News
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Caroline Aruoja takes over leadership of TalTech’s TTO
Caroline Aruoja started in the new job this week, having previously led the Estonian university’s Startup Centre.
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Tech transfer office Inven2 helps launch Aleap Ventures
The University of Oslo’s tech transfer office Inven2 is among the investors in Aleap Ventures, which will invest in life sciences spinouts.
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Origgin Ventures targets Japanese spinouts with $30 million fund
The Singapore-based venture firm has set its sights on Fukuoka and is partnering with local investor Interuniversity Ventures to run the fund.
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Langis Roy named vice president of research and innovation at Lakehead University
Langis Roy joins Canada’s Lakehead University to craft a new research strategy, boost industry ties, and explore AI-driven entrepreneurship.
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Paul Cherukuri leaves Rice University for the University of Virginia
Paul Cherukuri, the vice president for innovation and chief innovation officer at Rice University, will join the University of Virginia in October.
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NCInnovation CEO Bennet Waters reveals intention to step down
Bennet Waters has led NCInnovation, which provides commercialisation support to North Carolina’s public universities, since April 2022.
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Virginia universities create standard fast-track startup licence
All six research-intensive institutions in the US state have signed up to the Lab-to-Launch initiative, aiming to double the number of spinouts annually.
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Aarhus launches Delphinus Venture Capital
Aarhus University Research Foundation has partnered with Heartland, Norlys, and Salling Group to launch the evergreen fund.
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1834 Ventures launches to support Tulane startups with $20 million
1834 Ventures is not affiliated with Tulane University but is working closely with the Tulane Innovation Institute and the Tulane Venture Fund.
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Portal Innovations kicks off $100 million Velocity Fund
Portal Innovations, established by John Flavin who previously set up the Polsky Center, partners with institutions like UChicago to support spinouts.
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UChicago’s Polsky Center sets up new venture development team
Dev Gavaskar and Alyssa Master have been recruited by the Polsky Center to work with another recent hire, Heather Walsh, on setting up more startups.
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Nick McNaughton hands over the reins to Ken Mahon at Campus Plus
The organisation, co-founded by Nick McNaughton six years ago, will now be led by interim CEO Ken Mahon.
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Michael Poisel takes on leadership role at the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre
Michael Poisel, who stepped down as executive director of PCI Ventures after more than 16 years in April, will now lead the MEC.
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Michael Burtov joins Nova Southeastern University as chief innovation officer
Michael Burtov has been appointed chief innovation officer at the private university, and will also serve as executive director of the Levan Center of Innovation.
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Medical University of South Carolina launches two funds totalling $30 million
The $20 million 1824 Health Ventures Fund I and the $10 million South Carolina Health Innovation Fund will both be managed by Bob Crutchfield.
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Mandy Parkinson takes on knowledge exchange role at the University of Salford
Prof Mandy Parkinson has been appointed associate pro vice chancellor for knowledge exchange at the University of Salford.
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University of Melbourne promotes Hun Gan to executive director for commercialisation
Hun Guan has been with the University of Melbourne since 2018 and has led both Genesis Ventures and the Genesis Pre-Seed Fund.
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James Zanewicz leaves Tulane after a decade to become Connect CEO
The move marks the conclusion of more than two decades in university innovation for James Zanewicz, who was most recently Tulane School of Medicine’s chief strategy officer.
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University of Southern Mississippi promotes Natalie Guess to assistant director
Natalie Guess, innovation and entrepreneurship programme manager at USM’s Office of Innovation Management, is promoted to assistant director.
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CIC launches £250 million Fund III, commits £100 million to Cambridge spinouts
Cambridge Innovation Capital will put at least £100 million into University of Cambridge spinouts as part of its third fund.
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Monash University launches A$15 million Pre-Seed Fund
Monash University has established Monash Ventures, which will manage the new A$15 million Pre-Seed Fund backed by Breakthrough Victoria.
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Vojtěch Malina steps down as head of tech transfer at Charles University
Vojtěch Malina is leaving Charles University’s tech transfer office after just over a year of being in charge.
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UCL Business managing director Steven Schooling steps down
Steven Schooling, who has been with University College London’s commercialisation subsidiary since 2006, is leaving today.
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Sally-Ann Williams bids farewell to Cicada Innovations
Sally-Ann Williams stepped down as chief executive officer of Cicada Innovations today after six years at the helm of the Australian incubator.
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University of Adelaide promotes Michael Goodsite
Michael Goodsite, managing director of the university’s commercialisation arm Innovation & Commercial Partners, has been promoted to pro vice chancellor for research services and infrastructure.
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Jill Kravetz will lead Harvard Innovation Labs
Jill Kravetz has been named the Bruce and Bridgitt Evans executive director of Harvard University’s entrepreneurship unit.
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Brandon Capital collects A$439 million for sixth fund
Australasian life sciences VC Brandon Capital has a partnership with more than 50 research institutions that provide access to deals.
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Michigan State University unveils $10 million fund
The university is doubling down on its partnership with Henry Ford Health to create a $10 million fund and innovation hub.
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Colleen Fitzgerald moves to Hofstra University
Colleen Fitzgerald will become Hofstra’s inaugural senior vice provost for research and creative activities, joining from North Dakota State University.
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Catherine Lafarge appointed interim president of Linksium
Linksium is one of France’s regional tech transfer organisations, Réseau SATT, and Lafarge had previously served as deputy CEO.
