September was one of the busiest months across the Anzu portfolio this year. There were several significant financing announcements and a handful of strategic partnerships. We also added a number of new Anzu team members across marketing and communications, talent and accounting.
Here is a quick preview of the highlights from September:
Excision BioTherapeutics received FDA Clearance of IND for Phase 1/2 Trial of EBT-101 CRISPR-Based Therapeutic for Treatment of HIV
6K raised a $51M series C financing round and announced a partnership with Heritage Battery Recycling
Warburg Pincus and Casdin Capital led a new $35m financing round into NanoCellect, to help the company accelerate its commercialization
Sofregen and Galderma announced they have signed an exclusive agreement to develop the next generation of biostimulator fillers using silk-based technology
NTx announced a collaboration with the University of Notre Dame Department of Computer Science and Engineering to accelerate natural drug discovery with machine learning
ImmunoScape held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its newly expanded San Diego lab, with Singapore government officials in attendance
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PORTFOLIO COMPANY UPDATES
Excision Receives FDA Clearance of IND for Phase 1/2 Trial of EBT-101 CRISPR-Based Therapeutic for Treatment of HIV
Excision BioTherapeutics, Inc., the developer of CRISPR-based therapies intended to cure viral infectious diseases, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for EBT-101, a CRISPR-based therapeutic candidate in development as a potential functional cure for chronic HIV.
The IND clearance enables Excision to initiate a first-in-human Phase 1/2 clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of EBT-101 in individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV).
6K Raises $51M to Accelerate Advanced Battery Material Development and Announces Partnership with Heritage Battery Recycling to Commercialize the First Cathode-Grade Battery Recycling Network for the North American Market
6K announced that it has closed a $51M Series C financing round to complete its Battery Development Center of Excellence, adding 33,000 sq ft of state-of-the-art product development space and doubling its 6K Energy team. The financing round was led by Volta Energy Technologies, joined by new investors Catalus Capital and S Cap/Prithvi Ventures, and existing investors Anzu Partners, Launch Capital, Material Impact, and RKS Ventures. The financing announcement was covered by TCT Magazine, Green Car Congress and more. Get full details in the press release.
Additionally, at the beginning of the month, 6K and Heritage Battery Recycling, LLC (“Heritage”) announced an exclusive joint development agreement to produce new cathode material from recycled batteries. This revolutionary process leverages Heritage’s established network infrastructure to collect, store, and process end-of-life batteries, combined with 6K’s breakthrough plasma technology to manufacture critical cathode-grade battery materials needed to power applications with high-purity requirements. This development comes at a key time, as consistent supply of battery materials is at the forefront of the US government’s efforts to secure sustainable, domestic sources.
NanoCellect Closes $35M in Financing and Expands its Global Distribution Network
NanoCellect Biomedical Inc. (“NanoCellect”), the market-leading provider of microfluidic cell sorting solutions to advance cellular discoveries announced the close of $35M of financing to further accelerate commercial growth plans and new product development goals.
NanoCellect’s $15M Series C Round was led by Vertical Venture Partners (“VVP”) and closed early this year. In August 2021, NanoCellect closed a $20M Series D financing led by Warburg Pincus, a global growth private equity firm. Warburg was joined by new investor, Casdin Capital, with several existing investors, including Illumina Ventures, VVP, Anzu Partners, FusionX Ventures, and Sagian Equity.
The financing announcement was covered in Genome Web.
Gamma Biosciences Makes Strategic Investment in Nirrin Technologies
Gamma Biosciences, a global life sciences company serving the advanced therapy market, announced a strategic investment in Nirrin Technologies, a provider of next generation sensors and analytics for real-time, in-process monitoring and analysis in upstream and downstream bioprocessing applications for the biopharma and life science industries.
The investment in Nirrin includes access to the strategic and commercial resources of Gamma Biosciences and its operating companies. Resources will be dedicated to expanding customer engagements with top developers and manufacturers of advanced therapies, including cell and gene therapies, biologics, and vaccines.
Galderma Announces Exclusive Agreement With Sofregen to Develop the Next Generation of Biostimulator Fillers Using Silk-Based Technology
Galderma, the world’s largest independent dermatology company, and Sofregen Medical, Inc., a medical device company pioneering the use of silk protein for tissue building and regeneration, announced they have signed a co-development and option-to-acquire agreement.
Sofregen’s novel platform harnesses the unique power of silk protein to enable immediate volume restoration and provide structure that facilitates new tissue generation.
