Monthly Archives: December 2014

Science & Technology

• Researchers at Seoul National University have developed highly sensitive vibration sensors that are based on techniques employed by some spiders. The technology has applications in healthcare and communications. More.
• Researchers from Imperial College London and Glasgow University have developed a chemical that can be added to foods in order to make people feel full. More.
• Researchers at Cambridge University have created artificial enzymes for the first time. The development challenges established views on prerequisite conditions for the origin of life and may lead to development of new disease treatments. More.
• Google announced a major breakthrough with the development of AI software that can accurately describe the content of photographs. This will improve visual search and could also enable greater use of computers by the visually impaired.
• Researchers at MIT have developed an inexpensive and wireless sensor, based on modified near-field communication tags, that is capable of  detecting pollutants and hazardous gases. More.
• Liverpool University is leading a £1.2m UK/India research project designed to develop new drought tolerant wheat varieties. More.
• Engineers at Stanford have developed a silicon prism capable of manipulating light beams in a way that could enable computers to transfer data more efficiently using optics rather than electricity. More.
• Researchers at Harvard University are developing biomaterial that can be injected and programmed to assemble into 3D structures that directly target cancer cells. More.

Business

• Google announced a replacement for its ReCaptcha test, which has become less effective in the face of improving software. Users will now be asked to tick a checkbox, with analysis of the time and movement in doing so used to verify human user. More.
• Share prices of Lending Club, the world’s largest P2P lender, surged by 56% on the first day of trading following the company’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

New Sources of Funding

• Twitter co-founder Evan Williams launched Obvious Ventures, a venture capital firm that will seek to invest in companies that are making‘a positive impact on the world’.
• Seed/early-stage investor Mercury Fund closed a $105m fund to invest in software and science-based companies.
• US-based health services major McKesson launched McKesson Ventures, a venture capital fund that will invest in companies addressing ‘business challenges’ within the health care industry.
• Northzone, a growth investor with a presence in the US, UK and Scandinavia, closed a €250m fund.
• Khosla Ventures has reportedly started raising a $400m seed fund.
• India-focused base-of-pyramid seed investor Unitus Seed Fund raised $4m from investors including Bill Gates.
• Brazil-based venture capital firm Monashees Capital launched a new $140m fund.
• US-based seed-focused fund-of-funds Cendana Capital closed a $50m fund alongside a $17m direct co-investment fund. More.
• US-based Fenox Venture Capital announced the launch of a $200m fund that will focus on start-ups based in Bangladesh. More.
• New York state announced that it will be launched a $50m early-stage technology-focused venture capital fund. More.
• UK-based early-stage technology investor Mercia Technologies listed on AIM with a market capitalisaiton of £106m, raising £70m.
• Xfund, the Harvard-based early stage investor, closed a $100m fund. More.
• Formation 8 closed a $500m fund to invest across a range of sectors and company stages.
• Italy-focused investor Quadrivio Group announced the launch of a new €300m fund.
• Los Angeles-based Upfront Ventures closed a $280m venture capital fund.

New products

• Australia-based Inkl launched a ‘Spotify-for-news’ service through which users can access content from multiple publishers by paying a single monthly subscription or small fee per article accessed.
• VETIGEL, a gel-based alternative to stiches that is currently under development, mimics the natural clotting mechanisms in blood to stop internal and external bleeding.
• US-based Touchdown Ventures launched to help corporations establish and manage venture capital platforms.
• African Clean Energy, a start-up based in Lesotho, is developing a flat-pack stove that reduces fuel usage and emissions relative to established stove designs. The device also includes solar-charging as well as DC and USB ports. More.

