Mariane Bekker’s Post

Good news this month as #biotech dominates #funding! We look forward to upcoming developments in #health, #wellness, #startups, and #venture! Check out this Crunchbase article for the details.   #biotechpr #investorrelations #healthcommunications   https://lnkd.in/eEfGhCzB

Derek Rapp from RiverVest Venture Partners talks about investing in Life Sciences startups Rivervest Venture Partners' Startup Investment Strategy Mary Scott from Business Riff welcomed Derek from Rivervest Venture Partners for a discussion on startup investments. Derek explained that Rivervest, founded in 2000, specializes in investing in early-stage bio-pharmaceutical and medical device companies. They typically lead the first major institutional equity round and aim to help these companies reach their potential through follow-on investments until an eventual exit. Focusing on Life Sciences for Innovation Mary and Derek discussed the focus on life sciences over other technology sectors, highlighting the potential for products to address unmet patient needs and the enduring demand for healthier, longer lives. Derek mentioned the role of entrepreneurs and researchers in developing innovative solutions, such as artificial intelligence, devices to support cardiologists and surgeons, and advances in cancer and immunology research. He also noted the long-term potential of successful products to attract acquisition or public offering.

It's called March Madness for a reason, but this week, it's not the college basketball that's capturing our attention—it's the incredible milestones the #LSIAlumni have achieved 🏀 Your 60 second news recap: Bessel.co / Hatch Fairhope — Chris Danek, Keith Glines, Rick Miller → Announced the launch of its Medtech startup incubator, Hatch Powered by Bessel. ConKay Medical Systems, Inc. — Albert Yuan → Closed an oversubscribed $1.8M Seed round with participation including Unorthodox Ventures, SCP Ventures, WS Investment Company, and individual angel investors. E-Scopics — Claude COHEN-BACRIE, Joel Gay → Announced its liver-assessment tool Hepatoscope®, has been cleared for use in the US and in Europe. Features Capital — Jenny Barba, Jeff Chu → Jenny Barba, Co-Founder of Features Capital named top 10 women in VC 2024 by National Venture Capital Association, Venture Forward. Flosonics Medical — Joe Eibl → Raised a $20M Series C funding round led by New Leaf Venture Partners. inHEART — Todor Jeliaskov → Received FDA 510(k) clearance for its AI software module that enables a fully automated segmentation of CT images in the creation of 3D cardiac models. Mendaera, Inc. — Josh DeFonzo → Announced that it has acquired the telepresence technology of Avail Medsystems, Inc. MIMOSA Diagnostics — Karen Cross → Won the Scale Up and Impact Investment Challenge and the People’s Choice Award, taking home the grand prize of $100,000. MultiplAI Health — Meg Samek-Smith → APx Acquisition Corp. I, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, OmnigenicsAI Corp, and MultiplAI Health, have entered into a definitive Business Combination Agreement that, upon closing, would result in OmnigenicsAI becoming a publicly listed company. PAVmed Inc. — Lishan Aklog, MD → Launched a wholly owned incubator, PMX, to complete development and commercialization of existing portfolio technologies. PMX and Hatch Medical have executed a joint venture agreement to advance the technologies. POLARISᴬᴿ — Paul M. → Announced the first total knee arthroplasty using its STELLAR Knee mixed-reality surgical guidance system. Protembis GmbH — Karl von Mangoldt → Completed it’s €30 million Series B financing round and also announced the addition of Keith D. Dawkins, MD, to the Board of Directors. RedDrop Dx — Kris Buchanan → Received FDA 510(k) clearance for its RedDrop One blood collection device for prescription use. RefleXion Medical — Todd Powell → Announced a licensing agreement to incorporate Limbus’ automated contouring software, Limbus Contour, into the RefleXion® X1 radiotherapy treatment planning system. Synaptive Medical — Cameron Piron, Magnus Momsen → Received FDA 510(k) clearance for Modus IR, adding to the existing fluorescence offering on its 4K 3D robotic exoscope, Modus X. Congratulations to all the LSI Alumni who made major news this week!

