Hi everyone,

We are thrilled to share several recent, material milestones from Niron Magnetics, the Anzu portfolio company pioneering the world’s first high-performance, rare earth-free permanent magnets.

First, Niron just announced $33 million in new financing, with new investments from leading automotive manufacturers, GM and Stellantis, and previous local investors, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) and the University of Minnesota (UMN), amongst other investors. This new financing will allow Niron to expand its current pilot production facilities and scale manufacturing capacity for customer programs and initial sales of its Clean Earth Magnet® and made national headlines in Reuters, AP, CNN, The Verge and many more.

In addition to its financial commitment, GM also announced a strategic partnership agreement with Niron to co-develop the Clean Earth Magnet motor technology to be used in future GM EVs.

“We believe Niron’s unique technology can play a key role in reducing rare earth minerals from EV motors and help us further scale our North American-based supply chain for EVs,” said Anirvan Coomer, president of GM Ventures in the press release. “Our path to an all-electric future will be enabled not only by our own research and development efforts, but also by investing in next generation technology from startups and established companies outside our four walls.”

Permanent magnets are essential components in automobiles, fundamental to audio systems, fuel pumps, air circulation, electric vehicle (EV) drivetrains, and much more. As demand surges for EVs, so does the demand for more stable and sustainable alternatives to rare-earth materials. With the new investments from GM Ventures and Stellantis, the world’s fourth-largest automaker and parent company of brands like Jeep, Fiat, Dodge, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati, and previous funding from Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Niron is now backed by three leading automotive manufacturers. This commitment demonstrates the potential of its Clean Earth Magnet technology to diversify and secure the automotive supply chain with a viable alternative to rare earth magnets.

In late October, Niron Magnetics celebrated another major milestone, as its Clean Earth Magnet was named to TIME’s List of the Best Inventions of 2023 in the green energy category. The annual list features extraordinary innovations changing our lives. To compile the list, TIME solicits nominations from its editors and correspondents around the world. TIME then evaluates each contender on several key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.

The recognition gained the attention of several local media outlets, including the Minneapolis Business Journal. Minneapolis’ local Fox broadcast station, Fox 9, visited the Niron facility and spoke with CEO Jonathan Rowntree to discuss the company’s recent momentum and future growth plans. You can watch it here.

We are excited about Niron’s achievements in 2023 and are looking forward to continuing this momentum in the new year.

Best, 

David Michael, Managing Partner and Jimmy Kan, Partner

PORTFOLIO COMPANY UPDATES

InterVenn Biosciences Announced the Publication of Early Detection of Advanced Adenoma and Colorectal Cancer in Gastroenterology

InterVenn Biosciences, a life sciences company pioneering glycoproteomics, announced the publication of their discovery work in Advanced Adenoma (AA) and Colorectal Cancer (CRC) early disease detection in the flagship journal of the American Gastroenterological Association, Gastroenterology. This groundbreaking research in early detection of CRC represents an advancement in early diagnosis through serum glycoproteome profiling. InterVenn’s GlycoVision™ platform leverages advanced liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks (NN) to interrogate a new layer of biology, enabling novel insights and discoveries.

The results published in Gastroenterology helps to establish the groundwork for a future blood-based screening modality to identify the earliest stages of colorectal cancer and pre-cancerous conditions. The proprietary LC-MS and AI/NN platform, GlycoVision™, has been developed to accelerate data analysis of biological information that has not previously been practical or efficient.

The research was covered by Genome Web and other trade publications.

BioSkryb Genomics Presented New Single-Cell Multiomic
Data at ASHG 2023

BioSkryb Genomics, a company transforming single-cell analysis by enabling the most complete multiomic view of the cellular ecosystem, from discovery to diagnostics, presented a wide range of new research related to its recent single-cell multiomic data, single-cell whole genome sequencing and comprehensive multiomic profiling at the ASHG 2023 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

“Our technology supports scientific discoveries by revealing multiple tiers of dynamic molecular information within ecosystems of individual cells, and we are excited to present our latest groundbreaking advancements in single-cell analysis at ASHG,” said Suresh Pisharody, CEO, BioSkryb, in a press release before the event. “In this research, our in-house scientists and academic collaborators were able to leverage the power of both ResolveDNA® and ResolveOME™ to better understand tumor evolution in breast cancer, cell states in B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia cancer cells and much more. We look forward to highlighting these recent accomplishments amongst our industry colleagues.”

