is providing the remaining $45m, with the total amount falling short of the $500m to $600m the company was reportedly seeking.