Innovation

Grafine Partners: Inaugural Strategy Fund Closes At About $600 Million In Commitments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Grafine Partners, a private investment firm that accesses differentiated sources of alpha by investing in new firms led by experienced private equity investors, announced that it closed its inaugural strategy, Grafine Capital I, and parallel vehicles, with about $600 million in total capital commitments. This strategy exceeded a target of $500 million with commitments from a small and select group of institutional investors seeking new approaches to generating returns.

ViaLase: $40 Million Raised To Address Unmet Needs For Conventional Glaucoma Treatments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

ViaLase, a clinical-stage medical technology company focused on addressing unmet needs in the conventional glaucoma treatment paradigm, announced that it has closed a Series C financing, raising about $40 million in gross proceeds. The funding was led by a new investor and supported by current investors, including Venture Investors Health Fund, Arboretum Ventures, and Falcon Vision, an ophthalmology investment platform supported by KKR.

Selux Diagnostics: $48 Million Closed To Combat Superbug Infections And Fight Antimicrobial Resistance

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Selux Diagnostics, a Boston-based biotechnology company whose mission is to combat superbug infections and fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR), announced they have received an additional $48 million to launch their next phase of commercialization of the Selux Next Generation Phenotyping (NGP) System within the US. RA Capital Management led this new funding round with participation from Northpond Ventures, Sands Capital, and Schooner Capital.

One Rock Capital Partners Adds Jim Wiegmann To Team Of Operating Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners announced the addition of Jim Wiegmann to its team of Operating Partners. Wiegmann is involved with evaluating consumer, food and beverage investment opportunities and driving post-acquisition value creation in One Rock's portfolio companies. He joins One Rock Operating Partners Frank Orfanello, Dr. Kevin Lang, and Tony Palmer - who also focus on improving One Rock's investment activities and executing value-creation strategies in the consumer, food, and beverage industries.

SunFire Raises Funding From KKR

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

SunFire (SunFireMatrix), a software and tech-enabled services platform serving the insurance distribution and health plan markets, announced that it has been acquired by funds managed by KKR. The funds managed by Stone Point Capital (the company’s previous majority owner) will remain a significant minority shareholder. The financial details of the transaction were undisclosed.

Blue Owl Capital To Buy Kuvare Asset Management For $750 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital announced it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Kuvare Insurance Services LP (KAM) for $750 million. KAM is a boutique investment management firm that provides asset management services to the insurance industry, including Kuvare UK Holdings.

Vista Equity Partners To Buy Model N For $1.25 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Model N (a leader in revenue optimization and compliance for pharmaceutical, medtech, and innovators) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners. Under the terms of the deal, Vista will acquire all the outstanding shares of Model N common stock for $30 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at about $1.25 billion.

Homebase: HR And Team Management App Raises $60 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Homebase, the all-in-one HR and team management app that helps over 100,000 small businesses manage their hourly teams, announces a $60 million Series D funding round. This round—led by L Catterton Growth and supported by Emerson Collective—also includes existing Homebase investors Notable Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, and PLUS Capital.

Obsidian Therapeutics: Cell And Gene Therapies Company Raises $160.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Obsidian Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies, announced it has closed a significantly oversubscribed $160.5 million Series C financing with a top-tier syndicate of life science investors led by a new investor, Wellington Management. And new investors participating in the funding include Foresite Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Novo Holdings A/S, Paradigm BioCapital, RTW Investments, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, and Woodline Partners LP. Existing investors Atlas Venture, Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities, Bristol Myers Squibb, Deep Track Capital, Logos Capital, RA Capital Management, TCGX, Samsara BioCapital and Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company) also joined the round.

NobleAI: Science-Based AI Company Closes Over $10 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

NobleAI, a pioneer in Science-Based AI solutions for Chemical and Material Informatics, announced over $10 million in Series A extension financing. New investor Sway Ventures led the round and was joined by Dorilton Ventures. The round also included additional investments from NobleAI’s original Series A investors.