New company Fundraising

• Boston-based Neurala, which develops software that mimics the functions of the human brain to help robots observe and adapt to their environments, raised $750,000. More.
• Berlin-based Medigo, which develops a platform to connect patients with accredited healthcare solution providers around the world, raised €5m from investors including Accel Partners.
• Off Grid Electric, which installs pay-as-you-go solar lighting systems in developing countries, raised $16m from investors including SolarCity and Zouk Capital. More.
• Online petition service Change.org raised $25m from investors including Omidyar Network.
• London-based MarketInvoice, which offers crowdsourced invoice financing for small companies, raised $7.8m from investors including Northzone.
• US-based MetaMind, which develops deep learning text and image analysis technologies, raised $8m from investors including Khosla Ventures. More.
• Soldidia Technologies, which is developing carbon dioxide-sequestering cement, a technology originally developed at Rutgers University, raised funding from investors including KPCB. More.
• Anonymous therapy provider Talkspace raised £3.5m from investors including Spark Capital.
• Germany-based gestigon, which develops gesture control software solutions for the consumer electronic and automotive sectors, received funding from a consortium of investors including High-Tech Gruenderfunds.
• US-based Kinsa, which develops a smartphone-connected thermometer and accompanying health monitoring software, raised $9.6m from investors including KPCB.
• London-based enterprise collaboration software developer Huddle raised $51m from investors including Zouk Capital and Hermes GPE.
• US-based Phononic, which develops solid-state cooling and heating solutions with applications in electronics, raised $44.5m from investors including Wellcome Trust.
• Airborne wind-turbine developer and MIT spin-out Altaeros Energies raised $7m from Japanese media company SoftBank.
• India-based education company Curiositi, which works with schools to enhance the science curriculum with hands-on activities, received investment from Unitus Seed Fund.
• US-based Optimatics, which develops software designed to optimise water and wastewater management, raised funding from investors including Emerald Technology Ventures.
• UK-headquartered Sundrop Farms, an agritech company that develops greenhouses that run on solar power and seawater, raised $100m from PE house KKR. More.
• Echodyne, which is commercialising metamaterial-based radar technology originally developed at Duke University and the University of California, raised $15m from investors including Bill Gates and Madrona Venture Group.

Other

• Research conducted by the OECD found that income inequality has a statistically significant impact on economic growth, and estimates that rising inequality in the UK cost the economy nine percentage points of GDP growth between 1990 and 2010.

Science & Technology

• Researchers from the University of Vienna have, for the first time, transferred information outside using ‘twisted’ beams of visible light. The technique potentially offers faster communication through enabling simultaneous transfer of multiple information streams. More.
• The Central Japan Railway Company began testing its maglev Shinkasen train, which is capable of travelling at 500 km per hour. More.
• Scientists at the Swiss Institute of Technology have devised a system capable of using brainwaves to activate genes and, consequently, the production of certain proteins. The technology may have applications in treatments of diseases such as epilepsy. More.
• Glowing nanoparticles capable of attaching themselves to cancer cells could enable faster and more effective assessment of treatment, according to a study by researchers at Northwestern University. More.
• The European Space Agency successfully landed a satellite on Comet 67P, where organic molecules were detected.
• A team at Stanford University has created a silicon climbing pad that replicates the mechanisms used by geckos to enable humans to scale glass walls.
• Russia reportedly launched a ‘satellite-catcher’ capable of intercepting orbiting satellites, following similar recent moves by the US and China.
• Researchers at Lund University, Sweden are developing techniques to heal brain damage caused by Parkinson’s disease using stem cells. More.
• Researchers at the University of Massachusetts are investigating the application of graphene within bulletproof armour, with early tests indicating that the material is capable of absorbing as much as ten times the impacts of steel.
• A prototype cheap, inflatable incubator for premature babies won the £30,000 James Dyson Award. The modular and energy efficient device is designed to enable easy transportation and reuse, and is particularly suited to resource-poor situations. More. 
• Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology are developing an alternative to hypodermic needles for the delivery of vaccinations. The ‘microneedle patch’ delivers vaccinations via 100 tiny needles, in a painless process that resembles applying a band aid and requires no training. More.

Business

• IBM launched a Global Entrepreneur Programme through which relevant start-ups can access up to $120,000 of IBM cloud services.
• Dyson announced plans to invest £1bn in R&D over the next four years, as the company looks too launch 100 new products by 2018.
• SunEdison agreed to acquire First Wind, making it the largest developer of wind and solar power in the world.
• Google took out a $200m, 60-year lease on a NASA airfield as it looks at new projects focused on R&D for space exploration.
• Apple’s market capitalisation exceeded $700bn, the first time that any company has done so.
• Google acquired EMU, a messaging app that automatically augments conversations with useful information based on subject matter or location (e.g. location and contact details for a suggested restaurant).
• Singapore topped the Economist Intelligence Unit ranking for best places in the world to do business for the seventh consecutive year, with political climate, openness to foreign investment, taxes, the labour market and infrastructure among the criteria judged. Switzerland, Australia, Hong Kong and Sweden respectively made up the top 5. The UK was 21^st out of the 82 countries considered.

