AAA December 2013

Christmas crescendo at Cambridge

Crescendo Biologics, a life sciences spin-out company of Cambridge University, has received £17.5m ($28.9m) in a series A supported by new and existing backers, including the corporate venturing arm of Astellas Pharma. The round was led by Imperial Innovations, the tech transfer unit of Imperial College London, marking the latest in a string of deals… Continue reading Christmas crescendo at Cambridge

LVMH runs with 2XU

Singapore-based L Capital Asia, the corporate venturing fund representing French luxury consumer brands conglomerate LVMH and Malaysia-based YTL Corp Bhd, has taken a 40% stake in the Australian sports brand 2XU. Local media puts the value of the deal at A$80m ($72.8 m). 2XU executive chairman and co-founder of 2XU, Clyde Davenport, statee, “We are… Continue reading LVMH runs with 2XU

Johnson & Johnson expands UK offices

Johnson & Johnson is to open new networking offices across UK life science clusters, as part of an extension of their existing London Innovation Centre, to further develop early stage innovation.

Prairie secures $1.65m

Prairie Cloudware completes its first round of funding, raising $1.65m for a mobile payments prototype, from Nelnet, Treetop, Croghan, Nebraska Global and Tetrad Corporation.

Covagen closes B round

Novartis Venture Funds, the $750m corporate venturing division of pharmaceutical firm Novartis, has participated in a series B round of funding for Swiss-based biopharmaceutical company Covagen AG, which develops protein-based therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer. Covagen closed Its tranched  B round of funding at CHF 42m ($46.9m)  with the option to… Continue reading Covagen closes B round