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

Routrek Networks, the Japan-based creator of a robotic irrigation and fertilisation system backed by University of Tokyo Edge Capital  (Utec), received ¥260m ($2.4m) on Friday from IT services firm Optim, leasing services provider JA Mitsui Leasing and public-private partnership A-Five. The company has now raised about $6.5m altogether, including $4m from Globis Capital Partners, the investment vehicle for education services provider Globis, as well as meal delivery service Oisix, Utec and TechAccel in 2016. Electronics producer JFE Shoji Electronics, advanced materials producer JX Nippon Anci and Norinchukin Bank are also shareholders. BeammWave, a Sweden-based 5G mobile technology spinout of Lund University, has obtained Skr6.5m ($700,000) of seed funding from investors including venture capital firm Almi Invest. BeammWave has devised a radio-frequency integrated circuit catered to digital beamforming, a signal processing technique used to channel multiple radiating elements into identical wavelengths that form one targeted reception. The chip would be integrated within mobile phones and internet-of-things devices, potentially enhancing access to 5G telecoms transmitters. Sportip, a Japan-based developer of artificial intelligence-equipped sports performance analysis technology based on research at University of Tsukuba, has raised an eight-figure yen amount (¥10m = $93,000) yesterday from SoftBank’s Deepcore fund as well as sports business services provider Deportare Partners and Monex Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of financial exchange services provider Monex. Replicate Bioscience, a US-based anti-cancer drug resistance molecule developer founded from Duke University, has raised an undisclosed seed sum from nucleic acid immunotherapy business Immunomic Therapeutics as part of a research and licensing option agreement. Immunomic will exploit Replicate’s self-replicating RNA virus-based technology under the agreement in order to explore potential treatments for diseases including Covid-19, human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus. Replicate Bioscience was formed to increase the effectiveness of immuno-oncological therapies, exploiting the inventions of Herbert Lyerly, professor of surgery, immunology and pathology at Duke University’s School of Medicine, and Zachary Hartman, assistant professor of surgery at the same institution. The money was raised as part of a wider seed round, with Immunomic becoming Replicate’s first strategic shareholder. University of Manchester has spun out UK-based Molymem to take forward a membrane coating product with applications in the pharmaceutical, wastewater management and food and beverage sectors. Spun out from the university’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, Molymem has devised a 2D material called modified molybdenu disulphide to improve the performance of filter membranes by reducing their energy and upkeep requirements. Microporous membranes are used to filter contaminants and chemicals from water in a variety…

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