Hi everyone, 

I’m Henk Both, an Investor at Anzu Partners. You may remember me from the update I gave a few months ago on e-Zinc, another investment in the energy transition space. I am back today with Juliette Chevallier, my colleague on Anzu’s investment team, to introduce another Fund III company. Xendee is a San Diego company with a software platform for designing and operating microgrids, complex Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), and related energy infrastructure. Xendee is an enabling platform for two related industries which repeatedly surface in our investments: energy infrastructure and electric vehicles.

Xendee's technology is an enabler to the energy industry and to electric vehicle adoption.

In many use cases such as at hospitals, airports, telecoms installations, and factories of every sort, localized energy installations (“microgrids”) are used to provide resilience to power outages and, increasingly, to reduce the cost of energy. Importantly, microgrids are purpose-built for individual customers according to their needs and can include a mixture of various technologies, such as solar panels, batteries (such as e-Zinc!), generators, CHP systems, and more.

Xendee is also a critical behind-the-scenes enabler to the electric vehicle industry by supporting the development of EV fast charging stations. For example, a set of 10 fast chargers in one parking lot can consume as much power as 1,000 homes. Oftentimes, the electrical grid infrastructure cannot support that type of load, which means an EV fast charging provider needs to build an onsite microgrid. Xendee is the backbone of developing this type of modern electrical infrastructure.

Xendee’s technology greatly simplifies and accelerates the microgrid design process and improves in-field energy asset operation.

Xendee’s breakthrough is their ability to consider many different technologies simultaneously, accurately, and quickly. Xendee can make accurate predictions in under a minute, which helps accelerate the overall timeline for project development from ~12-18 months to as little as 4 weeks. This level of breakthrough advancement has helped Xendee rapidly establish credibility within the industry. To date, Xendee serves blue chip customers such as Engie, Shell, Worley, NextEra, the US military, certain Schneider Electric businesses, and more. In addition, Xendee drives thought leadership in energy infrastructure by partnering with the US DOE and leading universities.

Public examples of Xendee’s high impact work include its partnership with Idaho National Laboratory to develop zero-carbon microgrids in Puerto Rico as well as Xendee’s multiple partnerships with the US military to develop microgrids for US Army bases around the world. Behind the scenes, Xendee is partnering with a number of international organizations to develop an energy infrastructure strategy.

With its recent $12M Series A financing, Xendee is accelerating its technology development and launching industry partnerships.

Anzu led the financing round, joined by TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ: TA), the nation’s largest publicly traded truck stop provider, and Evergy Ventures, the non-regulated investment arm of the utility Evergy (NYSE: EVRG). Worley (ASX: WOR) is an existing investor in the company. Xendee is partnering with this syndicate of strategic investors on developing accelerated growth in electric vehicle fast charging stations.

Since we led Xendee’s Series A round, Anzu has already delivered significant value to Xendee, leveraging our networks and portfolio support functions.

Anzu has helped Xendee grow its team and accelerate its commercial traction. We have helped recruit Xendee’s new Chief Product Officer Aks Gulhati, formerly a partner in the energy practice at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Additionally, we have helped grow Xendee’s engineering and commercial development teams. On the business side, Anzu has introduced Xendee to premier organizations that have converted to customers, including major real estate and energy asset developers.

We are thrilled to welcome Xendee to the Anzu portfolio, including having Whitney Haring-Smith join the Xendee Board of Directors.

Sincerely, 

Henk Both and Juliette Chevallier 

PORTFOLIO COMPANY UPDATES

NUBURU Signed Definitive Merger Agreement with Tailwind Acquisition Corp. to Go Public and Announced Successful Financing

NUBURU, an industry leader in innovative blue lasers for welding applications and 3D printing, and Tailwind Acquistion Corp. (TWND), a special purpose acquisition company, recently announced a definitive agreement that puts NUBURU on the path to becoming a publicly listed company. The business combination positions NUBURU to continue its investment in new technology development and to capitalize on future growth by expanding its presence across a wide array of industries, including e-mobility and automotive, energy storage, aerospace, defense, healthcare, and consumer electronics.

