News roundup 18 February 2019

Torigen vaccinates $3.1m series A
Building on research by a former University of Minnesota professor, Torigen Pharmaceuticals has begun in-veterinary testing of its immunooncology vaccine for companion animals.
Recida rolls out from Frazier Healthcare
Venture capital firm Frazier Healthcare Partners has spun out a US-based antibiotics developer with the help of grant funding from a Boston University-operated body and a $8.5m series A round.
IU commences dig at the Quarry
Indiana University has retooled its entrepreneurial support offering to enhance its services in business case development, executive recruitment and the sourcing of capital.
Arkansas opens Gap Fund
The fund has an annual budget of $400,000 and will complement two other schemes under the university Chancellor’s Fund for Innovation and Collaboration.
KenSci foretells $22m series B
The UW-founded healthcare forecasting software developer has collected $30.5m in all from backers including OUP and a unit of compliance firm UL.
Allied Minds prepares cost reductions
The commercialisation firm will cut cash operating expenses by more than 40% year-on-year, while SciFluor Life and Precision Biopsy received $9m in financing between them.
CIC stays Pragmatic in $17m round
The flexible electronics maker once known as Pragmatic Printing has retained the interest of CIC, Avery Dennison and Arm to take its total funding to nearly $47m.
Haihe Biopharma greets CAS to raise cash
Chinese Academy of Sciences invested in a round that will be used to take Haihe’s anti-tumour therapies further down the clinical path.
Uniseed rides with Forcite
The multi-university venture fund led a $566,000 round for smart helmet developer Forcite, which has now collected $2m in total.
Ten businesses board Manchester-backed accelerator in Dubai
UAEpreneurs will operate with support from University of Manchester’s Middle East Centre in Dubai, providing 10 mainly digital-focused startups the opportunity to raise $50,000 to $250,000 in capital.
Kaust accelerator unveils third roster
Kaust is preparing for the third phase of its Taqadam startup accelerator, which is supported by a host of Saudi Arabian academic institutions and claims to have achieved a 35% female participation rate.
Nuvaira shares $79m series E news
Nuvaira, based on research by a then-professor at Washington University School of Medicine, has closed a $79m funding round led by US Venture Partners.
6Estates tends to series B round
6Estates had previously raised $2m of funding for its market intelligence products based on research from NUS and Tsinghua University.
MIT helps SendFriend to $1.7m
Founded out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SendFriend has built a blockchain-powered online payment transfer platform that uses technology provided by fintech developer Ripple.
Stanford-backed Eero connects to Amazon
Stanford-backed wifi system developer Eero has been picked up by Amazon after launching a product designed to provide high performance for devices including smart home products.
Insignals flexes its muscles
Spun out of Inesc Tec under a strategic agreement with Frontier IP, Insignals hopes to commercialise a surgical guidance device for brain implants to treat conditions including Parkinson’s.