Enterprise part search company Partium sold the legacy fashion and furniture segments of its Slyce business to Syte, a leading Product Discovery Platform for retail.
"We're very excited for Slyce and Syte to join forces," said Slyce CEO Ted Mann, who is helping lead the integration of the two businesses. "On top of the camera search solution that we've long-provided for Slyce customers, they will now have access to several new capabilities like automated product tagging, hyper-personalization, and Augmented Site Search, all powered by visual AI."
Adaptive Surface Technologies, Inc. (AST), a world leader in repellent surfaces, announced it has entered into a new distribution partnership with Green Sailor by Par-Ky Italia srl to offer its SLIPS® Dolphin™ marine paint to new customers in Europe.
SLIPS Dolphin is a distinctive biocide-free marine bottom paint developed for recreational and commercial boats of all sizes and solves persistent biofouling issues that can lead to boat drag and high fuel costs. When submerged in water, SLIPS Dolphin creates an ultra-smooth, slippery surface that fouling organisms such as barnacles and mussels have difficulty attaching to. Unlike many existing products on the market today, such as traditional copper paint, SLIPS Dolphin does not contain any biocides that deplete over time, ensuring that it is environmentally friendly and offers more longevity for users.
Green Sailor, a division of Par-Ky Italia srl, is dedicated to the defense of the marine environment and will supply SLIPS Dolphin to new recreational boating customers across Europe.
NTx and University of Notre Dame Collaborate to Accelerate Natural Drug Discovery with Machine Learning
Earlier this month, NTx announced a collaboration with the University of Notre Dame Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Together, they are working to identify and evaluate the drug potential of previously not described natural products with a jointly developed algorithm called DruID (Drug-lead identification).
DruID allows for more effective drug repurposing, suggests naturally accruing modifications of existing drugs, and suggests novel drug leads. The drug lead can then be developed in-house either by synthesis of the predicted structure, heterologous expression of the biosynthetic cluster, isolation from the naturally producing strain, or with NTx’s proprietary cell-free transcription/translation system NTxpress®.
ImmunoScape Celebrates Expansion of San Diego Lab with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
This month, ImmunoScape held a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the expansion of its San Diego Laboratory. Several Singapore government officials were in attendance, alongside the ImmunoScape founding team and executives.
Pictured from Left to Right: Michael Fehlings, PhD, ImmunoScape co-founder, David Michael, Managing Partner, Anzu Partners, Member of ImmunoScape Board of Directors, Choon-Peng Ng, ImmunoScape CEO and co-founder, Dan McLeod, PhD, VP of Discovery for ImmunoScape, Ed Holmes, MD, retired Dean of UCSD Medical School, advisor to the Singapore government, Rakesh Jaiswal, Singapore ASTAR Agency, Dr. Tan Sze Wee, Assistant CEO, Singapore ASTAR Agency, Edmond Ang, Singapore ASTAR Agency
Brand joins Anzu Partners as a Senior Associate, Strategic Communications based in Boston, MA.
Prior to Anzu, Brandon spent 5+ years at March Communications, a PR firm specializing in B2B technology across industries such as cybersecurity, data analytics, AI, and more.
Brandon graduated from Bentley University in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in Information Design & Corporate Communications.
Jessica Terlizzi, Executive Assistant
Jessica joins Anzu Partners as an Executive Assistant based in Atlanta, GA.
Prior to Anzu, Jessica was an Administrative Assistant at Boston Consulting Group supporting various members of the consulting and managing team.
Jessica graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in Exercise and Healthcare Sciences.
Katrina Sample, Talent Coordinator
Katrina joins Anzu Partners as a Talent Coordinator based in Tampa, FL.
Prior to Anzu, Katrina was a Recruiting Administrator at McKinsey & Company supporting their Talent function.
She graduated from the Florida State University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education.
Patrick Irvan, Senior Accountant
Patrick joins Anzu Partners as a Senior Accountant based in Tampa, FL.
Patrick has over 10 years of accounting and fund administration experience in various industries such as mutual fund, hedge fund, private-equity, and venture capital. Patrick has a strong technology background, extensive knowledge of accounting software, with a focus on process improvement.
Patrick graduated from University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in Finance.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
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The information contained in this newsletter is being provided by Anzu Partners for informational purposes only. The information was obtained from various sources, but Anzu Partners cannot assure its accuracy. This is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation for an offer to buy an interest in any fund managed by Anzu Partners. Any such offer or solicitation will only be made to qualified potential investors pursuant to a private placement memorandum. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.
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