2024 began with an impressive month of funding for the #LSIAlumni. In January the #LSIAlumni raised over $115M, closed 1 M&A transaction, and announced 1 definitive agreement to be acquired. 💸 Here’s your LSI Alumni funding update for January: Acorai — Filip Peters → Raised over $4.5 million in an oversubscribed Seed round led by LSI Alumni investor, Solardis Health Ventures, with participation from KHP Ventures, CARMA FUND Management GmbH and other US investors. Axonics, Inc. — Raymond W. Cohen → Announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by Boston Scientific for $71 in cash per share (approximately $3.7B). Cognito Therapeutics, Inc. — Brent Vaughan → Raised a $35M Series B extension funding round. FluidAI — Youssef Helwa → Received $1.4M in funding through Ontario's Regional Development Program. Galvanize Therapeutics, Inc. — Jonathan Waldstreicher, MD → Announced its Electrophysiology Technology division has been acquired by CardioFocus. → Notable assets included in the acquisition are the CENTAURI System pulsed electric field generator, which is CE marked and commercially available in the EU and the UK, and the QuickShot™ catheter ablation system, currently in development. HAVENTURE — Addie H. → Announced that seven startups of its ecosystem have successfully partnered together to raise seed money, rounding €3.15 M, representing €450k for each startup, from a dedicated entity named SUROSH. → The startups (Extremis Robotics, Hemosquid, KAT Robotics, LinkX Robotics, SpinEM Robotics, Ostesys, Zentact Robotics) directly address unmet clinical needs in Medtech and robotics. inHEART — Todor Jeliaskov → Finished second place at the Webit Davos Grand Finals pitch competition, and received a $200k investment award. LEM Surgical AG — Yossi Bar, Christopher Prentice → Raised a CHF 22 million oversubscribed Series B funding round with participation from new investors in both the United States and Switzerland. Nanochon — Benjamin Holmes → Awarded $445,000 in grant funding through Virginia Catalyst Grant Round 15 to address major unmet healthcare needs and drive job creation and capital formation in Virginia. Newronika S.p.A. — Lothar Krinke → Secured an initial €2 million in blended finance from EIC Accelerator. Onera Health — Ruben de Francisco, Heidi Lee → Raised a $32M Series C funding round led by LSI Alumni Investor EQT Life Sciences and co-led by Gimv. Tympany Medical — Liz M. → Awarded €6.8 million in funding under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF), from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. XRHealth — Xavier Palomer Ripoll → Raised $6M in funding led by LSI Alumni investor Asabys Partners, with the participation of NOVA Prime Fund, and XRHealth’s current investors. Congratulations to the LSI Alumni who received financing in January!

Introducing "Can Biotech Startups Really Make Aging and Age-related Diseases Optional?", an eye-opening read about the future of biotechnology. Find out how age1, a pioneering biotech venture capital firm based in San Francisco, is shifting paradigms and pushing boundaries under the leadership of Laura Deming. Discover their vision of making aging and age-related diseases merely an option, not an inevitability. Dive into their ambitious goal and learn how they position themselves at the forefront of biotechnology and business development. Will you join Age1 in redefining what is humanly possible? Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eTphF83n #Biotechnology #BusinessDevelopment #Startups #Innovation #Disruption Company LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eeKPZgUU

Germany’s Earlybird Venture Capital raises €173m to invest in #healthtech. It will spend between €3-8m at Series A and B, for startups in the #biopharma, #medtech and #digitalhealth sectors. Good news for healthcare founders out here, however, not for everybody. The VC it’s not going to be investing is the digital therapeutics (#Dtx) sector — startups which provide app-based therapies. "Slower-than-expected adoption and a fragmented reimbursement system across Europe means that it’s difficult to build a venture case for startups in the space", says Dr. Christoph Massner. About half of the cash will be spent on biopharma startups, with the other half being split between medtech and digital health, says principal Massner. Pharma deal making is already beginning to ramp up. 2023 saw a record 105 acquisitions for biotech and pharma startups, according to DealRoom. https://lnkd.in/d2YyTFiX

This year, biotech and healthcare startups have taken the lead in U.S. Series A funding, securing $5.6 billion across 110 rounds. This represents 53% of all Series A investments. The largest Series A rounds have gone to companies like Xaira Therapeutics and Mirador Therapeutics. This trend highlights a shift in the startup ecosystem, with significant capital flowing into health and biotech sectors. https://lnkd.in/d-B5UKr8

Last week saw a slight slowdown in mega-rounds for startups compared to the previous week, which witnessed 13 companies raising over $100 million each. However, significant funding still flowed in, highlighted by a $1 billion round secured by Wiz in the cybersecurity sector. Here are the ten biggest funding rounds of last week: 🔐 Wiz: Raised $1 billion in cybersecurity, marking the largest round in the sector this year, with a valuation of $12 billion. Co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital. Plans to utilize funds for further expansion and acquisitions. 🧬 Zenas BioPharma: Raised $200 million in a Series C round for biotech initiatives, primarily focusing on inflammation- and immunology-directed therapies. 🦠 Bluejay Therapeutics: Secured $182 million in a Series C round, aiming to advance treatments for chronic hepatitis D and B. 🚛 Zippy Shell: Received $180 million in logistics funding from The Carlyle Group, intending to refinance debt and expand its network and fleet. 🧫 Attovia Therapeutics: Closed a $105 million Series B round for developing biotherapeutics targeting immune-mediated diseases. 🍄 Meati: Raised $100 million in a C-1 round for alternative protein production from mycelium. 🩺 R3 Vascular: Closed an $87 million Series B round for developing medical devices for peripheral arterial disease treatment. 🔥 Aardvark Therapeutics: Secured $85 million in a Series C round for developing therapies for metabolic diseases and inflammation. 🔋 Base Power: Raised $68 million for developing battery-powered home energy services. 🛰️ Privateer: Raised $57 million in its first announced raise, focusing on satellite-tracking software development.

