News roundup 18 March 2019

Sharpen phones IU in $15m round
IU Philanthropic Venture Fund was among the investors in the contact centre platform creator’s round, which will help grow the business through recruitment and product development.
Yunhu delivers series A-plus
The medical research services provider collected funding from investors including Cash Capital, an investment arm of CAS which previously backed a series A.
Phasecraft executes funding
Based on UCL and Bristol research, Phasecraft is a member of a UK government-backed quantum collaboration driven by both universities together with the Google Quantum AI Lab.
Gencove adds $3m to funding sequence
New York Genome Center-founded Gencove has added $3m from investors including Alexandria Venture Investments to bring its genomics testing kit to new markets.
Well Doc recuperates with $1.6m
Scotiabank has supplied University of Calgary-affiliated Well Doc Alberta with funding under a pact signed when it bought MD Financial Management last year.
FanFood munches on $2m
The series A round reportedly featured UCLA Ventures, with the cash going towards expanding the business and technology for FanFood’s events concession app.
Parkwalk shifts return in Animal Dynamics
Parkwalk Advisors has sold on most of its stake in Oxford-founded drone designer Animal Dynamics, securing a 6.9 times return.
Washington pays tribute to Jandhyala
UW’s president and community acknowledged the legacy of vice-president of innovation strategy Vikram Jandhyala, who has passed away aged 47.
Harvard opens Lab1636 with $100m
Harvard has partnered Deerfield to launch commercialisation firm Lab1636 with $100m in funding in order to advance life science projects towards the clinic and establish spinouts.
Osage University Partners closes $273m fund
OUP has closed an oversubscribed third fund that it expects will invest in 40 to 50 spinouts, primarily originating from 19 core partner institutions.
UW Health brings forth Isthmus
The accelerator will support up to 12 health projects at a time, led by innovators including UW Health faculty and with resources provided by four partners including Warf.
Yale endowment widens VC outlay
VC assets accounted for 19% of Yale’s endowment portfolio by June 2018 compared with 13.7% four years previously, as resources shifted away from leveraged buyouts and real estate.
Garwood to spark $3m series B
Garwood Medical Devices is developing two therapeutic electrode-powered products based on licences from University of Buffalo, having last raised $3.6m in 2016.
Conduit sources MIT connection
MIT spinout Conduit was founded in 2017 to commercialise a decentralised cloud computing concept drawing upon the spare processing resources of IT clusters.
PolyAI understands $12m series A
The Cambridge spinout plans to build out the business for its automated customer support platform after collecting $12m in series A funding.
CIC turns up for Gyroscope
Gyroscope Therapeutics recently commenced phase 1/2 clinical trials on a retinal gene therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration.
TriAltus takes on $1.6m
The seed capital will help UAB-founded TriAltus Bioscience commercialise its protein purification materials, which are already being used by research clients in the US, Brazil and EU.
Intel puts Gojoya in the picture
UCSD-founded imaging technology developer Gojoya has collected cash from Intel Capital to pursue product development and recruitment.
Big deal: Anaveon proves UZH fund model works
Anaveon emerged out of University of Zurich in late 2017 with the support of Novartis-backed UZH Life Sciences Fund and the corporate has now also invested directly.