Arctos Closes Sports Partners Fund II At Over $4.1 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Arctos, a private investment firm that provides growth and liquidity solutions, differentiated thought partnership and value creation services to sports franchises (Arctos Sports) and alternative asset managers (Arctos Keystone), announced the final close of Arctos Sports Partners Fund II.

Sidley Austin Adds Partner John Godfrey To M&A and Private Equity Practice In New York

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Sidley announced that John C. Godfrey has joined Sidley’s M&A and Private Equity practice as a partner in New York. Godfrey joins Sidley from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP where he served as a member of that firm’s M&A and PE practices. And this follows the addition of a team of 11 lawyers from Paul, Weiss in the last ten months.

Hailo: Edge AI Processor Company Raises $120 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Hailo, a pioneering chipmaker of edge AI processors, announced it had extended its series C fundraising round with an additional $120 million investment. The company also introduced its innovative Hailo-10 high-performance generative AI (GenAI) accelerators, which ushered in a time when users could own and run GenAI applications locally without registering with cloud-based GenAI services.

Aico Closes Majority Equity Investment From Accel-KKR

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Accel-KKR announced a majority equity investment in Aico Group, an end-to-end financial close software platform for large enterprises. With this funding, Accel-KKR will join current investor Juuri Partners as Aico's backers.

Datavolo: AI-Based Data Pipeline Company Raises $21 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Datavolo, a leader in multimodal data pipelines for AI, announced that it has raised over $21 million in financing, led by General Catalyst, with participation from notable investors, including Citi Ventures, Human Capital, Rob Bearden, and MVP Ventures. This funding includes the company’s seed and Series A funding round.

TechGrid: Business Automation Platform Company Raises $9.2 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 7, 2024

TechGrid, a business platform for technology service providers (TSPs), announced it has secured a $9.2 million Series A investment from Bellini Capital. Formerly called SecurEdge Networks, TechGrid works with TSPs, including Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Value-Added Resellers (VARs), by streamlining workflows for selling, fulfilling, and managing IT solutions delivered to businesses. The new funding round will help evolve and scale the platform.

Miach Orthopaedics: $20 Million Raised To Transform Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear Treatment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 7, 2024

Miach Orthopaedics - a company transforming the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears from reconstruction to restoration with the Bridge-Enhanced ACL Restoration (BEAR) Implant - announced the closing of a $20 million Series B extension financing round. The funding will support the commercial expansion and clinical activities for the BEAR Implant, which has been used to treat nearly 3,000 patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears.

Proxima: Data Intelligence Software Company Raises $12 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 7, 2024

Proxima - a data intelligence software company that enables consumer technology businesses to scale customer acquisition profitably, expand customer lifetime value, and optimize full lifecycle marketing - announced the closing of a $12 million Series A round led by Mucker Capital. And the other investors in the round include Aglae Ventures (the family office of LVMH founder), Great Oaks Venture Partners, Data Point Capital, Broadway Venture Partners, FirstLook Partners, and Connexa Capital.

Alterome Therapeutics: $132 Million Closed To Pioneer Small Molecule Targeted Therapies For Cancer Treatments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 7, 2024

Alterome Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of small-molecule targeted therapies for cancer treatment, announced the closing of a $132 million Series B financing. The proceeds from the funding round will support the advancement of multiple wholly-owned pipeline programs in the clinic, such as a specific AKT1 E17K inhibitor and a KRAS-selective inhibitor.

Torus: Energy Solutions Company Raises $67 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 7, 2024

Torus announced some milestones, including completing an equity fundraising round and expanding its Board of Directors. This $67 million financing round (in the form of conversion of outstanding notes and a loan facility) was led by Origin Ventures. The financing also features contributions from notable institutional investors, including Epic Ventures, Cumming Capital, the Larry H. Miller Company, Zions Bank, Pelion, and ICONIQ.

