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 […]
ASU announces new network to connect startups with potential investors
President Michael Crow unveiled a new plan to connect entrepreneurs at ASU with investment funding through the Thunderbird School of Global Management. This system, which is expected to get off the ground in the fall of this year, will be called the ASU Thunderbird Investor Network and is an extension of a previous Thunderbird network that was […]
Volvo Launches a VC Fund to Keep Up With the Future
STARTUPS LOOKING TO cash checks had better start learning Swedish and get ready for meetings at the IKEA cafeteria. Today, Volvo announced it has launched its very own in-house venture capital fund. Working with an undisclosed amount of money, Volvo Cars Tech Fund will look to invest in startups it believes could help it keep pace in a […]
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 […]
The Community of Action: A Consortium of University-affiliated Gap Funding and Accelerator Programs
Innovations come at a high cost and are often derailed momentarily by numerous challenges. Filling the gap between great ideas and the final product or service is a complex endeavor for any innovator. University technology and startups face wider and deeper gaps when seeking capital, talent, and connections to support its development and commercialization. To […]
Excerpts from Mind the Gap Report
For anyone interested in University-affiliated translational research, proof of concept, and startup gap funding and accelerators. The report below contains 60 pages from the most recent Mind the Gap Report. This excerpt was composed to assist in your own program planning and as an educational piece for your stakeholders. Please use and share! Best viewed […]
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 […]
Millersville students will invest $200K out of university’s endowment with new Marauder Fund
It’s one thing for a university to trust its students to excel and represent their alma mater well. It’s quite another to trust students with its own money. By establishing its first student-managed investment portfolio, that’s exactly what Millersville University has done. Known as the Marauder Fund, students of the newly formed Millersville Student Investment […]