15 Most Active HealthTech VC Players (aka the folks fueling health tech's big leaguers) Totally geeking out over #digitalhealth #unicorns, which means I'm all about the VCs backing them. So, here's the lowdown on the 15 shakers in the #VC world Let's roll. 🕵♂️ SOSV 💰 Latest funding: $400m 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Opentrons Labworks Inc. 🕵♂️ New Enterprise Associates (NEA) 💰 Latest funding: $3b 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Comanche Biopharma Perplexity 🕵♂️ OrbiMed 💰 Latest funding: $1.9b 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Edgewise Therapeutics OnCusp Therapeutics 🕵♂️ Khosla Ventures 💰 Latest funding: $550m 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Headspace Berkshire Grey 🕵♂️ Polaris Partners 💰 Latest funding: $285m 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Iora Health Fate Therapeutics Inc 🕵♂️ ARCH Venture Partners 💰 Latest funding: $3b 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Juno Therapeutics, Inc. Prime Medicine, Inc. Altos Labs 🕵♂️ RA Capital Management 💰 Latest funding: $880m Portfolio unicorns: Prevail Therapeutics 🕵♂️ Sequoia Capital 💰 Latest funding: $195m Portfolio unicorns: Loom 🕵♂️ Versant Ventures 💰 Latest funding: $560m 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Ambrx 🕵♂️ Qiming Venture Partners 💰 Latest funding: CNY6.5b 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Zhipu AI 🕵♂️ Venrock 💰 Latest funding: $450m 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Vocera Communications, now part of Stryker 🕵♂️ Bpifrance 💰 Latest funding: $50m 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Talend ManoMano Swile 🕵♂️ Kleiner Perkins 💰 Latest funding: $800m 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Silicon Spice Loom 🕵♂️ Novartis Venture Fund 💰 Latest funding: $200m 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: Merus N.V. Athelas 🕵♂️ MPM Capital 💰 Latest funding: $850m 🦄 Portfolio unicorns: argenx Nevro ---- Found it helpful? Repost ♻️ PS - inspired by Dr. Derrick Khor post. 📌 PS - what's your fav healthcare unicorn?

Biotech funding is on the rise again, and here's why... Curie.Bio is leading the charge! 👇 Bio secures $380m, nearly $1bn total raised since launch👇 🌱THE BASICS → Curie.Bio raised $380m, targeting early-stage biotech startups. → The accelerator launched in February 2023 with $520m from GV, ARCH Venture Partners, and Leaps by Bayer. → Focuses on Series A investments, advancing companies towards clinical proof-of-concept studies. 🤓 THE ADVANCED → Provides seed-stage funding and essential services to startups. → Addresses the biotech funding gap where initial investments are scarce compared to the tech industry. → Launched by Alexis Borisy, Zach Weinberg, and Christoph Lengauer to support founder-led biotech's with extensive guidance. 😲 THE SURPRISING → Despite a significant downturn in private biotech venture financing in 2022 and 2023, Curie.Bio thrived. → Curie.Bio now supports 20 early-stage therapeutics companies. → Forward Therapeutics, Curie.Bio’s first portfolio company, raised $50m and progressed to clinic readiness in 18 months. 👇 ACT NOW! 👇 Biotech innovators, this is your moment. Leverage Exigyn's Budgeting & Planning module to transform your groundbreaking ideas into clinical realities. The biotech funding landscape is shifting—start preparing now to ride the wave of recovery. And don’t forget to like this post ❤️ if you found it useful. #Biotech #BiotechFunding #CurieBio #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #SeriesA #ClinicalTrials #Innovation #Healthcare #BiotechStartups #EarlyStageFunding #Investment #GV #ARCHVenturePartners #LeapsByBayer #Therapeutics #SeedFunding #FounderSupport #Biopharma #DrugDevelopment #ForwardTherapeutics #InvestmentPool #BiotechAccelerator #HealthcareInnovation #FundingGap #StartupEcosystem #BiotechInvestors #2023 #2024 #Recovery #IndustryTrends #Startups