Higgsfield AI: $8 Million Secured To Provide Advanced Video Creation Tools Accessible To Creators

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 7, 2024

Higgsfield AI, a company focused on democratizing social media video creation, recently announced $8 million in seed funding led by Menlo Ventures. This new funding round marks a major milestone in Higgsfield AI's goal to bring video AI generation and editing into the mainstream with its proprietary video model.

Feinstein Institutes: $6.1 Million NIH Grant Secured For Red Cell Disorder Research

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 7, 2024

The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research was awarded a $6.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for gaining a better understanding of red cell disorders. Red cell disorders like Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) and sickle cell disease (SCD) affect over 1 billion people worldwide and are a significant cause of chronic illness and mortality.

OROS Labs: Thermal Solutions Company Closes $22 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 7, 2024

OROS Labs, a thermal solutions company known for creating Solarcore, announced the closing of its Series B funding round, raising $22 million to support its expansion in consumer, commercial, and government industries. This funding round was led by Airbus Ventures and participated in by REI Co-op Path Ahead Ventures, Platinum Mile Ventures, Culper Ventures, Crumpton Ventures, Iron Gate Capital Advisors, Enlightenment Capital, CTK and the Goldwin Play Earth Fund, and others.

EarliTec Diagnostics: $21.5 Million Secured To Develop Therapeutic Solutions For Children With Autism

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 6, 2024

EarliTec Diagnostics, a medical device company focused on diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for children with autism and related early childhood vulnerabilities, announced a $21.5 million Series B financing round led by Nexus NeuroTech Ventures and Venture Investors Health Fund. This funding will expand commercialization efforts and advance clinical research for the first-in-kind EarliPoint Evaluation, which aids clinicians in diagnosing and assessing autism in children aged 16 to 30 months.

Juniper Biomedical: $3 Million Raised To Develop Solutions For Treating Pelvic Health Disorders

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 6, 2024

Juniper Biomedical - a medical device company that is focused on developing solutions that treat pelvic health disorders like incontinence using their unique neuromodulation micro-implant - announced that it has completed an oversubscribed $2 million seed funding round and also has been awarded $1 million through the NIH Common Fund as a winner of the NIH SPARC Neuromod Prize, a competition designed to accelerate the development of targeted neuromodulation therapies.

Seso: Agriculture Workforce Management Platform Company Raises $26 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 6, 2024

Seso - a workforce management platform for agriculture - announced the closing of a $26M Series B led by BOND with participation from Index Ventures, NFX, SV Angel, and other prominent investors. And several Seso customers also participated in the round.

Johnson & Johnson Buying Shockwave Medical In $13.1 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 5, 2024

Johnson & Johnson and Shockwave Medical announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Johnson & Johnson will acquire all outstanding shares of Shockwave for $335 per share in cash. This corresponds to an enterprise value of approximately $13.1 billion, including the cash acquired. Both companies’ boards of directors approved this deal.

Archetype AI: Physical AI Company Raises $13 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 5, 2024

Physical AI company Archetype AI announced its emergence from stealth and has introduced Newton, a first-of-its-kind foundation model that understands the physical world. The company also raised a $13 million seed funding round led by Venrock, with participation from Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, Hitachi Ventures, Buckley Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, and several angel investors. Ganesh Srinivasan, Partner at Venrock, will join the board in connection with the funding.

Brim Financial: Fintech Infrastructure Company Raises $85 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 5, 2024

Brim Financial - a leading fintech infrastructure company transforming the credit card platform and payment automation space - announced the closing of an $85 million Series C funding round on the back of strong revenue growth, rapidly growing market share, and expansion into the business and commercial segments.

Allure Security: Brand Protection-As-A-Service Company Raises $10 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 5, 2024

Allure Security - a leader in online brand protection-as-a-service - announced the completion of a $10 million Series A funding round. Fintech strategic investment capital firm Curql led the round and they were joined by new investor Datatec Founder and CEO Jens Montanana and existing investors Glasswing Ventures, Zetta Venture Partners, Gutbrain Ventures, and PBJ Capital.