Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.

I2O Therapeutics, a US-based developer of orally-administered versions of injectable biological drugs, raised $4m of seed funding on Thursday co-led by Sanofi Ventures and JDRF T1D Fund, respective investment vehicles for pharmaceuticals firm Sanofi and diabetes research finance organisation JDRF. I2O Therapeutics’ platform shields drugs that would ordinarily be destroyed in the digestive tract once swallowed. The company’s lead candidate is an oral version of GLP-1 analogues used to boost hormones in diabetes patients. The funding will support the expansion of I2O’s team as it looks to ramp up its R&D pipeline. Christopher Gagliardi, director of investments at Sanofi Ventures, and Katie Ellias, managing director of JDRF T1D Fund, have both joined the board of directors. Rise Robotics, a US-based developer of electric replacements for diesel hydraulics, secured $3m on Friday in a seed round led by The Engine, the impact-focused venture firm and incubator formed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that included angel investor Walter Winshall. Rise Robotics has devised an electric-powered linear actuator technology that creates push-pull friction within heavy machinery in place of diesel-powered hydraulics. Rise Robotics will use the capital to complete an electrification contract with an unnamed forklift manufacturer. Reed Sturtevant, general partner of The Engine, and Walter Winshall have both joined the board of directors. Rise Robotics, a graduate of accelerator Techstars, previously secured an undisclosed angel sum from investors including Walter Winshall, William Warner and John Strauss. Minviro, a UK-based environmental impact assessment provider spun out of University of Exeter, has raised £125,000 ($156,700) in funding from sustainability-focused venture firm Sustainable Ventures. The spinout supplies environmental impact forecasting to early-stage mining and raw materials projects, employing models devised by its founder Robert Pell, a PhD graduate of University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines. Pell’s research was supervised by Frances Wall, professor of applied mineralogy, and Xiaoyu Yan, a senior lecturer specialised in energy and the environment. Minviro will now join Sustainable Ventures’ accelerator, having previously received support through multi-university incubator SetSquared and UK government-backed tech transfer scheme iCure.

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