Codetta Bio Appointed Life Sciences Industry Leader Jacques Corriveau as CEO

Codetta Bio, the life sciences company developing advanced multi-omic biomarker measurement tools, announced that Jacques Corriveau has been appointed as its new Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Corriveau will lead Codetta’s next phase of commercial growth as the team advances the development of its disruptive multi-omic solution and brings its technology to market.

Corriveau joins Codetta with more than 25 years of commercial and operational leadership in life science tools, biopharma, and diagnostics, and has demonstrated success in developing and growing early-stage companies. Most recently, Corriveau served as President and CEO at Ultivue, Inc. for three years, where he led organizational growth in commercial operations and manufacturing capacity. Prior to that, he worked for AstraZeneca’s Definiens Inc. as Vice President and General Manager for North America. Corriveau also spent 10 years in various commercial roles at NanoString Technologies, where he created, developed, and executed go-to-market strategies.

The news was covered by the Triangle Business Journal, WRAL Techwire and other local and trade publications.

AM Batteries Hired Industry Veterans from Tesla, Celgard to Mass Produce Low CO2 Footprint Li-ion EV Batteries

AM Batteries (AMB), a pioneer in the field of lithium-ion dry-electrode technologies, announced the appointments of Lie Shi as the new CEO and Hieu Duong as Chief Manufacturing Officer. Shi will lead AMB’s team and further their groundbreaking battery coating process while Duong will be responsible for driving the development and commercialization of the dry powder coating technology and equipment for low-cost lithium-ion battery manufacturing.

Widely regarded as a top leader in the space, Shi has over 20+ of experience advancing battery materials development and manufacturing, serving in senior-level positions with top battery manufacturers that address the growing demand for lithium-ion batteries. Before AMB, he served as President of Celgard, a battery separator company based in the US that invented and commercialized a solvent-free process to produce microporous membranes for lithium-ion batteries. His expertise and passion are to build robust lithium-ion battery supply chains in the U.S. and transforming battery production to be solvent-free with the lowest carbon footprint. He will continue to pursue these interests at the helm of AMB.

Duong joined the AMB team after serving as Director of Electrode Engineering at Tesla, driving manufacturing scale-up efforts leading to the commercialization of Dry Battery Electrode (DBE). As one of the world’s leading experts in DBE manufacturing technology, Duong brings extensive experience from a twelve-year journey in the space, providing him with niche understanding and industry connections few can match globally. He led the development of the DBE manufacturing process at Maxwell Technologies before the company’s acquisition by Tesla in 2019.

The news was covered by The Information’s The Electric.

NTx Appointed Marcel Roche as Chief Financial Officer

NTx, a life sciences company facilitating innovative RNA and protein research and manufacturing, announced the expansion of its leadership team with the appointment of Marcel Roche as Chief Financial Officer. Marcel brings over 20 years of experience as a finance executive at both private and public life science and technology companies, including Illumina, Guardant Health, and Mission Bio.

During his tenure at Illumina, Marcel deployed the global financial planning practice and systems, led the DNA sequencing cost accounting team, and supported revenue growth from $70 million to more than $1 billion. While at Guardant Health, he successfully built out the finance and accounting function, implemented company-wide enterprise resource planning (ERP) and managed Big 4 audits, leading up to an IPO. Most recently, Marcel served as CFO at Mission Bio where he led equity financing and the negotiation of lab expansion efforts.

Albuquerque Business First published a feature on the news.

Nirrin Technologies Appointed Greg Crescenzi as Chief Executive Officer, Introduced New Applications and Launched a Technology Partnership Program

Nirrin Technologies, a company developing analytical systems to transform analysis for bioprocessing operations, announced that Greg Crescenzi has joined the company as its Chief Executive Officer.

Greg most recently led Kytopen as its Chief Commercial Officer, where he drove the commercial strategy to accelerate their non-viral gene delivery platform developed at MIT. Prior to that, Greg served as Enterprise Delivery Leader for the Cell & Gene Therapy business at Cytiva (formerly GE Healthcare Life Sciences), where he helped build out the Enterprise Solutions business, including delivery of the industry’s first flexible manufacturing platforms for biomanufacturing. While at Cytiva he also served as Business Leader for Cell Culture Services, Xcellerex and Microcarriers, launching flagship products and quadrupling revenue.

Nirrin also showcased three enabling at-line/in-line applications in poster presentations for buffer verification, UF/DF endpoint detection and dilution-free protein quantitation at the BioProcess International conference in Boston in early October.

