Airtree and Blackbird Ventures back Sydney University AI mining exploration platform
Two of Australia’s largest technology venture capital funds have backed a seed round for EARTH AI, a start-up that uses artificial intelligence to help mining firms find resources. Airtree and Blackbird Ventures are both looking to get in at the ground floor of the mineral exploration platform in a $500,000 round, which is smaller than the […]
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 […]
TEC Edmonton breaks ground on newest technology accelerator with Merck Canada
TEC Edmonton broke ground on a new business accelerator for technology companies on Tuesday. The accelerator, a partnership with pharmaceutical company Merck Canada Inc., will connect emerging Alberta-based health-focused companies with the health research expertise of Merck to bring innovative health technologies to the market. “Working in partnership with TEC Edmonton to provide both scientific […]
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 […]
TMCx Medical Device Companies Pitch at Expert Forum
The TMC Innovation Institute hosted a successful Expert Forum last week featuring its 19 medical device cohort startups. The TMC Expert Forum, where the companies pitch innovations to a room full of potential advisors, mentors and key opinion leaders, closed out a three-week “boot camp” that the companies participated in at the beginning of the […]
SD Venture Summit highlights university-developed tech to spawn start-ups
If San Diego’s Grolltex is correct, bendable display screens for smartphones, tablets and other gadgets aren’t the stuff of science fiction. They’re just around the corner. The two-year-old start-up has licensed technology developed at UC San Diego to mass produce graphene — a strong, conductive material that is Now used mostly by research labs – including contractors […]
Ohio taxpayers being asked to support the future of the state’s venture capital fund
A venture-capital fund created by the state to nurture startups now needs a hand from Ohio taxpayers. For the first time since its creation in 2003, the Ohio Capital Fund isn’t making enough money from its investments to cover payments on the money it has borrowed to finance its investments in startups. The fund, managed […]
Wisconsin startup funding up 60% in 2016 | BizTimes Media Milwaukee
Eighty-four Wisconsin startups received $281.7 million in funding in 2016, up 60 percent from $177 million in 2015, according to the latest INvest Quarterly report from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. The report tracks only companies the state has designated as Qualified New Business Ventures, which is open to high-tech, early-stage Wisconsin companies developing innovative […]
University of Alaska professor gets $75,000 investment for startup
An incontrovertible fact of Alaska life means black ice can spin cars out of control and winter snow dumps take up precious asphalt space meant for cars. At least, that’s the accepted normal. A new invention market-tested by University of Alaska Anchorage professor Joey Yang shows promise for help. Called Tundra Tape, it’s a technology […]
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 […]