GeneWeave Biosciences has raised $12 million in a series A round of venture capital led by Decheng Capital. Existing investors Claremont Creek Ventures and X/Seed Capital also participated in the round. As a result, Min Cui, managing director at Decheng Capital, will join the company’s board. PRESS RELEASE GeneWeave Biosciences, developer of a platform for [...]

OPX Biotechnologies Inc. has closed on $36.5 million in a first close of its Series C round, the company said Thursday. US Renewables Group led the round, which included investment from new investor DBL Investors and from existing investors Mohr Davidow Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures, Altira Group and X/Seed Capital. Pacific Crest Securities provided financial advice to OPXBIO. As a result of the round, US Renewables Group managing director Jonathan Koch has joined the OPXBIO board. The company will use the money for development and commercialization of an industrial-scale process for producing its first renewable chemical, BioAcrylic.

The DOE’s newly formed ARPA-E — an Advanced Research Projects Agency for energy modeled after the Defense Department’s DARPA, which created the Internet — handed out $151 million in funding today to 37 companies and projects.

Some are venture-funded — companies backed by Khosla Ventures, Polaris, North Bridge, incTANK Ventures and the secretive X/Seed Capital are on the list. But most are still projects inside universities, federal labs or big companies. Some are in stealth mode, and some don’t even have Web sites.

Foster City-based startup VitaPath is working on a cheek-swab test for women that detects the genetic mutation that causes spina bifida, a birth defect that strikes around 1% of babies born in the U.S. and is epidemic in some third-world countries.

By the time it’s detected in the fetus, it can’t be cured, but women who take the test can prevent it by taking large doses of folic acid before they get pregnant, said CEO Bruce Cohen. Folic acid makes the defective gene function correctly.

VitaPath’s test is based on research done at UC Berkeley by Jasper Rine, a professor who studies the frequency and functions of mutations in genes that perform central metabolic functions. Some of these