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

Gaia BioMedicine, a Japan-based cancer immuno-cellular therapeutics developer spun out of Kyushu University, has secured ¥1.3bn ($11.9m) in a series B round backed by Osaka University Venture Capital (OUVC), a vehicle for Osaka University. The round was led by financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ subsidiary Mitsubishi UFJ Capital’s Life Science Fund 2 and also included financial services provider SBI subsidiary SBI Investment, pharmaceutical firm Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical and robotics Cyberdyne’s CEJ Capital unit’s CEJ Fund, in addition to its series A investors – all of which remain undisclosed. OUVC had injected $908,000 in June this year but this may have been part of the series B round. Gaia had secured $5.9m in series A financing in February 2020. Muon Space, a US-based climate-focused satellite constellation company, has received $10m in a seed round backed by University of California-aligned Congruent Ventures. The round was led by Costanoa Ventures, while Space Capital, Ubiquity Ventures, South Park Commons and Climactic VC also took part. Muon is deploying small satellites specialised in scientific-grade measurements of atmosphere, ocean and land processes related to climate. CarbonBuilt, a US-based developer of technology to convert carbon dioxide into concrete based on research at University of California (UC), Los Angeles, has raised $10m in a series A round led by Grantham Environmental Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities, with participation from Tony Pritzker, Lime Street Ventures, Climate Capital, YouWeb IV: Impact, Foundamental and unnamed others. The money will allow CarbonBuilt to hire more staff, bolster technology development and create its initial commercial projects. VFlowTech, a Singapore-based vanadium redox battery developer spun out of Nanyang Technological University, has picked up $3m in a pre-series A round led by Wavemaker Partners, with participation from Seeds Capital, Sing Fuels and assorted angel investors. The spinout claims its batteries are capable of storing enough energy to power small homes or telecoms towers, or to create microgrids in remote locations. – Additional reporting by Liwen-Edison Fu

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).