The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Dec 2025

Lyric Bio is a 2024 spin-out from Prellis Biologics that is engineering human-tissue-based production systems for donor-derived and protein therapeutics. Its proprietary platform recreates the cell density of human tissue inside large-scale 3D bioreactors, enabling up to 100-fold improvements in manufacturing efficiency and an estimated ten-fold reduction in the cost of IVIg and SCIg therapies. The company is initially targeting the $20 billion global IVIg market, which is constrained by limited human plasma supply. By reducing donor dependency, Lyric aims to increase patient access, improve product consistency, and strengthen supply-chain resilience. The founding team includes CEO Kayj Shannon, an advanced-manufacturing and synthetic-biology entrepreneur, and CSO Dr. Melanie Matheu, a pioneer in 3D tissue engineering and laser bioprinting. Based in San Carlos, California, Lyric Bio plans to scale its bioreactor technology to commercial production while expanding its pipeline of donor-derived biologics. The company has secured $6.6 million in seed funding to advance platform development and pilot manufacturing.

Led · Series B · Oct 2025

Ares Materials applies an integrated AI material selection platform to discover novel molecules that optimize material performance for next-generation electronics. Its flagship product, +Pylux MCW, is a monolithic cover window engineered for foldable display devices. Beyond cover windows, the company is commercializing solvent-free, PFAS-free adhesives and films to meet tightening environmental and performance requirements. The newly raised funds will be directed toward scaling +Pylux MCW production, expanding AI and experimental infrastructure, and bringing the adhesive product line to market. Ares also intends to leverage strategic partnerships to explore additional applications for its materials platform. In October 2024, the firm announced an investment and collaboration with Japan-based Denka to integrate their technologies and target flexible OLED displays. Backed by the first $12 million tranche of its Series B, Ares Materials is positioning itself for rapid growth and wider commercialization.

Participated · Series D · Dec 2021

Engage3 provides Price Image Management (PIM) and Competitive Intelligence Management (CIM) software that uses AI-assisted, attribute-based data science to collect granular competitive pricing data and link like-items. Its CIM collects 30 billion product pricing records annually in the U.S. and Canada and helps retailers reverse-engineer competitors’ pricing and assortment strategies across channels, markets, and items. PIM models the impact of strategic pricing alternatives and generates pricing recommendations aligned to retailers’ Price Image, sales, and profitability objectives. Engage3 works with six of the world’s top 10 largest global retailers and serves FMCG, non-FMCG, convenience & fuel, and e-commerce retailers. The company plans global expansion into 30+ new countries, enhancements across its Price Image Management Suite, new products to measure and enhance trade promotions, and to build capabilities to continue serving the world’s largest organizations. Engage3 will use the Series D growth financing to execute this roadmap and double its team to support accelerated growth. Engage3 is a Davis, CA-based retail software company that helps retailers manage their Price Image using accurate competitive data, data science and AI-powered software solutions. Its Price Image Management Suite™ enables retailers to understand and align Price Image with sales and profitability objectives through predictive modeling. The suite includes Competitive Intelligence Management (CIM), an AI-assisted, attribute-based, data science-driven solution that provides competitive data and like-item-linking visibility. Engage3 collects roughly 30 billion product pricing records annually across the U.S. and Canada. Customers include eight of the top ten grocery retailers in the U.S. The company is led by Founder and CEO Ken Ouimet and plans to use new funding to accelerate product development, expand staff, and scale go-to-market initiatives. Engage3 provides an integrated retail pricing platform that emphasizes data quality and competitive pricing management. Its Competitive Intelligence Platform (CIP) is an end-to-end solution that uses data science to ensure data comprehensiveness, freshness, and accuracy and automates competitive shop program management. The company’s Competitive Price Response (CPR) is a visual price modeling tool that uses proprietary psychological models to measure consumers’ perception of pricing and predict the impact of price changes. Led by CEO and founder Ken Ouimet, Engage3 plans to use the recent financing to expand staff and scale go-to-market initiatives. The company anticipates doubling revenues in 2019. Engage3 raised a Series B two years earlier from retail technology-focused venture capitalists and is in the process of raising a Series C. Engage3 offers a SaaS omni-channel competitive intelligence and consumer engagement platform called MissionControl™. MissionControl is powered by advanced predictive analytics and a historical product and pricing database covering over 8 million UPCs and 10 billion price updates per year across more than 32,000 retail locations. Led by founder and CEO Ken Ouimet, the company combines data science, deep domain expertise, and innovative technology to serve CPG companies. The company intends to use the new funding to grow its team, expand its omni-channel retail pricing platform, and accelerate deployment of its B2B personalization solution. Engage3 operates a SaaS-based model focused on pricing and competitive intelligence for retailers and manufacturers. Previous and existing investors include The McClatchy Company and Swift Communications. Engage3 builds an omni-channel competitive intelligence and consumer personalization SaaS platform called MissionControl™, combining data science, domain expertise and technology to improve CPG companies' competitive visibility. The platform is designed to maximize the ROI of clients' competitive intelligence programs and support personalized promotions. Engage3 plans to deploy MissionControl through consumer media companies, directly via retailers' loyalty and CRM programs, and via the connected home. The company says it will use new capital to drive revenue growth from its competitive intelligence platform and to accelerate implementation of its personalized promotions platform. Engage3 is led by CEO Ken Ouimet and is based in Davis, California. It recently closed a Series B round of undisclosed size led by Moneta Ventures.

Participated · Series B · Jun 2021

Strateos builds remote-access laboratories and lab control software for life-science discovery centered on its SmartLab Platform™. The SmartLab Platform integrates data generation, AI-enablement, and flexible laboratory automation to speed the design-make-test-analyze cycle for pharmaceutical and synthetic biology R&D. The company operates two SmartLab Studios in Menlo Park and San Diego totaling more than 14,000 square feet and 200+ state-of-the-art research instruments tailored to small-molecule and biologics drug discovery, cell and gene therapies, and synthetic biology. Strateos provides command-and-control tools that let scientists design, manage, and collaborate on scientific workflows remotely, and customers also leverage the software to improve internal lab operations. With the announced financing, Strateos plans to continue rolling out and innovating on the SmartLab Platform to deliver higher-quality, AI-ready data and broader access to automation. The company states its mission is to advance life sciences via data, computation, automation, and high-throughput robotics.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2018

Berkeley Lights has developed a digital cell biology platform that combines bioscience, optofluidic light technology, and information to individually isolate, culture, assay and export thousands of live cells while providing visual and digital monitoring. The platform enables scientists to select and retrieve the best cells, accelerating drug discovery and development for large-molecule therapeutics. The company’s technology is used by biopharmaceutical companies working in large-molecule drug discovery and development. Berkeley Lights completed a $95M financing led by Nikon, with participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital, Walden-Riverwood Ventures, Black Diamond Ventures, and Paxion Capital, and additional new investors including Cota Capital, KTB Network, Atinum Investment, Shangbay Capital, AJS BioTree Healthcare Fund, and Varian. The company plans to use the funds to expedite solutions for cell therapy development and manufacturing, including CAR T and endogenous T-cells, and to increase research and development and expand commercial activities. Eric Hobbs, Ph.D., serves as CEO.