This is Tawanda Mahachi, Associate at Anzu Partners, and I am joined by John Ho, one of our Partners, to introduce a new Anzu portfolio company. We are excited to welcome Opscura, an industrial cybersecurity (ICS) company, into Fund III. The company was originally founded in the Basque region of Spain, where they have served customers like Renfe (national railway company of Spain), Evonik (specialty chemicals multinational), and Iberdrola (Spanish multinational electric utility) and where there is a thriving cybersecurity ecosystem that is gaining global recognition. As part of the investment process, the company has redomiciled to the U.S., recruiting an experienced executive team to join the technical team that will remain in San Sebastian.
Team Opscura: Brian Brammeier, Carlos Tomás, Allison Taylor, David Hatchell, Michael Garrison Stuber, and Gerard Vidal
Opscura is developing ICS solutions for environments – like factories, plants, or mills built in the 1980s – that are traditionally too difficult and costly to protect due to the age and/or complexity of the operational network. With over 75% of industrial control devices in the U.S. remaining vulnerable and unpatched, cyber incident costs approaching $3M per breach, and a shortage of industrial cybersecurity labor, operators are looking for ways to raise their security profiles quickly, cost effectively, and with minimal downtime. We believe in Opscura’s ability to fill this unmet need in critical infrastructure and enable facilities to become operationally secure. By utilizing proprietary post-quantum-proof encryption methods and simplified encryption key management, packaged in a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) industrial appliance, Opscura delivers best-in-class time-to-protection and cost-effectiveness to legacy operational networks.
One of Opscura’s biggest value propositions is how simple their solution is to deploy, taking minutes to hours to achieve active protection compared to competitive products that normally can take months to quarters to implement. Another key differentiator is Opscura’s cryptographic cloaking, which utilizes low-latency encryption to hide critical assets from network intruders and to protect communication protocols at the network’s edge.
With Anzu’s investment, Opscura plans to secure additional key partnerships, ramp up product development efforts in Spain, and accelerate penetration into multiple industry verticals. While the round was led by Anzu, we were joined by seed-stage VC firm Dreamit Ventures, who brings deep expertise and connectivity throughout the cybersecurity industry. For additional coverage on the investment and the company, please check out the following stories in Security Week, Forbes Spain, ISS Source, and Fierce Electronics.
Thank you again for your continued support!
Sincerely,
Tawanda Mahachi, Associate, Manufacturing and Operations & John Ho, Partner
PORTFOLIO COMPANY UPDATES
TeraPore Technologies Raises $10M to Bring Precision Nanofiltration Solutions to New Markets
TeraPore Technologies, the developer of advanced nanofiltration membrane systems for biomanufacturing, announced it has raised $10M in new financing. The round was led by existing investor Anzu Partners with participation from Entegris, a global leader in advanced materials science, and fellow existing investor, RA Capital Management. TeraPore will leverage the funding to launch its IsoBlock™ virus filter and expand the use of its core technology into new high value markets.
Olivier Blachier, who leads business and new market development for Entegris, will also join the TeraPore Board of Directors along with Mani Krishnan, a seasoned expert in the filtration and biotechnology sector who held leadership roles at Millipore Sigma and Pall Corporation.
GelSight Released the GelSight Mobile™ 3.2 Software Update and Won Hexagon’s Sixth Sense Competition
GelSight, a pioneer in tactile intelligence technology, announced the release of its GelSight Mobile™ 3.2 software package, bringing significant new capabilities to GelSight Mobile systems. GelSight Mobile 3.2 digitizes tactile sensing for many new applications with an innovative set of new features that bring outdated, manual processes into the digital age.
GelSight Mobile 3.2 takes the capabilities of the portable GelSight Mobile systems beyond quantitative metrology by enabling non-dimensional inspection and measurement with a first-of-its-kind tactile artificial intelligence toolbox.
GelSight was also announced as the winner of Hexagon’s second Sixth Sense innovation platform, which nurtures start-ups creating solutions to pressing manufacturing challenges.
Hexagon launched the Sixth Sense open innovation platform in 2022 to support the growing demand for disruptive innovation in manufacturing. GelSight won the competition, following an intense 10-week program of product refinement and business development, which culminated in a pitching competition at the Hague, the Netherlands, where they presented their company and progress to a panel of judges representing experts in technology, investment, and Hexagon leadership.
For the first time in the single cell analysis market, ResolveOME makes it possible to interrogate the entire genome, transcriptome, exomes, or targeted gene content from a single cell with exceptional coverage and accuracy. When coupled with BioSkryb’s BaseJumper Bioinformatics platform, which provides simple and dynamic visualization of multiomic findings, investigators can now comprehensively explore the cellular ecosystem to enhance our understanding of complex human disease.
Additionally, the BioSkryb team delivered several presentations during the 2023 AGBT Meeting. BioSkryb Senior Director of R&D Dr. Jon Zawistowski, PhD presented two poster sessions on the integration of ResolveOME multiomics workflow. Harvard Medical School's Dr. Peter Park, PhD, who recently joined BioSkryb’s Scientific Advisory Board, also presented an abstract highlighting the superiority of BioSkryb’s PTA technology over the conventional MDA approach of genome amplification in single cell genomic analysis.
