Research Center IMEC creates smart tech VC fund, targets €100 million
The imec.xpand fund is targeting a total of €100 million to €120 million (up to about $135 million) and has already secured a significant amount of that according to Tom Vanhoutte, who is a manager of the fund alongside Peter Vanbekbergen. The fund is looking to support ideas and projects across the range of hardware […]
Google AI Fund Leads $10.5M Into Algorithmia
Google’s AI fund has made its first public investment, leading a $10.5 million Series A funding round for Algorithmia, a marketplace and enterprise solution that enables developers to tap into its catalog of 3,500 algorithms, functions and machine-learning models. According to news from TechCrunch, other participants in the round include new investor Work-Bench, as well as current investors […]
Rolls-Royce To Open Turbine Lab at Purdue University
s part of a public-private partnership Rolls-Royce will establish a $24 million turbine lab for compact gas turbine engines at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Development and testing of next-generation turbine airfoils will be housed at Purdue’s Zucrow Laboratories, one of the nation’s largest university propulsion laboratory for research focused on reducing fuel consumption […]
LifeArc, née MRC Technology, sets up high-risk seed fund for academics
LifeArc has set up a seed fund to invest in early preclinical projects that are overlooked because of the high risk of failure at that stage of R&D. The British medical research charity, formerly known as MRC Technology, sees the fund filling a perceived gap in the commercial investment landscape. That gap covers the stage […]
Honeywell Launches New Venture Investment Fund Focused On Early-Stage, High-Growth Companies
Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today announced the launch of a new investment fund that will invest in early-stage, high-growth technology companies that are strategically aligned to the Company’s portfolio and software capabilities. The initial fund size is expected to be approximately $100 million and investments will be made through Honeywell Venture Capital LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary […]
Oculus VR co-founder Brendan Iribe donates $50,000 to UMD’s Startup Shell
When junior computer science major Sam Drozdov approached Brendan Iribe — co-founder of virtual reality company Oculus VR — during the on-campus coding marathon Bitcamp in April, he wanted to build a relationship between the entrepreneur and the student-run organization Startup Shell. Drozdov didn’t expect Iribe to donate $50,000 to the group later that month. […]
Microsoft Ventures doubles down on AI with new investments in Agolo and Bonsai
Ever feel like there’s just too much information out there? New York-based Agolo is hoping so. The startup is developing a program that summarizes large amounts of information using artificial intelligence — and it’s one of two AI startups that announced new funding Wednesday from Microsoft’s corporate investment arm, Microsoft Ventures. Agolo’s funding, first reported by VentureBeat, […]
Alibaba launches US$3m start-up competition with Cyberport and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks
Alibaba’s not-for-profit initiative, the Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, is teaming up with the city’s Cyberport and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks on a US$3 million start-up competition to help nurture the city’s growing start-up scene and identify tomorrow’s entrepreneurial stars The competition, “Jumpstarter 2017”, will begin in May and is open to a variety […]
Cisco Innovation Challenge lets university entrepreneurs rise and shine
Every year when Naomi Phillips travels to the Caribbean with her husband, they use her homemade sunscreen. And every year, her husband says, “You need to sell this stuff!” Phillips is a student in the business program at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix. She’s also an entrepreneur, although she didn’t always see herself that […]
Samsung to fund 40 tech projects in H1
Samsung Electronics has selected 40 research projects that will be funded in the first half of this year. The initiative is in line with Samsung strategy to secure key technologies, Yonhap new agency reports. Since 2013, Samsung has operated a program which funds research in three fields, including basic science, material technology, and information communications […]