University of Michigan Vesper Mics Up With $23M From Amazon, American Family, Baidu, Bose
Vesper Technologies, a high-tech microphone startup trying to ride the wave of voice-controlled devices, has summoned a $23 million investment from a group of well-known tech companies, venture capitalists, and an insurance firm. The Series B funding round was led by American Family Ventures, the venture arm of Madison, WI-based American Family Insurance. Other investors in […]
$115,000 funding awarded to Purdue researchers, advance innovations to commercialization
Four Purdue University researchers will share nearly $115,000 in funding from the Trask Innovation Fund to further develop their innovations and move life-changing technologies through the commercialization pipeline. Twice annually the Trask Innovation Fund awards funds through an endowed development program that assists faculty and staff whose discoveries are being commercialized through the Purdue Research Foundation’s Office of Technology Commercialization. […]
Wistar Institute Spinout Isoma Diagnostics Secures Seed Funding
Isoma Diagnostics, a spinout of Philadelphia’s Wistar Institute, has secured a first round of seed funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners and the University City Science Center’s Phase I Ventures Program. The company did not disclose the funding amount, but a Wistar Institute spokesperson noted that it was in the six-figure range. Isoma, which launched […]
GV co-leads $27.1M Series A in Oxford Uni life sciences spinout Vaccitech
Leaning on its in-house life sciences expertise GV has backed another biotech startup in the UK, co-leading a £20 million ($27.1M) Series A in Oxford University spinout Vaccitech, which is developing a universal flu vaccine. Sequoia China, another new investor, is also co-leading the round, along with existing backer Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI) — which operates a fund that invests in high […]
UChicago food allergy startup ClostraBio raises $3.5 million
Prof. Cathryn Nagler had been researching the physiological origins of food allergy and potential treatments for over 30 years, but she hadn’t considered the possibility of translating that research into a business. But just 15 months after considering that possibility and beginning her entrepreneurial career, she is the founder of a promising, emerging venture. Nagler’s new […]
UNICEF announces addition of six start-up companies to 2018 investment portfolio
ix start-up businesses providing solutions to improve children’s lives using frontier technologies such as data science, virtual reality (VR), drones and artificial intelligence (A.I) will receive funding from the Innovation Fund, UNICEF announced today. The $12.6 million fund provides capital to emerging tech companies to develop technological solutions from frontier tech sectors that have the potential […]
Innovation Fund invests $575,000 in biotech companies @ U Chicago Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The University of Chicago Innovation Fund announced plans to invest up to $575,000 into three biotechnology companies—ImmunArtes, Onchilles Pharma, and Oxalo Therapeutics. These latest investments bring the Innovation Fund’s total investment amount to over $6 million in 56 projects. On Friday, December 1, four finalists presented their proposals to the Innovation Fund advisory committee, which […]
IBM and University of Melbourne present seizure prediction system through POC project
Researchers from IBM and the University of Melbourne have developed a proof-of-concept seizure forecasting system that predicted an average of 69 percent of seizures across 10 epilepsy patients in a dataset. The system, which the scientists claim is “fully automated, patient-specific, and tunable to an individual’s needs”, uses a combination of deep-learning algorithms and a […]
Two University of Buffalo startups win $50,000 in FuzeHub commercialization competition
Two University at Buffalo startups have each won $50,000 in a statewide commercialization competition organized by FuzeHub, a nonprofit organization responsible for assisting small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies in New York State. Ferric Contrast Inc. founded by UB chemistry professor Janet Morrow, and NanoHydroChem LLC, co-founded by UB chemical and biological engineering PhD candidate Parham […]
CMU spinout Petuum gets nearly $100M in venture funding
Carnegie Mellon University artificial intelligence spin-off company Petuum Inc. has raised $93 million in a new round of venture funding led by Japanese telecommunications and internet giant SoftBank Group, Petuum co-founder Eric Xing said. Mr. Xing is a computer science professor on sabbatical from CMU, where he directed the Center for Machine Learning and Health. […]