Since announcing the agreement, TWND has completed the final diligence-related milestone that could have triggered termination of the business combination, removing key conditionality related to the agreement. NUBURU also announced the issuance of over $5 million in convertible promissory notes, which provide immediate funding. NUBURU intends to use this new financing to maintain its investment in its next-generation product line and to pursue new technology development.

NUBURU and TWND’s agreement was covered in Fortune Termsheet, Denver Business Journal, SPAC Insider, 3D Printing Industry, and more.

NUBURU Awarded SBIR Phase II Contract by U.S. Air Force to Develop Blue Laser-Based 3D Printing Solution

NUBURU also recently announced it has been awarded an AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract by the U.S. Air Force to develop a blue laser-based 3D printing solution with area printing technology. The goal of the one-year project is to demonstrate improved speed and accuracy of a metal 3D printer based on NUBURU’s blue laser technology. This new class of 3D printers will aim to offer micron level resolution, increased part size and metal density, and up to 100X build speed, with minimal to zero post-processing and part shrinkage.

The project was covered in 3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing Intelligence.

NanoCellect Biomedical Awarded $1.8M Federal Grant to Advance Imaging Flow Cytometry with Artificial Intelligence Technologies

NanoCellect Biomedical Inc., a leader in the development and manufacture of microfluidic cell sorting solutions for cell-based assays, announced they have received a $1.8 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant through the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences to continue its development of imaging flow cytometry technology to sort cells based on features derived from artificial intelligence. This grant extends NanoCellect’s successful research programs to develop novel imaging flow cytometry technology, expanding on an ongoing, multi-year research collaboration between the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and NanoCellect to advance single-cell analysis technologies.

NTx hired Mark Brancieri as Head of Manufacturing

NTx, a life sciences company enabling novel RNA product development, recently hired Mark Brancieri as Head of Manufacturing. In this role on the NTx leadership team, Brancieri will oversee the planning, implementation, and management of product supply and customer service initiatives to meet current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) requirements.

As NTx commercializes its platform, the company has several collaborations with leading biotechnology companies underway that will serve as the foundation for its global commercial relationships. To support these efforts and meet cGMP regulations, Brancieri will lead projects to advance product development, open new manufacturing facilities, and develop supply strategy, in addition to managing production siting, capital planning, and construction.

ADDITIONAL PC MEDIA COVERAGE

• Excision BioTherapeutics was featured in a Washington Post article about HIV remission
• Liquid Instruments co-founder Daniel Shaddock was interviewed by Physics World on innovation in the test and measurement industry
• InterVenn Biosciences was named a Top 100 Health Tech Company by Healthcare Technology Report and was also featured in a New Straits Times article about innovative cancer technologies
• Xendee was featured in two Microgrid Knowledge articles on meeting corporate commitments to net-zero and small nuclear reactors
• NUBURU’s Mark S. Zediker was recognized by the Marquis Who's Who for his dedication to the field of technology
• GelSight’s technology was featured in a research report about shark skin analysis
• 6K was covered by Battery Technology Online
• OTI Lumionics was featured in an Automotive World article about transparent displays and infotainment systems

WELCOME TO ANZU

Meg O'Donnell, Creative Producer

Meg joined Anzu Partners in late July as the creative producer on the Marketing & Communications team and is based in Boston. She previously worked as a video producer for the VC firm, Alumni Ventures. Meg also spent more than six years working as a television news producer for the local NBC station where she won an Emmy Award alongside her team for Outstanding Team Coverage.

Meg is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire where she sailed competitively. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family and trying as many Boston restaurants as possible.

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ABOUT ANZU PARTNERS

Anzu Partners is an investment firm that focuses on industrial and life science technology companies with the potential to transform their industries. Anzu works with entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize technological innovations by providing capital alongside deep expertise in business development, market positioning, IP, global connectivity, and operations. For more information, please visit https://anzupartners.com/.