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National University of Singapore commits S$150 million to venture capital initiative
NUS is putting a third of the money into existing VC firms, while the bulk will go into a new university venture fund.
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Korea Institute of Science and Technology launches new innovation subsidiary
KIST Innovation will focus on the full spectrum of commercialisation, ranging from IP management to startup and corporate support to investments.
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Vanessa Wood leaves knowledge transfer role at ETH Zurich
Vanessa Wood, vice president for knowledge transfer and corporate relations at ETH Zurich, will step down at the end of the year to focus on her research full time.
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UTEC unveils Fund 6, reaches AuM of more than $1 billion
University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners has raised ¥47 billion ($326 million) for its sixth fund, its largest to date.
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Brian McCaul steps down as chief executive of QUBIS
Brian McCaul will leave his role at QUBIS, the commercialisation arm of Queen’s University Belfast, at the end of this year after more a decade in charge.
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Greg Cook returns to Otago for innovation role
The University of Otago has appointed Greg Cook as deputy vice chancellor for research and innovation, bringing him back to the institution after a year.
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Moran Zilbershtein joins TAU Ventures as general partner
TAU Ventures, the university venture fund of Tel Aviv University, has brought in Moran Zilbershtein as a general partner.
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Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology gains ₩12 billion fund
The fund was created by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Korea Venture Investment, with the South Korean government providing half of the capital.
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Catalio closes Nexus Fund IV with $400 million
Catalio Capital Management specialises in launching and investing in life sciences spinouts through a network of researchers that act as venture partners.
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Stevens Institute of Technology hires Shintaro Kaido
Shintaro Kaido will oversee technology transfer at the Stevens Institute of Technology.
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Quin Chang joins Care Economy CRC leadership
Quin Chang was the director for enterprise development at La Trobe University for the past three years and is the immediate past chair of Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia.
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Simon Bond moves to the University of Bath
Simon Bond, currently the director of Bristol Innovations, will oversee the development of the Bath Riverside Innovation Quarter.
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Chalmers Ventures appoints Jenny Dahlberg as CFO
Jenny Dahlberg succeeds Emma Siljeäng, who stepped down earlier this week after a decade working for the Swedish university venture fund..
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Padma Raghavan takes on newly established role at Vanderbilt University
Padma Raghavan will move into the newly created position of executive director for science and technology strategy at Vanderbilt University next week.
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David O’Neill departs from FACIT
David O’Neill had been president of oncology-focused commercialisation firm Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust since 2018. Peter Goodhand replaces him.
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Emma Siljeäng leaves Chalmers Ventures after a decade
Chalmers Ventures CFO Emma Siljeäng stepped down today, having been with the university venture fund since its inception in 2015.
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Northern Gritstone and Parkwalk Advisors team up for the Northern Universities Venture Fund
Parkwalk Advisors, which already has more than £500 million under management, will manage a new fund in partnership with Northern Gritstone.
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Harvard’s Isaac Kohlberg will retire at the end of 2025
Isaac Kohlberg, who’s been the senior associate provost and chief technology development officer at Harvard University since 2005, will retire later this year.
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Garden State Venture Partners formed to manage the Rowan Innovation Venture Fund
The shake-up will see the fund’s management team grow to three people, with Michael Connallon Jr and Shawn Hill joining existing manager Ernie Holtzheimer.
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Biotope Ventures reaches 5€ million first close for Fund II
Biotope Ventures, the accelerator and investment arm for Belgian research institute VIB, has raised 5€ million towards a 9€ million goal for its second fund.
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Liam Cronin hired as the new innovation director at University College Dublin
Cronin was most recently the chief executive officer of digital innovation centre RDI Hub and he succeeds Tom Flanagan, who left in October last year.
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Peter Devine will leave Uniseed by the end of 2025
Peter Devine, the chief executive of Australian university venture fund Uniseed is stepping down at the end of this year.
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SETsquared Bristol promotes Caroline Thompson
Caroline Thompson had been a programme manager at the SETsquared Partnership since last year and brings more than a decade of experience to her new role.
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The Berkeley Chancellor’s Fund is a unique UC Berkeley approach to venture capital
The Berkeley Chancellor’s Fund will be wholly owned by the UC regents, operating as a philanthropic model that will donate all returns to the university.
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Kanazawa University achieves close for Vision Incubate
Vision Incubate, a venture firm wholly owned by Kanazawa University in Japan, has closed its VI-1 fund with ¥2 billion thanks to LPs including UTokyo IPC.
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Longview Innovation joins Anzu, forming the North America University Innovations Fund
Longview Innovation is joining forces with Anzu Partners and launching the North America University Innovations Fund.
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Charles University Innovations Prague finds new chairwoman in Zuzana Paulovics
Zuzana Paulovics is the new chairwoman of Charles University’s technology transfer arm, replacing Otomar Sláma.
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Cancer Focus Fund targets $250m for second vehicle
The Cancer Focus Fund is affiliated with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and is targeting about five times as much cash for Fund II.
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Christine Karslake to run innovation at Missouri S&T
Missouri University of Science and Technology is bringing Christine Karslake on board to oversee innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialisation efforts.
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Harper Court Ventures brings $25 million to startups from the University of Chicago
Spinouts from the University of Chicago will have access to a new $25 million venture fund launched today by MFV Partners.
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Virginia Tech promotes Brandy Salmon to vice president for innovation and partnerships
Virginia Tech today announced Brandy Salmon is to be the university’s inaugural vice president for innovation and partnerships.