At BPI 2023, Nirrin launched its new STEP partner program. The program sets evaluation partners up with an HPTLS-based platform to explore the potential benefits in their own downstream applications.

6K Energy Announced a Partnership with Aqua Metals and Created a “$6K for 6K Scholars” Scholarship with Lane College, and 6K Additive Appointed New Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Financial Officer

6K Energy, a leader in the production of sustainable materials for lithium-ion batteries, and Aqua Metals, a pioneer in sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling, announced plans to create the first truly sustainable circular supply chain in the United States for the critical minerals essential to domestic lithium battery manufacturing. The companies have signed a multi-part memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering the scope of the collaboration in the coming years. The co-located facility at 6K Energy’s PlusCAM site in Jackson, TN will be the first sustainable circular supply producing low-carbon cathode active materials (CAM) for new batteries using domestically sourced end-of-life batteries and scrap materials from manufacturing partners as feedstock.

The news was covered by pv magazine, Environment + Energy Leader and other trade publications.

6K Energy also announced the selection of the first recipient of the newly created scholarship “$6K for 6K Scholars,” in concert with Lane College. The first scholarship winner, Amashia Mabone, was honored in early November at the 6K Energy office in Jackson, TN, where she will also have the opportunity to be a summer intern.

6K Additive, a division of 6K Inc. and leader in the sustainable production of materials for additive manufacturing, announced the appointments of Nicholas Pflugh as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Jonathan Wolak as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). These experienced executives join the 6K Additive leadership team during a pivotal period of expansion and strengthens the company’s position as the dominant US producer of titanium, nickel and refractory metals serving the aerospace, medical and defense markets for alloys and AM powder. 

Pflugh, with an impressive 16-year career at Kennametal, last held the position of Vice President and General Manager of the Engineered Wear Components division. Pflugh was decisive in leading strategies that culminated in double-digit revenue growth. His previous roles, including CCO with commercial resaponsibility for a $1 billion business segment and VP of the insert tooling business unit, underscore his strategic acumen, leadership prowess, and ability to drive transformative commercial growth.

Wolak brings a wealth of experience, having most recently excelled as the Financial Director for the Architectural Coatings division of PPG Industries, Inc., a multi-billion-dollar business unit within the publicly traded, $18 billion global manufacturer of paints, coatings and specialty materials. With a 16-year tenure at PPG, Jonathan held critical roles, including the Global Finance Director for the Packaging Coatings business unit and the Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, where he was instrumental in driving significant growth and amplifying earnings.

 The news was covered by 3Printr.com, Metal AM Magazine and other trade publications.

NTx was Awarded BARDA DRIVe Vaccines on Demand Contract to Demonstrate a Novel RNA Vaccine Production Platform

NTx a life sciences company enabling novel pharmaceutical RNA and protein development and production, today announced it has been awarded a contract under the Vaccines on Demand program from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NTx, in collaboration with Houston Methodist Hospital, will demonstrate the potential of its NTxscribe platform to meet the needs for a scalable, rapidly deployable RNA manufacturing capability to support global vaccine preparedness and response.

The NTxscribe platform is a cell-free, true continuous flow manufacturing system that delivers scalable RNA (including mRNA and self-amplifying RNA) materials in a tabletop footprint. This enzymatic process is designed to provide a low cost and rapidly deployable, vertically integrated manufacturing system. Through this program, the system is being evaluated for its express development of RNA vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases, as well as its capability for distributed bio-manufacturing.

The announcement was covered in New Mexico Inno, Rio Rancher Observer, and Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.  

Excision BioTherapeutics Presented Interim Clinical Data for EBT-101 in Latent HIV at European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) 2023 Annual Congress

Excision BioTherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing CRISPR-based therapies to cure viral infectious diseases, announced positive safety data from the first dose cohort in its first-in-human Phase 1/2 trial to assess safety and pharmacodynamics of EBT-101. EBT-101 is a dual-guide, CRISPR-based investigational gene therapy for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The data was presented at the European Society for Gene & Cell Therapy annual meeting on October 25, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium.

“Excision is dedicated to developing curative, CRISPR-based therapies for people with infectious disease,” said Daniel Dornbusch, Chief Executive Officer of Excision. “EBT-101 is a CRISPR-based gene therapy being tested as a potential functional cure for HIV. We believe that sharing this initial safety and biodistribution data is important for the HIV/AIDS community, the larger infectious disease community, and for gene therapies in development for other indications.”