New Sources of Funding

• Deutsche Telekom launched a €500m venture capital fund that will focus on Germany-based start-ups.
• Microsoft announced that it will be providing grants to researchers developing applications using its Azure Machine Learning service. More.
• $9.3bn was pledged by thirty countries for the Green Climate Fund, which will invest in renewable energy and environmtental technologies. More.
• US-based Zetta Venture Partners closed a $56m fund that will focus on analytics opportunities, while Lightspeed Venture Partners closed a $1bn fund for early-stage companies.
• Farm2050, an agriculture technology incubator backed by a number of organisations including Google and DuPont, opened for applications from start-ups working to boost food production.
• Convergence Accel launched a $25m venture capital fund that will focus on start-ups in Indonesia.
• A £200m lending programme for community-scale renewable energy projects within the UK was launched by PE firm KKR in partnership with the Green Investment Bank.
• Japan-based Infinity Venture Partners launched a $100m fund to invest in technology start-ups.
• US and Ireland-based venture capital firm Polaris Partners closed a $450m fund to invest in technology and healthcare companies.

New products

• Google has worked with the Oceana conservation group to develop a new service that enables users to identify and report perpetrators of illegal fishing activities in near real time.
• A deal signed between the Gates Foundation, Pfizer and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation will pave the way for the administration of contraceptive injections in developing countries using the ‘unijet device’, a single-use, cheap, simple and safe alternative to traditional syringe/needle method. More.
• Snapchat and Square joined forces to launch snapcash, which allows users of Snapchat to transfer money to contacts simply by sending a message containing a money amount.
• Microsoft is developing a headset that helps blind people navigate through cities. More.
• Empatica is developing a wristband for epileptics that can detect seizures and inform family members. This works by combining data on skin conductivity and motion. More.
• Facebook is reportedly working on an enterprise-focused version of its platform that will enable workers to communicate and collaborate more easily.
• The Swasthya Slate is a low cost device that integrates with android phones or tablets to enable healthcare providers to run 33 diagnostic tests.

New company Fundraising

• Germany-based Electrochaea, which develops grid-scale energy storage technologies that convert low-cost electricity into renewable gas, raised funding from investors including Munich Venture Partners.
• Netherlands-based Blendle, which sells access to media content on a per-article basis, raised $3.8m from the New York Times and German media major Axel Springer.
• Estonia-based Jobbatical, which helps to connect people with short-term career-break opportunities, raised €260k from investors including SmartCap.
• Presentation software developer Prezi raised $57m from investors including Accel Partners.
• US-based OrderWithMe, which is developing a platform that enables small companies to club together in order to bulk-buy, raised $28m from investors including Silicon Valley Bank.
• Paris-based Agorize, which provides a platform through which clients can organise online innovation challenges, raised €2m from investors including Iris Capital and Capnamic Ventures.
• US-based Monteris Medical, which develops MRI-guided laser-based treatments for brain tumours, raised $20m from investors including Birchview Capital.
• US-based AI researcher Vicarious, which is developing software that mimics the information processing approach of the human brain, received $12m from ABB Technology Ventures.
• Intel Capital announced that it has invested $62m in 16 startup companies, including Braille printer developer Braigo Labs
• IHear Medical, which develops affordable and customisable hearing aids, raised $5m from investors including Lighthouse Capital. The company also offers online diagnostics software that enables users to calibrate each device.
• Helsinki-based Oppex, a search engine for public sector tender opportunities, raised $1.5m from Alma Media, Veturi and Tekes. The site is similar to World Bank-run dgMarket and operates via a freemium model.
• MyTomorrows, which helps patients access development-stage pharmaceuticals, raised a further €4.5m from Balderton Capital and Sofinnova Partners.
• Austria-based cortical.io, which develops natural language processing software, raised $1.25m from investors.
• US-based BluWrap, which develops technologies that extend the life of perishable proteins, raised $12.6m from investors including Wheatsheaf Investments.
• Narrative Science, which develops software capable of producing narratives from structured data sources, raised $10m from investors including Battery Ventures.
• US-based Spirometrix, which develops breath-analysis disease diagnosis technologies, raised $8.6m from a range of investors.
• UK-based Spacehive, a crowdfunding platform for civic projects, raised £1.3m from investors including Big Society Capital.
• US-based ABPathfinder, which develops cloud-based software tools that improve the provision of autism therapy, closed a funding round involving investors including FCA Venture Partners.
• US and Tanzania-based SunFunder, which provides financing solutions for solar power projects in emerging markets, received $2.5m from investors including Khosla Impact and Better Ventures.
• US-based eBrevia, which develops machine learning technologies for automatic contract review, raised $1.5m from investors.

Other

• The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety has warned that children under six should not be allowed to access 3D content, amid concerns that it could hinder development of the visual system.
• Happiness levels follow predictable patterns throughout a typical lifetime, but differ depending on where people live, according to a study conducted by researchers at University College London. Happiness follows a u-shaped curve in Western English-speaking countries and tends to steadily decline over time in Latin America. More.
• Researchers at the University of Zurich claim to have proven scientifically that the working culture within banks results in a propensity to lie for financial gain.