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 […]

Vanderbilt Wond’ry lands $500K I-Corps site grant, ramps up efforts to launch start-ups 

The Wond’ry, in collaboration with the Vanderbilt Institute in Surgery and Engineering, recently won a five-year, $500,000 National Science Foundation grant to become an Innovation Corps site. The designation marks Vanderbilt as one of the premier academic institutions nationwide that nurture entrepreneurship. The I-Corps site grant will support programs to match students and faculty with teams of […]

University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Research Foundation announces new Catalyst Grants

Five new research projects at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have received grant seed-funding from the UWM Research Foundation for projects that range from new materials for removal of arsenic from groundwater to a strategy for improving batteries for electric cars. The Catalyst Grant Program invests in promising early-stage research at UWM in areas where the […]

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 […]

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 […]