News
The Next Leap news coverage brings you the latest updates on university venture funds and people moves within the university innovation ecosystem globally.
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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 sixth fund, pushing AuM to 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 the University of 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 is 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 to centre manager
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 final close for first Vision Incubate fund
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 UChicago startups
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.