GelSight Released New GelSight Mobile Shock Protected Edition

GelSight, a pioneer in tactile intelligence technology, announced the debut of GelSight Mobile Shock Protected Edition, a new, ruggedized version of the GelSight Mobile system, designed to perform in the most demanding environments, from production lines to the field. GelSight Mobile Shock Protected Edition delivers the same high resolution 3D surface capabilities as GelSight Mobile in a more robust – and vivid – design.

Engineers, line workers, and field teams operating in harsh environments now have a metrology device with a critical trifecta of benefits: rugged, portable, and digital. GelSight’s newly launched metrology device, GelSight Mobile Shock Protected Edition’s features include:

• Shock Protection: Built-in shock protection thanks to a new ruggedized system design.
• Tough Casing: Defense against the unavoidable bumps and scrapes that occur in manufacturing, maintenance, and repair lines and remote environments.
• Slip Resistant Grip: Oil, water, and sweat resistant silicone sleeve and wristband improve retention and reduce likelihood that system, or products, under test are damaged through drops.
• High Visibility Color: Safety orange inspired color ensures the system is easier to locate in low light environments.

The news was covered by Metrology News.

Liquid Instruments Enhanced Multi-Instrument Capabilities, Adds New Instrument Across Test Device Portfolio

Liquid Instruments, a leading innovator of software-defined instrumentation, announced major updates for its flexible, FPGA-based Moku test and measurement products.

The latest software release delivers numerous enhancements across the company’s three hardware products — from the flagship Moku:Pro, to the workhorse Moku:Lab, and the portable Moku:Go — demonstrating the advantages of software-defined test equipment, which enables devices to get better with new features added over time.

Other major enhancements enabled by Moku Version 3.1 include:

• Logic Analyzer instrument with I2S protocol now available for all Moku devices
• Performance upgrades for Moku:Go and Moku:Pro

The news was covered by EE World Online.

voxeljet (NASDAQ: VJET) was Selected for $14.9M Contract Alongside GE Research to Develop Advanced Manufacturing Technologies to Enable the U.S. Energy Transition

GE Research selected voxeljet as its partner for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DoE) $14.9 million award in federal funding for the development and commercialization of a large sand binder jet 3D printer, called Advanced Casting Cell (ACC), to accelerate the United States’ transition to clean power.

The Advanced Casting Cell project was established to strengthen the U.S. manufacturing industry and expertise to boost the cost-effective domestic production of large metallic near net shape (NNS) components in alignment of the Biden Administration’s clean power-generation strategy. The ACC will be developed and deployed to produce sand molds to manufacture metallic NNS parts. With development of the ACC, the project includes the digital creation of mold designs via a digital foundry as well as the completion of a techno-economic analysis of cost and supply chain challenges.

The news was covered by TCT Magazine, 3D Printing Industry, 3DPrint.com and several other trade publications.

ANZU PARTNERS UPDATES

Cathryn Paine, Partner, Profiled in Venture Capital Journal

Anzu’s Head of People, Cathryn Paine, who was recently appointed Partner, was featured in a Venture Capital Journal piece by David Bogoslaw.

Bogoslaw interviewed Cathryn about her career history, her success at Anzu and the overall growth of platform services within venture capital.

“They wanted someone to be there day one to say, ‘This is what a healthy company looks like. This is what the leadership looks like. This is the kind of company we want in our portfolio.’ That has been my mandate since day one. I can’t think of a single time I’ve had to ush for any of these ideas,” Cathryn said in the interview with David.

Welcome to Anzu

Aaron Do, Analyst, Talent

Aaron joins Anzu Partners as an Analyst on the Talent team. Before joining Anzu, he was a Recruiting Coordinator at Meta. Aaron enjoys the aspect of following a candidate’s journey throughout the interview process and providing the best candidate experience possible. Aaron graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and minor in Kinesiology.

ADDITIONAL PC MEDIA COVERAGE

• Anzu Partners Fund III news was featured in a Boston Business Journal article about local venture capital firms that are ready to deploy capital. Anzu was also featured in a similar article about fundraising in Tampa Bay Business Journal.
• 6K was featured in an episode of the Manufacturing Explorers video series.
• OTI Lumionics’ VP of Materials Discovery Scott Genin appeared on an episode of Protiviti’s podcast to discuss how quantum computing to bring under-display cameras and other technologies.
• Sofregen was featured in a Chemistry World article about medical uses for silk.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Anzu Partners and our portfolio companies are hiring

Browse the open roles here and learn more about joining our amazing teams.

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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, intellectual property, global connectivity, and operations. For more information, please visit https://anzupartners. com/.