Microsoft launches new startup accelerator program in Berlin
Microsoft has announced its newest European startup accelerator program, in a move that helps tie software startups to its Azure services. The Microsoft Accelerator program looks to equip startups with tools to help them develop their product and grow their organisation. Microsoft gives the companies networking opportunities, funding, access to equipment, training and management in order to achieve […]
Oxford biotech startup Nightstar Therapeutics plans US NASDAQ float
Founded in 2014, the company has developed a technology that could cure blindness. Nightstar is the latest in a number of UK-based healthcare companies looking to US markets for IPOs. Investors in the US are said to have a better understanding of biotech, which leads them to value early-stage companies at higher amounts. Nightstar is […]
U Zurich, Novartis UZH Life Sciences Fund Invests in First Spin-off
CUTISS is a company with a vision: To use personalized skin grafts to heal people all over the world with skin defects, including burn victims. The UZH spin-off has developed a novel procedure whereby a postage-stamp-sized biopsy of healthy skin is harvested from the patient. This is then bioengineered to create a skin graft around […]
Sale of French state assets to fund innovation
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced on September 3 that France will sell off state assets to help raise billions of euros to finance innovation. “In a few weeks’ time I am going to announce that we will privatise certain companies to raise money to finance innovation,” the economy minister told a business conference in Italy. As […]
Aston University startup gets $200K seed funding to bring AI to smart buildings
Grid Edge, is the brainchild of three researcher friends, Tom Anderson, Dr Jim Scott and Dr Dan Wright, who met while working together at Aston University’s European Bioenergy Research Institute in 2012. The funding comes from Ignite, the investment fund from UK power supplier Centrica, to help it take a step closer to realising its […]
Enterprise Ireland reveals latest €750,000 Competitive Start Fund
Enterprise Ireland has issued a call for applications for its seventh Competitive Start Fund (CSF) to be launched in 2017. The €750,000 fund is open to all sectors, with a particular focus on start-ups in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, life sciences and renewables. ‘Start-up businesses offering innovative products and services are the lifeblood of […]
Imperial pilots new route for academic spinouts, inventor choice
In a first for any UK university, the College has launched Founders Choice™, a programme offering academics a choice between two routes for founding spinout companies. It has been created by the College with the support of its technology commericalisation partner, Imperial Innovations. The Founders Choice™ initiative is an exciting opportunity for people like myself – Professor […]
Super seven firms boosted by University of Essex Knowledge Gateway Innovation Fund
Among the projects which have been boosted by the Knowledge Gateway Innovation Fund is the EyeWink, which enables smartphone users to control their devices with the wink of an eye. The brain-computer technology, developed by senior Essex university researchers Davide Valeriani and Ana Matran-Fernandez, could soon be in production thanks to a £15,000 grant. It provides […]
Birmingham AI start-up secures £200,000 Centrica backing
Birmingham-based Grid Edge is the brainchild of three researcher friends, Tom Anderson, Dr Jim Scott and Dr Dan Wright, who met while working together at Aston University’s European Bioenergy Research Institute in 2012. Following three years of product development, the trio has created cloud-based energy management software which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast the […]
IST Austria and Lansdowne partners launch Advanced Technology Seed fund
While business angel activity has grown over recent years and a range of government grants are now available, institutional equity investors addressing the seed and early stage segments are still rare in Austria. Signing an agreement to form IST CUBE, a new investment platform to support the creation and development of tech startups, the Institute […]