The announcement was covered by several industry publications, including Genome Web and Bio-IT World.
Dr. Peter Park, member of BioSkryb's scientific advisory board, presented on stage at AGBT 2023
voxeljet VX4000 3D prints casting cores for all-electric Cadillac CELESTIQ
voxeljet AG (NASDAQ: VJET) a provider of high-speed, large-format 3D printers and on-demand parts services to industrial and commercial customers, and Tooling & Equipment International (TEI), one of the largest users of 3D sand printing in the US, expanded their collaboration and TEI has purchased its third VX4000 3D printer.
As a supplier to General Motors, TEI is using the world's largest 3D sand printer to produce cast cores for the series production of large-format, weight-saving structural components for the Cadillac CELESTIQ. By implementing 3D printing in the development and construction of the components, OEM manufacturers can realize completely new, function-optimized designs. Suppliers benefit from the fast and flexible integration of 3D printed cores into existing production lines.
Xendee Released New Offering for the Rapid Design of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Xendee, a provider of microgrid design and operation software, released a new offering called MOBILITY that enables firms to rapidly design EV charging infrastructure along with supporting Distributed Energy Resources.
With this offering, developers, engineering firms, and EPCs will be able to model EV charging stations for predictable returns and factor in site-specific properties like changing EV loads, time-of-use charges, demand charges, localized incentives, EV specific tariffs and building load tariffs on the same site.
MedCrypt Expanded Cybersecurity Partnerships with Six Leading Diabetes Technology Companies
MedCrypt, Inc., the proactive cybersecurity solution provider for medical device manufacturers, announced its work with six diabetes care technology providers, including the leading manufacturers of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors, to enable the next generation of diabetes technology to get to market faster with security built in by design.
"People living with diabetes are the best experts in their chronic condition. They live with these devices every day; we couldn't possibly know more about the impact of their devices than they do," said Shannon Lantzy, MedCrypt's vice president of consulting. "We understand how important interoperability is. MedCrypt partners with manufacturers to build technology that provides trust, transparency, interoperability, and choices."
6K, a leader in the sustainable production of engineered materials for lithium-ion batteries and additive manufacturing, was named to Cleantech Group’s 2023 Global Cleantech 100 list. The Global Cleantech 100 is an annual list of the most innovative and promising companies that will take 6K from commitments to actions in the efforts to reach net zero. 6K’s proprietary UniMelt® microwave plasma produces advanced materials faster and cleaner than conventional processes producing both metal additive manufacturing powders and battery material for the electrification market, making it an ideal organization for the Cleantech 100 list.
NTx Presented at the 2nd Annual mRNA Analytical Development Conference
NTx, a life sciences company enabling novel RNA product development had several team members present at the 2nd Annual mRNA Analytical Development Conference in Boston in mid-February.
NTx CEO, CSO, and Co-Founder Alex Koglin participated in a panel discussion on what the future looks like for the analytical field of mRNA therapeutics and vaccines. Their Head of Manufacturing, Mark Brancieri delivered a presentation on how analytics dictate the process development for next generation therapeutics, and Associate Scientist Salomon Alires presented a poster on NTx’s technology during the conference.
NTx Head of Manufacturing Mark Brancieri presented a session on stage at the conference.
Salomon Alires, Associate Scientist at NTx presented a poster on the company's technology.
ANZU UPDATES
Anzu Partners Featured in NVCA Member Spotlight
Image courtesy of NVCA
Anzu Managing Partner Whitney Haring-Smith spoke with NVCA for a deep dive on the firm, what differentiates us and our portfolio, how we support portfolio companies, and what’s ahead for us in 2023.
Niron Magnetics was mentioned in a piece on Thomas Insightsabout alternatives to rare earth elements.
NUBURU was featured in Go Photonicsfor the launch of its new BL™ Series lasers at Photonics West.
BioSkryb Genomics was featured in TriangleInnofollowing the announcement of its new CEO.
InterVenn co-founder and Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi was covered in aMedCity Newspiece on what her research means for cancer treatment.
GelSight was featured in a Hackadaypost that explains how its technology works.
MedCrypt director Naomi Schwartz spoke with an analyst at Medtech Insight about how proactive cybersecurity can protect insulin pump users.
Liquid Instruments co-founder and CEO Daniel Shaddock contributed a piece to Design Newsabout the transformation occurring in the Test & Measurement industry.
AM Batteries was featured in Wards IntelligenceInforma Auto Tech Group for a deep dive on its technology.
EnCharge AI was featured in EE Journalfor a deep dive on its technology.
Voltaiq was mentioned in a Battery Technologypiece on takeaways from the Medical Battery Conference at MD&M West.
ImmunoScape CEO Choon Peng-Ng contributed to a BioSpectrum Asia piece on cancer research in APAC.
Azumo’s Product Manager, Greg Kuchuris contributed a piece to Construction Executiveon how to choose the right displays for industrial applications.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
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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 visithttps://anzupartners.com/.
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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