U Queensland Inflazome closes US$17m Series A financing round from Novartis Venture Fund 

Inflazome (inflazome.com) has successfully closed a Series A financing round for up to US$17/€15 million. Two leading life sciences venture capital firms, Novartis Venture Funds and Fountain Healthcare Partners, co-led the financing. Inflazome is developing inhibitors of the inflammasome, a compelling biological target that regulates our innate immune response, now associated with a wide variety […]

Qualcomm invested $23 Million In 5 Firms From India Venture Fund

Qualcomm on Monday said it has already invested $23 million (about Rs 150 crore) in five companies from the $150 million venture fund, which the electronics chip major had announced for India last September. Asked about an update on the company’s India investments, Qualcomm’s Executive Chairman Paul Jacobs, who met Telecom Minister and IT Minister […]

Tata’s $300m venture fund plans to invest in startups

Mumbai-bred Turakhia brothers turned billionaires as a group of Chinese investors acquired their ad tech startup Media.net for $900 million in cash, in what would be the third largest deal in the industry. The newly set up RNT Capital Advisers, a venture fund launched by Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata, will deploy $300 million […]

Through corporate venture fund, Exelon gets intel while startups get funding

When Constellation Energy Group decided to back Astrum Solar in 2011, it was a huge boon for the Baltimore energy startup. Astrum was founded in 2008 on the idea of bringing residential solar energy to the East Coast, where the technology had been slower to catch on compared with California and its neighbors. But while […]

Chinese Tsinghua to Start R&D Fund, 1,000 Incubators in Innovation Push

Tsinghua Holdings will invest no less than 50 billion yuan ($7.6 billion) in research over five years and set up a fund to help commercialize scientific discoveries, Chairman Xu Jinghong said in an interview. The company, a state-owned enterprise that was founded in 2003 by Chinese president Xi Jinping’s alma mater, Tsinghua University, kicked off two […]

HSBC launches £10bn fund to support UK SMEs

It is the largest package of support to be announced by HSBC for UK SMEs and has been structured regionally, so that small firms in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can access funds. HSBC said the fund is designed to meet strong demand from UK SMEs and follows the success of the £8bn fund […]

General Mills and 7-Eleven Join the Venture Capital Crowd 

At first glance, the maker of Cheerios and Cocoa Puffs might not fit the image of a cutting-edge venture capital investor. But with the food business moving to healthier offerings and online distribution, General Mills has created a venture capital unit that recently led a $3 million investment in Rhythm Superfoods, a specialty start-up that […]

Bayer and Trendlines establish Ag Innovation Fund

Bayer and Trendlines, an Israeli innovation commercialization company, announced a partnership to invest in agricultural technologies through the establishment of the Bayer Trendlines Ag Innovation Fund. The flexible five-year partnership agreement includes a $10 million investment from Bayer, which will be managed by Trendlines. The partnership couples Bayer’s decades of experience in agricultural science, innovation […]