The news roundup for the week ending 9 September 2016.
UK tech transfer operates at top standard
The Higher Education Funding Council for England has published its report, commissioned by the previous government, into best practices and policies for knowledge transfer in the UK.
Matt Perkins to head Oxford University Innovation
Oxford University’s commercialisation arm has appointed Matt Perkins as its new chief executive, replacing Tom Hockaday who stepped down earlier this year.
Nestlé to swallow portfolio company Phagenesis
Phagenesis, a Manchester spinout focused on a medical device to treat dysphagia, had raised about $20m from investors including Nestlé’s Inventages Venture Capital unit.
Existing series A investors, including High-Tech Gründerfonds, NRW.Bank and Boehringer Ingelheim, returned to increase the Bonn spinout’s series A from $15.6m to $32.3m.
Fluidic Analytics flows towards $7m series B
The Cambridge spinout has secured cash from the Cambridge Enterprise Seed Fund, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Parkwalk Advisors and others.
Sönmez jumps aboard startup hub
Ozan Sönmez, who previously held various positions at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, has joined Middle East Technical University’s US-based startup hub.
Imperial puts its weight behind $53.7m fund
Imperial College London has backed a $53.7m fund set up by incubator Entrepreneur First to support graduating startups.
RetroSense detects $60m acquisition
Allergan has acquired the Wayne State University spinout, backed by Santen Pharmaceutical and Nerveda, for an upfront payment of $60m with potential milestone payments in future.
Rapyuta Robotics reconnects to SBI for $10m
Rapyuta, a cloud-connected robot developer spun out of ETH Zurich, has secured $10m in a series A round led by existing investor SBI Holdings.
Canatu Oy flexes funding muscle
Aalto University spinout Canatu Oy has secured $11.3m in funding adding to a $13.5m loan provided by European Investment Bank earlier this summer.
Deal net: 5 – 9 September 2016
The Global University Venturing deal net rounds up all the latest smaller deals and tracks emerging companies accessing government funds.
