The news roundup for the week ending 22 April 2016.
Alta Innovations: the future of success
In the second part of our series, editor Thierry Heles takes a closer look at how Birmingham University is building a complete ecosystem for spinouts, startups and late-stage companies.
BDC Capital supports a seed round for cleantech company Acuva, which is working on a water purification system.
Medtronic lights up Fire1 series B
Medical device startup Foundry Innovation & Research, also known as Fire1, has secured $7.5m in a round backed by existing investor Medtronic.
Onfido exhibits credentials in $25m round
Allianz spinout Idinvest contributed to a series B round that will help the UK-based background checking service expand in the US.
Samsung and Bosch took part in the series A round, which boosted the digital camera technology spinout’s overall funding to $8m.
Scotland’s tech transfer numbers spin up
More Scottish spinouts survive in the wild as the total number still trading increases by nearly 20%.
UK higher education spinout data released
The latest data from the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency shows an increase in the number of active spinouts and an approximate 44% jump in turnover for those companies.
Kansas City rises with $20m fund
KC Rising, a joint initiative of Mid-America Regional Council, Kansas City Area Development Council and Civic Council, launches a $20m fund.
Keranova looks towards $4.5m series A
BPIfrance and CEA Investissement both contribute cash to a series A round for the medical device company.
KeeeX, backed by BPIfrance and the regional initiative Plan Régional d’Innovation, raises additional seed funding to support R&D efforts.
Cambridge Enterprise’s investment lights the way for spinout Roadmap to bring its optical network technology to market.
Australia translates $772m into spinout funding
Australia throws its backing behind spinouts by developing a plethora of funds to provide more than $772m in funding.
Millar-Nicholson to take over MIT’s TLO
Lita Nelsen, the 23-year long director of MIT’s Technology Licensing Office, is stepping down from the role to be replaced by Lesley Millar-Nicholson this coming July.
Sean Mallon takes up the associate vice-president for entrepreneurship and innovation role at George Mason University, joining from the Center for Innovative Technology.
In-Q-Tel smartens up with Skincential Sciences
The US intelligence services’ venture capital affiliate provides funding to cosmetic products manufacturer Skincential Sciences, which has also created technology to painlessly collect DNA from skin.
The Ivycap Ventures Initiative, a program to support startups with seed funding, mentoring and “global alumni” networking, gains 10% of Ivycap Fund 2’s $45m first tranche of funding.
