Amid a general downturn, spinouts have been faring much better than the startup world at large.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that investments in spinouts stayed relatively flat in the second quarter of 2022. Public shares and bonds have been under pressure, inflation has soared, central banks have raised interest rates – in the EU, for the first time in 11 years – while a cost of living crisis and soaring energy prices amidst Russia’s bombing of Ukraine has further dampened consumer confidence and hampered leaders’ ability to manoeuvre. But the need for research commercialisation has arguably never been greater. Huge areas of western continental Europe have been literally on fire while the UK, for the first time ever, breached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). California’s Oak Fire meanwhile has destroyed more than 17,200 acres and, as of the time of writing, is still only 16% contained. Q2’s biggest deals It shouldn’t come as a surprise then, either, that out of the 275 investments in spinouts in the second quarter, the largest by far was in Climeworks, a Switzerland-based direct air capture technology provider spun out of ETH Zurich, which raised CHF600m ($646m) in April from investors including reinsurance firm Swiss Re. Partners Group and GIC co-led the round, which also included Baillie Gifford, Carbon Removal Partners, Global Founders Capital, M&G, BigPoint Holding and private investor John Doerr. Climeworks’ technology pulls carbon dioxide from the air. Its partnerships include one with Microsoft by which it has been contracted to remove 10,000 tons of CO2 emissions over the next ten years. In June, Personio, a Germany-based human resources software producer spun out of TU Munich (TUM), picked up $200m in a series E extension led by Greenoaks, bringing the round – opened in October 2021 – to a $470m total. Personio is one of the biggest successes to emerge out of the TUM ecosystem; it was the university’s third spinout to reach unicorn status, in January last year, following data processing technology provider Celonis and electrically powered personal air vehicle developer Lilium. It had raised the initial series E tranche at a $6.3bn valuation, pushing that even higher to a $8.3bn valuation with the extension. The third biggest deal of the quarter is also an interesting beast. Retro Biosciences, a US-based company focused on the cellular drivers of aging, emerged with $180m in funding from undisclosed investors in April. Unusually, the company made its announcement via Twitter rather than a press release or press coverage. It remains in stealth mode but its website says it…

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).